sutton023

The horses here are now an established part of the operation.  They do tremendous - skilled - mowing, pruning, and brush clearing for us; in both the hazels and chestnuts.  They're almost the only reason we CAN harvest chestnuts these days; if we had to mow and clear by machine and hand, we'd never get it done.  Seriously; we've tried.  Yes, you have to manage moveable fence; get them water, and manage them off season- but the work is considerably less than the money and time needed to use machines. Plus; horses reproduce; tractors don't.  That was one of the original arguments back when tractors were replacing horses as primary tillage technology- but it was pushed off by- cheap fossil fuels, subsidizing manufacture and the entire system.  Yes, yes, fracking has solved our peak oil problems- until, of course, it doesn't.  Meantime- there is a human and natural benefit to the horses.  Tractors, with very few exceptions, do not totter up to you and...

(click on photo for bigger views) Badgersett Research Farm 20th Annual Field Day: Saturday, August 20th If you want to learn about growing hazelnuts in the Midwest; it makes sense to go and see where it's been done the longest. That would be us, we're at 32 years, and counting. No other grower or researcher has production rows like ours. We're making a concerted effort to expand our Field Day event this year; we're inviting quite a few other folks to bring what they have to show and sell, and set up booths in the chestnut rows, where we can guarantee good shade. Stay tuned to this blog, where we'll be announcing the specifics as we have them. We're inviting hazel growers, graziers, wool spinners, wood carvers- anyone who makes a living, or wants to, from sustainable farming and integrated woody crops. And our Amish neighbors will be here, of course. Plus- in a change from the past few years, we WILL have plants available for sale this Field Day; hazel, ...

The sheep are doing outstanding work in the apples. So much so that I had to take a couple "before and after" pics to show you. Before: Looking down the hillside at 2 rows of apple trees. The second row is obscured by the unmowable stuff under the first row of trees. After: To my astonishment, they eat not only the tops of thistles and wild parsnip; they ate the leaves off the invading honeysuckle and sumach, and pruned the apples up to boot. If we'd had to clear all that brush/weed stuff by human labor- there's really no question it would have take twice as much work, time, and sweat as it took to set up the mesh fence and move the sheep. And the sheep seem to be getting big and fat off the process.

The 4th of July is exceptionally appropriate for this development. We're hoping to become a little more independent of fossil fuels. After decades of mowing grass between nut bushes and trees, and paying for endless and increasingly expensive (now to the point of ruinous) gas and diesel fuel; we've acquired sheep. The hope: we can make it actually pay. Not this year; of course. But we've chosen two breeds to try out at first, and both are versatile in their produce. Sue wanted Babydoll Southdowns , which she'd been studying about for some time; and I wanted Icelandics ; likewise. Both breeds bring high prices for their meat and fleece, and the Icelandics have also been selected for milk production, for hundreds of years. In case we ever want to go there. Two of the Babydoll lambs; we have 3 lambs and one ewe. And; Three of the Icelandics; we have one ram lamb, 4 ewes, and a wether. Today, for the first time; we really put them to work. We've had them f...

Quite a lot of our work here on the farm consists of coming up with new excuses for "why we haven't gotten back to you yet." Here's the latest one: Like all good drama, there is both tragedy and joy in this story. This is "Atlas", born 1:30 AM, March 31st, 2011; about 12 hours before this photo. His sire was Brigadier . But- his sire is dead. We lost him to colic, months ago; a devastating thing for us, and still painful. He left us with two mares pregnant; and yet more tragedy. The day before Atlas was born, his half-sister was born- in a breech position, and she did not survive. Meg was able to save the mare, which was great, but did not entirely ease the pain of the lost foal. Then- 24 hours later- Atlas arrived. His dam is Lacey, an Appaloosa. He seems to have his father's size. It was mostly an easy birth, but he still needed help. His hips are so big they stuck; Meg had to pull and rotate, to get him out. She was there. Then there ...