From Here to There.....and Back. #2: The Operation...or how it's supposed to be.

The General Layout

Out of 23 acres, about 9 acres are available for farming or ranching. These 9 acres are a natural pasture consisting of some old alfalfa, clover, general grasses, and various weeds such as goldenrod, ironweed and such. It is surrounded by wooded areas consisting of oak, poplar, cherry, maple, sassafras, and hickory. In addition, there is an ample supply of wild black raspberries, blackberries, and some paw paw.

I have a source for heat, wood and stone building materials, food, pasture for livestock, farming space, etc. My goal is to become as self-sufficient as possible by utilizing these resources over the long term. While I may use resources from what I already have, the long term plan includes adding to what is already here. To date, that includes the addition of a number of trees. Some are simply hard and soft woods and are just supposed to be what they are. I’ve also planted apples, a pear, a peach, and two cherry trees. Other than trees, I’ve planted blueberries, red raspberries, grapes (white and red), and soon to be honeyberries, and medlars. These are intended for long term food production.

Buildings and Other Things to Think About

I’ve recently added a 24’ x 40’ garage/workshop. The barn I have will come down as it is not useable or restorable. However, there are years of cow poop in it. The previous owner ran livestock. Once the barn is removed, this valuable resource will be harvested and combined with other materials to compost and add to the farming areas.

The new shop is not big enough to use for the current operations. Consequently, additional buildings are planned. A storage shed will become a chicken coop. Salvaged sheet metal roofing with create areas attached to the coop for tractor and implement storage. Some of the space previously taken by the barn will be used for hoop houses.

Power and water are not a problem. However they do remind me of ties to the establishment. Active solar is still too expensive. Passive solar is an option, as is wind. I have ideas about how to implement these technologies, but, will wait to see how things pan out. Rain barrels are simple. A roof collects more water than one would think. A pond can cause intervention from the aforementioned establishment, but, there are ways around that.

Primary Power Tools

My operation centers around a 1948 Ford 8N tractor. I got the following essentials for farming:

Two bottom plow. It is a large one. The 8N doesn’t have enough traction to pull it through (without wheel weights). So I removed one share.

Landscape rake. I welded small delta wings to some of the tines. I remove the excess tines when I want to use it as a cultivator.

Potato plow. It was free and seems useful.

Small 3 pt. disc. I converted this to a pull type. When turning it now follows the tractor rather than acting like a rudder and trying to steer it straight.

5’ bush hog and the rest of the conveniences not necessarily related to farming.

This tractor is really not big enough. It works, but, not without a lot of compromises. External hydraulics would be helpful as would more power. Eventually I would like to get something with a front end loader.

Secondary Power Tools

Chipper/shredder. Used for processing materials for compost and mulch.

String trimmer with inter-changable accessories. Mainly, I use the cultivator attachment for getting in between rows after things grow too high to cultivate with the tractor.

Lawn sweeper. Used for collecting grass trimmings for mulch and compost.

Small four wheel wagon. Used with the lawn tractor.

The Rest

Plenty of hand tools. Some I’ve made myself. Some I’ve bought. The main hand tool is the Earthway seeder with all the plates and old Earthway push cultivator.

It’s a long way from the water sources, both well and city. Fortunately, some brilliant engineer decided to lay a 6” water main right up my drive and across the front of the house to parts unknown. I probably have almost 100 lbs of pressure at my hydrant (the house is regulated down to the nominal 45 lbs, of course.) I run several 100’ hoses out to the gardens. Even at that length, I still have a 5/8” open hose stream of 25’ or so. Then I use 10’ PVC pipe with male and female threaded ends to create a hard water line in the garden. These can be laid and taken up as needed very easily. I made some tee taps that can be screwed in anywhere there is a joint. These taps have a hose adapter on them for hooking up a local hose. They can also be rigged with screw-in sprinkler heads. The whole system probably didn’t cost but $70-$80 for about 200’ or so.

What To Do With All This Stuff or what I think I can do

The small garden is around the old silo pad contains the herbs, tomatoes, peppers and such and is easily tended to by hand. The medium garden is about 160’ by 75’ and usually contains the larger more varied crops. The big garden is about 250’ by 100’ and contains popcorn.

All in all, it is quite an investment and gives a lot of perspective as to what is required by the “big” farm operation. In future installments, I will select an area of the operation and detail it. I would expect chapters on the irrigation system, making your own tools, planting strategies, the circular nature of the operation, and processing the harvest.

-- arborial reconfiguration specialist......Zone out....(USA 5)