Morgan Gold

Here's how we sprout our chestnut trees. Last year I drove my wife crazy with how much refrigerator space I taking up. This method solves that problem. Fingers crossed for the spring!

Does anyone do anything similar?

If you're thinking about adding elderberries to your homestead, try planting them this fall. We got berries in less than a year from the ones we planted last fall. Just a friendly reminder!

After taking in all of the advice, I think I stumbled on a solution. I’m using chicken wire attached to a couple of electric fence poles. The chicken wire is about 4 feet long and I made two “panels”. I use them as a chute to herd them in. Thanks for the advice, everybody!

I currently keep 28 khaki campbell ducks in a mobile duckhouse. (It's basically a Suscovich-style chicken tractor.) I move the house daily and have to herd them back in at night for predator protection. Each time is a pain the neck. Does anyone have advice how to better herd ducks? (Without a dog)

Here's a video that shows my current approach.

Wow...that is really good. She seems to spin a 240 degrees with the blade. Impressive!

I'm just trying to learn how to properly mow. I know I have a lot of room for improvement. Any pointers? I have included a video that shows my current technique...it seems to be more flail mowing than hand mowing.

Thanks,
Morgan

Scythe Supply was awesome. They gave me some good advice regarding which set up to go with. Very grateful for their help. Just got my scythe not too long ago and made a video of me testing it out. I actually show the full unboxing from Scythe Supply in the video if you are curious about what it looks like.

Cool. Well, if you're ever interested in checking our place out, just shoot me a message. We're in Peacham.

Thanks,
Morgan

Jean-Paul Calderone wrote:Thanks for sharing Morgan.  It's great to see other people in VT doing this kind of thing and see how.

I'm curious about where you sourced your trees from.  Somewhere nearby?

I'm also curious about your tree guards.  Are those winter-only?  It's difficult for me to tell from the video but they look pretty solid (also pretty tall?  Are they a lot taller than your trees currently?).  If they are winter-only, do you have any plans for protection during the rest of the year?

Thanks again.

I got most of my tree from Akiva Silver at Twisted Tree Nursery in western New York. It was the best option in balancing the varieties, proximity and price.

The tree tubes are a year round deal for the first couple of years. They are mostly for deer browse. They are translucent and pretty solid. I got them from TreePro. https://www.treepro.com/miracle-tube-tree-shelters/

I also over-bought when I ordered mine for a quantity discount. If you're only interested in a couple, I would be happy to sell you a few at cost.

Where are you based? I'm just outside of St. Johnsbury.

Thanks,
Morgan

There's a guy buy the name of John Suscovich who has developed a product that he calls the "Pastured Poultry Packet" and it helps people raising meat birds figure out their total costs. It's slanted more towards producers who are looking to take their chickens to market and have a clear sense of profitabilty, but it might be useful for thinking through what you are proposing.  

https://farmmarketingsolutions.com/poultry-packet/