Sept 23rd Update

The last post that I made dealt with the economic feasibility of farming with horse power. It answered in my opinion most of what I will discuss again in this one. However, I find it necessary to repeat it in an extremely abbreviated manner due to a question I was asked by email. The email asked some good questions as to the legitimacy of farming with horses and its application and practicality now that we live in the 21 century.

The email went as follows:
An interesting excerpt but if horse farming is so good why did it not survive? The internal combustion engine has taken a lot of revisions but for over 100 years now it is still the mainstay of the world for engine technology. Are you sure you just don't have someone trying to prove a point in RE: to your study? There are several compelling reasons why people don't farm with horses any more, surely some of these reasons are valid today?
There are a lot of smart famers out there, if horse farming is better/faster/cheaper then we should be seeing farmers running in droves to this older technology.

Now the responses I am about to give are in my own opinion, however, I do believe it is also the opinion of many others who farm with horses to this day through reading article and other publications.

Please click on this link and read the article I wrote. It is only 3 pages and it should clarify the issue.

I would like to give a bit of word from the farm here. We had someone steal all our pumpkins last week and they stole a drill that was lying in view also. So we are disappointed in that we will not be able to offer pumpkins at the market this year. The drill was particularly a problem because it is the main tool I am using to build this barn. I have lost two and a half full days of work due to the loss of the drill. The cash reserves were such that we had to wait to buy a new drill to continue on the barn. I have begun to work on the barn again but I do not expect it to be ready by our “Old-time, Music and Potluck Get-together” which is coming up October 4th. I am praying that I can still get it up to have a place to have the get-together under in the event of rain and just to enjoy it for the party.

I have been able to get some work done (since I bought another Drill) and it can be seen in these pictures.

Mortis and Tennons




Using my Home made Mallot


Setting up first section


Setting up the home made crain (i did change the location of the chain to the structure before lifting because it would have broken the board)


Hoisted up by a come-along (attached to a tree behind barn.


Chain in correct location. Hoist began.



Structure up in the air held from falling backwards by rope in front wrapped around a tree.


First section added to original. This made it able to stand on its own.

This is where I am as of Sept 23rd.


Update Sept 26:

All 7 pillars set:


Look at union:


Sorry to those who depend on the email to let them know when I have posted. I forgot to send it and blogger doesnt give the opportunity to have it automatic.
Hope you enjoyed.

Articles

10-24-08
The Market, the Sign of things to come:

Sometimes I wish I were not right about some things. The market being one. Falling so fast today that they shut it down to prevent a mass sellout. While the timing of a Depression may not be as I have said, it is coming with no doubt. My own opinion is that its time is upon us now. It's not a result of some prophetic ability but rather an understanding of how true "Free Market" interactions work. What we have in this country is not a Free Market System. If it were free, it would not be regulated by the federal government. No, if it were truly free it would be left to the consumers to regulate by their spending habits. A true free market system would allow the ups and the downs to naturally occur and those who made mal-investments would loose money and those who made good investments would make money.

But ultimately, the result of the current market crisis (and any in the future) is the foundation of our monetary system. It is the Fed who is the root cause of our "Free Market" not being truly free. It forecasts, it regulates, it makes attempts to curb loss, and in doing all this take the Free out of the Market. This is how I can say, we will have another Depression and another and another. Why? Because those who have the wealth, gain more wealth when a depression occurs. Then the government is granted more Power to take away the freedom of people.

This ultimately leads to a system that facilitates the government and hurts the people. How? By creating a "cash cow" approach. For example, we are the cows and the government is the milker. We eat the grass and as long as we're happy with the grass the government gets the milk. We do the work to eat the grass and convert it to milk. But all the while the cow is oblivious that the grass is dried and is bland and has no real appeal because that's all it has known. The Cow had no idea there were fields of grass with sunshine and freedom to move. Why? Because at some point this cow's parents were duped into walking out of the field into a barn where it was kept, then the calf was born and never knew there was a world outside the barn. Then when the cow is past its production period it is led to the slaughter house. Can you say euthanasia?

All this to say, we have a presidential candidate that doesn't talk in terms of America but rather in terms of the World. Why do we want to give our sovereignty to the world? Only local government can be controlled, State government is harder, National is impossible, and Global get real...there is no stopping Global governmental abuses.

Ultimately, it is going to get tough again just like the Great Depression but slightly different in that people will become more willing to give up a "Free Market" to a government mandated system so that they will not loose any money. Whether it is with this candidate for president or the next.

If we don't realize that our lives have changed and the comforts we had before we will no longer have, we will be left cold and hungry and at the mercy of at first, the Federal Government, and then to the Global Government. Chances are we could still be at their mercy but at least we would have a chance if we returned to a self-sustaining model of agriculture. We would exist without aid of the government.

By the way, (yes this may sound a bit fanatical) be careful what you accept from the Government in the way of free hand outs. There is no such thing as free with the government.



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9-23-08
In Responce to an Email regarding a previous Post:

An email was directed to me after posting to my blog a review of a study on the feasibility of farming with horses. The email went as follows:

An interesting excerpt but if horse farming is so good why did it not survive? The internal combustion engine has taken a lot of revisions but for over 100 years now it is still the mainstay of the world for engine technology. Are you sure you just don't have someone trying to prove a point in RE: to your study? There are several compelling reasons why people don't farm with horses any more, surely some of these reasons are valid today?

There are a lot of smart famers out there, if horse farming is better/faster/cheaper then we should be seeing farmers running in droves to this older technology.

First I want to address the statement of farming with horses as “Not surviving”. Actually on the contrary to what most believe horse farming has survived. Cultures have a funny way of isolating people, so too does the two cultures of Non farmers and Farmers using horses. People just go to the store and pick up what they want to eat and never see how its produced. There are over 200,000 Amish (just to start) who farm with horses or have someone in their family who does farm with horses and that doesn’t count the “Englishers”, as the Amish call us. I believe I read a note in the Small Farmers’ Journal that the editor sites having record of roughly 400,000 who farm using horses and that number doesn’t include the Amish. Even if that estimate wasn’t true, just type in “Horse Farming” into any search engine on the web and you will get droves of articles, News letters, Magazines, Books, Videos, and more on just the subject of working horses for farming. There are companies manufacturing NEW equipment just for today’s horse farming operation. The Horse Progress Days in Ohio is a great example of how new technology is coming to the aid of this “Old technology” of farming with horses.

Now what about the value of farming with horses versus the internal combustion engine and to its legitimacy in today’s market?

This question represents a difference in philosophy as well as a practical application difference. The Charter Gasoline Engine Company of Sterling, Illinois was the first to successfully use gasoline as fuel. It was Charter's creation of a gasoline fueled engine in 1887 that soon led to early gasoline traction engines before the term "tractor" was even coined by others. Charter had adapted its engine to a Rumley steam-traction-engine chassis, and in 1889 produced six of the machines to become one of the first working gasoline traction engines. Now the gasoline engine was created in a time when oil was cheap as a fuel source, and since the previous mainstay for fuel was wood to burn for steam, no one has been able to see the results of using a non renewable fuel such as oil until now.

Once the government began to get involved in the free market, thereby killing it, the special interest groups promoted tractors and implements telling farmers that it will out produce horses any day. What they didn’t tell them is that once they got them in debt for the tractors, and fuel was needed to drive the tractor, they had all the leverage on the American people they needed to push their weight around and receive special incentives from the US Government. When government gets involved in the free market, freedom stops because there is no righting factor, known as a persons will to buy or not to buy based on environmental pressures or desires. But all this is getting into another territory I am not ready to delve into yet.

So from a practical standpoint, farming with horses would ensure a steady overhead to the operation of farming, in that, fluctuations in the market would not effect its operation much farther than it cost to sell the produce.

But really this is more than just the previously stated; the use of Draft power (horses, Ox, and Mules) represents a change in philosophy. Bear with me as I try to get this point across.
If your philosophy is to make farming more of a business, exchange a lot of money in the process, and you DO NOT really care about the consequences of impact to land and the food supply, then you represent one group we’ll call the “Tractor Farmers”.

If your philosophy is to make farming more a way of life, become profitable- not necessarily quick but in due time, and you DO care about the consequences of impact to land and the food supply, then you represent the other group, we’ll call “Horse Farmers”.

Now I am not saying all tractor farmers are like this, but I say this to illustrate a point. Many who use tractors only do so because it is the only way they know how to farm. At the very least, a whole generation has gone by since farming with horses was even done.

The two philosophies can be summed up in one word, Sustainability. While the tractor farmer can out yield the horse farmer, the horse farmer can overcome the financial hurdles that the tractor farmer has. While the tractor farmer is at the whim of the market to do its job (gas prices anyone?) the horse is not. Just as the horse has some drawbacks to operating it in a team, so to does the tractor. With a horse you have to have more knowledge how to handle a team. With a tractor you turn a key and it goes. With a tractor it falls apart as it gets older and leaves you with the need to buy a new one, with a horse it produces you another horse to keep going, all you have to do is train it. With a tractor you get exhaust fumes as a by-product which fills our air with crud, with horses, you get rich fertilizer you can use (not to mention a good source for a charge for your methane production digester). Which is sustainable? Which completes the nature Cycle which God set in motion? Can you take a tractor, use it, while it’s spewing out CO2 capture that to make fertilizer, and then when it stops working make a new tractor out of the old one? Not all this is silly. Only the Draft animal can be a sustainable farming aid.

Just as the study showed, if it were to be read, draft power out functions a tractor in all areas in the long term. People stopped farming with horses because of the hassle of learning to use them, the unpredictability of a horse and the desire to produce more. But this was during a time of economic prosperity, and when oil was a viable and cheap alternative to wood or Draft animal. Now it is not the case. You can change a lot of money using tractors but your net profit is the number to look at, and second, can you maintain this? Its one thing to invest in millions of dollars in equipment and buildings to house that equipment, but can you use that equipment if gasoline raises to $10 a gallon? How about worse, no gas at all?

As to the last statement:
There are a lot of smart famers out there, if horse farming is better/faster/cheaper then we should be seeing farmers running in droves to this older technology.
Yes, there are a lot of smart farmers out their. The number of Draft powered farmers are rising every day where as the number of traditional agricultural farmers are disappearing at an astonishing rate due to unprofitability causing food to be imported from other countries bringing us closer to a ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT and bringing the dangers of other countries to our own kitchen.

Horse farming is not faster due to the learning curves, the limited nature of power they have (one horse power instead of 80), and the unpredictability of the animal. But, farming with horses is Better and Cheaper and that is outlined in the study which I posted. If this were not so then why do farmers get premium prices for their products that are either organic and/or cultivated by Draft Power? And yes, we are seeing farmers running to the “older technology”, rather than away as is the case of traditional tractor farming, but they are also improving the older technology to today’s standards.

There is one more factor that I believe was over looked in the email; enjoyability. You say that isn’t a word. It is now! To me, it is more enjoyable to hear myself think, then the bawl of a tractor in my ears with its gas or diesel engine dripping oil on the ground where my food grows. To me, it is more enjoyable to work from my own land, produce what I need, recycle what I need and come out with a net profit with NO outside input. We have become so “Factory” minded that we expect everything to work in an assembly line fashion. It should always work the same way and in a business like fashion. The unpredictability of a draft animal throws that state of mind into a sort of chaos. A little labor never hurt anyone I can say that because I have done it. You want it easy; just go to the store or farmer’s market to buy your food. You want it to be more meaningful; become a farmer who lives a sustainable lifestyle, and who lives within his means until it is granted to him by God to be wealthier.

Farming is a lifestyle first, it becomes a business second. It cannot survive unless it is in that order. You can see this today with the growing number of people becoming sick with produce that would never normally make them sick, it is because the business side of things goes with the market whims and the market demands more profit. In the case of our pseudo-market we have other factors that contribute to the farming pressure. If it were a truly free market, the bad farmers would go out of business and the good farmers would continue to make a profit. But instead the good farmers go out of business because the bad farmers throw more money to the legislators. The market can go anywhere, anytime for any reason. The self sufficiency of farming with Draft Animals produces a balance to this “tossing of the waves”. It provides a person with a rooted sense of purpose because what he is doing is sustainable and has been proven sustainable for generations upon generations. The difference of farming then and farming now can be summed up in, technology. We can produce better equipment now, do more with the equipment, and create greater yields with less power than before because of technology. It is better, cheaper, and you could say faster in that you get the money faster because you don’t have the high payment on a new tractor.

Economics of Farming with Horses

Ever thought of such a thing? Well actually someone did think of such a thing. Chet Kendell of Rural Heritage.com has worked up a study to show that on farms up to 200 acres, a farmer actually comes out on top economically using Horse Power rather than Tractor power. Now this assumes that you actually work those 200 acres...you could have more but not work it and it would be fine (say for example you grow a crop of Oak trees).

He takes a look at the requirements of each, such as number of horses per acre and the amount of fuel to power the tractor, the fertilizer offset with horses verses tractors and so on. This study goes into a great deal of detail to show with conservative estimates how much more viable farming with horses is economically.

Rural Heritage on RFD-TV:

(Not hugely interesting but its here to show you Rural Heritage...scroll to the end to see more interesting info.)

Now with the economy slipping everyday, one might think that farming is the last thing to worry about...I say its the first. We have drifted away from a Agrarian society and as a result we are drifting into socialism. A few work to feed the many. The many work to feed the government. The Government controls everything. We become peasants and they become royalty. I say its the first thing to think about because I believe this is how we will survive. With the economic disadvantages out their people may just stop farming to sell (maybe because of over government regulation) as a result there is not enough food for everyone.

To make things worse then the traditional view of Nobility and their control over peasants, in the past all farming was done with draft power and thus was "sustainable" the cycle was uninterrupted. Now the Peasants use tractors which destroy the land, throw down chemical nitrogen which doesn't replace the organic material in the soil resulting in soil loss, and they use genetically altered food seed stock which allows them to spray whatever herbicides or insecticides they want and it doesn't hurt the crop (except it leaves a residue that we ingest) but kills EVERY thing else. While initially this sounds great from a management standpoint, its not for the long term. I could expand on this part but I wont in attempt to keep this short...er.

I am sold on the idea of Draft power (horses, Ox, or Mule) rather than tractor power. While the initial investment of time comes at a high price, the long term investment of money is much less and therefore resources are conserved and economy of scale is maintained all the while reaping a crop much higher in quality then its counterfeit counterpart. To the point...it is more wise to use Horse power.

This study even takes into account for the initial time invested in learning by adding a 25% value to the time for doing the job with horses...compared to tractors.

Though I only have 3.5 acres I still have plans to move to a piece of ground that will host the fruition of my dream but for now...I will learn. Hard as it is to see video and read about others doing exactly what I want to do (because I cant do it right now), I must to gain knowledge so that one day the dream of farming with horses and self-sustainable living/farming can be realized.

This is the Story of a Dreamer.

This is the story of a dreamer. Many say “Don’t have your head in the clouds, stay ‘down to earth’” and to them I think to myself if only they could dream they wouldn’t say such a thing. Many times along the way and still today I think “maybe their right” and then I shake my head and remember what God said to Israel “My people parish for lack of vision”. Some people say dreaming is not vision, but how can that be? Every vision must start with an idea. An idea must come from somewhere, why not from a mind prone to dream fulfillment of its soul? Many times that idea is incomplete and questions and solutions must be answered and carried out in order for the idea to take shape and be brought to fruition. Many times people see the questions unanswered and the solutions unavailable and intuitively say “Stay down to earth” as if it’s too hard a feat to think around a problem or to have faith that a door will be opened when the time is right. So as a “Dreamer” I will continue to dream despite the counter current faced. Not just negative sentiments, but forces which are uncontrollable and counter cultural norms threaten to dismantle the idea and render my heart broken and defeated. But just as David said in the Psalms as his enemies were surrounding him “I lift my eyes onto the hills, where does my help come from? …My Help comes from the Lord, the maker of Heaven and Earth.”, so too I will say. I will remember Isaiah words “Arise, Shine, for your light has come, and the Glory of the Lord has risen upon you”. These words, and more, and their authority will be the guiding light through the dark paths of this dreamer’s plight and his visions’ accomplishment.

The Story:
It’s a crisp late winter morning, the snow has melted and the frost crystallizes on the drooping stalks of grass in the large pasture. The wind blows gently sending chills under shirt and the sparkles of the sun’s rays begin to warm the face ever so slightly. A calm, quiet stroll brings thoughts of the use of this pasture and as the palm of my hand touches the brittle frozen stems of grass, thoughts of the coming work to be done to prepare this ground for the spring crop fill my mind. Slight remnants of crops from the past still linger in the form of occasional glimpses of “rows” which are now covered in the seeded legumes designed to improve the soil. The rotations have made their journey around and its time for this plot of land to produce again.



Walking back to the barn I walk past the opening of the Horse stall which seconds as a tack room. Grabbing the gear, I walk out to the corral and begin to harness up the traces. The draft mares are skittish after a few months of not being worked, but with time that will pass. The harness is attached, and the two girls are lead to the Manure Spreader. Once the stalls are cleared, we take a peaceful track to the plot that will be re-cultivated. The lever is pushed, and the fertilizing begins fly all the while the two girls enjoy the change of scenery and begin to settle back into their routine.



Its spring, the ground is so soft that your foot sinks an inch as you walk across the field. It’s about 55 degrees and has been for several days now. The ground is thawed, which means its time to break ground. The two mares are joined by a gilding to pull the double plow, because as a rule of thumb for working a plow with draft horses is a horse for each plow and its rider, though its not always the case. Five hours go by and half the work is done. Ten hours go by and the well worked horses and horseman is deserving of some rest. The day is done tomorrow will bring the disk and harrow followed by the seeder the day after that.



Many more events are to be unraveled with this dreamer. What they bring, who knows, but it’s a journey. While the thoughts and intentions of a man’s mind can intend one thing, reality does tend to set in…but it’s the dreamer who can turn reality into opportunity. Stay tuned to this Journey for a real “Reality show”.

Reality:
Currently I am about to build a barn with the help of a friend Hayward Hall. We hope to begin making joints this Saturday (though rain may hinder us) on the Timberframe structure. After going to creek and getting more sand I have the rock work almost complete.



I am going to get the timbers up before finishing up the inside portion. I want to mold the rock around the timbers to form a nice pillar effect.

Rain kept me working under the tent to get this rock work done.

I finally got all the logs stripped of bark. I layed them out so I could see if I had all the components. It sure gets confusing as to whether you have the correct materials or not with logs of various sizes.

This Dreamer is not finished with just work, there must be some play too! Below is a new tune I learned called Grey Eagle.

More to our story to come. Though its being written, it has not yet happened, though its being dreamed, someday it will be lived.

Correction to Last Post

There were several emails that I received about the last blog posting (Ministry or Farming?)with pleads to "be very careful on making a big decision as this". I think that my last post really confused many and I need to straighten it out.

It is not my intent to stop everything I am doing right now and start up a new career. My intentions with this last post was to say that the current career and the perceived calling are one in the same. I did not mean that I would say...quit farming and become a pastor, or missionary. Instead what I was trying to convey was that I have a desire to serve God and to farm and I feel that the two desires go hand in hand with God's plan for my life.

It has been an idea in the past that I have entertained, that I could create a producing farming operation and use it to provide a place for people who need a place to "Get away" from whatever it is they need to get away from and as a result I could "Counsel" with people while working beside them in the fields. For their work they would receive free room and board. I wouldnt be acting as a boss but a friend who would ask the person to come with me and talk about the issue while we work. There is nothing better than taking something you are working with and use it as an analogy for a spiritual truth. I had thought about creating group services which would be similar to in-home bible studies. I thought about hosting Old-Time get-togethers so that people coming to the farm would have an environment that would cause them to think about their life and the fact that life is temporary here and we have to make decisions now for later.

Many things have passed through my head...no one of them have an easy cut and dry method of achieving. I do know that the lessons are in the journey and that God will guide me to do what ever it is he has for me to do. Two things I am fairly sure of that are part of the equation Music and Farming, these are the things the Lord has given me a gift and a passion for. He has also given me the desire to help others and an ability to shed light on many areas that are hard to understand. Any gift is meant to be used to Glorify God.

I hope this clears up some of the questions.

As an additional thing for this post...I know some of you know about my interest in using horses for farming. I am subscribed to a Journal called "Small Farmers Journal" it is a great publication on working a farm with draft animals (Ox, Horses and Mules). I found a video on Youtube that is about this Journal I thought I would show it here.

Take care every one God Bless

Ministry or Farming?

To go into the ministry or to pursuit farming, that was the question. What was the answer? Yes. While some my say that as a “Believer” you are already in the ministry, I would agree but it’s not an active pursuit. There for the actual meaning to my question was: “Should I get into full time ministry or is not that my calling?” this would accurately reflect the thoughts I’ve had ever since I left MSU as a biology student (7 years ago).

In all my faults, there still is a desire to please the Giver of Life the one in whom my “rest” is completed. With that desire a 7 year journey comparable to that of a blind man walking in a glass house, where everything was glass and could be bumped into, tripped over, kicked around and broken to pieces. This is the feeling to which I had and to some extent still feel on various other things in life. So, Farming or Ministry, and again, I say both.

Today, I ran into a pastor of the Church where I am currently going (still feel uprooted as far as a home Church is concerned, though that is quickly diminishing here at James River Assembly of God -JRA), his name was Tim Keene and in his slightly preoccupied but not really state we conversed while standing in the main area of Panera Bread Co. We eventually got onto the subject of what I am doing now and proceeded to discuss my plans and Idea about the Self-Sustaining Farming idea. I began to show him some of the Small Farmer’s Journals I had with me (because I was there to get online…and look up various farming websites). As soon as I showed it to him he said: “Wow this is a magazine of how they used to do things the old way!” I kind of laughed a little and said: “Nope, this is how they now do things the new way!” Of course, that began a conversation to which was reminiscent of a salesman giving his pitch.

After I came home I realized that while I was discussing those things with him I remembered the ordeal that started me down this path. It was a desire to spend time with God and to help others do the same. It began this rush of thoughts to my ideas of starting a place where a self-sustaining farm could provide shelter and sustenance to people who need to be at peace for a while to clear their minds. They need “A way out” for a while. This idea stemmed from the fact that I needed help to do the farming chores because I am only one person and cannot do it all myself and that if someone were to stay on the place they could work the place for their room and board. While this idea may not be the right direction (I really don’t know yet) I think the principles are correct. It is like a great big Jigsaw Puzzle and you put some pieces together and you get a part of a big picture but it’s just a part. And while it helps to see the big picture as a whole, it is still a small part. Time is required to put the rest of the pieces together.

My point is, I don’t know where God is taking me on this journey but I do know that the Journey begins with Him, where it goes is up to Him, the choice to follow…that is up to me and my focus while on self-sustainability for the direction of the farm, I must remain Sustained by my Lord. One things for sure, music is part of the big picture, how it works in I dont know.

Below is one of my major projects. It didn’t start out as such but has morphed into one big project. I was given a lot of cedar logs to build my “Woodshed” now with the extra building material the “Woodshed” has turned into a “Barn” and a sort of “Timber frame” style at that. Therefore the new plan is to have the barn built by the time we have our “Old-Time, Music and Potluck Get-together” on October 4th. I am hoping to have it all ready by this time…at least the structure up and the roof on.

Stripping the bark off the log.


Logs that have been stripped.

Not all are Cedar, but most are and they will really add a neat dimension to the barn.

Below is the sifter that I use to separate the large rock from the sand. Once the sand is through I just tip over the sifter and the big rock falls off…its really quite easy.


Here is some of the rock work I am doing. These rocks do not hold a load; they are only a “Skirt” around the piers that do hold the load. I will lay the rock around the piers to cover up the blocks so that it doesn’t show and also to strengthen the blocks so they don’t tip while raising the barn frame. The building will be quite nice when it is finished.


It’s planned to be a 12x16 building with the bottom story 8’ high and the second story 3’ on the sides and 7’ in the center therefore making enough room to walk upright and store hay. It will have a loft door also in the front.

Take care, everyone.

God Bless you all.
Jeremy and Brandy Myers