Post by Becky on Jan 11, 2011 3:05:27 GMT -5
Well, now that I have had a little time to cool off, I thought about modifying my last post, but decided to leave it. The comment about the band-aids and quitting really set me off as I instantly thought about so many people on the board that I *know* work so hard to do what they can. Janene on her super small acreage, Selden in her bitter climate and tough, tough ground, Kevin (Yunta51) milking his cow in his garage, and the list could just go on and on. I tend to be a little protective and it just came across as such a discouraging and disheartening statement.
As far as the self-sustaining aspect of this conversation, I will say it again..... I believe in Eric's position that we all should do what we can to be self sustaining and support our local growers/producers by buying locally, when it is available and reasonable.
I long ago set out to do the best I can in that department, I believe that every year, my situation, and most of us here, will gradually get better in some small way because we don't give up.
- Hay. We drive 55 miles one way, totally out of our way, to buy hay from a man that I know doesn't spray ANYTHING on his hay. Yup, there are some weeds and grass in the alfalfa, but that suits us just fine. We do buy some grass hay from another local hay man, but not his alfalfa as it is GM.
- Grains. We buy our grains from a locally owned and operated feed store and I drive past 2 other larger and MUCH more convenient feed stores to get there. They in turn, only buy their grain from a locally owned and operated outfit (Artois Feeds) who, also, in turn, purchases as much of their grain locally as they can. I don't feed corn because of the GM issue, and beet pulp is now out as well. Barley, oats, carrots, and what ever other veggies I can come up with are just going to have to do.
- On the "farm". We only use manure and compost for fertilizer. We spent 1000 dollars buying a manure spreader because we want to avoid commercial fertilizers, and the whole "self-sustaining" aspect. We need A LOT more manure and compost to make our soil viable for crops and/or pasture, but beside that issue, is simply available land. We are doing as much as we can, and every year we will do just a little more. We are investigating dry land alfalfa, peas, etc to not only create good feed for our cows, but to also help our needy soil.
-Energy. We decided to invest our money into solar instead of "conventional" electricity. 2 years ago we started out with a 5 thousand watt generator and (2) 80 watt solar panels. We have installed 5 more 200 watt panels and a solar pump into our well. We spent well over 6 thousand dollars on our solar project this year with the goal of becoming more self-sustaining. All of this was done with a local dealer who only asks of us to pay for "parts" and his labor? Well, he LOVES goat/cow milk & yogurt. We will also be giving him beef, pork, and chicken. I'll be milking my cow at 97 years old just for the solar dude
So, in short, these are *my* band-aids. I think they are doing a pretty darn good job of helping to stop the infection. And everyone elses band-aids? They are helping to stop the infection, too. I for one don't want ANYONE to quit. If someone needs to feed GM beet pulp to help their cow maintain through a dirty, rotten, tough winter, by all means, feed away. Who would I be to judge or condemn? I/we/they are doing the best they can with what they have, right here and right now. And yes, maybe that is short sighted, but I know we glugged a lot of gasoline down that little generator until we got our solar system even close to adequate,and we still have a long way to go on that project. We will have to feed a lot more hay before we have viable, productive pastures. So, while some of the things that we do *are* a short term fix, sometimes you have to patch the tire to get to the tire shop......
Becky
As far as the self-sustaining aspect of this conversation, I will say it again..... I believe in Eric's position that we all should do what we can to be self sustaining and support our local growers/producers by buying locally, when it is available and reasonable.
I long ago set out to do the best I can in that department, I believe that every year, my situation, and most of us here, will gradually get better in some small way because we don't give up.
- Hay. We drive 55 miles one way, totally out of our way, to buy hay from a man that I know doesn't spray ANYTHING on his hay. Yup, there are some weeds and grass in the alfalfa, but that suits us just fine. We do buy some grass hay from another local hay man, but not his alfalfa as it is GM.
- Grains. We buy our grains from a locally owned and operated feed store and I drive past 2 other larger and MUCH more convenient feed stores to get there. They in turn, only buy their grain from a locally owned and operated outfit (Artois Feeds) who, also, in turn, purchases as much of their grain locally as they can. I don't feed corn because of the GM issue, and beet pulp is now out as well. Barley, oats, carrots, and what ever other veggies I can come up with are just going to have to do.
- On the "farm". We only use manure and compost for fertilizer. We spent 1000 dollars buying a manure spreader because we want to avoid commercial fertilizers, and the whole "self-sustaining" aspect. We need A LOT more manure and compost to make our soil viable for crops and/or pasture, but beside that issue, is simply available land. We are doing as much as we can, and every year we will do just a little more. We are investigating dry land alfalfa, peas, etc to not only create good feed for our cows, but to also help our needy soil.
-Energy. We decided to invest our money into solar instead of "conventional" electricity. 2 years ago we started out with a 5 thousand watt generator and (2) 80 watt solar panels. We have installed 5 more 200 watt panels and a solar pump into our well. We spent well over 6 thousand dollars on our solar project this year with the goal of becoming more self-sustaining. All of this was done with a local dealer who only asks of us to pay for "parts" and his labor? Well, he LOVES goat/cow milk & yogurt. We will also be giving him beef, pork, and chicken. I'll be milking my cow at 97 years old just for the solar dude
So, in short, these are *my* band-aids. I think they are doing a pretty darn good job of helping to stop the infection. And everyone elses band-aids? They are helping to stop the infection, too. I for one don't want ANYONE to quit. If someone needs to feed GM beet pulp to help their cow maintain through a dirty, rotten, tough winter, by all means, feed away. Who would I be to judge or condemn? I/we/they are doing the best they can with what they have, right here and right now. And yes, maybe that is short sighted, but I know we glugged a lot of gasoline down that little generator until we got our solar system even close to adequate,and we still have a long way to go on that project. We will have to feed a lot more hay before we have viable, productive pastures. So, while some of the things that we do *are* a short term fix, sometimes you have to patch the tire to get to the tire shop......
Becky
