Caleb Peretz

Cattle can handle steep slopes too, I even see jersey heifers on steep slopes. I’ve also watched a goat fall and roll down a slope, break it’s neck and die. Sad. But anything can happen...

I sowed 2.5 acres of various wheats last Fall, Fukuoka style. No tillage, no fertilizer, no weeding, no chemicals. The khorasan species did the best, the experiment really went lovely.

I am looking to buy a threshing machine like the famous foot-powered one, except I want it to plug into the wall instead, so that I can do large quantities. There are myriads of them on alibaba but i only want one, and I can find them shipped from China, for $400 for machine an $400 for shipping. Maybe I juust have to do that.

Thanks yall!  Happy farming

Adam Klaus wrote:hi Robin, glad to hear you are thinking about a dual purpose milk cow-
What we do with our dual purpose Brown Swiss cows, is first of all, only milk once a day.  this is sane for the farmer, easier on the cow, and leaves milk for the calf.  It is critical to not feed grain with once a day milking, otherwise the grain will push the cow's production too high, and udder problems will result.  The combination of grass only, and once a day is a real gem for the farmer.

Hey Adam,

I am very curious if this will be true, about not feeding grains for once-a-day milking, if you have a low-production breed (Gir, a Zebu-type) and are sharing with the calf half the day. What do you think? (I would only feed a very small amount of grains anyways, 2-4 lbs/day).

Thanks!

Thank you for your story Faye!

I have a female great pyr/akbash, she protects my small herd of cows, she is very loyal to the stock, entirely fearless, and friendly to humans (and has a short coat for the California heat). My goat neighbor (he has 250 goats on land which he doesn't even pay rent for) has three german shepherds to watch his flock too though..We have bears, coyotes, mountain lions. Lots of cattle herds around though.

I have gir cattle (dairy/draft breed from india) but the other week i got a dexter cow who had a 4 month heifer calf on her, half belted galloway. It was her first calf. I got this fresh cow because my cow is not making milk yet, and i figured it was a good price for a cow/calf pair and i could start milking right away. She would not let me near her. She scarred my cows all over with her horns, she tore up any somewhat weak spot in my fencing. she screamed day and night. Poor girl was traumatized to high heaven! Luckily my friend came and took her off me finally last week. Reminds me why I got the gir cows. They never make a peep, they love people, they have utmost respect for my fence. I am excited to see how the milk turns out! Gona share with the calf, and will only feed a tiny bit of grains or no grains at all.

Dairy farming is amazing! Thanks again for sharing. Here's some pics of my herd: https://www.facebook.com/MotherNatureRanchGardens/

Leila, once again, thank you for all the wonderful information. I have seen many of these trees all around, now that I know them.

Kostas, I completely agree that reforestation is key. The Pine Beetle definitely is spreading, starting to become significant and notable, but not quite catastrophic yet. I don't have a wide knowledge of the subject, but I've seen many, many beetle-killed pines and i hear about it.

Caleb

Wow thank you so much for all the info Leila! Glad to hear it all. That sounds like another case of humans thinking they're too good for nature; I find these cherry plums to be quite tasty as well! I am sure they are extremely nutritious. Our cultivated plum trees each put out a couple hundred pounds of fruit each year, without irrigation. Amazing old trees.

Hello again Kostas,

While at my parents's place this weekend, in Santa Rosa Sonoma County, CA i saw small, wild plums EVERYWHERE. they were ripe and tasty. Some yellow some red. My mother asked me if there was a cherry tree in our backyard, I went to look and was amazed at the abundance of wild plums growing huge in my yard and all over town. Upon inquiring to my father, he said that our city of Santa Rosa is in fact famous for all its wild plums that the birds and squirrels plant. By the way, this is an area with average 700mm (when we are not in drought years) but fully Mediterranean so that we have no rains from may 'til October or November. My point is, you may want to try mixing plum seeds in there too!!!

Continue to be great,

Caleb

Hello Kostas,

Some of my apricot kernels are getting moldy. I let them dry for a day and then cracked them open and then put them in a jar. Should I leave the kernels in the stone/shell to store them? Do you plant them in their shell, or do you crack it to get the kernel?

Thanks,

Caleb

Hey Stewart,

I like your idea of manure/wood chips. It's basically the main tenet of the humanure process. My friend rented a chipper for a few hours and chipped a lot fresh pine and oak foliage with a bunch of horse manure we shoveled as a favor for a neighbor. We have a big compost pile of just those three ingredients. It's very, very nice stuff. Gonna use as mulch around my baby trees, and plant comfrey around the trees before i lay the chips. I will sprinkle the cow pat-pit prep all around them before I mulch, sounds like that's the consensus.

Thanks everyone

Caleb

Hello again Kostas,

Spring came extremely early this year and we are now eating ripe apricots. The sweet fruit is truly a miracle! I would like to save the seeds for planting my new food forests. I believe that it would be best to keep from planting them until the Winter (correct?), so how should I store the apricot seeds until then? should i take the seed out of the pit? Should I dry them out or not? Should they be cold or not? (obviously not kept warm). And I will be collecting bitter almonds and Cali black walnut later in the season.

Thank you for the info,

Caleb