I am indeed a Zen Buddhist. At the moment, I am not raising any animals for meat, though it's under consideration. Only in America is it controversial (how we love controversy here); many Asian Buddhists raise their own meat.
One doesn't have to be a Buddhist to be Zen, though quite frankly that is something I can't quite wrap my head around. I know of Christian zennists, and Jewish zennists. It's a bit of a mystery to me...
Jay
New to Forum
Wow this conversation went from animals to tractors to spirituality. We are all so well rounded, don't you think?
My husband and I are also in ministry, we are Christians and we grow food for the needy.
Kewl! How do you distribute the food?
We either go through larger ministries that feed the homeless and needy or we go through churches and senior centers.
I've been thinking of going through our local soup kitchen, or maybe the local Salv. Army.
Providing, of course, that we produce enough for ourselves and hard hit friends first. Someday...
=0)
I like to take our extras to church and give it to the elderly and those who can't garden for some reason.
I have a dream for a ministry. I don't know if it will ever happen. It will take a lot of money and I don't know how to go about applying for grants and such. There is a huge drug problem here in our area. There are several contributing factors. The only work here is in the coal mines and it is dangerous work. There are lots of people who are disabled because of accidents and the results of accumulative damage over the years. They take lots of meds and many times they get addicted and turn into addicts. Also, because of the poverty that is rampant here, they will sell their meds to buy food and pay the bills. Many kids grow up in this enviroment and get hooked on drugs in their own homes. I would love to have a ministry that would give them an alternative. I would love to have a farm where they could spend a couple hours a day learning animal husbandry, gardening, cooking ect. Life skills that not only will help them later but give them something to be proud of now. The ministry could employ a few retired people who could pass on their lifetime of knowledge to a new generation. We could also have classes for adults, like budgeting and studying for GED. I would like to have camps in the summer that would last for several weeks. I could get people to come in and give demonstrations, have class work and at the end, a graduation ceremony complete with diplomas and make sure it gets in the newspaper. We could even work up to rescuing dogs from the pound, training them in the basics and give them a better chance of being adopted.
I know it's a big dream that will take a lot of money and it's not likely to happen but I hold onto it just the same. I wish one of those rich philanthropists (sp?) I have read about would cross my path and catch my vision.
Maybe you could start small, with just one or two young people, and a network of elders to pass on knowledge? In any case, it's a lovely vision...
I'm interested in somehow starting a meditation group for veterans... a suitable space is a big problem. Talk about money issues...
I would love to be able to get a long term lease or better yet a donation of about 100 acres on a recovered strip job. When they recover them they are flat for the most part and they are seeded with Little Blue Stem grass. It makes awesome hay.
Service to our soldiers is very needed. We don't treat our soldiers like the heros they are. They and their families sacrifice so much for us and they get so little compensation. It's just plain selfish on our country's part and I am ashamed of it. What has steered you in this particular direction?
Here is a pic of part of a recovered strip job.
This message was edited Jan 15, 2009 7:04 PM
Which direction are you referring to, Cajun? I'm only going in about 6...
LOL
The meditation group direction.
Relieving suffering...
This community has a lot of reserve and regular military, and is economically depressed. Support services are spare, and I think almost everyone can benefit from meditaition of one sort or another.
Sue... another idea: flower farming. There was a small farm near me that raised iris, sold every rhizome they could produce every year in July (I think). And I notice someone over on the Farm Forum is doing daylilies...
Cajun, hope you're feeling better today, lungs clearing up and all. Did DH end up camping out in the barn?
Ended up not having to stay at the barn. The temps are around 0 here but we are blessed that it was dry before it froze so there is little ice to deal with. The small amount of snow is so dry it blows like dust when you drive over it so it's no problem at all. I went with him yesterday to feed but he wanted me to stay home today. I am much better but the cold air causes me to wheeze badly. The doc prescribed an inhaler and it helps. It's better for Knock to stay close to the house too as he has asthma. Hasn't had problems with it in a couple of winters but it's something we always keep an eye on. He bundled up this morning and went out for a few minutes with my camera to take a few pics of the creek. I'm about to upload them and see what masterpiece he has captured. I'll send any good ones.
Probably silly to ask, but do you use a humidifier in winter? We found it helps us with our winter wheezes... of course, it's a lot drier here. =0)
Glad to hear you're feeling better; it's so draining when the lungs aren't working well.
No. I don't have a humidifier. Never thought of it. I had one for the kids when they were little.
I think it's getting to be time to drag ours out... I notice I'm coughing more in the morning, clearing the 'pipes'.
I may look into one.
Sue,
How do you raise broccoli without getting bugs all over it? We tried brocolli-raab one year and it was infested with flea beetles. I love brocolli, and it would do well up here in the cool, but bugs... ugh.
Jay
I don't know we don't have much troub;e with bugs on it? If I do see any it is when the plants are young and they are nibbling on the leaves. I usually dust if I have to, but honestly I have more problems with cabbage bugs than brocc. You might try pureeing garlic and making a spray with garlic and water. Or insecticidal soap.
This message was edited Jan 18, 2009 8:40 PM
NC and you don't have bugs? I may move there! Here in NWA the flea beetles don't bother the broccolli (just cabbage loopers and a black and orange beetle that I haven't identified yet - maybe harlequin bugs? - both of which need some kind of dust/spray or they will kill the plants) but they do wipe out my eggplants every year if I don't use some kind of insecticide. What about ticks and chiggers in NC?
I have heard about chiggers but never experienced them, Thank God. We have ticks. We treat our lawn so that we don't bring them in the house. We had bad potato beetles last year. Nothing we did got rid of them, lost alot of plants to them. This year I really hope we do not have a bug problem on anything cause we are growing to sell this year and I need to make a profit.
Hey, Lwolf, if you moved up there, you could get a two-wheeled tractor from Don and forget having to throw hay every day!
Do you use row covers, Sue?
Good luck with the farmer's market. How much land are you planting? The chiggers here are worst when you go to pick wild blackberries or huckleberries. They also call them "noseeums" because you can't see them and they burrow under your skin and itch like crazy! And of course they don't want to borrow under your skin on your leg or arm, oh no, they burrow into your armpits and groin! About the only thing I can grow here without being assaulted by bugs are peppers - everything else has it's set of bugs to watch out for.
I actually have a friend here in Fay that just bought one of those two wheel tractors - now if he can just get it running! I would rather have a horse/mule/donkey. I really don't like internal combustion engines - I don't know how to work on them and tractors have no pollution control on them and they are NOISY! I read the other day that running a lawnmower for one hour put out the pollution equivalent to driving 350 miles! That is what I remember liking about cultivating with a horse - it was wonderful exercise (I didn't have to bend down!) and it was quiet - you could hear the birds, etc.
We are planting one acre of veggies and 500 blueberry bushes.
We love our 2 wheel tractors, we couldn't possibly do all this work without one and we couldn't use a riding tractor due to the slope of our land, too dangerous. As for pollution...I have no idea how to respond to that, I care about the earth but I also rely heavily on God to take care of all that, I don't litter but I do use my tractors and tillers. To compensate for the pollution my tractors cause I have donated 2,000+ lbs of produce to needy families over the last 5 years, so.....they may have trouble breathin but they have full tummies.
:)
We all just do the best we can, and what you're doing beats the bejeezuz out of sitting at a desk trading bogus financial derivatives...
IMHO
Lwolf and I just like big poopy things, and I know I've been laid into for the methane they produce... global warming and all that. }=0P
You couldn't prove global warming by the temps we've been having.
I agree. We do the best we can with what we have and as long as we are trying it helps. There is some drawback with everything. You just have to take the lesser of the evils. Kinda like voting. LOL
Yeah, a lot like voting. LOL
While my friend and I depended on a tractor to disk the garden in the spring and fall, we managed to cultivate almost an acre with a horse in about 1.5 hours. I don't know about the blueberries tho! Having an auger really does make all the difference!
But as Lynn Miller says, it's a good thing that horse farming is optional now, so that only the folks that truly love horses can farm with them and those that aren't drawn to them can use machines. Better for the horses, and better for folks sense of humor.
Besides, 4.5 acres isn't enough to support a horse. Maybe you could harness your pigs? LOL
I wouldn't mind having a two wheel tractor for some of the jobs around here, especially mowing. I'd like to have a sickle mower, so I could save the grass for feed.
You may laugh at that thought Jay, but one of my grandmothers had a boar that grew so large they hooked him up to the horse carriage. We have an old grainy photo of Curly Boy harnessed into the carriage, with grandma all dressed up in her late 1800's attire and hat. I think Curly Boy was eventually stuffed and on display in the Chicago or Ohio Ripley's museum at one time. I'll have to see if can scan the photo. He shows up in some old hog husbandry text books since he weighted 1255 lbs and no, that was not an obese hog, just a really big one.
My DH loves the walk behind tractors. He says it's in his Italian blood. The steep hills of southern Italy make ox power or walk behind tractors a necessity.
So how many miles per oink? LOL How in the world do you steer a hog?
{shaking head}
Learn sumpthin new everday. =0)
Jay
You steer a hog with the reins the same way you would a horse.
I reckon Curly Boy mighta thought he was a horse. I guess when they bred the "Ohio Improved Chester-White" varieity, they didn't realize where the improvement was going to show.
A nose ring or a bit?
Did they use a collar or breast collar type harness... Hope the scan works! =0)
What a great parade entry that would be.
Hogzilla meets Macy's. LOL
Methane filled! LOL
I looked at the large photo and see that the cooling shroud is missing on the engine.This directs air over the engine.Rope starting an engine like this is dangerous because the flywheel fins can grab the rope or fingers.Another problem is that the tire treads are backward.Engine wont run long with shroud missing.
Not sure what photo you are talking about?
Susan, Hi! Don't know how I missed this thread... This forum is one of my favorites; guess I've just been busy elsewhere lately. There was a time when I knew everyone (almost!) on DG, and read everything. But we are so large now, and specialized. Well, DG is specialized... I'm not. I'm too interested in too many things to keep up with all my mind wants to know... LOL.
Sounds like you and Don have a good start! What is your pH for blueberries? What variety? I just bought a few, but they have to go into pots until some elemental sulfur does its thing on a section of my soil. We sit on limestone.
Love your 2 wheelers!
Hi Darius,
Our ph tested at 4.4, the acre was a forest we just had it cleared last Fall. We are very busy, just put corn in today and green beans and 3 ft tall tomato plants yesterday. I started them a little too early. I have flowers on them already. :)