Beginning lesson #21 starting up your farm (retreat)

**RICHFL** · 09-20-2012, 10:53 AM

BEGINNING LESSON #21 STARTING UP YOUR FARM (RETREAT)

You can choose from this list as you desire. Not everyone will need all of this:
This lesson is about general information about the 2 many things that happen on a farm.

1. Raising, and caring for farm animals.

A. Animals also require their own types of food plans: I will cover each type of animal in different lessons.

BEES

Bees are kept in boxes stacked in piles; 25 boxes should be sufficient Inside the boxes are frames on which the bees make their honey. Frames are made with a foundation of wax impressed on both sides with a pattern of honeybee cells. Bees use this pattern to build their cells. The hives are protected with heavy plastic during the winter. Beeing season begins when the trees and flowers start to bloom in spring.

The colony of bees, can be up to 60,000 bees, but there is only one queen bed. To take care of the bees, a bee suit is required, a coverall which fastens at the wrists and ankles tightly. A hat is worn over the head with a heavy veil. A zipper on the bottom of the veil connects to a zipper at the top of the coverall suit. Leather gloves are also worn. A bee sting kit should be handy in case of allergy to bee venom.

When the hive is opened, it is heavily smoked with burning twine which makes a heavy but cool smoke. This makes the bees load up on honey which makes it harder for them to sting. A hive tool is used to loosen the seal the bees made between the frames and the box. A healthy hive needs to be fed with syrup dripped down into the hive through small holes. If the frames are empty, a new queen is needed immediately or there will be no honey during the summer. Queen bees can be ordered from a supplier of bee equipment. A record must be kept of each box, detailing what is being done and what is needed. New queen bees arrive in a small cage with worker bees. The queen cage is sealed with a piece of candy. It takes about 3 days for the bees to eat the candy and release the new queen. The bees will be used to her by then and take care of her.

When hives are being combined, a sheet of newspaper is put between the cages. They will eat through the newspaper and by that time, they will know each other well enough not to kill each other. Bees work only inside the hive during the first 20 days of their life. Then they begin to forage. They produce only 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey during the 6 weeks they live. Many new bees must be produced during this time to take over his place. A bees makes about 10 round trips from the hive in one day.Bees travel no more than about 1/2 mile from the hive. Dandelions are usually the first flower visited by bees in the spring. Sweet white clover and alfalfa make excellent honey. Clover honey and orange blossom honey is light in color and mild flavored.Honey from things such as buckwheat would be dark and strong tasting. When a colony swarms, about half of the hive leaves, taking the old queen with them. The hive will swarm if it is too crowded - in one season with good care - 9 hives can turn into 56 hives. Queen cells will be made at the bottom of the frames.

A new hive or swarm needs a new queen bee. Royal jelly produced by the bees are fed to the queen cells which turn a regular bee into a queen. To prevent swarming, remove the cells with the new queen bees developing, or add an empty hive body with a sheet of newspaper between, or divide the hive into two hives. This is not foolproof but worth trying. A swarmed hive makes no money that year. The bees need a place to store their honey, so you put the 'Supers' (Boxes) on top of the original, and keep stacking the Supers on top as long as the bees keep making the honey. A stack may have as many as 5 Supers on top, but nine Supers is not unusual. To prevent the queen from entering the Supers, a queen excluder which is a piece of plastic with small holes that only the worker bees fit through. This is placed on top of the hive separating the queen from the Supers with small holes that she won't fit through.

A BEE FRAME: is removed to begin honey processing when the Super is 3/4 full of capped honey cells. When you remove the frames from a hive, you also remove the bees clinging to them. To remove a whole Super, you must use bee repellent. A bad smelling chemical which repels bees - called 'Bee go'. You place the chemical face down on a fume board over the Super which drives the bees down into the next Super down into the hive. The the Super can be removed, just by brushing away the last few remaining bees. You must cover up the honey filled Supers to keep bees from other hives from coming over and stealing the honey. They are attracted by the sweet smell. Once bees become robbers, they will invade other bee hives to take the honey.

THE HONEY HOUSE: The honey house has large glass windows and a concrete floor. Along the walls the Supers are stacked. In the honey house, honey is taken from the frames and put into glass jars.

EXTRACTING: First the caps must be cut off the cells using an electrically charged knife. The frame is propped over a decapping tank. (If there is no electricity, you will have to improvise with a regular knife by hand) The wax caps fall down into the tank along with the honey. Not all of the honey falls out however, which must be put into a machine called a honey extractor. The barrel shaped machine has a rack that holds 12 frames. The machine spins like a washing machine tub. The rapid spinning pulls the honey from the cells and throws it against the walls of the extractor. The honey runs down and collects at the bottom where it is withdrawn out through a spigot into buckets. Filters over the buckets catch bits of wax which is not wanted in the honey jars.

AUTUMN CHORES: Check the coverings on the hives to make sure they are secure. Make new frames for the hives for spring use.

NOTE: This gives you the idea just how hard it is to take care of a simple but needed farm animal>

2. GARDENING: Raising and caring of garden/crops.

a. COLD FRAME/HOT BEDS

By means of hot beds, plants of desired flower and vegetable varieties may be started weeks or even months before they can be sown outdoors. One may start their own seedlings rather than relying on other sources for seedlings or potted plants. Thus, one can start one's own seed in the hotbed, priced-out in cold-frames, inured to the weather 'hardened off' and when outdoor conditions are favorable, transplanted to the garden.

By starting hardy perennials and biennials several weeks before outdoor sowing would be safe the plants may be often be made to bloom during the first season instead of having to wait until the second year. Similarly, cuttings of many perennials, roses, and other flowering subjects may be started in a hotbed and advanced by the same stages to the open ground.

The cold-frame alone may likewise be used for slower rooting varieties. Risks of starting tender subjects too early or too late outdoors may be avoided. When seed of such varieties is sown too early in the open weather may be so cold and wet, it may decay or the seedlings may be nipped by a tardy spring frost, when too late, the plants may meet unfavorable summer conditions develop poorly and perhaps be destroyed by an autumn frost before they have reached their desired development. This is of special application to growing cantaloupes, cucumbers, watermelons, tomato, eggplant, pepper, dahlia, canna, and geranium.

Even when not growing plants, cold-frames are used for extending the ripening season of tomatoes that would otherwise be spoiled by an early fall frost. The fruits that show pink may be gathered when falling temperatures threatens damage, placed on deep layers of straw in the frames and covered with sash whenever the weather is wet or cold. The rate of ripening may be accelerated to a week or so by keeping the sash on the frames during the day, thus raising the temperature, or it may be delayed by leaving them off whenever the weather will permit without risk or frost-bite. Thus the tomato season may be extended to Thanksgiving day or even later.
Standard hotbed frames are made in 3' x 6' and 6' x 12' foot sections.

For a cold-frame, no excavation is usually made, for a hotbed, the area to be excavated should be at least 6' wider and longer than the frame so there may be plenty of space for the foundation. This may be made of stone, brick, concrete or 2' planks, preferably 'pecky' cypress, otherwise clear cypress or some other wood that resists decay - locust, chestnut. The foundation should extend a few inches above the surface to increase the longevity of the frame itself. A post is at each corner and at 4' intervals on the sides of all wooden foundation frames.

The depth of excavation will depend upon the climate, it varies with the local frost line. From Maine to Minnesota and northward, 24" to 30" is favored, in south-eastern New York, 18" to 24", near Washington DC, 12". In the south the frame usually rests directly on the ground without excavations or foundation frame.

The only difference between a cold-frame and a hotbed is that heat in the former all comes from the sun. Hotbeds may be heated in several different ways. Fermenting material especially fresh horse manure, is objectionable because of its scarcity, high cost, labor to prepare, short period of usefulness, fumes of fermentation, and the excess of attention to ventilation that beds so heated require. It is inferior to all other means of heating hotbeds.

Electricity has become the most popular source of heat because of its advantages over all other methods, but in the time and period where there may be no electricity available, the cold-frame method will have to be used and heated by the sun. A cold-frame may be converted to a hotbed and vice verse by merely turning a switch off or on. Cold-frames can be kept from freezing by hanging electric cables around the inside walls and turning on the current if electricity is available. Regulation is done by the thermostat which may be set to operate the current at any desired temperature.

Bottom heat should be least costly for seed germination, lights most desirable for rapid growth, especially in cloudy weather. A combination of the two would supply the widest range of adaptability. Lights would be desirable for beds smaller than 6' x 6'. Heating capacity of 200 watts would require 120 feet of cable, a length cumbersome to install in small areas.

b. COMPOSTING:

Compost all kitchen food scraps, cut grass, Leaves, and garden waste.

c. CROPS:

CROPS: HOW TO CHOOSE. crops to grow, area to plant, livestock and how much to keep are problems which demand knowledge of market requirements, conditions and personal usage. When the produce is to be sold, the advantages and disadvantages of various competing regions, knowledge of price trends and the potential production of the individual farm.

Most farm products are supplies by many farmer working independently and competing with one another in the marketplace. Usually the keenest competition does not come from producers, it other districts, but from the neighbors. Each farmer, therefore, should know what these competitors are planning to do. He should use the knowledge supplies by the department of agriculture as to the combination of the various crop and livestock enterprises and economic conditions.

d. SHORT SEASON CROPS ONLY:

1. CORN

A cover crop of hairy vetch will yield 40 bushels of corn per acre, whereas 200 pounds of phosphate fertilizer would only produce a crop of 13.5 bushels per acre. Adding 85 pounds of nitrate soda to the 200 pounds of phosphate would produce only 24 bushels per acre.

Start your own corn breeding by choosing the best 50 or 100 ears of corn you can find in the crib. Be sure they are properly cured specimens of good form and size, well filled out and well rounded on both ends, each one pleasing to the eye. Lay them side by side on a table, critically examine each under a good light in comparison with the others and ruthlessly discard the poorest, the next poorest and so on until only 10 are left. These are to be your nucleus for breeding. Before shelling the grain from the cobs, pick out 10 or 20 individual kernels from the center of each cob Discard the butts and tips of each cob. Do a germination test of these kernels, keeping each cob kernels separated so you know which ones sprouted quickest and sturdiest. The best cob should be used to grow a 'test plot' in a row by itself. During the summer, examine the plants to make sure which row or rows produce the sturdiest plants. Especially determine which plants produce two ears per plant. The ones that produce only leaves or poor cobs, cull out and feed to the cows or make into compost.

At harvest time, cut and cure these test rows by themselves and for the following year, repeat the selection process already described. Use the two ear stalks from the other rows to sow the general field for seed corn. Each year your crop will be more valuable than the year before.

2. HAY /WITH OATS: in grain, hay and other field crop farming, the rent or interest on the land cost may be 50% of the total expense of growing and harvesting. Sweet clover, and Alfalfa is hay

3. OTHER CROPS; include SOYBEANS, OTHER DRY BEANS, POPPY SEED, POP CORN, PEAS, RADISH, LETTUCE, CARROTS, KOHLRABI, PEPPERS, CAULIFLOWER, BRUSSEL SPROUTS, ONIONS,
MELONS, GREEN BEANS, POLE BEANS, TOMATOES, and POTATOES.

POTATOES: Plant various kinds - Not all one kind. Red potatoes are not keepers. Eat them first. For breeding, pick out the best shaped, good sized, shallowest eyed tubers. Cut each tuber in quarters from end to end, but keep each four pieces separate from the others. Plant each piece in a hill by itself. Then kip each fifth hill so as to keep the four pieces of each tuber in consecutive hills. During the summer, treat them all alike, watch for differences of foliage, resistance to disease and other point good and bad, and dig the weaklings for 'new potatoes'. At harvest time, dig each hill carefully by hand and place the tubers from each four hills together for judgment. discard the groups of four that produce unsatisfactorily either as to size, number, irregularity, or other defect. Keep only the best for seed for the following year.

e. CULTIVATION

In cases where cultivation must be done by horse or tractor and the rows must, therefore be spaced farther apart than when the wheel-hoe is used, it is essential as a time saving factor to make the rows long and few rather than short and man, so as to reduce the amount of time turning at the ends. Even so, time may be saved by skipping several rows when making each turning because less time is needed to make a long turn than a short one, especially with a horse or a fast moving, heavy, or long radius tractor.

Should a complete row be likely to produce more of any one vegetable than would be needed, it should be filled with two or more kinds that require the same general cultural treatment. A well balanced farm garden may be arranged to provide a large assortment and continuous supply of vegetables throughout the growing season for use fresh, canned and for winter storage.

Sowing should be made at four different times. This is because of the effects of frost and because seasons vary, some being early, others late in opening. For the latter season, the time between the early sowing should be increased in an early spring and made about the time that the earliest trees, such as silver maple open their buds.

To take advantage of the cool fall weather, a second crop of cool-season vegetables may be grown. Fall garden vegetables do not thrive in warm weather and too early planting will stunt some kinds and cause others to become coarse, woody, or pithy and unfit for use. Crops should be rotated from year to year

The soil may be fall plowed and left rough over winter to catch snow and avoid runoff. Snow fences may be set up to catch snow. Effective snow barriers may be made with a row of corn shocks or even by several rows of standing corn plants.

The function of cultivation with vegetables is to conserve moisture by eliminating weeds, to close up cracks and provide a loose, rough surface which will absorb rainfall and prevent runoff. Deep cultivation destroys many roots, reduces the yield of most vegetables and is unnecessary. Shallow surface cultivation is recommended for all vegetables, especially in un-irrigated soils and in dry seasons.

f. Snow and avoid runoff

Mulching gardens with straw or other litter such as hay or manure is a practical way to increase yields and produce vegetables of the best quality. The benefits are greatest with long-season crops and in dry years. Though straw mulches have increased the yields of nearly all vegetables, their use is not recommended with early short-season crops such as leaf lettuce, peas, spinach, seeded onions, cauliflower, and early cabbage. With root crops such as carrots, beets, and parsnips their use does not appear advantageous and with transplanted onions is of doubtful value. The difficulties of applying straw more than offset the advantage which most of these crops might gain. Straw mulching has been found desirable with all long season crops except sweet corn. Straw should not be applied until the plants are well established. A mulch of 2" to 4" is adequate. Deeper is unnecessary and undesirable. Between 10 and 15 tons of straw are needed for mulching an acre, or about 500 pounds for 2,000 square feet.

At the end of the season, straw mulches should be removed and burned because of the unfavorable effect upon the soil when such a large amount of dry organic matter is plowed under. With potatoes, the straw mulch should be applied before the plants come through the soil. With other crops, such as tomatoes, eggplants, and other transplanted vegetables, before transplanting or after the plants are established, preferable at the latter time.

g. Irrigation

Most vegetable crops can be increased and improved by irrigation. Straw or paper mulches are also useful. Irrigation will be found desirable at some time in practically every season and often in many seasons. Except for hastening seed germination in a dry spring, irrigation is seldom needed before July and not after August. {In dry climates where there is no rain at all after May, use your best judgment as to when to begin and end irrigation]

Needless or excessive irrigation early in the life of the plants might cause the development of shallow root systems. One inch of water, in one rain, or from irrigation should maintain vigorous growth of most vegetables for five to seven days during hot weather, and 10 to 15 days in cooler weather.

h. DRAINAGE:

Un-drained lands are not merely wet but cold and often acid. Because of wetness, they cannot be worked nearly as early in spring as well drained lands, when seed is sown it germinates poorly, unevenly, or not at all; such plants develop roots near the surface and when summer comes they suffer because they cannot then reach water which by that time is at much lower levels. Crops are therefore late, poor and unprofitable.

When land is not naturally well-drained, artificial drainage is a necessity, tile drainage of agricultural lands is a comparatively expensive improvement and the capital expended in drainage work cannot be recalled or transferred, but owing to its permanent nature a properly installed drainage system should continue to return dividends for many years.

All soils not naturally drained require drainage. These are usually cultivated areas with fair surface drainage but with heavy subsoil; heavy clay soils with little or no surface drainage; rolling areas with impervious subsoil areas, large and small, saturated long enough each year to destroy the physical condition of the soil and to interfere with spring seeding and harvesting operations; pot-holes and swamp areas.

Tile may be installed either by hand or by a ditching machine. The latter, when properly operated is quicker, more efficient, and usually more economical.

The grade must be uniform so there will be no depression to collect sediment; a solid bottom is essential - tile laid on muck or other soft material are likely to shift out of alignment and to obstruct the flow of water; stones and other obstructions encountered in the trench must be removed, the holes carefully filled and tamped to give a solid bottom; only the best tile should be used; blinding and back-filling must be carefully done to prevent the breakage of tile by rolling in stones or by horses stepping in the trench; junctions and outlets must be carefully laid and trees likely to block the tile with their roots must be removed.

Tile should be laid as closely together as the cut ends will permit. In heavy clay soils, a little opening is not objectionable, but in sands or sandy loams, it is necessary to fit them closely together. In the latter, it is often desirable to cover the upper half of the tile with tar paper to prevent the sand from entering. Junctions should be carefully constructed in order that no obstruction may offer resistance to the flow of water. A few inches of soil, preferably the surface soil, should be placed over the tile as soon as they are laid to make sure they will not shift by accident. Back-filling should be done as early as possible because soil often becomes baked after a rain or in other ways is hard to move.

Depths and distances apart of drains depend almost entirely upon the nature of the soil. The lighter the soil, the deeper and farther apart; in heavy soil, they must be placed closer together and somewhat shallower.

Quicksand is the worst of problems. Undertake quicksand drainage during the driest part of the season; if possible, after opening the drain into quicksand, leave it until the water drains out of the sand and solidifies and the drain can be more easily completed. In some cases, it is better to remove the last foot or so by hand, as action of the digging wheel seems to provoke the trouble; sod thrown in the trench and around the joints is practical for short distances; straw, sawdust, shavings, gravel and cinders are often used to good advantage, cemented sewer pipe may be found practical in some cases; a silt basin should be constructed on the line of tile as soon as possible after passing through the quicksand area and the deposits of silt removed when necessary.

Tree roots seldom interfere with a drain unless it carries seepage or spring water during the dry season. All trees such as willow, poplar, soft maple, elm, and elder bushes should be removed from the location of the drain. They are likely to clog the tile with roots. Where it is desirable to leave a shade tree, cemented sewer-pipe should be used for at least 50' on each side of the tree position. In orchards and permanent crops, cut-off drains should be installed to remove all seepage water as this has a tendency to feed the tile drain during the summer and thus give trouble by root development in the tile.

The outlet of a drain should be well-protected. The last 8' or 10' should consist of a piece of iron pipe or sewer pipe. A retaining wall may be a necessity, so may be a concrete or stone block to spread the water and prevent it from eroding the earth at the exit. Protection of the mouth to prevent the trampling of cattle and horses is also essential, and so is a grating, preferable hinged or hung from above, to prevent the entrance of small animals.

Tile may be made of clay or concrete. They should have the following characteristics; smoothness inside to reduce friction and promote rapid flow; hardness inside to reduce friction and promote rapid flow; hardness to assure drain-ability; good shipping and handling qualities; good shape-cylindrical - not warped; clean cut ends to assure good fitting; freedom from burnt limestone to prevent breakage due to slaking of the lime.

Do field work- plow - seed - cultivation Run rows north and south wherever possible for more favorable distribution of sunlight.

MAY: First crop of hay - stack outside for outside feeding

JULY: Second crop of hay Cut grain - no shocking - 6 weeks drying

AUGUST: Do threshing

SEPTEMBER: Third crop of hay

WINTER: Put a fresh coat of cow manure on the garden every year. If chicken manure, use very lightly. Horse manure is okay. Sheep manure stinks really bad. Farm land should have 25 tons of manure per acre per year. If commercial fertilizers and frequent green manure or cover crops have been the regular practice, the land should be in good condition.

i. FENCING:

If there are many fences made out of split rails or zig zag fencing, oro fences made out of stones and rocks 10 to 15 feet wide, you are wasting many feet and acres of usable soil better used for production. You can use the rail fences for fire wood. Get rid of the rock fences, since they harbor weeds, insects, and animals that attack crops and annually require labor, time, and expense to cut the gangly growing bushes and trees that start in the. You can make one large field out of an area that is now two small fields. One large field is easier to farm than two small fields.

j. FERTILIZER:

Commercial - Commercial fertilizers are of two classes.
Organic (of vegetable and animal origin)
Inorganic (of mineral origin)

Dried blood, dried fish, and cottonseed meal are all rich in nitrogen, but contain less potash and phosphoric acid. Ground bone is noted for phosphorus, but has less nitrogen and potash. Tank-age has good phosphorus, but less varying nitrogen depending on what it consists of. Nitrogen is the growth maker.

In the presence of sunlight, when supplied with water, plants are able to get all their necessary plant food except nitrogen from the air and soil. Growth, repair, and reproduction are all directly or indirectly dependent on nitrogen. Nitrogen washes out of the soil easily. Therefore it should be applied in frequent doses by small amounts during the first half of the growing season, never late in the growing season because it causes fast sappy growth which freezes when cold weather arrives.

Nitrogen can be supplies from nitrate of soda, and sulfate of ammonia. The former contains 15% nitrogen, and should be applied in small doses every 2 to 4 weeks. The latter contains 20% nitrogen and is less quickly dissolved and less likely to be lost by leaching. It should be used in light soils like sand.

Nitrate of soda tends to make and maintain soils in neutral or alkaline condition - favorable to vegetables and ornamental plants. sulfate of ammonia tends to make soils acid and unfavorable to vegetables, but favorable to blueberries, rhododendrons, and other acid-tolerant plants. The acid condition of this fertilizer may be neutralized by application of wood ashes or lime.

Potash is the fiber maker, often lacking in sandy soils which have grown root crops (turnips, carrots, beets, parsnips, etc.) When deficient, the stems and branches of plants are weak and spindling and easily broken by wind.

Potash is available from wood ashes (4%), muriate of potash (50%) sulfate of potash (45%) and Kainit (12% to 16%) Ashes contain all the mineral elements of the plants burned to make them. In order to be most useful, they must be stored and applied dry. It will not usually be worthwhile to buy them, but use homemade when available.

Muriate of potash is the preferred type because it is not washed out of the soil and applied in very small amounts. It can be applied any time of the year when the ground is not frozen.

Phosphorus is the ripener, causes fruit and seed to ripen well. When lacking in the soil, crops may be slow to mature or may fail altogether. It is usually applied as super-phosphate. Basic (or Thomas) slag or pulverized phosphate rock (floats)

Super-phosphate (acid phosphate) is the leading seller. The objections to it is that it's analysis is only 17% to 20% which is low, and humid weather tends to cake because of its absorption of moisture from the air.

Before applying any fertilizer, it is advisable to know which one is needed and which not; to avoid wasting materials and money.

The simplest way to do this is to divide the garden into strips of at least 10 feet width at right angles to its width and sow only one unmixed fertilizer on each alternate strip, leaving the others unfertilized, then sow crops lengthwise of the garden so as to cross the strips. The development of the plants will suggest what plant foods are lacking in the soil and therefore which ones to apply.

Yellow foliage will indicate shortage of nitrogen. Weak stems (lack of potash), poor ripening fruits and seeds, (lack of phosphorus)

The best time to apply potash and phosphorus acid is shortly before seed is sown or plants transplanted.

Leafy vegetable are generally stimulated by top dressings during chilly, wet spells when the rate of growth is slow. Cucumbers, eggplants, and tomatoes are often helped by an application of nitrate of soda just as the first flower buds develop. Root crops do not respond so strikingly to surface applications, because they forage more deeply in the soil.

Top dressings usually range from 150 to 300 pounds to the acre. the lower amount being applied, generally all at one time, the larger amount in two dressings. Make fractional dressings at 2 week intervals.

A good mix of fertilizer is, the analysis should be published on the package.:
Nitrate of soda - 5%
Sulfate of ammonia - 10%
Dried blood - 15%
Muriate of potash (or sulfate) - 15%
Super-phosphate or ground bone - 55%

It's application should be followed in the vegetable garden by one to three surface dressings of nitrate of soda at intervals of three to four weeks.

Fertilizer must be distributed evenly throughout the garden to avoid burning or killing the plants.

Fertilizer gives best results when placed more or less locally to the seeds or plants rather than scattered promiscuously over the surface.

Just before winter, a few forkfuls of manure or shovelfuls of soil or peat banked around the trunks of exceptionally vigorous peach trees may survive the winter whereas untreated trees may not.

n. GREENHOUSE

One of the most important advantages of buying certain standard stayles and widths is that these are made in sections. Thus a beginner or a person short of money may start with two, or preferably three sections and add others as he gains confidence through experience or as his finances improve.

By using bench and walk widths as a basis of measurement, the greenhouse companies have decided upon standard widths. Among the favorites are 15', 18' and 25'. A standard house 25' long would consist of two sections, each 12 1/2' long. A 50' one of four such secitons or two sections of 25' each.

Such being the case, the beginner may not only avoid making countless mistakes in construction. But knowing that he may make harmonious additions to his first small greenhouse. Whenever possible, the house should face south. A house 15' or 18' wide will prove a better investment than any narrower size. Narrower sizes are harder to operate during changeable weather because of the relatively small volume of air they contain. The air is affected by outdoor temperature and the fluctuations of intermittent sunshine and clouds, to say nothing of wind.

Another advantage of a standard greenhouse is that guesswork is eliminated, especially with heating. The heating requirements of each plant species to be grown is different. The standard green house will keep plants healthy even in blizzards or zero weather.

Adequate ventilation is no less important than heating, for without it, the plants may be 'cooked' even when the weather outside is below freezing. Unless the ventilating system is properly proportioned to the area of roof and the volume of the house it may be inadequate to keep the temperature and the humidity favorable to plant development. Moreover the ventilating apparatus must be constructed so as to be easily operated regardless of outdoor conditions.

o. GREEN MANURES AND COVER CROPS

Green manures are crops grown solely for the improvement of the soil. When sown toward the close of the season, either alone or among other crops as these are approaching maturity they are often called cover crops because they are intended to cover the ground during winter and thus prevent loss of plant food through washing over the surface ('sheet erosion') or by seepage to lower levels and drainage. In the latter case they are always plowed under in early spring before they have made much growth. Otherwise they might become woody they might decay slowly and thus, for a time be a detriment to the soil.

Plants used for green manures are of two classes; nitrogen gatherers, those that work over atmospheric nitrogen from the air in the soil, and nitrogen consumers. Those that cannot perform this function. But use what nitrogenous compounds are already in the soil. The former are generally the most important because they increase the supply of this important element of plant growth. The most expensive to buy and the one most easily lost from the soil.

The principal nitrogen gathering crops are clovers, vetches, peas, cow-peas, and soy beans. The consumer crops are buckwheat, rye, cow-horn, common turnips and dwarf essex rape. Often these crops are sown together to perform both functions at the same time. One favorite combination is rye and winter vetch. Another is buckwheat and crimson clover. Sometimes all four are sowed together in July, after an early vegetable crop has been harvested. Buckwheat plants are killed by the first frost, and winter will kill crimson clover. The vegetable matter these crops develop will be just as good as if alive when turned under. Rye and vetch will probably live through the winter, must be dug or plowed under before they get 8" high or the job will be difficult and the effects may not be as good as if the plants were more succulent.

When fresh or rotted manure is available, it is highly advantageous to apply liberally just before a cover crop or a green manure crop is turned under because the bacteria these contain will help break down the buried plants and thus make their plant food material more quickly available to the succeeding crops.

For best results, the soil temperature should be at least 65 degrees and have moist conditions following plowing under for best decomposition.

Choice of the green manure or cover crop will depend on whether or not an increased supply of nitrates is desired in the soil. For summer sue cow-peas, soy beans, velvet beans, and summer vetch. For fall and winter, use crimson clover, hairy or winter vetch, and Canada field peas.

Sweet clover has notable value as a green manure, especially on heavy soils because of its deep rooting habit and the abundance of its foliage. However if the soil is acid it may fail unless lime or super-phosphate is applied shortly before seeding. Also it may fail if 'un-scarified' (machine scratched) seed is sown late - after the ground has become dry in spring. Such seed gives best results when sown in late fall or on the snow during winter. In these cases, the plants et an earlier start than the weeds which they choke out. Scarified seed cannot be safely used in this way because it germinates too early.

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING!!!!

**RICHFL** · 09-22-2012, 01:23 AM

I will cover most the the farm animals later on giving each its do. What is good about each animal and the problems with handling and keeping them.

Look back into history - go back 150-75 years ago. As we expanded our country most of the first settlers used the same technology that has been used for 1000's of years. animal power to turn the soil, farm hands/family to work the land day after day after day. Even though these people want to succeed, they were for the most part unprepared to run a farm/ranch because of the skills needed. Only 14% were still working their free land after the 2nd year. Only 5-8% were still working the land after 5 years.

When SHTF you must be prepared both mentally and physically with the skills needed to start and to manage your retreat (Hobby Farm). I call it a farm since you will plant crops and raise your farm animals for use by your family. You want to be successful because the opposite is too hard to think about. So learn what you can in the time remaining and take classes in things like black smiting, small engine repair, animal husbandry, even farm management.

The best learning experience I know of is; farms that teach beginners how to run and manage a small farm, with on hands experiences. Most of these will run a weekend to 2 weeks long.