Hobby Farms Forums / HobbyFarms.com Forum Topics / Going Green

Mistakes to keep from repeating

thestartupman — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:45:40 GMT

Not having garden tools right next to the garden where they are easy to get to, and put away. Its better to have one shovel in the barn, and one in shed right at garden. Any one else have ideas? Plants not to plant near....? What not to feed animals....? What crop not to plant...? What tool was a waste of money to buy?

Ford Focus Farm Truck

Drawbar — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 06:45:03 GMT

Anyone else have one of these for a "farm truck"? (LOL)

I know what many of you are thinking, big ole tough farmer who drives around all the time in a big burly truck but that isn't the case with me at all...I drive a Ford Focus.

I am a firm believer in going green wherever one can, but I strongly feel going green should be economical too. When the price of fuel got high I sold my pick up and opted for A Ford Focus that gets 37 mpg instead of 10 mpg. The sad thing is, I seldom miss my truck. This poor car was never made to move bales of hay, tote sheep or drive up nasty field access roads, but yet it seems to get the job done. Only when there is no other option do I go out and borrow my buddies truck and get stuff that just won't fit in my car or cannot be delivered for a reasonable price.

I am betting I am not alone on this. Is anyone else "truckless" yet use their car as a truck? What are some of the crazy things you have hauled with it?

Natural Laundry Detergent

Drawbar — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:46:20 GMT

My wife recently bought some natural laundry detergent at the Common Ground Fair (organic farming fair) and came across some laundry detergent called O-Natural-L. The first bag she got was lavender scented, but it worked so well that she figured she would try the non-scented with just as much luck.

Usually when you go to using "green" products there is a bit of a trade off, but with this stuff it works better then the commercial stuff you buy. I am not sure about the price, but $7 dollars gives you about 40 wash loads in a top loading washer and 80 in a front loader.

It works good though and we have used it now for a few months...and yes it has been toddler-tested in this house with an active 3 year old! You know some stains were developed with that girl!

Why is the environmental movement a bad thing?

Charlene — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:29:58 GMT

I was shocked to see so many opposing views on the environmental movement on this website. I thought for sure farmers would be for the earth and be supportive of green initiatives. I am wondering why conservation and green living practices are offensive to this population? Aren't we all looking for a sustainable lifestyle?

How many acres of lawn?

Drawbar — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:22:11 GMT

I was buying gas the other day and I was chatting to the woman buying lawnmower gas beside me how kind of wasteful it is for us to routinely mow our lawns in the big scheme of things. That was when she proudly said she had reduced her lawn from 5 acres down to 3 when the price of gas went high, but is back up to 5 acres.

Now I mow 2 acres myself and I think that is a waste. I have however given back a half acre to the sheep just so they can graze it. Still this lawn thing is perplexing...did you know more land in the USA is in lawns then is in food production! At the same time lawns consume far more herbicides and fertilizers then agricultural land! That is kind of scary since it is predicted in 2050 we are going to run out of arable land to feed the world.

I am all for property rights of tax payers, but I can't help but look at some of these people who have multiple acre lawns and think what a waste...all that fuel going to mow it, and what for? Do they actually use that area for kids to play on, of a baseball game to take place now and then...or is it just mown to "look good?" With Maine losing 5000 acres a year of ag land to development, I almost wish the Gov would step in and stop the huge lawn madness.

With sheep here now, I would reduce my lawn drastically, but the wife is mad enough as is at me for surrounding the house with pasture. Still I have reduced my lawn somewhat. So what about other Hobby Farm Members...is your lawn getting bigger, or smaller...and why did you make that choice? (aesthetics, use, economics, environmental reasons, etc)

Need PRO's for collecting rainwater in the NW.

AdaJane — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:48:35 GMT

I live in the rainy NW where it rains about 10 months of the year (obviously not the entire 10 months but at least some rain every month). I want to collect rainwater for use in our gardens but cant seem to come up with some good PRO's to convince my husband. He doesn't see the point since it rains so much here. Plus, we live in the sticks and run on well and septic so it wouldn't be to save money (unless you count not running the well pump for an hour).

Any ideas?

More then Blueberries (oh well)

Drawbar — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:02:32 GMT

I have been working hard to see if I can convert some rather useless land that has outcrops of ledge into usable land. There is a technique where you use wood mulch to cover ledge rock over, and the transplant low bush blueberries that will eventually take over and grow on the thin soil.

It just so happens that I have a spot, about an acre in size that has very thin soil. Because of that, the trees there are stubby, useless trees that are too limby for even firewood. So I was thinking I could shred these trees as a mulch layer and add blueberries and make the plot productive.

Its one of those things that is good for the farm, and even better for wildlife, but its not something we would do by taking the money out of savings accounts and do. Naturally I want to move forward with the project but I wondered if there was a Government Program that would help do that.

The short answer is...sort of, and I'll add what I found out here in case anyone else would like to do something similar.

The USDA will not subsidize crops of course, but if berry crops for wildlife plots are not present on your farm, or in your area, they will help establish one under the WHIP Program depending on local permissions obviously. The mulching rate is pretty high too, with heavy forest getting a removal rate of around $850 per acre. But here is where it gets tricky. They will not plant just blueberries for wildlife plots, you need to plant a spring food plot, a mid summer food plot, and a fall food plot.

For the longest time I though because of this ruling that I would not be able to plant my wildlife plot...and thus blueberries. But after a little consideration, I am thinking even if I only get 1/3 of an acre of blueberries (and the other 2/3 into something else) then that is better then short stubby trees and soil to thin for arable crops.

I got to try and figure out 2 more food plots for wildlife that grows on thin, acidic and in a very hardy zone. Can you guys think of anything that would fit the bill?

Organic Fly Reductions

Drawbar — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 05:02:55 GMT

I'm a conventional farmer but buying insecticides infuriates my cheap-skate mentality, plus I know my forefathers never bought the stuff. Lately, and by accident, I have found two organic, effective solutions to flies.

The first is with my sheep. I have a bunch of penned up, sick sheep and the flies could be bad. After I started using lime to help change the ph in the pen and help kill the bacteria that forms foot rot, I noticed the fly population was non-existent. It was even lower then when I sprayed insecticide every day. So if you want to organically reduce the number of flies around your bedded livestock...try lime. 3 bucks gives you 50 pounds which goes quite a ways...far better then buying expensive insecticide, and it helps with fertilizing your gardens/farms too.

The second is in regards to flies around me as I work. Then I started to try to figure out why bugs never bothered me when I used fresh laundered clothes. Then over time I deduced that it was the dryer sheets my wife used that kept the bugs away. I admit I look stupid, but by stuffing some dyer sheets halfway out of my pockets keeps the bugs away. They do cost money, and I do look silly, but I don't smell as bad as when I am doused with bug spray...if I was actually to do that. I kind of dislike bug spray to be honest with you. Are the dryer sheets cheaper then bug spray??? I don't know, but I think the dryer sheets are more "green" then the bug spray option.

I'm trying some dryer sheets tacked up around my sick sheep pen too, but I need to use lime still for the foot rot so a conclusive test has not been made on whether it works or not.

PS: I ought to start going for SARE grants for some of this stuff I try (LOL)

So what is a carbon footprint?

medowbrook — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:23:08 GMT

What is a carbon footprint??????

I'd like to ask that anyone respond with some real text and not a link. I'm able to just google the question myself.

And if Carbon is an element in the pereodic table..how can it be banned, restricted and taxed?

Wind power

Charlene — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 07:18:36 GMT

Just wondering if anyone knows of a small scale wind turbine that may be placed on a roof. Was hoping to generate some power on Main St

Compost Heat for Residence?

Drawbar — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:00:19 GMT

Is anyone on here using the heat generated by composting to heat their domestic hot water?

As a working farm I have access to some serious crop acreage and woodlot and could easily obtain enough compost (haylage and wood chips) to start a compost pile that generated enough heat to at least bring the water temperature up enough so my current propane-powered water heater would not use so much fuel.

As we all know, silage piles and compost heaps produce quite a bit of heat...too bad I could not get that heat to warm my radiant floors and keep my boiler from running so much.

Clearing Land Ethically with Equipment

Drawbar — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:01:35 GMT

My post on using livestock to clear land on the frugal section did not get many replies, so I thought I would make a few pointers on using equipment to clear land. Its not as "green" as using livestock, but there are still ways you can use equipment to do a better job of clearing land and conserving soil. On my farm, that is my most precious commodity and it should be everyone's concern. I have seen some great farmers here mess up big time by simply dozing rocks and stumps into the woods...because with it went their soil.

The best way to clear land is with an excavator and use a big one too. Here I can pay $100 bucks an hour for a Cat digger, or $110 dollars for one that is twice as big. Because the bigger one gets so much more done, going with the biggest equipment possible is the cheaper alternative.

I would not use an excavator that does not have a thumb on it. Its just too productive and doing so without a thumb means you pay for a lot of wasted hours since the stump cannot be gripped and moved as fast or easily.

The reason to use an excavator is its ability to pull stumps. A dozer or excavator can break roots, but what makes stumps hard to pull is the suction of the ground on the stump. Its like a magnet on a refrigerator, once you get air underneath the stump, it comes right out. An excavator lets you grip one side and pry it up rather then trying to push it sideways (no air to get under the stump).

The best plan is to use an excavator in the spring when the soil is wet and allows the stump and rocks to pull easily. Simply pull the stump and set it aside. DO NOT MOVE the stump out of the field yet. Wait a year and the winter frost will fracture the dirt clinging to the roots and it will also dry out. Now when you shove the stump to the edge of the field it will be half the weight, and the soil will be in the field where it will help grow crops. It cannot do that if its in the woods. Saving soil is in everyone's best interest!

If you cannot wait. Have the excavator operator shake the stump a lot to get as much of the soil out of the roots as possible.

The fastest method we found for removing acres of stumps is teaming an excavator with a payloader. A dozer has more power, but it is slow moving. A wheel loader can zip across the field. It is a lot faster to pull the stump with an excavator, then shove it out of the way with a loader then it is to use an dozer by itself, or a excavator/dozer combination.

This is what I have found to work the best when clearing land and I have a lot of experience in this. Good luck to whatever method you use. Its nice to look out and see acres of fields instead of views of a acres of forest!

Help a Clam Digger...Farm Right!

Drawbar — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 02:29:56 GMT

WOS brought up the issue of farm subsidies which kind of brought up the issue of farm conservation measures as well. It is a very complicated issue, but this year much of the Maine coastline is shut down to clam harvesting because of all the run-off from the excess water we got. Hopefully I can explain this right so that hobby farmers can see that they can make a huge difference on water quality, no matter where they live.

The problem is, with the abundant rainfall (130% for the first half of this year) Maine is having, it is affecting everyone. One of the strongest hit has been the clam diggers who have seen miles and miles of coastline closed to clamming. Typically when the lobster industry is down, the commercial fishermen and whatnot clam to make ends meet, but this year it has been a double-whammy...cheap lobster and no clamming.

Now the algae bloom called red tide located off shore runs it's own course which cannot be dealt with, but what is happening this year certainly can. That is the run off from land upstream from the clam flats. The run-off from farms, fields and lawns all runs south in Maine and you guessed it...it lands on the clam flats that bloom with bacteria making the clam flats off limits to harvesting. At an estimated $2800 in revenue per acre to the community...the collective amount of loss is mind-blowing, I mean we are talking thousands of acres in closures this year.

Well the Maine soil and water conservation districts understand this issue and are committed to it. They are focusing on the hardest hit areas and a group has formed (Time and Tide) that is banded together to help stop this flow of bacteria. Now before we start blaming the farmer on this, you must realize that the vast majority of pollution causing this bacteria bloom is from homeowners. Only 12% comes from farms. We are targeting farms with government conservation programs and its helping, but the other 70% is coming from homeowners, with the remaining from industrialization.

What happens is, for every inch of rain we get, a predicted amount of run-off occurs. With it a known amount of bacteria will also come down river so x amount of acres of clam flats are shut down to keep the food supply intact. Now this occurs no matter where you are. Even in Minnesota the water there eventually hits the coastline so it really affects everyone.

We should all ensure our septic system is properly designed, constructed and maintained. Running gray water out to daylight just does not cut it in 2009...you are hurting your neighbors literally by these practices. So is over fertilizing your lawn. If you feel compelled to fertilize, do about 75% of what the bag says as they over-state the amounts to get you to buy more product. A better approach is to soil test your lawn ($24 bucks) and then only fertilize to that limit. The same goes for gardens. Soil also carries a lot of bacteria, so if you see soil eroding on your driveway and other property...rest assured that it is contributing to clam diggers that cannot work. Stemming erosion is pretty simple, slow it down and it does not carry as much soil with it. There are numerous ways to do this and it is not overly expensive to do, but we need to get involved on the smallest of trickles.

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Interesting...not many posts in this category.

TIFFLE — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:15:11 GMT

I wonder if "going green" is a real concern to those who are struggling to make a living (or even struggling to have a side line) as a farmer?
Certainly from a marketing point of view, it behooves every producer to buy into the current hype, but when it comes down to day to day, how far can you really go?

We (my wife and I) live in a rural area and farmers are my neighbors (I am currently living an interesting life having to breathe in the wonderful aroma of liguid manure being dispursed over the fields of the neighboring field..no grudges...but it's difficult to breath and food doesn't taste quite the same!)

We are also a huge fans of a neighboring farm store that supplys us with any number for fresh grown produce not to mention that they are also one of the few real cider mills left in the area. We cherish them!

They strive to be organic and to provide "locally grown" produce (some comes from as much as a hnudred miles away). But they are there for us and are involved in local farmers markets as well as CSA. That's what we like.

As for "going green", it's too funny to even think about, but they have been "green" from the beginning. They are farmers.

What do y'all think about this article?

heirloom27 — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:17:28 GMT

Saw this in the New Haven Independent....

It was an unintentional but friendly battle of the lawnmowers, two houses apart on Livingston Street on a sparkling, birdsong-filled spring day.
On one lawn was Dave Taddei, with his helper and his $100,000 worth of equipment — ride-on mowers, trimmers, blowers, rakes.
On the other was Natalie Coe, with her 30-pound non-motorized reel mower and a bag for collecting the sticks — even tiny ones — that can stop a mower like that cold.
The two happened to be mowing lawns in East Rock at the same time Wednesday, with two very different sets of machinery.

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/05/mowing_green.php