a farming resource blog
Yeah I know, I haven’t posted anything for awhile. My excuse? Well, it is spring after all. We’ve been transplanting and seeding like mad, in between rain storms and my view has pretty much been this:
Pretty decent quality video considering it’s with my phone and I’m rototilling……
Ok, so coming up is my latest equipment adventure. I’m working on making my “ground driven pull behind” fertilizer spreader into a “front mount 12 volt motor driven” fertilizer spreader.
Pictures and video to come.
I was just chatting with my friend Vince today at farmers market about grains. Many things to ponder when one sees the coming rise of fuel prices. When does it become economically viable to start producing grains for sale on a smaller scale? Commodities don’t currently allow for this to happen due to economic constraints. Some fellow farmers have gotten together a blog for such a discussion. Please check it out if this interests you.
All the folks involved do their homework on whatever topic they’re focused on. Good stuff. I’d also love to see some collaboration from outside the Oregon farmer contingency…anyone else know grains?
When we started to tractor cultivate with the Electric G, we needed to make sure that the spacing between rows was very precise and consistent. Many larger farms use transplanters or vacuum seeders to set the spacing between rows. We transplant by hand and direct seed by a hand-push seeder. The solution I came up with is a simple tool bar mounted on the back of the tiller with bars made from 5/8″ flat stock with lawn mower wheels mounted at the base. I had originally thought that disc openers (like what one sees on a seed drill) would work, but I couldn’t find any used ones and I think the lawn mower wheels work better anyway. They actually firm up the soil within the row to be planted and seem to preserve some moisture this way. Best of all, this system of mounting to the tiller saves me another pass, another implement switch, as well as some fuel. Check out the video and feel free to email me with any questions.
Here’s our soil block recipe that we use. Sometimes we’ll add more compost to a mix depending on how much fertility we feel the compost has. We mix our soil in an old mortar mixer. That’s the type of mixers that have paddles and actually churn the mix instead of a concrete mixer that just spins and turns the mix. We always mix the ingredients dry first (You’ll notice on the recipe it says “mix” after a series of ingredients are added. This helps you end up with a even mix) and then add the water. How much moisture? Well that’s where the artisan skills come into play. Probably more than you think but not so much you end up with a soup. And remember, the peat moss absorbs a lot of moisture over time so if you wet it down, leave, and come back you’ll generally find a much drier mix than you started with. Ideally I aim for a mix that I can grip in a handful and squeeze a fair amount of water out when my grip is closed.
How’s that for non specific in terms of moisture? Email me if you need more input.
About 2 seasons ago we invested in a cultivating tractor. We had been doing all of our weeding by hand, but we started to get behind a lot of the time, and were looking to expand our growing space. We knew that there were a lot of options out there- Farmall made some good ol’ cultivating tractors as well as Allis Chalmers. (There are many others too, but these two seem to be the most readily available these days) One thing we knew about cultivating tractors was they were generally gas powered as opposed to diesel. This equates to less power, the inability to run biodiesel, and just the same standard chugg-a-lug of old tractor motors.
During the investigation of what tractor to look for, I came across a great resource for converting an old Allis Chalmers G from gas to electric. That’s right- 48 volts DC!
So I started the hunt for an old AC G with no motor. Came across one outside of Corvallis, Oregon. Bought it for $800 and then spent another $2500 on the motor, batteries, and other parts for the conversion.
Over the next 2 months I stripped the tractor down to parts, refurbished anything that needed repaired, and then put it back together and added the electric components.
The next question was deciding what cultivating setup to use. I talked to several other farmers to see what they used and consulted the book “Steel in the Field” and came to the conclusion that a basket weeder was the way to go. The basket weeder works great in lighter soils- loams, sand, silt- but does have some limitations in heavier rocky soils. The basket weeder also works best when weeds are at the white hair stage. In other words when the weeds are still just emerging. If you have an established stand of grasses or other weeds then a tool bar with sweeps might be a better bet. (I’m setting such a tool bar up this season and will post about it once it’s finished.)
So check out the video of the basket weeder in action and listen to the quiet purrrrr of the electric motor. Another thing you might notice is the tank mounted on the back of the tractor’s battery box. This is used to spray fish fertilizer as I weed. It runs off it’s own separate 12 volt battery. This way I can cultivate and fertilize in one pass. Any other questions about the tractor and it’s conversion just email me.
At our farm we use soilblocks for all of our greenhouse starts that will eventually be transplanted out into the field. A lot of people don’t know about soilblocking and it may be due to the fact that many folks feel that the extra labor is not worth it.
We’ve found for us here in southern Oregon, where we have highly unpredictable springs as far as weather goes, the soil blocks work really great. Having the plants in the blocks gives us several advantages-
-If you do hit a raining spell, the plants have more room to grow, and can stay in the flats longer.
-Because the blocks all physically touch one another (meaning there’s no divider between cells) the roots are able to intermingle and in essence have the whole flat to grow in.
-And the blocks hold moisture better and longer than standard plug flats.
-Not to mention the fact that we can reuse our flats over and over and not have to throw away any plastic inserts.
We started out using a 4-block maker and have since moved up to the 20 block maker. There’s a variety of sources for the various types of blockers out there. We’ve always gotten ours from Johnny’s Selected Seeds (no I’m not getting paid by Johnny’s for the link, they’re just a great company) but I know that Peaceful Valley Farm Supply carries them as well.
To make a block you have to concoct a specialized soil mix that works well when very wet. The idea here that you take the very wet mix and compress it into the soilblocker and press the release and you’ll have a block. The actually block making process has been the hardest thing for me to explain to people over the years, so thanks to the invention of video on the internet I’ve added a small clip on making the blocks.
Our friend Josh has worked at Sauvie Island Organics for several seasons, and is now branching out on his own to further his personal vegetable endeavors as well as help other farm folk out by doing some consulting. He has a really thorough outline on weed management that he’s gathered from working at SIO as well as info he’s gathered traveling to fellow organic farms. It’s really worth jumping over to his entry and studying what he presents. I always learn the best by looking at others work, strategies, ideas instead of trying to reinvent the wheel by myself sitting in my shop.
If you have any questions on the various implements he presents I’d just drop him an email. My experiences with Josh are always educational and intentional.
The farm community is just beginning to see the networking possibilities with the internet. I look forward to seeing this community grow.
I’m always on the lookout for a good source for good priced labels for our packaged salad mix and our produce going to wholesale venues. I currently have a print shop make them up but I need to do some number crunching and see if this set up would be cheaper and a better product.
Our friend Walter from Sugar Mountain Farm in Vermont is a wizard in DIY farm projects. But he doesn’t skimp on quality for cost.
Check out his post on printers and labels here. And he fills you in on how to get a free printer. Cool.
In small scale vegetable farming there’s a discrepancy between low end push seeders and high end seeders. There isn’t a seeder built that is precision, costs under $1000, and actually works. (If you know of something I’m missing please let me know)
The Earthway’s are pretty good considering they cost around $90. But one of the biggest problems is that small seeds work their way behind the plate and start pulverizing the seed. Not so good if you’re looking for decent germination.
At this great annual get together here in Oregon, known as the Farmer to Farmer Exchange (I’ll write more on this in an upcoming post) great ideas are passed around. This Fix was given at one of those round table discussions.
It’s pretty easy:
Take a 3″ PVC end cap. Saw about an inch or so off the end, basically leaving you with a shorter cap. Drill a hole in the center. Then remove the central bolt holding the seed plate assembly to the seeder and replace it with a 1/4″ bolt that is 2 1/4″ long. The bolt should go all the way through the seeder and the new cap. Place a wingnut on the end (for easy plate removal/replacement), and tighten just snug enough to allow plate to still spin freely.
This fix basically just keeps the seed plate against the body of the seeder and helps prevent crushed seeds. As with most things it takes some adjusting, but once you get it, it works like a charm.
Check the pictures for before and after.
This site will eventually be loaded with posts of video and pictures that can be a resource for farmers to find innovative ways to be more successful at their trade.
But for now just drop by my farm’s website
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