On some tractors the distance between the wheels is adjustable. In other words the distance between the front wheels can be made wider (or narrower), and the same goes for the rear wheels. The distance between the tractor wheels is known as the wheel track, and adjusting it can reap many benefits.
You might be wondering, why would you ever adjust the distance between wheels? Isn’t the wheel track chosen by the factory or dealer (or the neighbor who sold you the tractor) a good one-size-fits-all option?
Maybe, or maybe not. It depends on how you intend to use the tractor. An adjustable wheel track can make a huge difference when you’re cultivating rows of crops and need to drive your tractor through the fields without damaging plants. By adjusting the wheel track to match the spacing between rows, you can achieve a setup where the tractor wheels drive safely between rows.
Since the spacing of rows will vary depending on the crop you’re growing, an adjustable wheel track gives you the options you need.
Why You Might Want to Adjust Your Tractor’s Wheel Track
Even if you’re not cultivating crops, you may want to adjust the wheel track on your tractor. A narrow track is more maneuverable, allowing the tractor to fit through tighter spaces (useful if you’re driving through woodlands to harvest firewood). A narrow wheel track can also help with turning tightly.
Those old three-wheeled tractors with either one front wheel or two front wheels spaced very close together are masters at turning tightly.
But on the other hand, a narrow wheel track is less stable. Three-wheeled tractors in particular are in danger of tipping over, especially when navigating sloping ground. If you’re going to tackle lots of bumpy or sloping ground, setting the wheel track wide will make the tractor more stable (though you should still exercise great caution when operating on slopes).
How to Adjust the Wheel Track
How do you adjust the wheel track? It can vary from one tractor the next. On the front wheels, there might be a telescoping design for each wheel with several different spacing options, as shown in the photo at the top of this article. You’ll remove the bolts, adjust the spacing as desired, and reinsert the bolts to lock your chosen spacing in place.
For rear wheels, you may have the option to install the wheel hubs at different points along the axle to change the spacing. You can gain even more possibilities by flipping the wheel rims around (since the wheel rim installation point is often offset from the center of the tire) or by installing wheel spacers.
Setting the tractor wheel track extremely wide can increase the strain on the axle. But as long as you’re opting for a configuration outlined in the tractor’s user manual or other documentation, you should be good to go.
Not everyone will need to adjust their tractor’s wheel track. If all you do is tow a wagon around flat fields, the exact spacing of the wheels is unlikely to be critical. However, it’s worth the effort to adjust the wheel track if you’re going to be tackling projects where you’ll benefit from a wide, narrow or specific wheel track.
I was first drawn tono-dig gardening for one simple reason: It’s easy! And while the practices may seem like lazy gardening, there’s meaningful science behind what we don’t do in a no-till garden. And when I saw with my own eyes the results touted by so many books and research papers, I became hooked.
I love talking and sharing about no-dig gardening because it helps us shift our thoughts from how we garden to how nature grows best. And so far, taking cues from nature has always proved the right decision.
What to Know About No-Dig
In many ways no-dig simply means building the soil up instead of digging down. We want to leave the soil microbes and all their infinitely webbed relationships intact. So the less digging we do, the better.
At the end of the growing season, no-dig affects how we harvest and how we clean up the garden for its dormant season of rest.
Harvesting, Not Pulling
Ripping out plants with all their roots can be satisfying. But this clearing method can too easily devastate entire communities of fungi and bacteria that have been working with all the plant roots that get yanked out.
Those living microorganisms must find another way to sustain themselves, so they go elsewhere. So much for all the nutrient mining and resource sharing that slowly evolved over the growing season!
The same wholesale displacement of soil life communities happens with tilling and double digging. Did you know you can find an estimated 1 billion microbes in a teaspoon of soil?Looking at things this way also helps us understand the benefits of growing more perennials.
So, what do soil life-loving gardeners do? We snip stems at soil level and leave the roots intact. These roots will slowly feed the microbes. It really is that easy. Compost the top parts of the plants and leave the roots. I also have good luck with “leaving the leaves” of most trees (except walnut and large amounts of oak).
3 Tips to Get You Started
First, definitely plan to leave the bean and pea plant roots. These likely have nodules of fixed nitrogen (thanks to bacteria) that will help feed your plants next year, so long as you leave them in place. It would be like extracting nitrogen from your soil if you removed these.
Next, plan to leave marigold roots in place. As these plants decompose, they release a chemical in the roots that helps to suppress pest nematodes and cabbage worms.
Finally, you can ahead and rip out any diseased plant roots, which usually includes tomatoes and cucurbits (any of the cucumber, melon, squash family). Powdery mildew and blights overwinter in the soil, and we don’t want to preserve disease.
Cover the Soil
One of the basic concepts of building healthy soil is keeping it covered. After your final harvest of the season, your soil will be happiest with a blanket. You could add a couple inches of fresh compost or organic mulch. Come spring, the black compost will warm faster than a light straw-colored mulch (but leaf mold is great for a darker mulch).
Another favorite option is sowing cover crop seeds. Cover crops are grown to feed the soil life while nothing else is growing. These kinds of crops typically only require five or so weeks of growth to make a positive impact on the soil. They also add organic mass with more roots and leaves produced that will remain in place after they die back or are chopped at soil level.
Cover crops are often formulated to add nitrogen and leave behind a beautiful organic layer of mulch to plant into the following spring. I like a mix of oats, peas and radishes for my vegetable gardens.
Come spring, your seedlings and future harvests will thank you!
Passiflora incarnata—called passion vine, passion flower or even maypop (more on that name below)—is a native plant in much of the eastern United States. It’s getting a lot of attention lately because of its forage capacity in places where people want to grow their own food in small urban spaces. The passionflower looks tropical and, in fact, has cousins who are.
It’s one of the showiest native flowers we have in central Appalachia, perhaps rivaled by lady’s slipper orchids and catalpa. And humans aren’t the only ones attracted to these flowers. Bumblebees routinely dance around their nectaries, which open to the sun and seem to be a perfect landing pad for these giants of the pollinating kingdoms.
The flower, vine and fruits all have virtues to share with humans who ingest them.
Using Passion Vine
My most common herbal preparation of passion vine involves trimming one to three leaves per vine and drying for tea or tincturing for medicine. I include passion vine leaves in tea blends to help promote sleep and calm mental states. The tincture lasts longer on the shelf and can deliver more medicine per drop for those on the go and dealing with any mental anguish.
And passion vine fruits are delicious, though it’s tricky to know when they’re ripe. Somewhat like melons, we just keep tapping and opening new fruits, which appear over the course of several weeks. You’ll almost surely be tempted to pluck them before they are ripe. Opening unripened fruits reveals somewhat dry, pulpy flesh and tiny, unripened seeds that might be white, green or turning black (but still very small).
Next in the ripening phase, a bittersweet, pulpy, juicier and more moist flesh will begin to appear surrounding the seeds. And finally the entire fruit will be filled with juicy fruit casings that taste as sweet as any tropical fruit.
But have patience. Tasting an unripened fruit will convince you that it is not edible! Many simply wait for the ripe fruits to fall off the vine. I liken them to tiny pomegranates, as I suck the juice from around each seed and spit the seeds out into my hand to plant.
About Passion Vine
I like to stroll through the streets of my hometown of Frankfort, Kentucky, and spot blooms covering fencerows, calling to onlookers like a clematis but with much more color. Here and elsewhere, passion vine is also called maypop because it pops out of the ground in late May for a late spring surprise in the garden. But once it gets going, these small-looking shoots can cover a lot of territory in the summer, finally flowering and fruiting quickly after.
Source your plants from an area where they’re already growing. Runners can be transplanted and rooted more easily than potted seedlings started from seed. With tender loving care, this plant will establish and run wild for you to enjoy.
Check out these folks dedicating their time to cultivating and distributing maypops! And this interview, from episode nine of the Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good podcast, will convince you to join a growing project.
In this seasonal breakfast recipe, soft scrambled eggs, fresh herbs and tangy goat cheese top sweet potatoes cut into medallions. I prepare as four servings here, but you can easily double or even triple it for a crowd.
Keep all the layers separate and let everyone create their own breakfast bowl before a group workday on the farm or as a tailgate brunch before the game. The potatoes can be roasted in the oven, but I give them a head start in the microwave and then let each side brown in a skillet with creamy butter.
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (long and thin potatoes are best)
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
1 small red or yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
8 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup chopped spinach leaves
2 tablespoons torn fresh basil leaves
2 ounces crumbled chévre
cracked black pepper for serving
small basil leaves for garnish
Preparation
Prick the sweet potatoes with fork and microwave on high for 90 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on their size. The potatoes shouldn’t be cooked through. They should be firm enough to slice but also give very slightly when squeezed.
Slice the potatoes into about 1⁄2-inch medallions. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Place the potato slices in the skillet in a single layer. Sprinkle with a 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and a 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper.
Move them around the pan in the butter by shifting it from side to side. Cover with a lid, and cook for 2 minutes.
Use a spatula to flip the potatoes. They should be dark brown on the cooked side. Continue to cook for an additional 3 to 5 more minutes, uncovered, until fork tender.
To make the eggs, heat the 1/2 tablespoon of butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper, onion and garlic. Stir often for 2 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften.
Reduce the heat to medium-low. Remove the skillet from the heat, and pour in the egg. Begin stirring all ingredients together as you return the skillet to the heat.
Continue to stir to cook the eggs, 2 to 3 minutes. Just before the eggs are no longer runny, stir in the spinach, basil and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute.
To serve, divide the sweet potatoes and scrambled eggs into 4 portions. For each serving, top the potatoes with the eggs and add a 1/2 ounce of chévre. Add more salt to taste, if desired. Sprinkle with cracked black pepper and small basil leaves.
This article originally appeared in the Sept./Oct. 2023 issue of Chickens magazine.
This week I’m sharing a recipe that isn’t for eating, but for absorbing! It’s a recipe for your skin: a fermented face mask.
While reading Pickle & Ferment, a new book by Susan Crowther and Julie Fallon, I came across a chapter called “Fermented Body Care Products,” which I was really excited to find. Their cookbook is chock full of wonderful and unique fermented recipes, but what I so appreciate (and know others will too) is that it also provides recipes for how to use your ferments to make other recipes. For example, the Jun sourdough bread recipe uses Jun tea, pureed SCOBY and fermented onions, and the raw pickled potato salad recipe uses fermented onions, fermented pickles, raw ACV and fermented garlic.
But the short chapter on body care is what sets this book apart, in my opinion. I’ve been preserving food in various ways and making my own lotions for nearly two decades and I’ve never thought about incorporating the benefits of ferments with body care products before. It makes perfect sense.
This facial mask recipe is a base that can easily be customized. Oats are calming and hydrating, cabbage (sauerkraut juice) is high in vitamin C (antiaging), honey has antibacterial properties, the probiotic benefits from fermentation can help restore the skin’s natural biome, and different herbs can be used to achieve different medicinal results.
Blend oats until they are a “corn-mealy” texture. Combine all ingredients in a pint jar.
If the mixture is too thick, add more sauerkraut juice until a thinner consistency is achieved (think of a thin pancake batter).
Cover with a coffee filter or cloth and stir daily.
Ferment until bubbling has ceased, about one to two weeks. Transfer to the refrigerator.
To Use
Apply paste to clean skin and allow it to dry. Can be used on the face and neck, eczema spots, surgical scars, etc. Gently remove with warm water.
Caution: Always have an experienced forager correctly identify plants for the first time.
Notes from Stephanie
You can use store-bought sauerkraut brine for your fermented face mask as well, so long as it’s raw and from the refrigerated section. (Don’t use canned kraut.)
Feel free to put a metal canning jar lid and ring on this fermented face mask if you are concerned about mold.
This recipe has been shared with permission from Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
Backyard beekeeping is a rapidly growing hobby, with people from all walks of life joining in on the fun for the first time each year. Folks from the city, those living in rural settings, even apartment dwellers and full-time RVers are embracing this exciting venture. And while it’s true that men typically dominate the beekeeping world, women are one of the fastest growing groups of new beekeepers in many regions of the United States.
However, many women have questions or concerns that aren’t addressed in standard beekeeping meetings, books or conferences, such as how to lift those heavy boxes or how beekeepers can move hives around when going solo. So here’s a little primer to get you going, as I myself had to answer these questions many years ago as I began my own solo journey into the world of beekeeping.
First Things First
Before you make your first bee purchase, attend monthly beekeeping meetings regardless of how intimidated you may feel sitting in a room full of men. I’m from a Southern town where most men in the beekeeping community are big and burly farmers, often with gray hair and deep, gravely voices. I understand firsthand how anyone, regardless of gender, may feel a bit apprehensive by these guys.
However, most of the folks I’ve encountered over the years have been nothing but helpful and kind anytime I’ve had questions.
In fact, all my mentors—and I’ve had many wonderful ones—have been those exact same gentlemen that I was once unnecessarily intimidated by. And my beekeeping operation would not be where it is today—350 colonies at its peak—without the vast amount of beekeeping wisdom each of these mentors has given me. It ranges from how to move those heavy boxes by myself to how to raise queens, how to best manage nuc production and even how and when to expand my operation. Without the timely guidance of these mentors from the beginning of my journey, I would likely not even be keeping bees today.
So how do you obtain a mentor or find someone willing to answer your questions? Sometimes it can be tough, especially when not attending monthly meetings or living in an area that doesn’t have a local beekeeping association. You may need to expand your search outside of your local area by attending beekeeping schools, beginners’ classes or even beekeeping conferences that may be offered throughout your state or nearby regions.
For instance, folks such as Kent Williams, an Eastern Apicultural Society Master Beekeeper and commercial beekeeper in Wingo, Kentucky, are more than eager to assist new and old beekeepers alike. Williams offers a free annual beekeeping school at his home place each April with the Lake Barkely Beekeepers Associationto do just that—teach new and experienced beekeepers of every kind the ropes of beekeeping. He also speaks at countless conferences and beekeeping meetings around the country each year to further share his decades of experience just so others may be successful in beekeeping.
“When looking for a mentor, it’s important to choose someone that makes you comfortable,” Williams says. “This might mean picking someone of the same gender as you, but that is not an absolute … be sensitive to any possible jealousy issues from family on either side of the mentorship. It is difficult to learn when you are not comfortable.”
Some things for those in a mentor/mentee relationship to consider include the following. “The mentor is not there to do all of the work for the mentee,” William says. “But ideally, [he or she] should demonstrate the work once and step back while the mentee completes the task, while offering advice and either corrections for mistakes or affirmation for proper work. Be respectful of your mentor as they have almost certainly paid their dues by suffering the consequences of making the same mistakes you will make.
“The purpose of a good mentor is to help the mentee avoid the pitfalls we fell into.”
Kristi Cook
Heavy Lifting
“The heavy lifting has been the biggest struggle for me so far,” says Heather Wicker from Bay, Arkansas, a solo newbie beekeeper and owner of The Bees Knees Motel.
Over the years, I’ve encountered countless women concerned over how to handle and move those heavy boxes, which can weigh anywhere from 60 to 100 pounds each, as well as moving entire colonies when needed. However, there’s no need to feel embarrassed when seeking guidance in these matters because I have a little secret to tell you: No one enjoys lifting or moving those boxes. In fact, nearly everyone complains over the weight issues. As a result, those very same men can offer loads of helpful advice to make the movement of those boxes a breeze if you’ll just ask.
So, I asked Williams what his advice is on these matters so you don’t have to. Fortunately for us, he offers three solutions to this issue.
1. Share the Work
Grab a friend or fellow beekeeper to share the workload. Just remember this helper doesn’t have to be a beekeeper. They simply need a protective suit and an understanding of what is expected, including the possibility of being stung through the bee suit.
Williams also recommends utilizing the various tools available for moving equipment (such as the two-person hive lifter) when moving entire colonies.
2. Break the Job into Bite-Sized Pieces
“One way to accomplish this is to move one frame at a time into an extra box, which could be stationed on a garden cart/wagon, wheelbarrow or truck tailgate or bed. Then repeat the process to unload,” Williams says.
“This will take more time and some planning, plus extra equipment … but it is less expensive than the third option.”
3. Mechanize
While this option may seem to be primarily for those seeking commercial status or for someone who wants 100-plus colonies, don’t be too quick to dismiss this potential option if your budget allows.
“Mechanizing can take different forms according to your budget and needs,” Williams says. “It may be as simple as a set of hand trucks and a small trailer with a ramp. [It] could also escalate to the same dolly coupled with a lift gate or a small swinging boom with a cable and winch, or on the more serious end of the spectrum, a skid loader or articulated wheel loader and flatbed truck. These are the different possibilities for consideration when searching for solutions to handling heavy hives and honey supers.”
These aren’t the only solutions to the heavy lifting issues, as beekeepers are a creative sort and often find many solutions to each problem. And Wicker offers yet another solution to this problem.
“I have learned that I need to adjust my hives to be lower to the ground to make that much easier for me. When it comes to removing the boxes that are full for inspection, I need to remove a frame to be able to place my hand inside for leverage due to the weight.”
Kristi Cook
Building Equipment
Beekeeping equipment can be expensive, and in today’s economic climate, we’re all searching for ways to save money.
However, many women find building equipment intimidating, as well, especially because most of us don’t typically spend our days performing carpentry work with power tools and the like. So I reached out to a couple of new female beekeepers to see how they managed this concern in their own operations.
“Building equipment was a learning curve,” Wicker says. “The man I bought my supplies from gave me instructions, and I watched a few videos to get it right. The equipment I used was trial and error. Once I had what I needed, it was fairly easy to build. My only complaint that I would have is how time-consuming it becomes.”
Lori Corbett from Jonesboro, Arkansas, a beekeeper for two years, echoes Wicker. “I am always in for a bargain so I began making my own equipment,” she says. “Use Google and YouTube. Look up what you want to make for your hive and make it! You will save a ton of money that way.”
Here’s where a mentor comes in handy even when building equipment. Williams, yet again, offers advice on how to build good-quality equipment while saving money.
“If you plan to produce your own equipment, make sure the dimensions are correct [and] consistent from box to box,” Williams says. “Take into account the proper ‘bee space’ between the top of the frames in a lower box and the bottom of the corresponding frames in the next box (1⁄4 to 3⁄8 inch)…. Grade of material is not as important as the preservative or paint used. Get the best grade paint you can afford, or have your equipment wax dipped.”
When exploring the exciting hobby of beekeeping for the first time, many folks—men and women alike—find they question whether they’re up to the task of being beekeepers, be it due to the heavy lifting, the building of equipment, handling of chemicals … the list goes on. However, because the beekeeping community is still predominately male, many women are a bit unsure of how to enter this world or even if they can become beekeepers.
With just a bit of confidence and some good guidance, women of all ages are just as capable as the guys to being stellar beekeepers, whether as a hobby or as a business. You just need to take a deep breath and walk into that room. Tap a gentlemen on the shoulder, and begin to ask questions.
More Information
Bee Kind
Kent Williams, an Eastern Apicultural Society Master Beekeeper in Wingo, Kentucky, reminds new beekeepers that we all, women and men alike, can learn from any level of teaching.
“Attend meetings and conferences,” he says. “Ask questions. Never think that a subject or class is above your level of beekeeping. Everything that is written or taught affects the beginner and the greatly experienced exactly the same. The difference is in the reaction, which is what you learn in classes you consider above your intellect.”
Lori Corbett from Jonesboro, Arkansas, a beekeeper for two years, advises lots of research and then simply jumping in with both feet. “I did a lot of research online, watched tons of YouTube videos,” she says. “I also joined my local beekeepers club. It is important to be able to talk to others that have been there and done that. You will get a wealth of information from the club. You would be surprised at how much thinking, research and learning goes into beekeeping.”
Heather Wicker from Bay, Arkansas, a solo newbie beekeeper, proves that even a new beekeeper has plenty of wisdom to share with others.
“Beekeeping has actually become something very personal to me,” she says. “It has helped with mental health and learning how to have more patience. Spreading the little knowledge I have learned in just one season has opened up others’ eyes on how important they can be for our environment, too.”
This article appeared in Hobby Farm Home, a 2024 specialty publication produced by the editors and writers of Hobby Farms magazine. In addition to this piece on women beekeepers, Hobby Farm Home includes recipes, crafting projects, preservation tips and more. You can purchase this volume, Hobby Farms back issues as well as special editions such as Healing Herbs and Goats 101 by following this link.
“There’s an energy and peace to keeping bees,” says Susie Goodspeed, a self-proclaimed bee nerd farmer who presides over the Farm And Hive hobby farm in Idaho. “It’s the same as working with beeswax: It’s calming, it’s grounding, it’s happy.”
Along with keeping bees for their pollinator benefits, Goodspeed has also expanded Farm And Hive to offer a range of bee-based products. These include beeswax candles and festive ornaments plus propolis tinctures.
Taking time out from overseeing the hives, Goodspeed spoke to us about the emotional benefit of keeping bees and how they communicate among themselves. We also got into how burning beeswax candles can help to clean your air.
Goodspeed’s first steps toward becoming a beekeeper were inspired by a mix of factors.
“I’d worked at a little garden center farm, and I’d done a lot with the produce and the farm and the garden. I started to realize that in my own garden I needed more pollinators,” recalls Goodspeed. “So I looked into that and beekeeping was a natural choice. Next, I found a couple of great mentors and jumped into beekeeping with both feet.”
“Beekeeping is never a business. It’s always a hobby!” says Goodspeed. “There’s no such thing as success or being able to know it all and there’s no such thing as enough hives.
“Sometimes people ask me, ‘How many hives do you save?’ And I usually say, ‘Too many and never enough.’ But there’s so much you can get from bees and not just honey-wise. It’s emotional and you get so much peace. There’s such an amount of education on life that they give you.”
When it comes to observing bee behavior, Goodspeed says that you can learn a lot from their social structure and ability to communicate. “The way they work together, whether it’s fending off a foe or telling each other where to go for pollen, they talk a lot,” she explains.
At Farm And Hive, Goodspeed offers a range of beeswax products that have proved popular due to the natural substance’s inherent properties.
“The light that comes off beeswax is the closest to natural sunlight,” says Goodspeed. “When you burn beeswax, there’s a chemical reaction where it releases negative ions that attach to dust and allergens and toxins in your air. So when you burn beeswax it helps to clean your air.”
Goodspeed keeps the Farm And Hive bees purposely close to the house—and enjoys the benefits of living in such proximity to the hives. “When you’re out in the garden, it used to be fearful, sort of like, oh, no, there’s a bee!” But now it’s like, “Hi, friend!” Bees just teach you to be more aware and to have a lot more gratitude.”
As members of the waterfowl family, ducks naturally thrive in water. Choosing the correct water source for your ducks, then, is crucial for their health and well-being. Before selecting the proper water source, let’s examine why water is so essential for ducks.
Like all livestock, ducks need access to fresh drinking water daily. But they also need the water to keep themselves clean. While many poultry-keepers provide water fountains for chickens, a fountain makes an inadequate water source for ducks. Poultry water fountains do not give ducks enough water to keep themselves clean, resulting in eye infections, difficulty breathing due to clogged nares (more on that later) and poor feather quality.
When choosing water sources for your ducks, there are many options, from ponds to stock tanks and even kiddie pools. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each of these options.
Water Buckets
It may sound odd, but ducks submerge their heads to clean out their eyes and nares (nostrils). This unusual trait helps them clean their eyes to avoid eye infections. Two-gallon water buckets are the perfect source for your ducks to do just that.
Ducks can often be seen dunking their heads up and down in a bucket or kiddie pool sneezing. When a duck sneezes with its head submerged, the water helps to flush out any dirt, feathers or other debris that might have gotten caught. While this bathing ritual may seem silly, it is the only way ducks can adequately clean their nares to support a healthy respiratory tract.
A water bucket is the perfect everyday water source for ducks to clean their eyes and noses. However, if you want to keep ducks with good feather quality, providing them with a pool or access to a pond several times a week is crucial.
Ponds
Although many duck owners consider a pond the ideal water source, from personal experience, it’s hard to find positives to letting your ducks loose on a pond. But before we get into the cons, let’s first look at the pros of providing a pond for your ducks.
Pros
A pond is a natural setting. Allowing ducks to lead a natural life, as close as possible to their wild cousins, sounds very appealing to many flock owners.
No Water Changes
With a pond, you never need to worry about emptying and refilling it. This isn’t the case with a stock pond or kiddie pool.
No Need to Feed
Many duck owners enjoy the free feed bill that a pond provides. However, if you want your ducks to return to the barn at night or wish to collect eggs from them, feeding them is a must.
Cons
Snapping Turtles
Snapping turtles frequent most ponds and are one of the duck’s biggest predatorial threats. These mean-spirited reptiles are hard to spot and often live close to humans without being seen. Protect your flock and avoid the pond.
Bringing Ducks Home
If you want your ducks to return to the barn at night or wish to collect eggs from them, removing the ducks from the pond becomes an every-evening ritual. Ducks generally don’t come when called and can be stubborn about leaving the pond. Bringing the ducks home will require jumping in a row boat and herding the ducks off the pond.
Wild Waterfowl
Allowing domestic ducks on a pond where wild waterfowl frequent is a common mistake. This practice can spread diseases from the wild ducks and geese to your flock. These diseases include (but are not limited to) avian influenza, E. coli and internal parasites.
Kiddie Pools
Pros
Ideal for the Suburbs
A kiddie pool’s small size is perfect for a couple of ducks in the backyard. For this reason, this is often the first choice for pet duck owners.
Predator Protection
If going the extra mile to keep your flock safe from predators is at the top of your priority list, then a kiddie pool may be your best option. Kiddie pools fit into most enclosed runs or chicken tractors easily.
Cons
Frequent Changes
Emptying water from the pool with a bucket daily and refilling it is considered a con by most flock owners’ standards.
Made from Cheap Plastic
While kiddie pools are budget-friendly, they may not always be the best choice. The flimsy plastic cracks easily and could result in a need to buy pools frequently. Also, kiddie pools are only available to purchase for a few months of the year.
Flexible Plastic Stock Tank
Pros
They Just Work
A stock tank is sturdy, comes in various sizes and should easily fit into most runs or enclosures. Stock tanks are also less likely to freeze in winter due to the black tank absorbing sunlight and warming the water temperature above freezing.
Cons
Lots of Water
Stock tanks hold more water than a kiddie pool or bucket. Because of this, they will take longer to empty and refill daily.
Require More Room
Stock tanks are usually taller than a kiddie pool. You may need to get a ramp for your ducks to access the swimming area.
Flexible Plastic Mixing Tub
Pros
Ideal Size
Our Tuff Stuff mixing tub has worked the best of all the water sources we have tried for our ducks. This tub is an ideal size to fit into most runs and enclosures comfortably. It also is the easiest for our ducks (including our 10-year-old arthritic Pekin) to climb in and out of.
Cons
Like kiddie pools and stock tanks, mixing tubs require daily emptying with a bucket and refilling with fresh water. This prevents bacteria from growing and causing illness in the flock.
Providing one or more water sources is essential for happy, healthy ducks. An alternate water source from the traditional pond allows many backyard enthusiasts to enjoy ducks while providing swimming water and endless hours of enjoyment for you and your flock.
First, when I grab a board for a rafter, I’m going to look down the edge of it for the natural crown, which I want to put up or to the outside. Then I’ll take the board inside my farm garden shed and lay it on the top plates. This first rafter board is especially important, because it will serve as the template I’ll use to determine the cut length for all the others. So I need to make sure I get this cut right!
If you, like me, are no seasoned carpenter, plan on taking your time with these cuts. Also, I should note, I’m choosing to make cuts in my frame for the rafters to sit in rather than use hurricane straps, simply because I think it’ll make for stronger joints.
In the video you’ll see how I determine and mark my cuts on the rafter boards.
Determining Roof Pitch
Because I’m not building my farm garden shed using plans, I need to take a few minutes to determine the pitch of the roof. This requires some simple math. First I measure the height of the front wall, followed by getting the height of the back wall.
Then I’ll use the Pythagorean theory to determine the roof’s pitch or, if I want to keep things simple, find an online calculator to get that number.
Making the Cuts
As I don’t cut wood all day for a living, I need to take some extra steps to ensure I get my cuts right. For that, I created a simple “cheater board” to help me repeat accurate cuts.
Check out the video to see how I created this template board and the rest of the steps for cutting and installing rafters on my new farm garden shed.
Five years ago, I planted the first fruit trees in a young orchard. The trees have grown a lot since then, and many of the apples trees produced fruit this year.
In celebration, I hosted an apple-tasting party for family and friends. A hay ride to the orchard was followed by the tasting of a dozen different apple varieties—about half from my young orchard and half from old or wild trees scattered around my farm. Cutting up each apple and debating the merits of taste and texture made for a wonderful afternoon.
Generally, the wild apples weren’t very tasty. Some of the older-named varieties weren’t popular either. Wolf River apples are large and beautifully striped, but they’re better for cooking than fresh eating. The same goes for Northwest Greening, a striking green apple that’s a bit … tart? I’m being nice—let’s just say it’s not my favorite.
So which apples were the best? I’m happy to say that everyone agreed the young trees in my orchard produced better fruit than the old or wild trees. This is what you would hope, since I specifically planted varieties that would be good for fresh eating.
The following is my personal ranking of the five best-tasting apples from my taste-testing party. This is by no means a definitive ranking of all apple varieties. Some popular varieties aren’t hardy enough to grow in my region, and some of my trees (like Honeycrisp and KinderKrisp) didn’t fruit this year.
That said, I would be happy to snack on the following five apples every day for as long as they’re in season, so I hope that speaks to their quality:
Prairie Magic
Prairie Magic tops my list because it’s delightful sweet and juicy—the perfect combination for fresh eating. I hesitate to use Prairie Magic apples for cooking because I would rather save their deliciousness for snacking!
Hazen
Hazen apples are a prime candidate to win any apple beauty contest. When they’re fully ripe, their dark red color is rich and striking. They have the taste to match, too—perfectly sweet for fresh eating.
State Fair
I’ve found that the early-ripening State Fair apple has a softer texture than many apple varieties. This can be a nice change of pace for those who prefer an easier bite. It’s also sweet and tasty. In fact, some members of my apple-tasting brigade ranked State Fair as the apple with the best flavor.
Wodarz
Wodarz apples aren’t necessarily the most attractive apples at first glance. They’re mostly yellow with a tinge of pink, and they tend to grow unevenly in shape. But they’re beautiful inside, with firm flesh and a mild, pleasant flavor quite unlike the other apples on this list.
Goodland
One of the parents of the Prairie Magic apple is Goodland, which lives up to “good” part of its name. Goodland apples are attractive with their yellow and pink skins. While the flavor is not quite as sweet as that of Prairie Magic or Hazen apples, the apple is still excellent for snacking.
