Sprinkler System Manufacturers

The arrival of spring also means the arrival of troublesome wet ground and mud puddles. All you need are a few digging tools, such as a spade or digging shovel and perhaps a digging bar for tougher ground.

If you raise farm animals on your property and consider flies a pesky nuisance in the natural order of things, prepare yourself for the onslaught. Spray repellent, fly masks and leg wraps help reduce contact but are not a solution.

Before one considers setting up a farm in the wilderness, several considerations need to be addressed No two sites are quite alike when devising a farmscaping plan. Compacted soil does not drain as well, it can restrict root growth and it doesn't allow...

Scotch Pine: which holds on to its bright-green needles even when dry. Virginia Pine: Another popular southern Christmas tree species, its branches are compact and stout, and in nature, the trees are a nesting site for woodpeckers.

Depending on your personality and farming style, an agricultural cooperative can be an empowering way to grow your farm or make it run more efficiently, while sharing some of the challenges with like-minded farmers.

Furthermore, the weight of tilling machines compacts those particles, making soil pores even smaller and, therefore, less able to receive and hold water. They use lighter-weight equipment and avoid working the fields when too much moisture is present.

Twine should be snug and spaced 6 to 10 inches apart. Don't arrange them in a row with the twine sides touching, creating a water-absorbing valley between bales. Keep the hay away from trucks, machinery, or any type of heat source and fire accelerants,...

Traditionally, farmers kept woodlots for timber and firewood supplies, for use as fencing materials, or for producing other products, such as maple syrup. Here, we offer ideas to help you step into the woods with a keen eye for opportunities.

Clover , like alfalfa, is a common pasture legume, though it's considered superior in nutrition—there's a reason for the old adage, “Happy as pigs in clover.” Of all the clover varieties available, lardino—a white clover up to four times larger...

“Some years we make money, some years we don't,” says Nat, who in addition to farming, is a sous-chef at a local gourmet market that specializes in locally sourced foods. “The most important thing is pond maintenance” says Nat, “the animals...

To wrap your head around the construction of an aquaculture pond, use the diagram below to jog the pond-construction thought process. Use this visual diagram of an aquaculture pond to consider the best way to build your operation.

Pasturing is a common complexity demanding careful monitoring of open, tended land—and it requires lots of land in order to serve both pigs and soil. And because we have so much more woods than pasture, silvopasturing is a major component of the way...

Radishes Radishes might be the perfect intercrop. As for cut lettuce, this is a crop that we've found does well with long-season onions, leeks and green onions. Usually, this is well-thought-out and in our garden plan, but sometimes these intercrops are...

Some crops will be in the field for more than one season. Number each plot so you can refer to it easily. You'll use succession cropping—planting one crop family after another in the same space—to use your plot throughout the year.

To them, the farm is a living, breathing organism that both nourishes and completes us. If you take Steiner's lectures as the foundation, a very complete, beautiful picture emerges.” He's been a Biodynamic farmer since 1983 and believes that in order...

These areas are not meant for everyday livestock keeping by any means, but your farm's overall forage profile will be better off when you have the ability to give pastures a break now and then.

“We had to have a way to maximize the return off the land,” George Owens says. Before these trees are harvested, salable firewood and other byproducts of routine pruning offer short-term income.

When running a business, however, detailed planning and record-keeping can mean the difference between success and failure. “The plan describes what your major weeds, pest problems and diseases are, and what you'll do to handle them.

Ask around to see what people want.” Taking your manure to the landfill is an option, but it's a bad one. The goal of stockpiling is to hold the manure in a convenient place, not manage the pile to maximize nutrients and reduce pathogens.

It's doing what it should do, and it's good that we've left it alone, because we're not the only ones that need to benefit from what comes from the garden. Sherry Maddock runs 4th Street Farm, a rich and diverse urban farm in Lexington, Ky. She has mulched,...

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2014 issue of Hobby Farms. The State of the Birds 2013 , a joint report on the status of birds and bird habitats on private lands for 2013, says that grasslands cover 358 million acres of the U.S., and...

Of course, I don't mean that your animals shouldn't drink secondary water sources or from streams. It doesn't often get thought of or labeled as a nutrient, but it most certainly is.

Focus on seeding warm-weather grasses (C3 species) in one pasture during the waning days of winter to establish a grass crop for cows to enjoy during the summer months. You can have your cool pasture on this side and warm pasture over here.” My wife...

Monitor Horse Health smerikal/Flickr Healthy horses are, of course, the main goal for a horse-farm manager. Horses are expensive to maintain and farms are expensive to maintain, therefore, there tends to be little money left over for the people managing...

Garden Netting This material comes in different widths and lengths you can cut to suit your needs, and most types are made of durable, ­reusable plastic. For example, cucumbers, peas and pole beans only require lightweight support, while pumpkins, gourds,...

Your first horses should be experienced horses. There are many events across the country throughout the summer, such as the Horse Progress Days , where you can talk to other farmers or maybe even get some hands-on training.

Many of us farmers traded our day jobs for time on the farm because we didn't like the idea of getting stuck behind a desk, staring at a computer screen. A picture is worth a thousand words, but it could also be worth thousands of dollars if it helps...