Pasture planting time

October is our month to plant the cover for the pasture. This year we filled up about 4 acres so far. 2 are already planted in a non irrigated pasture mix. With Oct ending today and rain heading in this week,  it is time to finish. we had another couple of acres ready to plant, do this afternoon we headed out.
Our plan is to plant grazing mix for the sheep , horses, and turkeys. Then for the hogs plant an acre or two of variety. Today it was peas and oats.
Prior to this we worked on making a good seed bed in as much area as we could get moisture into. Using sprinklers on long houses I saturated the ground, moving the sprinklers every couple days. Once enough moisture was in the soil, we rolls up the subsoil as drop as possible... About 1 to 2 feet. that broke up the to layers of hard pan.
This was followed with rototilling. I bought a used 5 foot italian made pto tiller. That did wonders to chop up the clods and prepares the soil. It took a half dozen passes but finally became plant able  soil.
last step was today.. Using a spreader behind the tractor to the seeds. I was amazed that the little book was right...at a set speed, a set rpm, a set seed drop opening, it predicted the application rates accurately. Almost perfectly!
as a last step we dragged a 5 foot chain harrow being the gator to cover the seeds. Brenda actually did this step with baby on lap!
Now we wait... For just enough rain before it gets too cold.
Oh...I should mention.. I broke the disc AGAIN! we just replaced all the bolts with hardened ones and adjusted it. today while flattening some of the sheep pasture I noticed the axle was bent. Trip of the disc had worked lost. But that not when I quite... I quite using it right after I bumped into old turkey roost... And tore through one of the bolt mounts.
Oh well...  Important thing is we have half planted. More if it rains this week.. Perhaps we can plow through the rest of it and plant before the big rains come.

Soy and corn free feed!

We have finally decided what to do in the near term about a base fed that is soy free and sometimes corn free. We are testing done feed from a mill in Washington that looks very promising. More news to come on this.
If this works out, we will have feed available for sale, shipping free, in the southern  Oregon area.  This includes:
Chicken layer and starter
Hog grower
Turkey grower
The nil offers more types, but these are the ones we would carry locally.
This feed is cracked, not pulverized and posed into pellets nor crumbles. We feel this is more natural, healthier, and nutritious. It is totally soy free, the chicken feed is also corn free, and it contains organically grown grains. (although not certified organic). It also contains done unique grains not commonly found in fed, but add for extra benefit.
If you would like to test this feed with us,  just call or email. We have 40 pound bags available for sale now.
So far I am impressed with the feed.
This does not mean we have given up on our journey to create our own feed, just a temporary solution. ultimately we wish to use only heirloom grains grown organically, in a property mix. That is more difficult than we imagined, but still working on it. until we figure this out, the nutrition in this feed far exceeds any other available in our parts.
We will also continue to supplement the hogs with  soaked and sprouted heirloom grains.

Processed first jacob sheep

Of our first jacob sheep are on their easy to the butcher shop. We finally picked out all but one of the new males and called the farm kill guy.
The first set came on about 30 lbs hanging weight each.
Next time perhaps we will do the processing ourselves. 
I HAVE TO SAY... Our farm hand, Trevor, did a fabulous job today. He wrestled those sheep down like a professional wrestling match. It was awesome to watch!

only organic farming can feed the world

I ran across this great article about the grand experiment pitting organic against conventional farming, asking which is ultimately the easy to feed the world. The winner? You guessed it..organic.read through the article then look below for a couple thoughts.

12 Reasons Why Organic Agriculture CAN Feed the World — Real Food Forager

One thing this article lacks to mention is perhaps one of the most compelling reasons why only organic farming can feed the world... Death. People sure from conventional farming. It is not immediate...it us not like poisoning... But through malnutrition people die. Sound extreme? Consider how many health conditions.. Many fatal... Area positively affected by eating certain foods. I contend that if a hark problem can be lessened by consuming more good FOOD... Then the ultimate cause of that health condition us malnutrition. We simply aren't reading enough good food to prevent disease. Out is a known fact the proudly grown organic foods contain more nutrition than conventional grown foods. Organic are much more nutrient dense to the point that it is impossible to consume enough conventionally grown foods to reach the nutrient levels of organic. So....it files that consuming only conventional foods virtually guarantees malnutrition, thereby causing the conditions caused by lsch of enough good good. Bottom line.. Conventional farming kills people. Why its this so? Simple... Conventional farming is based on the simplistic principle that plants only need 3 elements to grow. It focuses on bulk, not content. So conventional farming drains the soil, throws the system if plant and soil out of balance, creates plants devoid of content, and thereby encourages natures police to destroy the sickly plants (insects). In response to the nature police, the conventional farmer doses the plant and ground with poison to further complicate the failure. Bottom line... conventional farming creates plants that nature tries to eliminate for being too bad to survive, so the farmer lives in a constant battle to keep sickly plants producing against the wisdom of nature. And... The effects are long term.. Requiring years to clean up the hazardous waste dump called farms. In contrast.. Organic farming.. What is known as deep organic farming... Works with nature, focusing on fertility and nutritional content, long term health of soil, plant, and man. Organic farming feeds the soil instead of poisoning it. organic food lowers health care costs and death over the long run through fighting malnutrition. Sad conclusion is this... American farming methods today have put america in the leader of malnutrition. It is hidden under lots of labels, but truth us most of our common health problems can be lessened or eliminated but nutrition, and only organic farming produces that nutrition. So yes... Organic farming alone can fed the world.

Chicks in the egg mobile

The chicks arrived friday morning as expected. Fortunately we were ready! Even though we only started looking for a trailer last friday...it was finished enough to put the babies on upon arrival. 4 heat lights provided just enough heat for the 225 birds, 3 waterers, 3 feeders, and a inch our do of home made shavings, and they are in!
All chicks arrived alive, which is surprising considering they were shipped from texas, even by saturday we had only lost one. These suxxos  birds seem quite sturdy!
I hung an old tarp to cover the vent window until they are older. The nesting boxes will be added to the support when up get time. Altogether I am amazed...we built that in less than a week!