Hopefully, I'm figuring out how to turn a profit between growing vegetables, berries, selling my lovely chickens' eggs and eventually, selling mohair products from our goats. Oh, and the hay we grow. We don't make money on the hay, but it feeds the goats and the horses and it doesn't cost much to mow it since I share it with the farmer who mows and bales it for us, so it is really a very valuable product for us.
It looks like a ton of stuff, but I think it is possible. I also think that in today's crappy economic environment, I need to be very diverse in what our little farm produces. And I'm also selling my photos and notecards on-line and I will be selling my pottery at the farmers' market this year, also.
Obviously, I need to be much better at organizing myself. Otherwise, I get myself into a tizzy about what to do next.
This time of year, I'm trying to get the ground prepared for planting, I'm starting seeds indoors and today, I hope to set up part of the garage as a mini-growing area for seeds - I have some old shelving units and some florescent bulb fixture I hope to set up with a plastic sheet covering it enough to keep the humidity in the area. I think I'll have to take photos so you can get my drift!!
It is raining today, I'll be working in the garage getting seeds started and working on throwing some pots. I really like to listen to the radio while doing that kinda stuff, but it is Sunday, and there is nothing talk-related to listen to, so I'll have to find some agreeable music.
It looks like a ton of stuff, but I think it is possible. I also think that in today's crappy economic environment, I need to be very diverse in what our little farm produces. And I'm also selling my photos and notecards on-line and I will be selling my pottery at the farmers' market this year, also.
Obviously, I need to be much better at organizing myself. Otherwise, I get myself into a tizzy about what to do next.
This time of year, I'm trying to get the ground prepared for planting, I'm starting seeds indoors and today, I hope to set up part of the garage as a mini-growing area for seeds - I have some old shelving units and some florescent bulb fixture I hope to set up with a plastic sheet covering it enough to keep the humidity in the area. I think I'll have to take photos so you can get my drift!!
It is raining today, I'll be working in the garage getting seeds started and working on throwing some pots. I really like to listen to the radio while doing that kinda stuff, but it is Sunday, and there is nothing talk-related to listen to, so I'll have to find some agreeable music.
Heh, I doesn’t take all that much hay to get a ton of it!
I invested in some small peat moss pots this year and I’m using them as starter pots. They work well…once the seeds sprout and the plant is big enough just plant pot and all!
We have a small garden going…I figure we can raise enough pole beans, okra, and blackeyed peas to last til I get a fall garden producing,,,and the blackeyed peas should make enough to can and last us the winter months.
I also have a bed of red potatoes and some sweetcorn as well as of course tomatoes and green peppers and strawberries.
Beth,
A couple of questions for you:
Do you have your own machinery, does a neighbor have it, or do you hire someone to plant it for you?
What does it involve to prep a field for planting hay?
How do you know exactly when to plant it?
Thanks,
BBB
We have Brome Hay. It’s a good feed for horses, goats and cows. Brome is a perennial grass, so once it has been planted, it comes back year after year.
So we don’t have to plant it at all. We do fertilize it, though, and our farmer friend, Rodney Parsons, does that for us. I pay for 1/2 the fertilizer he pays for the other half and does not charge me for the actual work.
Rodney also bales the hay for me. He gets 1/2 and I get 1/2, it is a great deal for both of us, as Rodney has a lot of cattle to feed, and 1/2 of my hay crop is more than enough to feed my 2 horses, my 5 Angora goats and the 6 visiting horses who live here over the winter.
I still have about 120 square bales in the old barn in case of emergency, and 3 round bales for the horse pasture.
Mind you, I don’t buy any horses that are not “easy keepers”. That means, no thoroughbreds, no Arabians, no Gaited horses.
Now, I do have a tractor, a mid-size one. I have a 3 point mower for it, a landscape box, a hay spike, a rake and for our Ranger, I have a drag harrow.
But at this point, it makes no sense to purchase a bailer.
Beth,
Thank you for educating a city (beach) boy.
BBB
Beth,
Just wanted to wish you a happy birthday and congratulations on your first grandchild!! I am envious.
Jim