Far Better Farmstead

"A scythe is great for your back but very hard on your patience" - Patrick at Far Better Farmstead      It all started when it rained 80 inches this summer. Yes, I said 80 inches! Needless to say, I didn't get to put up much hay with my scythe and rake. I did do one good cutting, but should have got 2 or 3 and even the one cutting didn't cover the whole field. As much as I like the scythe, I started wanting a quicker way to cut a small amount of hay.  My fantasy rig is my old 600 Ford tractor with a sickle bar, rake, and old square baler. I sold the 600 several years ago and have regretted it every since. My second fantasy was a BCS or Grillo walk behind tarctor. You can get a sickle for them and many other implements as well. Both options are out of reach of our budget right now, so that's why I call them fantasies rather than options! As I searched around the web, I found out that Sears used to sell a walk-behind tractor called the David Bradley. ...

I have been wanting to build one of Herrick Kimball's Whizbang Garden Totes (see page 37 of his awesome new book for instructions). However, this time of year we have so much to do that I haven't had time. The girls to have some nice metal baskets for their bicycles and these make a great home-sized garden totes. I use two of them at a time, harvesting into one and then washing into the other. The grating is small enough to catch all the small stuff, but large enough to easily let out the dirt if you place it directly under the garden hose. (Our red pontiacs are starting to get big!) This idea was shared on the Homestead Barn Hop #117 .

A temperature controller is a very handy device on the homestead. We use them to control our heating system, hot water heater, crock pot (for yogurt), greenhouse fan, and maybe other things that I have forgotten. They are easy to make and can be programmed for heating or cooling. I have used Honeywell brand thermostats for these, but my favorite is the Ranco ETC. You can buy these on ebay for around $50 - search for Ranco ETC. NOTE: If you attempt this project, you assume all risks and rewards of both the electrical hazard and and control hazards that may occur. In other words - don't come running to us if you fry yourself or your aquarium fish building or using this controller! On the other hand if you solve one of the world's great problems with one of these - we aren't going to ask you for anything either!

We raised our first crop of meat chickens this summer. 21 Cornish X Rocks from Welp Hatchery made it to 8 weeks of age out of the 25 shipped. These birds grow fast - I mean really fast! We kept them on pasture for the last 4 weeks of their lives, but they still managed to wolf down 7 bags of feed in 8 weeks time overall. I hope to raise a little corn to offset some of the feed next year, and  we plan on raising 3 sets for a total of 75 meat chickens. Anyway, I (Dad) want to share with you our slaughter set up so you can see how simple it can be. No actual slaughter will be shown so you can comfortably show this post to anyone. First, you see our Chicken Tractor. It is made from split 1x6, PVC, and lots of chicken wire and gorilla glue.

     As summer has turned into fall I am reminded that winter is just around the corner.  I think about the winters past and I remember one word,  COLD.  Do you ever remember a time when it was about 20 degrees outside and the power went out?  I do.  Cold, that is the only thing I can say.  When you get cold to the bones and all you can do is shiver, nothing seems to warm you except a nice hot fire.      Blessed we are that we have a nice fire place in the middle of our living room.  The only way it could be better is if a fire would start itself.  Now that would be something!  Since that's not going to happen, it is often up to me to start a fire since the power usually goes out when hubby is at work.  They did not teach fire starting at the school I attended and probably not the one you went to either.  Fortunately for me, my mom and dad heated with wood so I have had a little experience.

We don't have a big barn to store hay in and we want to make better use of the small shed that we do have. Looking around the internet I found a neat little hay storage solution at  this site . That site ( One Scythe Revolution ) got me to thinking seriously about buying a scythe since we don't have a hay mower and only use a small amount of hay. Anyway, here's how to make my version of Botan Anderson's hay rack:

     Okay, I am going to admit that I really don't enjoy cleaning house.  I love the house when it is clean and everything smells fresh but actually doing the work is one of my least favorite things to do.  I would rather be outside with the children or with the animals.  I don't even mind weeding the flower beds and the garden and mowing the grass can be quiet meditating.  So amazingly enough I have cleaned several windows today.  What, you may ask, ever inspired me to do such a thing like that?  After all, that is housework.      It really was a combination of things.  First, the front door had so many hand prints on it that I thought my vision was going blurry.  It had to be cleaned and I couldn't put it off another day.  Next, I made my own window cleaner!  Yep, that's right! I made it all by myself with things I had here at home.      I guess your wondering why I would ever make my own ...