Sepp Holzer never buys animal feed

Susan Monroe wrote:
I wonder if he is referring to sunchoke stalks as a forage crop for chickens.  It is said to be higher in protein than alfalfa.  I could see the chickens eating the tops and the pigs foraging for the tubers.

Sue

Iowa.lk wrote:
Has Sepp mentioned growing bamboo?

Susan Monroe wrote:
I don't think anything should make up a large part of any animal's diet. 

It would be nice to know what is behind this guy Holzer's thinking.  Is it logic, or is it BS?  People have come up with the damnedest ideas, that are later to be found to be nothing but hot air.

Mollison has logic behind his ideas. Holzer?  *IF* I can get hold of his book, it will be interesting to see what he says.  The fact that the Library of Congress has the only public book in the continental U.S. does hint at something.

paul wheaton wrote:
Let's not get out the torches and pitchforks just yet.

Keep in mind that everything he says has to go through an interpreter.  And all of my questions have to pass through the same interpreter.   And the interpreter might not have as complete a grasp of the subject as Sepp.   Then there is this whole thing about different kinds of german .... 

ookinIn the videos, we see Sepp, harvesting his grain with a scythe.  And then making little hay[b]stack lg things ....  I would guess that he would do the same with hay.
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Sepp did mention some things about how any grain you grow will, in the winter time, get snow on it that will push it to the ground.  There, the chickens and pigs can easily get to it. 

Later, Sepp's son, Josef, told me that when there is a hard freeze, the chickens will not dig too deep for food - and at those times they feed the chickens some things that people have harvested earlier in the year for just such an event.

I lived in Germany for 3 yrs. Those"haystack things" are the European style of our bales or rolls. Many Amish farmers here in OH still use this method.

As for translation, it is correct that sometimes for expediency words/phrases aren't translated exactly and therefore could be misinterpreted. Sometimes there is no direct translation.

"Honey" wagons for fertilizer a very common in European farms. I was never sure exactly what was in that stuff other than water and pig manure but it definitely elicited groans from our 2 toddler boys!

Lablover