Homesteading and Hobby Farm/Ranch

Burns

Burns

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For the hobby/small farm size: This guy tested a few different fly traps and found fly paper wrapped around drums/bins to still be best and cheapest. He even made a cheap movable cart so he can keep it close to the where the cattle are:

 
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Sanrith Descartes

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Blazin said:
Started seeding last week and like to get a pic while everything is actually clean. I do clean equipment during the season but when I put it away for winter I like it to be like new kind of clean. All maintenance stuff done on tractor/zero turn etc. , as much as I like spring can suck thinking about how many hours of mowing sometimes.

Went through a lot of hay this winter so glad to see the alfalfa is off to a pretty good start.
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That is some serious white supremacy you got going on in that pic. Where are all the homeless people and immigrants at? You could be housing thousands of socio-economically challenged people on your homestead.
 
Blazin

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Sanrith Descartes said:
That is some serious white supremacy you got going on in that pic. Where are all the homeless people and immigrants at? You could be housing thousands of socio-economically challenged people on your homestead.
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tons of space for them several feet down
 
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Foler

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Blazin said:
Started seeding last week and like to get a pic while everything is actually clean. I do clean equipment during the season but when I put it away for winter I like it to be like new kind of clean. All maintenance stuff done on tractor/zero turn etc. , as much as I like spring can suck thinking about how many hours of mowing sometimes.

Went through a lot of hay this winter so glad to see the alfalfa is off to a pretty good start.
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That’s one mighty clean tractor you got there B… How do you clean it? Seems like many advise not to pressure wash.
 
Blazin

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Foler said:
That’s one mighty clean tractor you got there B… How do you clean it? Seems like many advise not to pressure wash.
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Many are stupid. Pressure wash but I use a spray nozzle , soap water sponge . Just important to regrease when done. Storing equipment with mud and rotting plant matter is horrible on metal.
 
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Foler

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Blazin said:
Many are stupid. Pressure wash but I use a spray nozzle , soap water sponge . Just important to regrease when done. Storing equipment with mud and rotting plant matter is horrible on metal.
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Iirc Messicks had a good video on washing. For cleaning the grease zerks - do you degrease around them and grease points then regrease? It’s super dirty around my zerks. Tractor needs a good cleaning…
 
Sludig

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BrutulTM said:
Flies are tough. Especially in a small area where you can't move the cattle away from their own feces which is where flies lay eggs. Ivermectin is mainly for internal parasites but I've heard it can help with flies as well. Oilers and dust bags are kind of old fashioned. We used them when I was a kid but I haven't seen anyone using them in decades so I'm guessing they weren't too effective.

What I see people doing these days is using insecticide ear tags or giving them mineral supplements with insect growth regulator (IGR) in it. You can also get mineral with garlic powder which is supposed to help with flies if you want something more natural.

Fly traps and giant sheets of fly paper by the water tank can help as well I've heard. Moving the herd daily is supposed to help too but obviously that's not going to be an option for you.

If you use the ear tags, you're supposed to rotate the tags you use with different active ingredients or they can develop resistance over time. I've tried a lot of this stuff and it's hard to tell how well any of it works so ymmv. Some individual animals also get flies worse than others for some reason.
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Ya, many id just done the iver for worm purposes but got to see how they react poorly. Saw the ear tags, but didn't want to buy a gun and i don't have chutes. The block and loose mineral i mentioned where the ones with regulator. Also share the field with goats though they generally don't have much fly issues

I think i want to build a stall into their shed shelter to try and be able to bait one in at a time and close a gate locking them in to medicate or milk. Need to evaluate of my wall will hold up or kinda make a stronger box than just cattle panels.

Certainly limited not wanting to spend a fortune as a wage slave hobby farmer so jury rigging is the name of the day.
 
Sludig

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Blazin said:
Many are stupid. Pressure wash but I use a spray nozzle , soap water sponge . Just important to regrease when done. Storing equipment with mud and rotting plant matter is horrible on metal.
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grease whole surface or you mean just the zerk fittings. I've wanted to find a cheap grease for coating a bunch of random metal tools etc.


Also been curious about used oil and diesel mixture for wood handles of shovels etc, climate out here seems to not be great on them even usually stored in the shop.
 
Blazin

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Foler said:
Iirc Messicks had a good video on washing. For cleaning the grease zerks - do you degrease around them and grease points then regrease? It’s super dirty around my zerks. Tractor needs a good cleaning…
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I clean excess around zerks but dont wipe around fittings unless its obviously too much.

My ZD1211 diesel zero turn is having a power issue, did spring maintenance but I don't think it's related. Haven't tracked down issue yet. Issue right at start to mowing season kind of sucks.
 
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BrutulTM

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Sludig said:
Ya, many id just done the iver for worm purposes but got to see how they react poorly. Saw the ear tags, but didn't want to buy a gun and i don't have chutes. The block and loose mineral i mentioned where the ones with regulator. Also share the field with goats though they generally don't have much fly issues

I think i want to build a stall into their shed shelter to try and be able to bait one in at a time and close a gate locking them in to medicate or milk. Need to evaluate of my wall will hold up or kinda make a stronger box than just cattle panels.

Certainly limited not wanting to spend a fortune as a wage slave hobby farmer so jury rigging is the name of the day.
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It's really nice to at least have a head catch somewhere. If you look around at auctions/craigslist/facebook marketplace you might pick one up pretty reasonably.

Something like this can be operated by one person. I wouldn't call it easy to use but it gets the job done.

headgate.jpg
 
BrutulTM

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People use these things in milking stantions, but this is only for cattle that are tame and calm. If they start freaking out in one of these, they will probably break it, which can be a dangerous situation.

20160922_073511.jpg
 
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Borzak

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It also depends on which species of pine. I would not burn longleaf inside. Until a century ago it was grown and scraped for turpentine. Where fat pine or lighter pine comes from. Burns incrediably hot because it's basically full of turpentine. It's not common at all nowdays, the US is down to 5% or so of longleaf it had a century ago. No longer needed to produce turpentine, but I grow it.
 
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Foler

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Not sure if you guys remember me talking about my shed build and building the gravel foundation. I said screw it and had a concrete contractor pour a foundation with footers. Definitely worth it… Shed build starts in a week.

IMG_2660.jpeg
 
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Mr_Bungle

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Foler said:
Been a while since I updated here… I ended up going with a concrete floor with my shed barn. They just finished the footer framing. Apparently some special order anchors they need for the cement pour haven’t arrived yet /rustled..

Im interested in buying a wood splitter. I’d like to sell firewood on the side. Being in Florida really nov-march are prob the only times of year people will be buying in bulk. That’s fine, I’ll slowly stockpile it throughout the year in preparation…

I use to hate the invasive camphor trees that are all over but they grow so insanely fast that I think they’ll be good for harvesting wood.

Any recommendations on a log splitter? Willing to spend up to 4k prob. Would like something beefy. Maybe 60 ton?
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Use caution when burning or handling Camphor Foler, especially the smaller limbs for a brush fire. These plants being in the Laurel family can be mildly toxic to humans and lethal to smaller animals. The foliage has an oil with higher concentration of toxic alkaloids that can get into the air when burnt. Wash your hands after touching it, you don't want to absent mindedly brush the oils onto your face.
 
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Foler

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Mr_Bungle said:
Use caution when burning or handling Camphor Foler, especially the smaller limbs for a brush fire. These plants being in the Laurel family can be mildly toxic to humans and lethal to smaller animals. The foliage has an oil with higher concentration of toxic alkaloids that can get into the air when burnt. Wash your hands after touching it, you don't want to absent mindedly brush the oils onto your face.
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Thanks for mentioning this. Now that you mention it I think I may vaguely remember reading this somewhere.

From all the feedback in this thread it doesn’t seem viable for me to sell my mixed wood… I’d still like a splitter for myself. I may just go with something smaller/cheaper in this case and just split wood that isn’t so huge it requires an hydraulic lift…

On a side note - is there any use at all for all these camphor trees other than mulch? 😔
 
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Foler

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Also the deer got into my food forest this week. Insanely bummed. Knocked back my the growth on my avocado trees big time. Hit the mulberries and my bush beans. I thought I’d be able to get away with planting enough sacrificial mulberry and elderberries in my food forest but it’s like these deer know what they like, one taste of avocado leaves and they just strip the trees…

Of course they skip the 100s of radish greens surrounding all my prized trees. Those were also somewhat sacrificial plantings…

I just put cheap garden fencing around most trees for now. I guess my 8 ft electric fence for deer/bear is inevitable… Renting a skidsteer and auger in two weekends to start that project. Really not looking forward to it. Pretty burned out from all the planting the past 3 months and wanted to just focus on maintenance during the summer season.

I think in the last 12 hours I’ve caught over 10 deer on my cameras. Some very large bucks with antlers coming in. I’ve decided to open my property to hunting this season. I’m in the middle of all development so these deer are never being hunted and the amount of pressure is insane.
 
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Mr_Bungle

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Foler said:
Thanks for mentioning this. Now that you mention it I think I may vaguely remember reading this somewhere.

From all the feedback in this thread it doesn’t seem viable for me to sell my mixed wood… I’d still like a splitter for myself. I may just go with something smaller/cheaper in this case and just split wood that isn’t so huge it requires an hydraulic lift…

On a side note - is there any use at all for all these camphor trees other than mulch? 😔
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You're welcome man, anytime. Plants are my passion.

The wood of the camphor tree does have some uses.

Craftsmen have used the wood for the creation of furniture because it is resistant to rot, repels indoor insects like moths and releases the gentle aroma inside the home.

There is also the possibility of making your own soap if you can steam distill the wood, allowing you to extract the tree's oils.

Talk to local carpenters or tradesmen, they might have an interest in buying it. If any of the trees have the knotted burls they will want to pay top dollar because the patterns on the cross section are truly unique and can't be replicated.




If none of the above work, the wood chips are still a good fall back against potential insects invading the garden IIRC.
 
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Mr_Bungle

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Foler said:
Also the deer got into my food forest this week. Insanely bummed. Knocked back my the growth on my avocado trees big time. Hit the mulberries and my bush beans. I thought I’d be able to get away with planting enough sacrificial mulberry and elderberries in my food forest but it’s like these deer know what they like, one taste of avocado leaves and they just strip the trees…
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You could try and apply micronized sulfur. Its a fungicide technically but the scent and taste alone may detour them from eating it.

A few things to consider.

1. This product mixes best with HOT water. Once blended in you can ADD COOLER water to balance things out.

2. The solution needs to be sprayed through a nozzle with a very high micron count, the smaller the droplet size the better. A regular pump sprayer won't do nearly as good a job.

3. DO NOT APPLY DURING FULL SUN / HIGH NOON. This will fry your entire crop. Wait for overcast conditions, the Florida sun will be tough on them.

4.DO NOT APPLY if you have sprayed any other IPM or foliar spray that contains oils of any kind!!! This chemical reaction will also fry the plants foliage. I would wait 3 weeks to apply sulfur if this is the case or vice versa. These oils stay around longer than you'd think.


I have used this exact applicator with Sulfur and it does wonders.

About Our Sprayers

https://www.amazon.com/Bonide-PRODUCTS-142-Sulphur-Fungicide/dp/B0035H7V34?th=1
 
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Foler

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Mr_Bungle said:
You could try and apply micronized sulfur. Its a fungicide technically but the scent and taste alone may detour them from eating it.

A few things to consider.

1. This product mixes best with HOT water. Once blended in you can ADD COOLER water to balance things out.

2. The solution needs to be sprayed through a nozzle with a very high micron count, the smaller the droplet size the better. A regular pump sprayer won't do nearly as good a job.

3. DO NOT APPLY DURING FULL SUN / HIGH NOON. This will fry your entire crop. Wait for overcast conditions, the Florida sun will be tough on them.

4.DO NOT APPLY if you have sprayed any other IPM or foliar spray that contains oils of any kind!!! This chemical reaction will also fry the plants foliage. I would wait 3 weeks to apply sulfur if this is the case or vice versa. These oils stay around longer than you'd think.


I have used this exact applicator with Sulfur and it does wonders.

About Our Sprayers

https://www.amazon.com/Bonide-PRODUCTS-142-Sulphur-Fungicide/dp/B0035H7V34?th=1
Click to expand...
Holy hell that is an AWESOME sprayer. I thought my sprayers plus backpack was Gucci. Not sure how well that would do as the terrain in my food forest is mulched on a slope. Regardless I should stick with what I have, don’t need an excuse to buy more..

Im open to trying this. I’m just at the point where my scale is so large it’s hard for one person who works full time to maintain. Fencing ideally is a one time thing and that’s it..

Things should get easier in year three once my syntropic agroforestry system really is established. Right now it’s a bit of a PITA as my emergent layer of eucalyptus, ground covers, legumes, jacaranda etc establish.

Once my grasses take off that’ll help a ton too with generated my own chop n drop mulch.
 
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Foler

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Mr_Bungle Mr_Bungle have you ever used fish emulsion for an amendment? Looking for more economic amendments other than nitrogen fixing plants. It needs to be something I can use at scale that doesn’t break the bank. Ordered some emulsion to try... Going to make compost tea out of my mexican sunflower and comfrey as well.
 
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