Types Of Braking System

My grandfather put one in place years ago on this farm, and it kept our driveway clear of puddles for ages. You never know when a piece of rock might chip off and fly toward you. Needless to say, there's going to be some mud! And while mud is an expected...

When you think of perennials, you probably envision flowers rather than flies, yet both appear with the onset of outdoor warmth and moisture. Consider fly management on your farm as a standard chore that lessens in frequency if carried out regularly.

Trees and shrubs can be selected for potential lumber harvest, animal habitat or to attract beneficial insects . A Schedule In Sync With Nature Wilderness farms follow the cycles of nature.

The first decorated Christmas tree was in Riga, Latvia, in 1510, and have only been sold commercially in the United States since about 1850. A Holiday Icon There are close to 15,000 farms growing Christmas trees in the U.S. and more than 100,000 people...

Why Join A Farm Co-op? I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you are not looking to start a commune, but rather looking for a way to extend the power of your own small farm and its resources, so we will focus on the latter.

Not only do they not hold water very well, organic matter decomposes quicker in sandy loam. Granted, building up soil structure through adding organic matter via crop residues, cover crops and topically applied materials is not a fast process, but farmers...

Once opened and exposed to the elements, large round bales start to spoil. When you harvest quality hay , it's dollar-wise to preserve it so it lasts. While small square bales are ideal for ease of feeding, putting them up, is more labor-, time- and cost-intensive...

Soil type influences the plants that can grow. Whether pressing plants for window decorations, including woodland edibles in your family's meals or crafting wreaths with materials gathered from the forest floor, the woods offer possibilities for all interests...

While grass is a valuable supplement to a hog's diet, the only pasture-based crops touted as a potential for full feed replacement in growing out hogs are plants in the legume family, as they provide higher levels of protein, calcium, carotene and essential...

Facing the Challenges of Aquaculture Compared to other more traditional crops, the investment returns can be much higher on a per acre basis. Working in the restaurant world has provided him with an immediate market and there is nothing he enjoys more...

Tags hobby farm To wrap your head around the construction of an aquaculture pond, use the diagram below to jog the pond-construction thought process. If done the right way, freshwater fish farming can be a great value-added opportunity for your hobby...

Persimmons Janet Tarbox/Flickr Pigs love persimmons . In a few years, we hope to notice our pigs a bit fatter, a touch sweeter and much less expensive to raise. Young seedlings can even be transplanted with success, and taking a permaculture-preservation...

Head lettuce is nice because generally you are transplanting it into a row with maybe 30 days or so left until it's ready to harvest. Turnips Turnip greens are larger than radish greens, so we use this crop strategically, as it will block out sunlight...

Group Crops Now comes the tricky part: deciding what you want to plant this year. Here's his outline that you can put to work on your own farm. “Practice crop rotation,” you're told time and again by fellow farmers, magazine articles and extension...

The evolution of Biodynamic farming began with a series of lectures by Dr. Rudolf Steiner in Germany in 1924. The nine preparations—numbered 500 to 508—used in Biodynamic agriculture are derived from herbal and mineral sources meant to aid organic-matter...

Can I easily pick manure from the footing material? Once you have a sacrifice area constructed and you establish a plan for using it during very wet or very dry seasons, you should see positive changes to your pastures and forage health.

For these reason, Mack Evans of Jakin, Ga., integrated silvo­pastures on his farm. “Questions about maintaining the diversity of the plant community still exist,” Straight says.

At that point, we needed to be sure we had a paper trail proving that our ground was organic, that the seed we bought to plant was organic, and that no chemicals or unapproved products were being used on our farm.

Sometimes gravel in a packed pad works well, or stone dust is used. A single horse creates 50 pounds of waste per day; a beef cow up to 92 pounds; a feeder pig 9½ pounds; a sheep 4 pounds; and a laying hen 1/4 pound, according to the Midwest Plan Service's...

You don't need any special tools or a professional horticulture education to save seeds and breed your own specialized varieties. Some great plants for attracting, feeding and sheltering beneficial insects year-round include: goldenrods coreopsis black-eyed...

Here are a few ways to promote grassland bird habitat on your farm without hampering your farm's production. Mow Rotationally To reduce grassland-bird mortality, mow fields and pastures outside of nesting season, which runs from April to August for most...

Use Water Troughs For Water Only Don't use water buckets or troughs for anything other than water. I've found the easiest and most effective way is with a hard-bristled brush, some dish soap and a hose.

(It's a joke only in the loosest sense—the humor lies in the fact that, nine times out of 10, this is exactly where he is.) I'd had a few conversations with the cows on the farm bordering my grandparents' land when I was growing up; I knew they were...

If you manage a small-acreage horse farm where boarders take on “self care”—daily care of their own horses—you might primarily be responsible for farm and facility maintenance but little feeding or stall cleaning.

This innovative, highly productive way of growing uses bottom-up or top-down supports that allow you to grow in small and large spaces. While residential vertical gardening has been around for decades, it's just been in the past few years that hobby farmers...

It's great for field work and riding or showing. Tractors only really ever depreciate in value, whereas a horse can be bred and produce a foal every year. However, here are some things we do know about the cost of keeping draft animals that you should...

“These records should include fertilizer, pest-control use, and application rates.” Wolfe recommends using a livestock summary to help maintain an accurate account of the number of livestock on the farm.