Filed under: March 2012
Oats and Speltz Bin
March 12, 2012
It looks like , for the first time in a couple of years, my horses will have to eat purchased horse feed. They have been eating our own home-grown oats and speltz for their daily grain ration. I do offer salt and minerals, but they get the bulk of their protein needs from grain they help to produce.
It is not that I have anything against commercial feed growers or producers. I just know that growing the feed my horses eat is a sustainable part of my farm plan. Last year, wet weather made it impossible for us to plant either oats or speltz. I sure hope I get some planted this year!
I am thinking a two-pronged approach will be our best bet this year. I will plant two or three acres of oats. The oats we harvest in July. The speltz I will plant in late September to be harvested next summer. Hopefully by having two chances to get a crop… I will at least get one.
Oats are hard for us get into the ground. Our wet, cold, clay soils don’t often work with us. When they do, we get a wonderful crop. I am hoping this will be one of those years. As you can see from the photograph, we need a good crop!
I am still not done in the sugarhouse yet, but did do some errands today that will make the job easier. I bought new tarps to cover the pans when they are clean and ready for storage. I bought some food grade plastic barrels for finishing up the last of the sap. Now I just need a little ambition… it seems that I am … running low.
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