[Andy Carson]

Oh Tim, you know I can’t resist an experiment… I think you are right that what I find could be useful to others as well. It seems I can get a pretty good idea of what might work as cover crops from conventional agriculture, so the more specific question is just how well these different cover crops fit in a small scale animal based system without herbicides. Hey, it might even make a good article? I’ll take notes and pictures. I am much more attracted to using different covers for different crops. These are my best guesses at which covers have the best chance with the different crops.

Oats to Peas:
Oats provide good cover in the fall and winter, and winter kill so as to not compete with the peas in the early spring. Peas produce thier own nitrogen, so it doesn’t matter that oats don’t do this.

Turnip to Sunflower:
Sunflowers seem to have modest nutrient requirements, are tall, and can be cultivated in rows to help with weed pressure. This gives me a chance to try a cover crop that is from a totally different family than either my other covers or my crops.

Clover to Corn:
I think that corn will benefit from the nitrogen and as it can be cultivated I bet that if the clover is not as competative with weeds it will matter less. I worry a little about the planting date so I am really going to have to get on this.

Wheat to Soybean:
It seems that wheat will crowd out weeds almost as well as rye, and will probably survive the winter to provide cover in the spring. It seems the spring growth is not as vigorous as rye and might not be as likely to escape. I bet rye would work just as well here, but trying wheat give me another “sample” for my “experiment”…

Rye to Pumpkin:
I like that rye provides great cover and survives the winter, so can crowd out weeds until it’s time to plant the pumpkins.

[Andy Carson]

It’s been a while since we heard about the bakery wagon… How is it going?

[Andy Carson]

Are you worried about the rye inhibiting the growth of future crops? I read it can do that and that it is sometimes too vigerous in the spring… Crops are: Dent corn, Soybeans, Sunflower (for seed), Pumpkin (for seed) and Field Peas, about one acre each. I am not sure of the varieties yet, but probably some heirloom varieties that are interesting looking with a good yield without being difficult to grow.

Oh, and when I say “for seed” I mean for eating, not for selling seed…

[Andy Carson]

Not to discount the pigs, but I think I’ll keep tilling until October and plant some rye. Partially because I think the tillage will eventually work (thanks for the encouragement everyone) and partially because I hate to put my horse away. I have to admit all this tillage is kinda fun. With all the passes back and forth I am getting what feels like a telepathic connection with my horse. Pretty cool… I was mowing the lawn the other day on the riding lawnmower and yelled “whoa” as I hit the brake, so maybe it’s not really telepathy…

[Andy Carson]

Wow, that comes out to each pig working 5-10 times more area per day than in the other example. I would guess that feral pigs would me more motivated to root, but I wouldn’t guess 5-10 times more… This would reduce the number of pigs required to work the field in 3 months from 50 to 5-10. Big difference. I am guessing these two figures are on the extreme opposite ends of the spectrum and that the number I would need would be somewhere between these two rates. Maybe around 20? That’s still a lot of pigs…

[Andy Carson]

I read that one group used 3 pigs in a 12×12 corral that would be moved once every day… I don’t know if this is a “normal” stocking rate for this purpose, but it gives me numbers to work with. That’s 48 square feet per pig per day (12×12/3), or about 1440 square feet per pig per month. 3 months would be 4320 square feet, so to work 5 acres in 3 months would require 50 pigs (43560×5/4320). I don’t think I want 50 pigs… Does this answer seem ridiculous?

[Andy Carson]

The pigs are a fascinating idea, although I do not relish the fencing that might be involved… In my experience, pigs require quality fences, but I have to admit I have only kept them in pens they wanted to get out of. Maybe if they were in a field with lots of food and room, I could keep them with some simple electric wire… How many pigs would you guess it would take to “work” 5 acres and how long do they take? I am sure this depends on alot of things, but I am just curious about rough numbers to see if this is feasable for this field.

[Andy Carson]

Thanks for the thoughts Tim. Yes, much of the grass is probably quackgrass. And yes, the new growth (or regrowth) does correspond to the rain. I have gotten the field worked a couple times and thought I was done, then the rain came and I had all sorts of grass come up. If this is spreading primarily by rhizomes, I can probably rip them out and dry them up with a harrow. I can pick up most of the clumps with my hands, as many have tended to “rise to the top” as I’ve worked the field… I worry about the few clumps that aren’t close to the surface, but it seems that to get to those, I risk burying lots of “clumps.”

[Andy Carson]

One of the parts that is disturbing to me is just how much discretion is given to the secretary of health and human services to inspect facilities that they (in thier infinite wisdom) deem “likely” to be unsafe. Does anyone think that McDonalds (who spent over 300 million dollars in the last quarter alone lobbying this bill and other) will be targetted??? How about the other large corporations that line the pockets of the politicians? Pretty big conflict of interest if you ask me… It seems much more likely that the crosshairs will be aimed at small farmers, who, although they are clearly not the cause of most food borne illness, do not have millions to spend on lobbying efforts.

I have attached an interesting annotation of the corporations who are lobbying this bill.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/08/millions-spent-lobbying-food-safety-during-second-quarter/

PS. Geoff, I’m only teasing. It is interesting how this bill seems bipartisan. It seems both parties can fully capable of bad legislation!

[Andy Carson]

It looks like it has been placed on Senate Legislative Calendar as of Dec 18, 2009. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-510
The same website has the text of the bill, summaries, and a question and answer section.
What a crappy bill! I read that about one half of one percent of food borne illnesses come from small farms. Now I’m not saying that food borne illness is good, but why not go after the source of 99.5% of it??? That small farms may be subjected to inspections at the whim of some random beaurocrat with a sense of riteousness and a job to justify is extremely Orwellian.

Wow! Correct me if I’m wrong here, but I think you (Geoff) and I are agreeing on something political!!! 🙂

[Andy Carson]

Welcome 8bit. It is nice to see that the website is such an inspiration for you, it was a big inspiration for me as well. What are your plans with your farm? 20 acres is alot to play with!

[Andy Carson]

Thanks for the tips. I am wondering if I ought to start getting him used to shafts next (for cart work) or start to team him up with my draft… Any thoughts one way or the other? I would guess I will work him alone in shalves more frequently, but the team work is more important.

[Andy Carson]

The riding horse is actually doing pretty well ground driving with the harness on. I think I’ll get him a harness that actually fits him, I put this one together out of spare parts and it shows… He’s got a way to go to be truly relaxed, but he’s starts, stops, stands, turns, and the harness doesn’t seem to bother him. I would like to ask him to pull a little weight, but am scared of asking him to pull weight without a collar that fits.

[Andy Carson]

I roached my mares mane about a month ago and really like it. I think it helps keep her cool and I haven’t noticed any negatives yet. It makes grooming a little faster and I think it looks good too. I left her forelock on from the area I would have cut the bridle path forward. I thought that might help with the flies, and it might, but I probably just like the way it looks.

[Andy Carson]

I get teeth checked once a year. I have heard that very young horses or horses with dental problems need work more frequently, but I have no experience with that… I am also not sure if this applies to mules as well. I have only had a vet float teeth once. I would recommend having a good equine dentist (rather than a vet) float the teeth. In my experience, a good dentist is not only cheaper, but does a better job.

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