dave1949
Super Star Member
Yep, he is doing great stuff. Four Season Farm - Welcome to the site of Eliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch
Dave.
Big Multi Year Project About to Begin...help!
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Yep, he is doing great stuff. Four Season Farm - Welcome to the site of Eliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch
Dave.
6sunset6
Veteran Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2007
- Messages
- 1,055
- Location
- SE NY
- Tractor
- NH TC34DA 34HP HST, 2 rear remotes, front diverter, loaded R4's
You are still going to have to buy diesel and a lot of it. You could make biofuel but you have to buy stuff to make that. It is really hard to become totally self sufficient today. Horses maybe and I am not sure about that.
forgeblast
Elite Member
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/stewardship/accessroads/accessroads.htm
good book on forest roads i really like this manual.
I was also going to recommend the four season farm, the book of his, the winter harvest handbook, is wonderfun. I would also recommend the book "root cellaring".
if your not on otherpower.com they have great forum on different types of powergeneration.
good book on forest roads i really like this manual.
I was also going to recommend the four season farm, the book of his, the winter harvest handbook, is wonderfun. I would also recommend the book "root cellaring".
if your not on otherpower.com they have great forum on different types of powergeneration.
Wow! Great stuff. Thanks one and all.
The road is real, we drove up it about a half mile before my wife's (tougher than you'd think) Mercedes 450 SUV couldn't go any further. The road is still covered with snow and ice as is most of the land. The property is twenty four kilometers, as the crow flies, North of us on the leeward side of a modest, 3000'+ mountain range, so yeah it gets dumped on, I love snow.
I have a Dodge One Ton Dually that I had planned on plowing with. If that won't cut it I figure a used municipal dump truck with plow can get the job done. If that doesn't work a snow cat might be the only answer.
I am trying to switch all of my vehicles over to diesel. I believe we will see our supply of fuel challenged in the near future. I plan on producing bio diesel in fairly large quantities, lord knows there are plenty of fast food restaurants looking to get ride of their oil. I also understand it can be made with other organics as well, we'll see.
We have no problem buying and using commercial products, you should see some of the stupid stuff we've bought. My wife and I just believe that we have lost the connection to what it takes to live the life we do. From the soldiers that fight on our behalf in wars that protect not only our freedom but our cheap gas, to animals that are diseased from being injected with everything from steroids to antibiotics, to the poor around the world who are starving so our Federal Reserve can print money to bail us out of the debt problem we created.
America is better than this! We don't really know how to change any of it. So we figure we'll just try to change the way we live and maybe our children might grow up in a different world.
Make no mistake we like stuff, I'm typing this on my iPad. I just want to be conscious of the cost of what we do and have. But if I can buy diesel, you can be sure I'll be buying it. It's really just a change from how much does that cost? To, do I really need that and can I make it myself?
Thanks for the feedback. I couldn't even consider something like this without the accumulated knowledge of the folks on TBN.
Pics coming soon.
The road is real, we drove up it about a half mile before my wife's (tougher than you'd think) Mercedes 450 SUV couldn't go any further. The road is still covered with snow and ice as is most of the land. The property is twenty four kilometers, as the crow flies, North of us on the leeward side of a modest, 3000'+ mountain range, so yeah it gets dumped on, I love snow.
I have a Dodge One Ton Dually that I had planned on plowing with. If that won't cut it I figure a used municipal dump truck with plow can get the job done. If that doesn't work a snow cat might be the only answer.
I am trying to switch all of my vehicles over to diesel. I believe we will see our supply of fuel challenged in the near future. I plan on producing bio diesel in fairly large quantities, lord knows there are plenty of fast food restaurants looking to get ride of their oil. I also understand it can be made with other organics as well, we'll see.
We have no problem buying and using commercial products, you should see some of the stupid stuff we've bought. My wife and I just believe that we have lost the connection to what it takes to live the life we do. From the soldiers that fight on our behalf in wars that protect not only our freedom but our cheap gas, to animals that are diseased from being injected with everything from steroids to antibiotics, to the poor around the world who are starving so our Federal Reserve can print money to bail us out of the debt problem we created.
America is better than this! We don't really know how to change any of it. So we figure we'll just try to change the way we live and maybe our children might grow up in a different world.
Make no mistake we like stuff, I'm typing this on my iPad. I just want to be conscious of the cost of what we do and have. But if I can buy diesel, you can be sure I'll be buying it. It's really just a change from how much does that cost? To, do I really need that and can I make it myself?
Thanks for the feedback. I couldn't even consider something like this without the accumulated knowledge of the folks on TBN.
Pics coming soon.
Iplayfarmer
Super Member
Being a "Town Official" myself I'd recommend that rather than ask for it in writing, you make a note in some journal or date book who you talked to, when, and what he said. You'll likely never need it, but it may be convenient to have someday. I deal a lot with the leftovers of someone's handshake deal after a meal with the mayor's nephew or similar unofficial permission granting. Some permissions were granted flat out illegally. Having some record will help demonstrate you did your due dilligence if and when the current official is replaced.
I'm excited to see this project develop. I have totally different reasons than yours, but I'm fascinated by off-grid, self reliant living.
dave1949
Super Star Member
We all love a good project 
Do you know the history of your land? Is it in production now or was it ever farm or pasture?
When I look at the stone walls criss-crossing my land and think of all the work those poor people did, it makes my back hurt. And as soon as more fertile farm lands opened up in the Ohio River valley areas, they deserted these rocky poor soils and longer winters - I don't think they missed it :laughing:
Have you read any of Joel Salatin's works? Polyface, Inc. I think his concept of 'grass farming' has a lot to offer in areas where row crops just aren't possible. If you can get a good cycle of grazing-manuring-fallow going, it has to be one of the most economical methods of production on poor soils - if that is what you are starting with.
Dave.
Do you know the history of your land? Is it in production now or was it ever farm or pasture?
When I look at the stone walls criss-crossing my land and think of all the work those poor people did, it makes my back hurt. And as soon as more fertile farm lands opened up in the Ohio River valley areas, they deserted these rocky poor soils and longer winters - I don't think they missed it :laughing:
Have you read any of Joel Salatin's works? Polyface, Inc. I think his concept of 'grass farming' has a lot to offer in areas where row crops just aren't possible. If you can get a good cycle of grazing-manuring-fallow going, it has to be one of the most economical methods of production on poor soils - if that is what you are starting with.
Dave.
Received the green light from the town selectman to bring the road up to spec,if I want to go that far. He told me if we did the town would take over maintaining it. I don't know if we'll go that far but it's nice to know they are supportive.
Closing is on Thursday, pictures to follow as soon as the rain let's up.
Closing is on Thursday, pictures to follow as soon as the rain let's up.
Threads are better with pictures.
Here are a few of the pictures I took of the road I am about to start work on. The truck is a 4x4 with a 6' lift kit on it. I include it for reference.
In general the road is both worse and better than I remembered. Very muddy in some spots and pretty rough in others. Ditches are okay and water breaks are in decent places.
Any ideas as to how I can avoid 2000 yards of gravel?
Here are a few of the pictures I took of the road I am about to start work on. The truck is a 4x4 with a 6' lift kit on it. I include it for reference.
In general the road is both worse and better than I remembered. Very muddy in some spots and pretty rough in others. Ditches are okay and water breaks are in decent places.
Any ideas as to how I can avoid 2000 yards of gravel?
Attachments
Iplayfarmer
Super Member
2000 yards of asphalt?
Don't drive on it when it's wet?
Other than that, you'd best just plan on a lot of gravel.
beppington
Elite Member
I've never made a road or even graded, but this seems logical to me - Maybe somebody can correct if it's wrong:
I'd start with a rear blade, or grading scraper, tilted at a 4-degree angle & drag it along the sides of the road to 1) create a ditch along the sides of the road, rather than letting the tire tracks themselves be the ditches, which is what it looks like you have now, & 2) drag that material onto the road itself to raise the area where you'll drive.
It may not stay once you do that, but also it might! And it's a fairly inexpensive thing to try without having buy gravel. And it would probably need to be done anyway, since roads/ driveways need ditches along side them, i.e. you want your road/ driveway to be higher than the immediately surrounding terrain ... certainly not lower than it.
If you do this & it quickly washes back to the way it is now, you'll probably need to add culverts, gravel & other stuff that's beyond my knowledge