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real world experience with organic and non-organic methods

flaja — Mon, 07 May 2012 10:12:33 GMT

My mother’s mother came from a North Carolina farm family; her ancestors have been farming in America for almost 300 years. Her family’s farm was not organic any time since the petro-chemical industry took over farming following the end of World War II. My father’s parents were farmers when he was born and my earliest memories are of me looking for cucumbers in my grandmother’s garden. Her garden was never organic either.

I planted my first garden in 1981 and I didn’t start using organic methods until the mid-1990s. But once I adopted organic and square foot gardening methods I found that I produced more food in less space and with smaller inputs of time, labor and money than I ever did when I was using conventional methods. I have told people this onlne and nobody, not even organic growers, believes me. And when I point out that my personal experience tells me that the production costs of using organic methods do not justify the outrageous prices charged for organic food organic growers jump down my throat and act like I must be working for Monsanto.

So I am asking if anyone here has used both non-organic and organic methods? Does your experience with organic methods match mine? I only want input from people who have actual hands-on experience using both methods. I am not interested in what you’ve read or what you’ve been told or what you’ve seen on the net about how hard organic farmers have it or how much they have to work or how little they can produce compared to conventional farmers because I have read, been told and seen the same things and my personal experience- and common sense- tell me that it is all lies.

Acorn flour

britboy — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:58:22 GMT

Has anyone had any experience making and using Acorn flour?

Farm tours

countrycowgirl — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:11:30 GMT

Does anyone know how to set up farm tours? Do I really have to have insurance? I've had my aunt's summer camp come every year, and I had a history camp come over once as well. I've worked hard to get my farm to look like it does now, and I would love to be able to share it with others. Especially for people who have never been to a farm before.

Chicken ailment?

timothy1 — Fri, 04 May 2012 07:41:12 GMT

Hello, hoping to get any ideas on a whitish/grey dry discharge on the vent of some of our 1 year old chickens, no problems w/ the 2 year olds. Thanks, Tim

Bill of Sale for animals

cweick — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:26:02 GMT

Where do you go to get your bill of sale or ideals on how to make you own?

Looking for a bill of sale for an exposed gilt.

Thanks in advance.

Animal products for a CSA

flaja — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:19:32 GMT

Has anyone here with a CSA farm ever offered things like eggs, honey, chickens or tilapia/catfish?

Slogens that made you stop and think

cweick — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:22:18 GMT

P2 and Seany were at the Tangi Dairy and Beef show this past weekend, one of the vendors was selling ice chest with anything monogrammed on it for a price...of course. Eating lunch with P2 and Hubby I glanced over and there was an ice chest that said it all....."Raising Kids and Calves."

Of course kids could of been the two or four legged kind. But in our family it would be the two legged kind.

The gate keeper had a hugh smile on his face when he'd overheard me telling P2 and Seany....good luck two and four legged, get out there and do your best.

Start up loan?

DVB Acres — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 06:21:57 GMT

Hi - I am looking to buy a "better" tractor - and I'm looking for some advice. I currently have a 1954 Case 411 with an eagle hitch and a trip bucket. I've found that the Eagle hitch isn't compatable with the 5' tiller that I purchased recently and it's too late to return the tiller. Long story short, I'm looking for some guidance. Am I better off buying a used tractor since they seem to last forever or should I buy new? Dealers are giving great incentives on financing, but I can get alot more for my $ if I buy used. Are ag lenders the way to go for used tractors? Would I apply for a farm start-up loan? Has anyone been through this before that could help me? I'm starting a berry farm and have been buying equipment, plants, etc out of pocket. I'd like to kick-start my efforts and am not quite sure what my next step should be.

Kid Goats (5)

Juanita — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 13:16:52 GMT

I am extremely new to farming, animals, well every thing to do with a farm. I have 5 kid goats (all are 21-24 days old). They have been sick since they have arrived to my farm. One (nubian) has a runny nose, the other 4 have coccidia and have been treated for it. The 4 were all debudded on 4/16 and the 2 bucks were also castrated same day. Four of the kids have sore mouth or Orf. All kids were given LA 200 on Sunday, Tuesday,and Thursday. Some of them still have diarrhea. I need some advice: should I give them all the vaccine for sore mouth? Is there any thing else I should do? When should I deworm them? (how and what to use) They are just starting to nibble on grain and hay (very,very little). When do I give them minerals and salt lick? Any advice and time frames of doing things/care is greatly appreciated.

Marketing your Farm Product

Community Moderator — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:18:03 GMT

The Hobby Farms editors are planning an upcoming feature on marketing your farm product. We'd like to know if you have any questions on marketing for your farm or any related farm-business questions you'd like to ask a business expert.

Please post your questions here on this thread and we'll update you all on when this feature will be coming to HobbyFarms.com.

What to do about a farmhouse. . .

BirchCreekBliss — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 19:58:47 GMT

I live on the Husband's family's 100+ yr old dairy farm. Right now we just have a manufactured home on the active part of the farm (and by on, I mean I look out my front door at the milking parlor). This next spring we're going to be switching houses with Husband's grandma - who right now lives in the original homestead house - parts of which are also 100+ years old.
It need major renovation. We're pretty much going to have to gut the entire thing as there is no insulation and a lot of things need updating. I only have pictures of what the outside looked like (which is pretty much the same as it is now), but none of the inside. I'm needing ideas as to how to update w/o modernizing - get what I'm saying?
I want to keep the old farmhouse feel, but be able to update appliances and the like. I know there's hardwood floors in many of the rooms - those are definitely coming back out! And the "wood"paneling and 7 layers of watermarked farm scenery wallpaper is coming off pronto.
What do you think about farmhouse exterior colors? This one is the traditional white w/ black shutters - but it looks more 70's than 1870's because the front porch rotted and they replaced it with a concrete floor and metal railing.
Another biggie is that we have two small boys (will be 2 & 4 soon) and will also have a newborn when we move in. What can I do to protect them from lead paint/mold/ lord-know-what'll come out of those walls? We may be able to start on the upstairs this winter since Grandma only goes up there to clean, but we'll still have to do the downstairs after we've moved in so there's no way to totally escape the dust/fumes.
Any ideas/info/websites you could think of for inspiration I'd truly appreciate. I'm already on pinterest.com, but that only gets me so far and there's a lot of digging involved there.

Rural Emergency Notification Survey

wavingfish — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:17:44 GMT

Hi,

I'm doing some research to develop a rural emergency notification system and I need input from folks who, like me, live in a rural area especially if you are served by a volunteer fire department. I've created a brief online survey (only seven questions) and would really grateful to anyone who would fill it out. You can find it here: http://tinyurl.com/7u7pzap

If you are interested in the idea, I've made a one minute YouTube video that illustrates how such a system would work. The video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz8yEcY_Rqo

Thanks in advance for your help.

Tom (a.k.a. wavingfish)

Cluster Flies

AriesBC — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:41:32 GMT

Now that the snow has melted away and the sun is warming things up, flies have appeared and taken over! There were a few in one room upstairs and did a bit of reading about flies that come inside in the fall. I figured I was taken care of the flies with some heavy duty Raid. We also have ladybugs, but they aren't a problem to me.

OMG! Our white stucco house turns literally black with these flies. Yesterday was a warmer day and the yard behind our house felt like it was vibrating due to the thousands and thousands of flies. Now, yes, I do expect flies being that this whole area is farm territory. Neighbors across the street have many horses. What is happening here though is out of control. I know we have to go around this whole house and seal up cervices, etc so they don't come back in. But is there anything we can do about outside? It's almost scary there are so many. I have never witnessed anything like this.

Other than an exterminator or pesticide/chemical treatment, would having some ducks or other poultry type animals help? Are we stuck with this invasion? And then, is starting to add animals to our little farm going to make it worse? I will make some phone calls to someone, but thought I'd throw the question out here and see what you all suggest. (sell up and find another place! lol)

Smart Pill?

cweick — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 06:51:44 GMT

P2, Pa-Pa and I were out on the mule last night checking on the cows that should be due. Pa-Pa said something that got me thinking. As we talked about the cows he'd told use...."well sometimes you got to take two smart pills before you deal with a cow in labot." Okay the best got me and I asked him what the is a smart pill. P2 pipes up "you don't know?" and I said "NO."

It's a hard perpermint candy (smart pill).

By the time you are on your second one you should know whether or not you need to go in and pull a calf.

So keep those smart pills in your pocket while waiting on the crew to deliver.

rewards never make it and points get stolen?

prettypalfrey — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 08:08:38 GMT

Has anyone else noticed that their rewards have been taken but no item recieved? I ordered a poster for my daughter years ago. Surprise never came. Then no one responded.

To top it all off instead of letting me use my twenty thousand points they took them away. What is the deal. I love hobby farms but am dissapointed. I wonder if it is because I am canadian that the items didn't get sent. but the loss of points that took so long to earn. Oh well what can I do.

Still love the site and the magazines just can't use the rewards.

Reintroducing Myself

Melody — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 07:34:10 GMT

Hi all! I've been poking my head in here for about 2 years, but haven't posted since last April John and I have 5 acres in NE IL, and raise most of our own meat (pork, poultry, lamb, goat and occasional beef) and an organic veggie garden. We also have 2 horses and chickens. John is a software quality engineer and I am a retired homeschool teacher who dabbles in teaching outside the home, running our crazy, mixed-up life and is the one who ends up taking all the blame. My plan is to start dropping in more regularly, so that I can pick your brains!

Non-producing maple trees

Douggifford — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:56:12 GMT

Maple syrup season is almost at hand, and I have a question for those of you who are veteran maple syrupers. What do you do when you have an unproductive tap? And, why are there unproductive taps? I always wonder if I've just tapped a bad spot on the tree, or if the tree is bad. But the tree has to have sap or it will die. And I'm not talking about old or hollow trees, I'm talking about healthy looking trees anywhere from a foot to three feet in diameter. In the past when I've gotten an unproductive tap I've just stuck with it and hoped for the best. This year I'm tempted to seal the hole with a dowel and try another location. Any advice?

Need Ideas

kmw — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 17:05:42 GMT

One of the families that lives near me has an autistic child that likes to escape the house undetected. So far nothing bad has happened, the boy has only crossed the road to watch the horses.

The mom just sent a group e-mail to all who live in the area about the escape artist and is asking for ideas on how to keep him in. So far he has figured out every lock they have placed on doors, as well as how to unplug a door alarm they currently have.

I suggested an alarm with a proximity sensor that mounts up in the upper corner of the door. Hopefully out of sight and reach of the boy.

Anybody with any experience with this sort of thing, or any ideas?

Thanks for the help, Kevin

Got my land!!!!

Skyfire — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:23:16 GMT

I finally found land to buy to start my farm! We had being looking in WY for it and the winter set in here in AZ and hubby was complaing about the cold and I started laughing at him and told him if you think its cold here then there is no way your going to be happy in Wy. So I started lookin here in AZ. I found 37.1 acres about 4-5 hours drive NE of Tucson. Very nice area. Really cheap! Even better! We took a drive up and looked at it! Perfect!. Middle of nowhere no cc&rs no HOAS! AG land. Water only 100ft down! We ran over and put an offer on the property! Its just land now but land we can do anything we want with it! We will be moving to the area when school is out. So we can work on setting up the property. All the kids are excited that they get to show just about any animal they want for 4-H. 2 have requested bulls!!!!!!!!! Ok going to really have to think long and hard on that one! I don't think I want 2 bulls on the property. lol. Its going to be a learning experiance for some of us. But it will be fun and rewarding!

Maybe its time to start my farm blog! Wish us luck. Low income going to mean slow going for our farm!

Grant money

freespirit — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:48:30 GMT

Hello everyone,

I have a question. I was wondering if anyone knew if there is grant money to buy farmland,farms. Or money to assist in buying a farm. I am very interested in getting a small farm. Please let me know what you find out. Thank you all so much.

Sun Safety

HFfriend — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:41:50 GMT

What tips do you have for being smart about sun safety?

It might be hard to think about in the middle of winter, but if you send us a tip, your response could be included in the May/June 2012 issue of Hobby Farm Home magazine.

New farm must have and 1st year goals

sjnewfarmer — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:14:42 GMT

This is my second post here and I was wondering what are some must have items on your farm? I am especially looking for information for new 1st year farmers. We are planning on planting 5 acres of veggies that we are going to sell at a farmers stand and some local farmers markets. We are also looking to add some chickens sometime this spring. We have very little to no experience with either other than some hobby gardening when I was younger.

Our number 1 goal for the first year is to try to break even on our expenses. I know this is going to be hard especially due to the amount of equipment and start up costs but I think we can do it. Does anyone else set yearly goals for their farms?

Neat finds around the house/yard.

sjnewfarmer — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:11:29 GMT

Well when we moved in to our house there was a large amount of ivy along the side and back wall of the house near the kitchen bump out. We decided that we wanted to tear it all out and put in some raised flower beds this spring so I finished tearing up all of the ivy today and found a nice suprise under the vines and soil. I found a old slate sidewalk that goes from the side door around to the back door. This completes the slate walk that goes from the front porch to the side door. Guess we won't be doing the raised flower beds but I think that once I get the walk all the way cleared and cleaned up it will really tie that whole side of the house together. Here are some before and after pictures.

Before:

After: Still have to remove the stump but it should be pretty nice afterwards.

Has anyone else found some neat things while working your property? I am interested to hear any stories.

Farm size

Westwood Willy — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:07:29 GMT

Just curious what size farm everyone has.

New Farmer and New to the Forum

sjnewfarmer — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:02:50 GMT

Hello everyone. My name is George, I have a wonderful wife and 5 children (just found out soon to be six) from southern New Jersey. I work for a small career fire department and I am the Assistant Chief of my local volunteer fire house. This will be my first year starting a farm. My father always had a decent size garden growing up and that kind of led me into wanting to start a farm. This past October my wife and I were able to purchase an old farm house on 10 acres so we are hoping to have things up and running by the spring. I am sure I will be looking for some information that i hope I will be able to get help from here. Just wanted to introduce myself and say hi.

Your Weather

cweick — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:54:21 GMT

Okay, mustardgreens like went down the toilet so to speak. Tried FIVE times to plant it did not get a crop. Wanting to plant sweet peas, but it was 70 degrees over the weekend for P2's Parish Show..... Is anyone else having a warming trend at their place?

ATV / Utv Mower

nailbender — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:03:58 GMT

Any suggestions from users of towed mowers? TSC carries a Swisher rough cut mower that does not have a electric clutch but is reasonably priced. The DR mower looks about the same except it has an electric clutch and cost over a $k more.

Either one would do the job I have but I am not sure which one to purchase. I really need some recommendations from current users.

Funny Farm Disasters.........(sigh)

tukie — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:53:14 GMT

What are your funniest farm disasters? We are newish to the farming/ranching and have had many, manymanymanymany, disasters....most of them funny and harmless....it is one of the ways we learned. This was our first attempt at raising chickens: I have recorded our fiascos so the boys will remember one day...or as my oldest states, "How will we ever forget?" True story....

At that time, both of my boys were picky eaters. Neither would eat leftovers, so our fridge was usually filled with bowls of un-identifiable bits and pieces.

Chore time in our house is to be avoided at all costs….The chicken bucket is where we scrape everything that is left on the plates or left too long in the fridge for human consumption. On this morning, my youngest went to empty the chicken-bucket, but it was already empty. Knowing he had to find something, he went to the fridge to see if anything was scratching at the door to be let out. He found several likely bowls, emptied them into the chicken bucket, and went out to feed the chickens.

About an hour later, my oldest son wandered into the house, munching on an apple. “Chickens are dead,” he said calmly. I peered out the back door to see limp feathered bodies scattered around the yard. Three obviously ill chickens were still alive. One was staggering around making strange noises, while another lay on the ground with a glazed look in its eyes. One was spinning in circles with wings outstretched. Within minutes, all of these chickens lay motionless as well. I walked over and poked at a limp body with a stick a couple of times. No movement-no signs of violence.

I figured the boys had finally fed them something that had killed them. This was really bad, because I loved my chickens.

I knew we couldn’t eat them, but I figured I would pluck them and use the feathers for something. I have always wanted feather pillows. I didn’t want to scald them as wet feathers stink to high heaven. I got the boys and we sat down and plucked dead chickens placing their feathers in a bag, leaving their bodies under a tree until I could dispose of them. (I didn’t realize at the time you only use the down of geese, not feathers of chickens.) I ran out of garbage bags, so the boys and I hopped in the truck to go buy some more. One thing led to another, and by the time we got home it was late.

I went into the house to put bags away, when the oldest sauntered into the kitchen and started foraging through sacks of food. “Chickens are alive again.” he said, face buried in a bag. I stared out the back window to see eight naked, shivering chickens…two pecking half-heartedly in the garden, the rest squinting and staggering around extremely carefully. I went to find my youngest to see what he had fed the chickens that morning. It turns out we had a big bowl of corn niblets that had gone “fizzy” and a half a bottle of fermented apple juice. The chickens hadn’t been sick, they were drunk…and apparently had really bad hangovers.

Until their feathers grew back, people would drive past the house slowly, mouths gaping, staring wide-eyed at my naked flock… but they would swerve wildly, almost taking out the neighbor’s bushes…once the chickens got their sweaters…

Guns on the Farm

Drawbar — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:21:48 GMT

I don't have a gun here at the farm, but after running after a rifle to put down a Donkey and then a Ram, I'm thinking it may be about time. Just curious what would be a good all around gun. Something to toss lead at a coyote, turkey, or deer, and of course the most common use...to euthanize a sheep.

In the latter regard, a sheep has a very hard skull (hence the name ram) and so its got to be able to drive a bullet into their brains for a quick kill. I was just curious as to what people thought works good.

Irrigation water source.

Westwood Willy — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:58:07 GMT

Hey there, I live in Kentucky and I have a creek on my land in which I own both sides of it. Is there any issues with using water from the creek. My farm is close enough to the city to have sewer and the bill is based on my water bill. If I use the water from the house then my sewer bill will be too high. If you know of any issues let me know. Thanks for any help.

Southeast District Livestock Poster Contest

cweick — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:10:12 GMT

P2 received his letter yesterday about him placing 1st in Division I and now it's off to State.

GOOD LUCK P2!

Hobby Farms Rewards

Adobbins — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:56:33 GMT

I redeemed 62,500 points a while back for a book but have never received it. How do I check up on the status of this redemption?

Who has a farm blog?

HopscotchDandy — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 18:21:14 GMT

Do you have a farm related blog?

List it here!!

I'm a farmgirl at heart!

http://hopscotchdandelions.blogspot.com/

Your Farm: Hidden Surprises?

Plowpoint — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 11:25:00 GMT

Have you ever been walking on your little farm and suddenly came across an area that you have not seen before, or at the least, looked at in such a way?

Today I was out for a jaunt and dropped down into a little ravine. It was not very big, and located on the boundary of the farm, I have no need to go there. The wood is inaccessible really, as it is too steep to log off, so I have never really paid much attention to the area. I mean I knew a little stream ran through it, but just pretty much avoided the area. Today I dropped down into the ravine and was surprised by its simple beauty. I snapped a picture of it while I was there just so you could see what I saw. But the question still remains, have you ever discovered something about your farm long after being established there?

HobbyFarms.com Will be Down Today at 8pm PT

Community Moderator — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:15:37 GMT

The HobbyFarms.com website and forum will be down for about 30 minutes tonight starting at 8pm Pacific Time for a scheduled maintenance update.

Ceramic Chicken

kmw — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 20:50:05 GMT

Merry Christmas all. Hope everyone got all they wanted this year. One of the things I got this year was a ceramic chicken. Was not really a Christmas gift, but a keep sake from my grandmother who had to be moved to an assisted living home this summer.

This chicken fits in the palm of my hand, maybe a bit bigger than a softball. It has 4 holes in the top at the back end, and a small bowl molded into the neck. The bowl is painted to look like the rest of the chicken.

Want to know what the holes and the littlle bowl are for. There has to be a purpose for them. If some one can tell me how to post a pic. here I'll give it a try, otherwise p.m. me your email and I'll send you a pic that way.

Thanks, Kevin

Farm Resolutions

HFfriend — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:35:12 GMT

Do you have any farm-related New Year's resolutions to share?

Plowpoint ??

Farmermom — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:12:16 GMT

Was that your church that I just heard on the news burned?

If so I'm very sorry to hear this. A terrible loss for the whole congregation.

Dear Anonymous

Community Moderator — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:28:00 GMT

Dear Anonymous,

I received your PM however I am unable to PM you back because you were signed in as "Anonymous" when you sent me the PM. I would be very happy to help you out with the subscription issue.

Please send me an email at ChannelAbuse@bowtieinc.com. Please be sure to include any information (email addresses, mailing address information) that you think would be helpful to me in locating your subscription information.

I will also be able to put you in touch with our Online Subscription Services rep.

Kind Regards,
Crystal Apilado
Web Community Coordinator
BowTie Inc., HobbyFarms.com

Our honest view at starting a farm

Glory Downs Farm — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:32:26 GMT

Hello!!! Here is my farm blog! Its an honest and humble view of farming. I am originally from MA and my husband is from MD. We bought a 9 acre lot(which is alot of land in this part of MD)with an old farm house that needed alot of tlc. We farm chickens, and bees and have a rehabbed red fox! Check out our adventures- they happen daily!!!

http://glorydownsfarm.blogspot.com/