Thistle Ridge Farm Projects

Animals

  1. Sheep
    1. Romneys have great fleece, low-maintenance feet
  2. Goats
    1. Boers, Kikos, and Cashmere are low maintenance
  3. Livestock costs
  4. Breeds
  5. Fencing
    1. Drive posts in spring (soft ground) with bucket of backhoe, use metal post cap welded up to keep bucket from sliding on the top of the post as it pushes
    2. 6 1/2’ cedar posts off craigslist?
    3. Perimeter fence layout
    4. Use 16’ Cattle welded-wire panels?
      1. Does not need corners (no tension)
      2. Start fencing for both E and W pasture by installing permanent N-S fences near barn, several panels of E-W fencing, and movable back line, to allow progressive fence installation
        1. Every 2 panels deep in both directions = 1/4 acre
        2. Start with 1 acre, which is ~75 panels
    5. Portable electric mesh for pasture management
    6. Cut locust from backyard for posts
      1. Cut in may-june when sap is running, so they can be debarked easily
  6. Pasture Map

Rain Water Cistern

  1. Provides irrigation water to gardens
  2. Collects runoff from Barn roof
    1. 2500 sf
      1. 1/4” event yields almost 400 gallons
    2. secondary benefit = keeps ground around outside of barn from getting marshy
  3. Main Storage tanks
    1. elevated to provide head to fill transport tank
    2. Discharge header
      1. Connect to inline transfer pump for filling transport tank
      2. Flex hose at one end allows control of fill level, overflow protection, and winter drain
  4. Field storage tanks (65 gall x 2)
    1. located upslope of gardens
      1. needs low pressure emitters
    2. kept inside ply “doghouse” to avoid algal growth and for appearance
    3. main shutoff valve and hose quick-connects
    4. open top for filling
  5. Transport tank (65 gall)
    1. strapped into tractor trailer bed
    2. filled via gravity from main storage tanks
    3. fills field storage tank via gravity
      1. park tractor upslope
      2. large diameter fill hose
    4. fills field storage tank via pump
      1. use tractor to power 12V transfer pump

Tractor

  1. What it needs to do
    1. manage manure and compost
      1. attachment
        1. bucket (at least 4’ wide)
    2. minor row cropping
      1. attachments
        1. disk tiller
        2. harvester
        3. plow
    3. pasture management
      1. attachments
        1. bush hog
        2. mower
    4. backup to snowplow
      1. attachment
        1. plow blade
    5. backup generator
      1. attachment
        1. hydraulic motor & genset head
    6. log splitter
      1. attachment
        1. ram
  2. options
    1. Buying a used tractor with a front end loader
      • cost: ~18K
    2. Riding mower upgrade
      1. Can only do about half of the things I need
      • cost: ~2K
    3. Fix up an antique
      1. Antique tractors are easy to repair and get parts/attachments for
      2. Small, so:
        1. replace and sell riding mower
        2. will fit in barn better
      3. Bucket attachment not easy
        1. can’t mount on front
        2. rear end loader perfect solution but not easy to find
          1. need to fabricate one
      4. cost: ~2.5K (but -1K from selling rider mower?)
      5. Models
        1. Farmall H, B, C, cub
        2. Case V or VC
        3. Allis Chalmers WD
    4. Build one
      • cost: ~$5-9K?

Composting

Composting Bin.

Chicken Tractor

  1. Wheels for moving with tractor
  2. lightweight run
  3. light-sensitive door

Chicken Coop.

Making Food

  1. Equipment
    1. Food press
      1. multifunction
        1. cider
        2. cheese
        3. grapes (wine)
        4. sunflower oil
      2. Built of wood
        1. Start with press frame from Jeff’s basement?
      3. powered by hydraulic bottle jack
      4. Homemade Plans
    2. Food mills
      1. multifunction
        1. cider
        2. grapes (wine)
        3. Sunflower seeds
      2. Marathon Uni-mill (stone grinders)
    3. Dryer
      1. multifunction
        1. hops
        2. barley
      2. homemade
        1. old bee boxes
        2. old hair dryer
        3. Reference
          1. Homebrew gardening book has plans
    4. Grinder
      1. grandma’s old table-clamp unit good for relish, nuts, meats
        1. needs new cutter?
        2. attachment for making sausage?
    5. Dough mixer
      1. pasta
      2. stretch bread
    6. Turkey fryer
      1. fried turkey, duck, chicken
      2. New england boiled dinner
      3. Boil wort for beermaking?
    7. Smoker
      1. sausages
      2. fish
      3. cheese
  2. Cheesemaking
    1. References
      1. Cheese Chronicles - Liz Thorpe
      2. Jasper Hill Farm, Greensboro VT
      3. Lively Run Goat Dairy, Interlaken NY
    2. Raw Milk Sources
    3. Mozzarella
    4. Queso Blanco
    5. Creme Fraiche
    6. Jack
  3. Maple Sugaring
    1. Collection
      1. plastic taps
      2. 5-gal buckets
      3. Store in buckets with lids
    2. Boil
      1. Stainless chafing pans over cinder block wood fire pit
      2. Turkey fryer run on propane
    3. Log
      1. 2007
        1. Tapped all 5 trees, one tap apiece
        2. About a gallon of syrup
      2. 2008
        1. Tapped all 5 trees, one tap apiece
        2. Interrupted by vacation
        3. Tried a straw bale fire pit with blower, almost had to call fire dept.
        4. About a gallon of syrup
      3. 2010
        1. Tapped 3 northern trees
    4. References
      1. Equipment supplier
  4. Gardening records

Yarn Farm

home made equipment

Drum Carder

  1. motorized
    1. guts from an old electric drill
      1. put trigger into foot pedal
    2. bi-directional
    3. allows 2-handed fiber management
  2. main drum
    1. size
      1. 12” wide by 15.25” diameter
        1. 48” circumference
      2. 576 sq. in.
    2. laminated plywood
  3. roving guide
    1. diz?
    2. doffing netting strip
    3. maybe just skip the whole roving thing
  4. chain driven
    1. front bike cassette sprokets for multiple carding ratios
    2. small tension sproket
      1. motorized
    3. small sproket outside of chain loop for main drum
  5. cloth
    1. 1/2” deep
      1. can use netting for doffing
        1. netting attached at one end under groove guide
    2. ~100 PSI
    3. find a manufacturer who gives samples
      1. too expensive from fiber dealers
      2. need about 50’ of 1” tape

Loom

  1. counter-balance style (overhead)
  2. 48”
  3. 4 harnesses
    1. simplest possible to make tartan with
  4. 6 treadles
  5. string heddles
    1. may be better to purchase some steel ones
  6. ball bearings on beater and counter balances
  7. sectional warp winder
    1. counter on warp beam or warp roller
      1. use 18” circumference rollers for ease of counting?
  8. collapsable
  9. uses standard purchased reeds
  10. needs a clever brake system
    1. equal size warp and cloth rollers w/ chain & sprokets?
      1. keeps tension equal throughout cloth
    2. foot brake to adjust tension
  11. References
    1. Paula Simmon’s books

References

  1. David Bryant’s book “wheels and Looms”

Spinning Wheel

  1. quill spindle style
    1. simplicity of construction
    2. flexibility in yarn type
    3. can also wind shuttle bobbins and make center pull balls
    4. speed
    5. no orifice threading
  2. single treadle
    1. simplicity
    2. dual action
    3. Can be set at any angle from wheel, to adjust position of wheel relative to spinner
  3. Primary drive wheel
    1. 20” diameter
    2. Solid laminated wood
      1. Dimensionally stable
    3. Axis position is adjustable
  4. Quill Drive
    1. Driven by direct contact with drive wheel
    2. Held in place between drive wheel and roller bearings
    3. 80:1 ratio for quill speed of ~250rpm
  5. References
    1. Peguin wheel

warping board

  1. two 1x2s 4’ long with 3” nails every 8”, nailed to wall 5’ apart

References

  1. Paula Simmon’s books
  2. Book of wheel and loom plans

shearing done in-house

  1. need classes and about $500 in equipment to get started

Time saving shortcuts

  1. washing and dyeing done in one step
    1. washfast acid dyes (G & K? RIT?)
      1. safety
      2. simplicity
      3. color-fastness
  2. weave with singles
  3. sectional warping