[Carl Russell]

@Does’ Leap 27691 wrote:

Carl:

We cleared around 12 acres a couple of years ago. We left the stumps in and are renovating it for goat pasture. It needs lime. How much did you pay for the EZ flow and how stable would it be on side-hills and obstacles? How about beefing up the tires to facilitate rolling over stumps?

George

George, the EZ-Flow is extremely stable…. about 8 feet wide. However it is very low to the ground, and can get hung up on a pretty low stump, rock, or uneven ground. It runs about 6″ I think. Larger tires could help, but would affect the rate of application. Not that big of a problem though.

The biggest problem with stumps and rocks is that because it is so wide, a stump can trig a wheel pretty easily, shunting the whole rig off center. It only happens infrequently, but it is noticeable.

I would spend the time to cut the stumps down to soil level. In the long run it will pay off for a lot of field work.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

So I know this is a really old thread, but I thought it was worth resurrecting. This spring I have been spreading fertilizer and lime with the horses using a ground-drive EZ-Flow Spreader. 2 tons of bagged Sul-Po-Mag, and about 12 tons of Lime. I can get about 1200-1500 lbs into the hopper and I can spread about 2 per hour.

We could have paid to have it spread, but it was $85/ton, versus $35/ton dumped bulk. I figure I’m keeping pretty good value on the farm doing it myself.

[Carl Russell]

Duke I moved this post to the Market Place…. You may have some luck here.

Welcome to DAP.com, Carl

[Carl Russell]

@near horse 27644 wrote:

Hey Carl,

Is that 3rd picture the “famed” Earthwise Pig-in a Poke Roundup?

Seriously, I have a couple of questions. Did you breed that sow and farrow those piglets? What breed/cross are they? I always associate red with Durocs but know there’s a lot of interest in heritage breeds like Red Wattles (although I don’t see any wattles here). How did you all decide on what type of hogs to raise? They sure look good and healthy to me! Nice.

Along the agroforestry thread – the multiple use idea is discussed quite a bit in much of the permaculture literature, although they usually focus on more tropical environments.

Yes that was the famous round-up. And yes we bred and farrowed those pigs. Sows are Tamworth x Berkshire, and the boar was pure Tamworth. The Tamworth is the red, Berkshire is spotted. They grew to be really nice pigs.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

@john plowden 27651 wrote:

if it aint broke don’t fix it 🙂

Unfortunately John, even though it wasn’t broke, we were so far behind on software upgrades that our hands were tied if we wanted to do any kind of site improvement, or management. It may look a bit different now, but in the long-run we will be better off.

[Carl Russell]

@Uncle Joe 27637 wrote:

Yes, we will have the DVD early next week to ship. We will be charging $29 for the DVD which will cover the cost of manufacture and shipping and leave a little to send to Les to help compensate him for what he spent producing the video originally. It is not a commercial project, we are just glad to be able to help get Les’s message out. He is a great guy with high standards and a wealth of knowledge and experience. The pamphlet currently being produced won’t be available, as Carl said, until sometime this fall. But if someone wants to order the DVD now, I can send the pamphlet (which will provide additional measuring, fitting and hooking instructions) when it is complete.

Joe Mischka
Rural Heritage
publisher@ruralheritage.com

Thanks Joe….:)

[Carl Russell]

Here are some pics of our pigs. Just to see how the photo upload works….

[Carl Russell]

Les Barden, Barden Tree Farm, 279 Meaderboro Rd., Farmington, NH 03835.

You can also probably get it from Berry Brook Ox Supply. Tim & Wendy Huppe live just down the road from Les. [URL=”http://%20www.berrybrookoxsupply.com/”%5Dhttp:// http://www.berrybrookoxsupply.com/%5B/URL%5D

I also think you will be able to get the videos from Rural Heritage at some point in the future.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

I will not add to the discussion about brake design or materials, but I will say that I think you will get much better results if you put your brakes on the front wheels of the wagon. Brakes on the rear wheels are holding back a load that is already downhill from them, so the weight is not adding the to friction component. If you brake the front wheels you get the added weight of the load on the wheel itself which increases the friction and therefore the braking capacity.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Les can be reached by phone 603-332-0082. There is in the making, a pamphlet to accompany this video, that should be completed this fall sometime. I believe that Joe Mischka will be producing it, and marketing both.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Robert MoonShadow;27473 wrote:

Hi, LF!
…. 😀 Two donkey ‘parking valets’ will be on hand…carrot tips are welcome. {BAD Jenny-Mae! Quit stealing the keyboard!}
…

Reminds me of “Archie and Mahitabel”. Archie the Cock-roach would dive off of the type-writer and land headfirst on the keys….. wrote a whole book like that!!!:eek:

Other than that… this looks to be quite an event. Wish I could make it, but I don’t have anything small enough, or with long enough ears:D.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Jared Ashley;27579 wrote:

hi everyone, i have a haflinger and a pleasure harness that fits her but want to trade for a work harness. i like the looks and idea behind the d ring harness. my question is, how do you connect this harness to shafts? is there a special connector or adapter for shaft loops? i’m just getting started in the draft aspect of horses, so i have been reading a lot on this site, and have found it very enjoyable and useful. thanks, jared

Jared, on many d-ring harnesses the shaft loops can be hung from the jack-saddle. I made up another jack-saddle with shaft-loops on it to drape over the horse.

Les Barden had Jack-saddles made up with small brass d-rings hanging on it, so that he can clip the shaft-loops on as needed.

The side straps clip into hold-back on the shafts.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

near horse;27573 wrote:

Better for plants – not so good for animals. It seems like there’s a fine line between “capturing” as much of the animal end products as possible and creating a less hospitable environment for your pigs – we used to call tight barns with the above conditions a “pneumonia chamber”. I do like the concept and will be interested to see how it works.

Not a barn….. Animals will be housed in an adjacent structure, and the composting chambers, where they will be working, will also be ventilated with adequate oxygen needed for the composting anyway…. The greenhouse will be above in an attempt to capture the overflow without compromising the living conditions for the animals. Probably not a perfect system:rolleyes:, but an attempt. I’ve thought about using ducts to move the air around.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Robert MoonShadow;27565 wrote:

“…more than a handful of pigs ‘on staff’…”
Made me laugh, but an excellent way to view them!
I think the greenhouse on top idea is fascinating…do you think it’ll self-generate a good portion of the heat needed?

Yes, I meant to mention “warm moisture laden, nitrogen and CO2 rich air”.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Countymouse;27561 wrote:

I haven’t gotten ahold of enough farms to get a complete picture of all the ways that hogs are currently raised under tree cover, but I have learned some things.

…. but am gaining a greater understanding of why the ecology of systems like this are brought into question. A planned system of feeding hogs primarily off of purpose planted and managed tree crops, at least in my mind, would be much different. …

This is why I think the idea I want to work toward is a mosaic of different “habitats” and food sources. I usually keep my animals out year-round, but during the winter I do accumulate some manure. My dream is to build a manure composting structure near the barn, with pigs housing allowing access for the pigs to one bin at a time to gain some nutrients from the manure while turning it for me. Topping this building off with a green house to use the nitrogen and CO2 rich air is also a big part. I expect to supplement the pigs food with other purchased and garnered sources during that time of year, specifically with the purpose of using their energy to work for me in the manure.

Then during summer months I like the idea of putting them on grass and brushland in need of remediation. Again gathering at least a portion of their own food, but not all. We still bring portions to them. I like to put pressure on them to work for their livelihood by not giving them free-choice food.

We have let them work our gardens in both Spring and Fall seasons with good success.

I do like the idea of using the “wildlife” trees that I cultivate as part of my early successional woodlands, apples, nuts, and other mast producing species, but currently the only way I can do that is to give them free access to large areas in order to find enough food.

Thanks Andy for “pushing” this idea, it has given me a few new ideas about managing my hedgerows. I have managed thick field borders for years for edge habitat for wildlife, but recently we have been thinking about how to use those areas with an eye toward our other needs.

I am a strong proponent of cultivating areas where wildlife can take precedence over livestock, so I think it will take a long time to develop this type of feedstocks for pigs, but I have been raising hedgerows with sugar maples for decades, so it shouldn’t be too hard to think about a new strategy with other species.

Besides, I really don’t think I will ever have more than a handful of pigs on staff at any time so their impact should be reasonably easy to manage.

[Author]

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