August 28, 2007 link
Continuing a series of posts this year where I've presented my strangely old-fashioned viewpoints, here's a great article I found today that argues for replacing tractors with horses on small farms.
But don't be fooled into thinking this is some arcane topic that only farmers should be interested in. Using horses for work-related tasks is actually much smarter than it might sound to the typical urban consumer. Peep some quotes from the article:
A dozen years before I was born in 1933, the United States was the most self-sufficient of all industrial nations. Given the variety and abundance of our natural resources, it’s hard to think of a single item truly critical to the national well-being that we did not or could not produce within our own borders. We had coal for steam, and rural America was powered mostly by its 26 million horses and mules, while another 2 million worked in the cities. But to deliver our energy we had chosen the internal combustion engine. Now, eighty-some years later, we are fighting a war to keep that engine running.
...
Today, there seems to be a solid resistance to acknowledging animal power as a serious topic even for light conversation. It goes like this. You’re enjoying drinks among friends of like political persuasion who share your dismay at how consumerism, corporate greed, runaway technology—all that stuff—are ravaging the environment and heating up the planet. All agree that oil and the internal combustion engine are principal agents in this catastrophe, so you suggest that a partial return to animal power, in agriculture at least, might—just possibly—take some of the pressure off. Your friends fidget and avert their eyes, then change the subject.
...
The essential point is that they draw their energy from the surroundings, or at least from within the nation—not from Saudi Arabia or Nigeria. Once used, energy from fossil fuel is lost forever for all practical purposes, but the horse returns to its surroundings raw materials for future energy. The manure, and its critical value in maintaining soil fertility, is one of the chief reasons given by the Amish for clinging to their horse power. Completing this cycle of life, and the argument for live power, are the babies. This power unit replaces itself. If you don’t need the colt yourself at weaning time (five or six months), you can sell it to someone who does.
August 27, 2007 link
Blogging took a back seat this summer to other priorities, like makin’ dough. But I still found time to grow
a small garden, which was very productive in comparison to the work required. It was a good value.
Here's what I grew:
- Peppers: Three sweet plants and one hot plant. For some reason, they failed. I only got two bell peppers. Some of the plants didn't bear any fruit whatsoever. Weird.
- Strawberries: Got a few little berries this Spring. Recently, the plants have been sending out shoots and spreading themselves all over the place. If they survive the winter, I should have a bunch of random strawberry plants scattered around the garden patch.
- Eggplant: I planted one plant, which spread like crazy and continues to bear gigantic eggplants. I don't think I'll grow eggplant again. Too many fruits, and I'm sick of eating them.
- Tomatoes: Oh, baby! I planted 5 plants, which was twice as many as I really needed. On the good side, I've been enjoying the most juicy heirloom tomatoes ever. I followed my usual procedure of tying the vines to 5 foot vertical stakes, which ended when all the vines grew about 10 feet tall.
- Green Beans: I had some good vines going, until they got invaded by the tomato vines. Still, I've had plenty of green bean meals this summer.
- Collards: I always grow plenty of these. This year, they've been frequented by yellow jackets, who stop by to drink from the water pools that collect in their giant leaves. I probably haven't eaten as many collard greens as I would, since they are literally swarmed with yellow jackets on sunny days. I'll wait until the cooler days of Fall to start picking the collards in earnest.
- Lettuce and Chard: It was a great year for lettuce.
- Radishes: Not the best year for radishes. They turned woody pretty quickly.
- Rosemary, Thyme, Chives: I grew these in pots to bring inside for the winter.
