Life on the Farm

[bjrogg]

I did a little work on a Osage I had started last year. It’s a beautiful stave that Arvin sent me.

I found out one thing. I’m not in as good of shape as I was last winter. I had a struggle getting it strung.

Good to have a bow in the vice again.

Bjrogg

[Parnell]

Hi Brian,

Was listening to episode 20 of the Bear Grease podcast about soil health and it’s affects and effects, etc.  it’s a good one.  But, I’ve found that all the episodes are great.  Anyhow, it made me think of this thread and your lifestyle.

Be curious to hear about what types of approaches you are interested in and practice regarding soil management and what that encompasses up in Michigan.

Cheers,

Parnell

[Pat B]

Looks like farming ain't just planting seeds. You have to be a jack of all trades and hardly get paid for most of it.
My hat is off to all farmers. 

[bjrogg]

Yes there certainly is Pat. I wear so many hats that it never gets boring.

Steve I hope you follow along and I think you we see my ideas about soil health. I’m big on it and just like a person’s health it isn’t just one thing that keeps it healthy. It’s a lot of little things.

Just like people soils are different to. Some are more healthy to start with and some take more maintenance.

I could do a whole thread on the subject.

A few things I’m big on.

Cover crops. A crop we grow besides our actual crop. Sometimes before, sometimes after, sometimes both and sometimes even during. We do it to hold soil in place. Slow erosion. Build organic mater. And improve soil structure.

Controlling traffic patterns.
Helps keep compaction to confined areas. We also use track tractors and carts instead of wheels to have a lighter footprint. We try very hard to avoid driving or tilling our ground when it’s wet and more able to pack. Kinda like a snowball. If snow is cold and “dry” you can’t pack it. It just crumbles. Same with dirt. If it wet it can be made into a mud ball.

Tile and drainage.
I don’t think anything we have done in my lifetime has helped our soil health more than under ground drainage tile. I really allows us to do all the other things we need to do to have soil health. It helps keep the plants from drowning like the holes in the bottom of a potted plant. Maybe not as good but it sure helps. It make it possible most years to plant, harvest and till the ground when it’s not to wet. When it is to wet it usually at least allows us to harvest the crop.

Nutrition.
Just like people’s health the soil depends on it to. We have to feed the soil and the microbes living in it. We feed it with cover crops, manure, Biosolids and conventional fertilizers. Right now we are applying Class A Biosolids. It is a highly refined product made from human waste. It’s not the most convenient product I’ve ever used, but it works and both my soil, crops and cover crops seem to really like it. Kinda like Matt Damon on the Martian but not nearly as stinky or messy.

There’s a bunch of other things that go along with the program, but I think if you keep watching you’ll pick up a bunch of them.

Was going to say what we’ve been doing, but running out of time now. I’ll save it for another time.

Thanks for the questions and comments

Bjrogg

[Marc St Louis]

Coldest night this winter.



It was cold but 30 years ago this would have been an average cold night, back then it was common to have temps at least 10 degrees colder

[Pat B]

That temp is 30 degs colder than out 20deg(F) here this morning.

[bjrogg]

Yup it’s a bit nippy out there last night Marc. But you definitely have us beat. That’s okay with me though. I’m not sure how low we got but it was -4f before I went to bed last night. Was sure glad my wife had extra blankets on and half the bed warmed up.lol I was like a reptile attracted to the heat.

Yeah definitely remember some cold winters , but it creeps into my bones more now.

The cold weather has been good for our spreading Biosolids operation. A lot of the Biosolids from Detroit go across the bridge to our good Canadian neighbors. When the boarder closes we are suddenly moved up in the schedule and we received 8 doubles loads of product late last week. Went right to work spreading it with good conditions. Still have about two loads to spread, but we got a heck of a pile spread. Was actually good timing for us.

We did get the last wiring harness for the planter and I think I have the planter side of it installed correctly. Need to route it to the front of planter now and then to tractor. Sounds simple, but you have to realize that this planter folds up for transport. It uses that space very efficiently and doesn’t provide a lot of extra space to route wire harness’s and hydraulic hoses. We are hoping not to have to route harness as it was originally installed. I’m afraid it won’t fit with the connectors on unless we pull all the hydraulic hose out, install wire harness and then reinstall hydraulic hoses. We are hoping to run a PVC pipe over top of the brace that the original wires and hoses were routed through, but now we aren’t so sure it going to work. We’ll figure something out though.


Bjrogg

[bjrogg]

Still spreading

[Parnell]

Good pictures!  I see the track setup on your tractor.  I’m appreciating the work put into the management of the soil more than ever, learning more about it.  It’s a fascinating subject and I can imagine being very passionate in it’s stewardship.

You can bet I’ll be watching.

[Marc St Louis]

Yes that is a pretty good setup.  Tracks certainly seem the way to go

I remember when I was young my grandmother getting her wheel tractor stuck in the mud, it was not a pretty sight

[bjrogg]

There are advantages and disadvantages to both wheels and tracks. I like tracks for most jobs I do. They have a much lighter footprint. They are more expensive to maintain though.

Well after fixing a water problem at home I worked at the planter again. I took the planter outside and folded it in and out. I wanted to see if our plans would work.

The first picture is planter folded out. The wires and hose originally were routed inside the braces that run from front to back at 45degree angles. It’s the only way to route them as this length won’t change. The center framework telescopes so its length changes that doesn’t work for running wires and hoses.
Bjrogg

[bjrogg]

Next picture is showing how center frame is telescoping out, becoming longer and folding the outsides of the planter inward

Bjrogg

[bjrogg]

Thought I had picture of it folded completely but must have deleted it.

Next picture is showing our conduit temporarily mounted on the 45 degree braces

Bjrogg

[bjrogg]

And here’s the part we were worried about. The “ hooks” That come around and hook over the center frame to lift everything up are squishing our conduit ever so slightly. I think it will work.

Bjrogg

[bjrogg]

I finished running the wire harness to the front of planter and hook it up to tractor.

Now I have to reprogram all my planter information. I setup both the rate controller and planter display so they now have 3 vrd motors instead of two and assign them their proper rows.

I’m having trouble though. My display isn’t seeing my individual rows information. I’m not sure what the answer to my problem is but it’s not going to get fixed tonight. I’m kinda hoping I just need to have the seed star box reprogrammed. Might have to get someone from Deere to do that. Hopefully I can get some answers tomorrow.

Bjrogg