The Beginning Farmer

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Deciding that a hoop house was the next big step that our farm needed to take to continue down our path of sustainable growth was not any easy decision to come to. Right now our farm only has three permanent pieces of infrastructure: our house, the equipment/winter shed, and our perimeter fencing. The size of hoop house we are planning to build would make it the biggest structure on the farm and of course it will be a serious capital investment. It is important to us that this building fits into our values when it comes to the farm and raising livestock … and being sustainable to our family financially, physically, and emotionally. That meant a lot of discussion, question, planning, scrapping of plans, and so much more. On today’s episode I wanted to spend some time sharing some of our thoughts on the plans and how we came to the conclusion that we needed this building.

Besides all of that hoop house planning we still have this little event coming up called The Farm Crawl. That means hundreds of people will be touring our farm and we need to clean up for company. It makes for a long list of projects, but a very fulfilled feeling when it is all said and done. Finally, in the “Hard Lesson Learned” segment of today’s show I talk about that old woodworker’s adage … “Measure twice, cut once!”

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• Crooked Gap Farm Hoop House Website
• Hoop House Episode
• Choosing You Breeding Stock Episode

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I’m thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don’t forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

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A Hoop House, a Meat CSA, the Soap Club, and More…

This is the big news that we have been hinting at for a while now. We are very excited to tell you about our plans for expansion of the farm with the construction of a hoop house, our new Meat CSA Subscription, the Soap of the Month Club, and how all of those things fit together!

After much research, we have decided that in order to produce more hogs and build sustainability on our farm, we need to build a hoop house.  This hoop house would allow us to increase the number of hogs we raise out, decrease the number of hogs we bring in, and provide a comfortable place full of deep bedding and natural lighting for this greater volume of pigs to wander in and out of during the winter while they wait for spring, summer, and fall where they will reside in the larger pastures and woods. To check out our new website detailing our project, visit www.CrookedGapFarmHoopHouse.com.

The biggest hurdle we face in putting up our hoop house is the capital expense. We are excited, however, about the new offerings we have available to not only provide our customers valuable products, but to also help us raise the needed funds.

Meat CSA Subscription:
This prepaid membership will allow you to receive pre-assembled shares of our meat products to be enjoyed on a regular basis throughout the year. This is the perfect opportunity for those who don’t have freezer space for a whole or half hog, who like to cook with a variety of meat cuts, and who don’t want to try to beat the crowds at the Downtown Des Moines Market to get those prime cuts which sell out so quickly.

There are three levels of our Meat CSA

• Full Share :: $1400    
  24 Shares Delivered Twice a Month – 216 lbs of meat and 24 dozen eggs
• Half Share :: $775
  24 Shares Delivered Twice a Month – 108 lbs of meat and 24 dozen eggs
• Quarter Share :: $400
  12 Shares Delivered Once a Month – 54 lbs of meat and 12 dozen eggs

If you are interested in more information about the Meat CSA Subscription check out this link.

Whole/Half Hog Purchase:
We are offering the opportunity to purchase a hog upfront for us to raise out for the summer/fall of 2014.  The majority of the cost of your hog will be paid upfront, allowing us to bring in additional Herefords from a trusted farm and providing the funds needed to grow them to market weight. Once your hog is ready for processing, the remaining balance will be due, as well as the locker processing fees. The upfront purchase price of a whole hog is $375 and a half hog is $175. If you would like to purchase a whole/half hog please e-mail us.

Soap of the Month Club Membership:
As a member of our “Soap of the Month Club”, you will receive pre-selected bars of our Farmcrafted Soap mailed to you throughout the year for personal use or to give as gifts.  This soap is full of natural emollients which leave your skin feeling unbelievably soft, smooth, clean, and moisturized. It’s “A soap so wonderful, it doesn’t need to be scented!”

• Full Membership ::   $150 / 24 bar
  2 bars of Farmcrafted Soap mailed once per month
• Half Membership ::   $75 / 12 bars
  2 bars of Farmcrafted Soap mailed every other month

You can learn more about the Soap of the Month Club here.

Additional Opportunities:
For additional ways to support our project we also have a limited amount of Crooked Gap Farm T-Shirts available and information on how to be a Hoop House Backer.

Links Mentioned in This Episode:

• Crooked Gap Farm Hoop House
• The Beginning Farmer Show Episode 24
• Crooked Gap Farm

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One of the coolest things that happens on our farm each year (and seven other area farms) is the Annual Farm Crawl. This is basically a big open house that covers eight area farms and allows the community to come out and learn more about what we are doing … how we are doing it … and why we are doing it! We were really blessed by the fact that our farm just happened to be along the route of the Farm Crawl so after a few years we were able to join in the fun. But, the greatest part of the event is that it allows us to not only tell our story, but also show our story to our friends, customers, and people who hadn’t even heard of our farm until that day. In today’s episode I spend some time talking about what the Farm Crawl is and what makes it so great!

Besides all the work that was done on the farm this past week (pigs & chickens processed, lots of marketing done, chicken wagons being built, etc.) … it also rained! Our area was beginning to creep through the various stages of drought, and although this wasn’t a drought busting rain it does help the soul a little bit to see the rain puddling up in the drive.

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• The Farm Crawl
• Blue Gate Farm
• Coyote Run Farm
• Dan-D Farms
• Pierce’s Pumpkin Patch
• Reichert’s Dairy Air
• Schneider Orchard

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I’m thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don’t forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

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When it comes to raising meat and egg laying chickens on our farm I believe we have been fairly lucky. Other than a few predator problems (which we have mostly solved with our “Chicken Guardian Dog”) we have not had to deal with any chicken ailments that I have read about other farmers having to deal with. I hope that some of that is because of the breeds we raise and they management style we have, but I also know that it helps that our farm is fairly isolated from other poultry and that we have just been blessed so far. On this weeks episode though I take some time to answer an e-mail question from Matthew about “Deep Pectoral Myopathy” and what our favorite meat chicken breed is.

To be completely honest I did not know what “Deep Pectoral Myopathy” (also called Green Muscle Disease or Oregon Disease) was, but a little research taught me that it was a problem that possibly cropped up because of genetic issues or lack of blood flow to that particular muscle issue. I also found that there was really no way to tell if a bird had the issue until after slaughter. I’m thankful that so far we haven’t had any issues with this yet and I hope that we can stay away from it … although I’m not sure there is much I can do to prevent it.

When it comes to our favorite meat chicken though I will admit that I do have plenty of thoughts on that! We are very excited with the success of our first hatching of chicks in our new incubator and hatcher (84% hatch rate!) and our ultimate goal is to raise our own meat chickens by keeping a breeding flock and hatching out our own chicks. With the help of a great farmer friend we will hopefully be raising our own French style Poulet Rouge Chickens next year. But, if we weren’t able to do our own hatching I would feel comfortable raising a Freedom Ranger or Red Ranger type of bird from one of the hatcheries in our state.

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• Deep Pectoral Myopathy from The Poultry Site
• Oregon Disease from The Poultry Site
• Deep Pectoral Myopathy from Poultry Science
• Freedom Rangers
• Red Rangers

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I’m thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don’t forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

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On this weeks episode of “The Beginning Farmer Show” I take some time to answer an e-mail that came in from Chase about perimeter fencing. Your perimeter fence is probably going to be one of the most important pieces of infrastructure on your farm because of all the ways that affects you relationally and emotionally … I mean if you always have livestock getting out it is going to be very stressful and your spouse/neighbors may not be very pleased with you! On my farm I have seven strands of hi-tensile fence that alternates between hot and grounded wires starting from the top of the fence. Overall I have been very pleased with the fence and almost all of the problems I have had came about because of user error as opposed to fence error. If you are interested seeing some pictures and reading about our perimeter fence check out these posts (which are a blast from the past).

With all of that being said though I’m not 100% convinced that single strand electric hi-tensile fence is the perfect solution for everyone. While I don’t think I would ever put up barbed-wire only for fencing I can think of plenty of situations where a woven wire fence would be a great solution … especially if you pair it up with one or two strands of electric fencing on the interior.

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• Dalla Terra Ranch
• Ebersole Cattle Company
• PowerFlex Fence
• And, here is a link to the new PowerFlex Fence Posts

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I’m thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don’t forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

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Most beginning farmers begin their day like any long-time/full-time farmer … they do their morning chores, maybe help get the kids ready for school, and have breakfast. But, the majority of farmers (not just beginning farmers) then find themselves heading to town for their town job. Because forty or more hours will be spent working off the farm it is very important to build in as much efficiency as possible, or at least as much as you can afford! The big problem then becomes, “What can I make more efficient, and then how can I pay for that upgrade in equipment/infrastructure?” On my farm I began by doing many things by hand … digging post holes, filling feeders, setting up fence, etc. But, as soon as I had a handle on what sorts of things take up the most amount of my time, cost me money, or cause undue stress on the livestock I began making changes (and purchases)

Here are four great things to think about when it comes to purchasing items that help you use your time, energy, and money more wisely …

1. Buy Nothing and Learn Lots! The idea is to buy as little as possible in the beginning and the slowly figure out what you need.
2. Buy Equipment That Will Save You Money! There are some great pieces of equipment out there that will actually save you money in the long-run … and maybe even quickly.
3. Buy Equipment That Improves the Life of Your Livestock! We love raising happy, healthy, and stress-free animals and part of that is helped by some equipment that helps improve our efficiency.
4. Buy Equipment That Saves You Time! If there is a task that you do quite often on your farm and there is also a piece of equipment that can save you time with that task it is sometimes worth it to make that capital expenditure.

The most important thing is to remember that you don’t have to buy things just because other farmers have it, or because it feels like you need it. If you want to make the move from beginning farmer to long-time farmer you are going to have to keep some money in your pocket and just rely on your strength and patience sometimes.

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I’m thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don’t forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

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Have you ever been at the point in your life … or your job … or your farm when you were standing on the edge of taking a huge leap up the mountain or just continuing along at the same level? Well, that is the point that we are at now at Crooked Gap Farm. At this point we have reached our maximum when it comes to keeping pigs over the winter and farrowing in the winter. This limitation has an impact on the number of pigs that we can have available for the beginning of the farmers market season, and whether or not we can sell whole/half pigs in the spring. The good news is that the amount of pork that we are selling and can sell (we have a healthy waiting list now) is always increasing and I am confident that we can raise more hogs and sell them through direct marketing. I am less confident though that we can raise more pigs with our current set-up.

This brings us to a big decision … do we take that big leap up the mountain or just continue at our current pace and look for small efficiencies. I have come up with two possible solutions that I feel comfortable with at this time for our farm.

1. Utilize the woods year-round. This would entail running water lines down to the woodlot paddocks and figuring out a way to make sure that we can get feed to the pigs when it is muddy or when there is deep snow. This idea would mostly likely cost less money than option number two
2. Build a deep bedding hoop house. This option would provide the most protection from the elements for both the sows and the growing pigs. There is also a possibility that the building could be used in the off-season (spring/summer) for things like brooding turkeys or something along those lines. Of course, this would be much more expensive than some water lines and waterers … especially when you think about concrete, electrical, wood, and water.

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I’m thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don’t forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

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If you are beginning your farm from scratch like I did, or if you are starting a new venture on your existing farm there is always a huge list of things that you feel like you need to have to get started. Back in episode five of the show I talked about making major farm purchases and little bit about the thought process that goes into that, but this week I wanted to talk specifics. What pieces of equipment and machinery did I use as we got the farm and homestead up and running? This is not an all inclusive list, but I do feel like it would give you a good start.

1. Tractor (with a loader)
2. Stock Trailer
3. Brush Mower
4. Hay Rack
5. Pick-up Truck
6. Feed Wagon
7. Hydraulic Hog Cart
8. Post Hole Digger
9. Plow
10. Disk
11. Drag Harrow
12. Spring-Tooth Harrow
13. Broadcast Seeder
14. Barge Box or Grain Wagon
15. Seed Drill
16. Round Bale Trailer
17. Baler
18. Hay Rake
19. Hay Mower (or mower/conditioner)
20. Three-Point Rotary Tiller
21. Four-Wheeler
22. Chainsaw
23. Garden Tiller
24. Flatbed Trailer

The thing about that list though is that if you are like me you will probably go broke before you even get to the end of the list … or at the very least you won’t have enough capital left over to purchase the foundation livestock for your farm! So, what I decided to do was distill that list down to the top-three things that I would get …

1. A Chainsaw :: It can be used for construction, cutting firewood, building fence, and so much more.
2. A Tractor with a Loader :: This is a pricey piece of equipment, but if you shop around … buy used … and aren’t afraid to get your hands greasy it will be something that gets used on your farm for just about every project.
3. A Flatbed Trailer :: If you have a small truck, no truck, or just a car that you can put a trailer hitch on the flatbed trailer is the perfect low-cost solution for all your hauling needs on and off the farm. Plus, you can use it to pick-up the things you had to borrow since you were smart and didn’t buy everything right away!

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I’m thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don’t forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

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The rain came and the Iowa State Fair is starting so there is a break in the work (for now) at the neighbors farm. All of that is to say that I am finally getting the podcast back on schedule … basically releasing two shows in less than 24 hours! Today’s episode is very cool though because I was able to sit down with a very special guest for an interview … my son Caleb who is the “Modern Farmer Boy” … his podcast will be coming out in the near future! Caleb is a nine-year-old who lives on the farm of course, but is also involved in the farm. To us family farming has always meant that all of the family is working together on the farm and not just living together on the farm. In this episode you will get to hear Caleb’s “side” of our farming adventures and what he likes about the farm and his role on the farm.

Before the interview though I take some time to answer a couple questions that have come in through e-mail and on the blog. The first question deals with the Conservation Reserve Program … what it’s all about, how much the “rent” is, and how you go about getting out of the program. The second question goes all the way back to an early post about burning, grazing, or baling the standing grass on our farm when we finally made the move. I share some of my thoughts on both subjects, but I would love to hear what you think! Do you have any experience with CRP? If you had 30+ acres with quite a few weeds how would you handle (burn, bale, graze, mow, etc.)? Join the conversation by commenting below.

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I’m thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don’t forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**