rachels.haven's Journal

[Mini Horses]

all done we have the flu. Oh well

At least it was "all done" before.....sorry about the bug. Try to rest when you can get the kids to.

 

[Baymule]

Boo on the flu. I’m sorry y'all are sick, hope y'all are better soon!

 

[rachels.haven]

Thanks guys. All the well-wishes seem to be working on me. I'm noticeably sick but not laid low. Everyone else is a mess. But I'm sure we'll come out the other side soon.

 

[rachels.haven]

*starting to feel more normal again*
I attempted to get a quote to plow/till a 50x100 garden area (or heck, I'd love the whole 100x100 area to be tilled if that would make it worth their while). In TN older men on their McCormick tractors with a little old plow would come and turn your garden soil to give their tractors a work out and make a few hundred dollars cash on the side while they were at it. Apparently we're too close to the city here and in too affluent an area. The only guy who responded is two blocks away, owns a landscaping business, and wanted $2000 to do anything, and he wanted to scrape the topsoil off and pile it up on the side or charge to cart it away and attempt to charge me a LOT of additional $ to go get new topsoil or manmade mix. I'm not impressed. It would take an hour or less to turn the soil and three minutes to get to my house. And I don't want what little topsoil we have removed or fake topsoil put on. I must really put off "idiot" vibes.
There are Craigslist ads for people who till, but they specifically do not include our county in their service areas. I'm starting to feel bad for the box of potatoes on my porch. I could plant them, but all we have is clay and I'd like to have it turned once. I'm thinking I may have to buy a brand new tiller, but IDK if they're made for people like me to use. I remember them as being large and scary, serious, somewhat dangerous machines and you really want the sod turned once before you go to work it. (sometimes, I wish I WAS one of those older guys with a McCormick tractor and time and peace of mind to tinker with it...but lately if I think I have time I'm probably not doing enough laundry and dishes or something else I didn't realize needed to be done).
Let's see if I can solve this one.
I promise I'm not an idiot. I'm really sick of slick city salesmen deciding I am and giving us the crappy rate. It really limits what we can get done around our home and property (and I really NEED DH to step up and take care of hiring people if I can't fix looking like an idiot. I am not an east coast city person which makes me no good at getting "quotes" for anything around here.)

 

[Mini Horses]

Crazy!! That's crazy. Can you rent a tiller nearby? Or don't get the big fancy if you buy new. Till. Add all the barn clean out, retill. Buy a few bags of dirt, add to holes for things like tomatoes, peppers. Drizzle some in the row you open for bean seeds, etc. done. You get what you get. . It'll work

 

[farmerjan]

Where do you buy your feed??? Ask at the feed store... Does the high school have an ag dept? Ask them if they have a young aspiring farmer with a tiller? Go to the stockyard and see if there is anything on the bulletin board or ask in the office...
Make a line with straw bales on each side... fill center with dirt.. at least for the potatoes.... you ought to be able to buy a pickup of topsoil in any garden center.... yes, pricey... BUT... the straw bales will kill the ground/weeds underneath them... break down into better soil.... NEXT YEAR you can be better prepared and find a tiller..
Do you guys have a tractor??? Rent a tiller that goes on the back of it... try a rental place.
IF you get a rented tiller...that is a walk behind, not tractor mounted; get a rear tine tiller to use...
Go to Lowes or a lumber type store... most have a bulletin board of people doing different services...
Any small tractor equipment dealers around... Like Kubota.....Yanmar.... even John Deere.... Go ask them if anyone in the area has bought a tractor with a rear tine tiller that might want to do a garden.... or if any of them at the dealership of the smaller lawn tractors are interested in a one time side job....

 

[farmerjan]

Sorry to say, my being from the more "snobbish" east coast yankee area... that they do look at you as if you are an idiot.. or stupid, or BOTH.... and will rip off a female... at least here in this area, they have a better attitude about a woman.... she needs to be placated a little more until they realize you do know something about what you are talking about.... then they are pretty decent...
Yeah, there is always someone closeby here to do the tilling... and yep, their old little Farmall tractors, or their little massey fergusons...or the little kubotas that they can make a few bucks with...

 

[Baymule]

All great ideas!

 

[Ridgetop]

Call a U Rent place. They usually have walk behiind tillers for rent. Otherwise, price out walk behind tillers. They are not ovrely expensive, are about the size of a lawnmower, and will do the job. They are also more maneuverable in small areas if yoi want to till anywhere else for flowerbeds, etc.

If the U-Rent doesn''t hve the walk behind tillers, price out renting a tractor with tiller.

 

[rachels.haven]

We're at 9 weeks and some of the Lamanchas are either forgetting how to suck a bottle or their pallets are too big for the gray caprine nippies and they move on to trouble making after 12 oz. I'd like to get them to 50 lbs before weaning and the ND to 20. Right now the average lamancha weight is about 35 lbs with one at 40 and the ND are 14-17 so my goals may not happen with the Lamanchas. They always got full before 20 oz and only wanted 3 bottles/day...but they eat a lot of grain and hay. I may have to settle for weaning them but keeping them in a stall on free choice grain and hay until they hit that point if the bottles become a thing of the past.

I got a better quote for just garden plowing from someone 40 minutes away-more like just under $400 with more if it takes more than 3 hours, with most of the cost being for travel. This should be a one time gig, so I'm game for that. Now I'm waiting on our turn that he thinks should be next week. I WILL probably buy a small tiller for between rows but the common consensus is that only the big heavy ones or a tractor can break clay well for the first time. I bought some billboard tarps to cover the garden over the winter or if we don't get it all planted.

My figs, raspberries, blueberry, currants, grapes, asparagus, and rhubarb arrived from stark bros today. Traditionally if I plant these we move, so I guess we'd better get planting. Because I can't be allowed to enjoy my fruit trees, after all. I have to admit, I'm slightly envious of my parents yard and their 100+ blueberry bushes that come from declaring their place their last stand and planting clearance blueberries. Grandma has a huge berry patch. (context: The city did not allow her to fill her front yard with geese and chickens because her front yard which floods into a raging river during storms, not where the house is, was zoned residential, but her house and back is agricultural. All this because a big city neighbor up the hill behind her moved in and decided my parents place was too, in her words, "Appalachian" and the agriculture "ruined her view"...of my parents' yard and tried to get them de-farm animaled entirely, but she could only pull off forcing them from their front yard and going after them if one of their birds gets out (loose birds get shot now by Dad probably in view of neighbor that things she owns their place) So now the front yard is fruit trees and a berry patch that look how they look no matter what and no ornamentals at all and city has told neighbor to buzz off so now she's going after the Hispanic people next door's ranch with zero success and on and on like those nasty hornet women that don't belong here do)