Square Bale Forks

In terms of cost, straw-bale buildings end up about the same per square foot as conventional buildings. Of the two barns on our hobby farm, the granary had been a distant cousin to our dairy barn.

If you purchase at the beginning of the planting season, you can condition them in a two-week period. Bales of hay can also be used for this type of garden, but are more prone to sprouting weeds.freestar.queue.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-300x250-ATF-1");...

Spread 1/2 cup of nitrogen-rich fertilizer such as 15-10-10 over the top of the bale. A garden you plant in hay will require constant weeding. Locate the bale where the plants will receive at least six hours of sunlight every day.Drive a metal stake into...

Check the temperature of the bales on the 11th day. Water the bales daily for three days to keep them damp, thereby encouraging the decomposition process.Sprinkle half a cup of blood meal on each bale and water it in each day for days four through six,...

Only so many bales can be produced per hour, and even when they're off the fields, they still need to be stored in a weather-protected area. Stock Up on Spare Parts Baling hay is hard on machinery too, and sometimes things just break or wear out.

Potatoes provide important protein, vitamins and minerals, and can be grown in any climate and at any altitude. Hay can be used also, if straw is unavailable.Cut the seed potatoes, but be sure there are three to five eyes on each piece.

Great for turning your compost pile or moving loose materials. (the strapped handle connection is considered the strongest handle connection available.) Great for breaking up the toughest of soils, double digging and if needed, digging up root crops.These...

Fill one planter with this mixture and another with pure potting soil. Mix them all together, then mix this with potting soil in a 2-to-1 ratio. If you are planning to use the compost for landscaping, this won't be a problem, but these herbicides affect...

If talking about the building itself, then I would say that the ability of the bale walls to be shaped and sculpted is my favorite part. In 2004, we launchedStrawBale.com and started offering both our instructional DVD series and hands-on workshops.

They Fit Anywhere As long you have an outdoor location that gets more than six hours of direct sunlight, you can grow a hay bale garden. The good news is that your hay bale garden still has significant value if you maintain any in-ground crops.

When using a digging fork to dig up plants, you can use it in combination with a spade, using the digging fork to loosen up the soil around the plants and roots, then completing the task with a spade.

(Keep in mind, the straw-bale walls will sag, lose stability and appear unkempt in the process.) Select Compost Bin Material In addition to straw bales, such as pea, wheat and oat straws, you can use hay and alfalfa bales for your compost bin walls.

Hand forks are designed for times when you want to work close to the ground. These have varying numbers of tines, usually with blunt ends designed not to damage the potatoes.All of the above forks are used while standing upright.

If storing small square bales, stack the bottom layer on their sides with the strings facing sideways instead of up. Unless you have enough livestock to polish off a bale in two to three days, this isn't the best option.

The New Holland 66 cost a mere $1,850 (the 77 model ran nearly $2,500). Nearly all of the hay produced in North America is baled, but this wasn't always the case. It was the forerunner of the neat, small balers we highlight here.

How are they good for dogs? Using his ranching connections, Bain inspired Scrappy Pet , a local, sustainable pet treat. Scrappy also contributes to a sustainable food economy in other ways: A significant amount of the meat we purchase can't be sold through...

It also makes excellent winter mulch. As the name suggests, this is a method of gardening that allows you to grow plants in bales of straw instead of growing directly in the soil.The first question to answer is, why?

If nitrogen, potassium or potash is needed it is added prior to planting such as manure. If square baling, it is recommended to connect a wagon to the back of the baler to catch the bales coming off the baler.

Much of their food supply came from hunting, and in their growing knowledge of the woods they found wild ginseng, a lucrative cash crop.To combat the wild ginseng shortage, several states (ME, VA, TN and NC) have started programs to encourage woods-grown...

You can also make your own by rolling newspaper into a tube.: Growing parsnips in toilet paper rolls is not an ideal way to prevent them from developing forked roots. Since parsnip seeds may have low germination rates, one option is to pre-germinate seeds...

Cattle and sheep generally will steer clear of moldy portions of hay, pushing it aside and trampling it. Consider building a sacrifice lot for this purpose. There are a number of ways that you can feed hay to your livestock, including these four ways...

The U of M Extension provides horse nutrition information on their website . Adding to the complexities of horse feeding is the fact that most horses have differing dietary needs, she notes.

It picks up a 33.4-inch swath and puts up 19.7- by 27.5-inch bales weighing 40 to 130 pounds. Star round balers create 20- by 28-inch bales, work with 18- to 30-horsepower tractors, and come in twine- and net-wrap models.

This article first appeared in the January/February 2013 issue of Hobby Farms. Plan ahead with this forage-stocking plan. Feeding hay on the ground will result in higher losses and waste of these scarce resources; it can also have negative health effects.

We decided geese sound pretty cool, but the way Imbir' laughed when he remembered Mom's Minnesota gander chasing her down, I don't think we'll be getting geese anytime soon. Mom shaded her eyes with her hand and watched them go.

For plowing, I recommend looking for broadforks with tines coming straight down from the bar as opposed to coming out of the back and then down. It is a slow and laborious process if you plan to harvest a lot this way, but it's great to have a broadfork...

Many have a rough hair coat, salivate excessively and experience multiple reproductive problems. They also produce less milk and have higher internal body temperatures and respiration rates.