Categories
Crops & Gardening

No Cover Crops, No Till

Compost
Photo by Jessica Walliser
I filled the back of my Subaru with the free leaf compost that our municipality gives away.

Decision made. I am not going to plant a cover crop in the vegetable garden this year. It’s a stretch for me as I have done it for many years, but a few seasons ago I adopted the no-till method of gardening and have fallen in love with it. I find it’s hard to handle cover crops if you can’t till them come spring.

Two years ago, I planted winter rye, cut it down in the spring and covered it with several inches of old horse manure. It didn’t work nearly as well as tilling it under, and I had to battle rye springing up in the garden all summer long. Planting seeds in the stubble was a big pain, too. 

I still believe that cover crops are so very good for the soil, but I can’t seem to manage them right with the no-till methods I’m using.  So I had to make a choice.

What I will do, however, is start stacking up the organic matter this fall. Typically, I’ve done this in the spring; spreading out layers of newspaper topped with organic matter, then planting right through it.  Works like a charm but it’s a whole bunch of work every spring. 

So, this year, I’m going to mix it up. After every plant has been pulled or harvested, I’m going to do the newspaper and compost/aged manure trick then just let it sit there all winter. What this ideally will mean is I will be completely ready to plant come spring—no need to “wait until the soil can be worked” to plant my radishes, peas and lettuce. I can do it when I’m ready instead of when the weather is. I think first, though, I’d better fill up the tire on the wheel barrow.  

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Categories
Urban Farming

Preparing Plants for Indoors

Indoor plants

Introduce outdoor potted plants to the indoors slowly in order to keep them healthy.

A drop in temperatures means it’s time to prepare potted plants to head indoors for the winter, but your leaved lovelies will need more than a simple change of scenery to survive the cold season.

“If plants are brought in without any re-adaptation, the leaves will yellow and fall off just like they did when the plants were taken outside in the spring without proper hardening off,” says James Schuster, a plant pathology specialist at the University of Illinois Extension. “Proper preparation will take at least two weeks to minimize foliage defoliation.”

Insect Patrol

First, check your plants for insect damage, actual insects and insect eggs. Examine the undersides of the leaves as well as where the leaf petioles attach to the stem. Using a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol, remove any insects and eggs. In some cases, an insecticide or organic pesticide may be necessary.

“This insecticide must come in contact with the insect to kill it since there are no residual activities for prolonged control,” Schuster says. “Therefore many repeat applications may be necessary.”

Insects and their eggs are often in the soil. On very porous soils, more mealy bugs will feed on plant roots than on the upper part of the plant. For longer control, an inorganic insecticide may be more appropriate.

“Follow all label directions and precautions on both organic and inorganic insecticides,” Schuster says. “Instead of using an insecticide, you can remove old soil, rinse the roots, and repot the plant with fresh soil when it is finally brought into the house. However, both insecticide use and repotting can cause serious stress to the plant.”

Disease Control

Diseases are a little more difficult to control as there are no curative fungicides for most plant diseases. Therefore, diseases need to be prevented.

Powdery mildew can be a serious indoor disease on plants kept outside, often causing severe defoliation weeks after the plant is brought indoors. You may or may not see a white powdery growth on the foliage. Begin to use a fungicide several weeks before the plant is brought inside, but do not use it once plants are indoors.

Introduce Plants to Indoors

“Plants need to be slowly reconditioned to indoor growing conditions,” Schuster says. “Start by bringing the plant into the house for an hour or two and then putting it back outside. Each day add several more hours to its inside time.”

Keep your outdoor plants away from plants that have remained inside throughout the summer to prevent the spread of insects and disease.

“After two or three weeks, the plant should be ready to stay inside. Do not wait for frost to start preparing your plants for indoor life,” Shuster says.

Categories
Urban Farming

Making Olive Oil

Antique olive press

Photo by Rick Gush

Moreno, our gracious and enthusiastic host, and the president of the oil cooperative show off the antique olive crusher. Moreno is responsible for the restoration on the antique wheel machinery and the public spokesman for the cooperative.

I’m writing an article about how to make your own olive oil for Urban Farm’s sister publication Hobby Farm Home. To take some photographs, my wife and I took a trip to a local olive press. We went to a modern oil press, called a frantoio, to talk to the folks at the facility. Attached is a small museum with a nicely restored antique oil press. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the huge stone slab olive squashers used before the wheel crusher was invented. 

Olive oil has a long history in Liguria, and it’s a good bet that the locals were making olive oil on this very spot several hundred years before the Roman era began. There are dozens of frantoios around here, and people come in by the thousands to get their oil pressed. 

The cooperative that runs this frantoio has 1,700 members who bring their harvested olives here to be processed into olive oil. Most of these members just use the olive oil for personal use, but around 20 percent derive a significant portion of their income from selling it.

Boy, are the people proud of their oil! They arrive with boxes and bags of olives and wait patiently for their turn in the processing order. The machinery has several mixing stages during which smaller loads cannot be fully processed, so the minimum amount a member can bring it at any one time is a quintale or about 225 pounds. Most people bring in 500 to 1,000 pounds of olives.  This frantoio, like most others, works on an appointment-only basis, and getting an appointment can be difficult in abundant years. 
 

Olive oil producers

Photo by Rick Gush

A proud couple wait as their plastic tank gradually fills up with oil.

I found it surprising that the entire olive, including pit, is ground up during the processing. The crushed pit residue is removed later, but it seems to add a chemical-catalytic effect that helps separate the best-flavored oils. Experiments using a pitting machine to allow pressing of just olive flesh have concluded that the oil tastes worse in the pit-less processing.

When the oil pours out of the final filtering machine, it’s magic. Not only is it a good-looking product, the sight of it pouring out of the spout and into the containers the members will take home is what the hullabaloo is all about.

The good news for my family back home in the states is that my wife acquired some really good oil and some kitchen utensils made with olive wood. The Christmas gift acquisition season has begun!

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Categories
Homesteading

Weird Broccoli

Broccoli
Photo by Cherie Langlois
My new Italian-variety broccoli didn’t produce any heads.

Whenever we return from a trip somewhere, my family and I come home with two kinds of souvenirs: the real, hold-in-your-hands kind that you pick up along the way (from polished stones gathered for free on a beach in Wales to that expensive Mickey sweatshirt bought from a Disneyland tourist shop) and the intangible kind. Souvenirs in the latter category have included different ways of interacting with people (say, taking time for polite greetings during hurried transactions, as is customary in France); new passions (such as for learning Spanish or for Greek cuisine); and ideas for new food plants to try growing on our hobby farm.

Fragrant oregano infusing a hike on the Greek island of Crete; fresh cilantro sprinkled over Costa Rican gallo pinto; sweet Mirabelle plums swooned over while picnicking in a Paris park. These are a few of the edible “souvenirs” that now grow on our farm, bringing lovely memories back with each bite.

Broccoli leaves
Photo by Cherie Langlois
It turns out, the new broccoli I planted is usually grown for its leaves.

Keen to try Italian varieties after devouring so many wonderful veggies on our trip to Italy two summers ago, we ordered some Italian seeds from Gourmet Seed International this year. One of these was a type of lush and leafy broccoli called Spigariello. From the description, I thought it would produce tiny heads to harvest.  Well, the seeds I planted did indeed grow into tall, lushly leaved plants, but I waited and waited—and there was no sign of any broccoli heads, even tiny ones. 

Finally, after an online search, I discovered what the problem was: This weird broccoli variety is actually grown for its leaves, not the heads (and people who had grown it reported few, if any, of the latter). Kind of embarrassed, I grabbed scissors and snipped off a bunch of leaves. Eaten raw, they reminded me more of kale than broccoli, so I gave them my standard kale treatment: sautéing the chopped leaves with minced garlic in olive oil until slightly tender, then adding a few splashes of teriyaki sauce during the last few minutes of cooking. Delicious! 

P.S. I think our turkeys like this strange and prolific broccoli even more than we do. When our first frost arrived this weekend, I gathered the last succulent younger leaves and tossed the still-leafy stalks to our flock. The turkeys went into a piranha-like feeding frenzy, devouring every last leaf within minutes. Seriously, they scare me sometimes.

~Cherie

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Categories
Beekeeping

More Research Needed in Bee Health

Honey bees
Courtesy Stock.XCHNG
Beekeepers aren’t sure of the impact research offering a possible cause of colony collapse disorder will have on Honey bee health.

Researchers continue to seek answers to the baffling issues affecting Honey bee health. A recent collaboration among bee specialists, fungal pathologists, virologists and chemists, stretching across universities and the U.S. Army, has led to a discovery linking a fungus and a virus to the mysterious disappearance of Honey bees known as colony collapse disorder.

The findings indicate a deadly link between the presence of insect iridescent virus (IIV) and a fungal parasite of the genus Nosema. While these findings provide new direction for CCD research, the health of Honey bees continues to have a major impact on pollination of food crops of agricultural ventures of all sizes.

Finding Answers
Researchers have more work to do with these newly identified insights. According to an American Bee Federation brief, while they now know there is a link between the IIV and a fungal parasite, there is a need to determine which IIV species is involved.

The recent research is compelling and encouraging, but it will take time to identify the best approaches for addressing the issues.

“Honey bees are very sick,” explains David Mendes, president of the board of directors for the American Beekeeping Foundation. “They have many viruses and their immune systems are compromised.”

Beekeepers and researchers alike are remaining cautious about what the results could mean for crop pollination or honey production.

“Everyone wants to solve the problems of [the bees’] health issues but for now, the scientists are working over the data,” Mendes said.

Not Enough Bees
Pollinating Indiana crops has been Tom Eiseles’ business for more than 30 years. Moving his 1,800 hives two to four times a season, Eiseles finds himself with a waiting list of farmers who need bees for greater crop productivity. 

Three years ago, Eiseles lost 70 percent of his bees. While he strives to raise healthier bees, other beekeepers are leaving the industry.

“There aren’t enough good hives for pollinating crops properly,” he says. “Beekeeping has never been a major industry in Indiana, and pollination of crops such as blueberries is getting desperate. The need for bees is trickling out into other parts of the country; there aren’t enough to do all the almonds in California.”

CCD is a fairly recent development. Honey bees have also been plagued by parasitic mites such as the Varroa mite who attach themselves to both young and adult bees. The mites puncture the animal’s body, sucking fluids, weakening the individual and spreading disease in the hive.

“Before all the mites, we didn’t know what to do with our extra bees,” he said. “Now we wonder how we are going to get more bees. This is a complete turnaround from 20 years ago. Now, none of us have enough bees.” 

In It for the Honey
While some beekeepers are in the business of pollination, others are honey producers.  They aren’t moving hives throughout the growing season, but rather placing them in prime locations for a good honey crop. Still, beyond bee health, there are factors such as weather that can significantly affect honey production.

“Last year there was no honey production in the Midwest,” Eiseles says. “Weather wreaked havoc on honey production.”

He suggests that some honey growers bought their product from as far away as Canada and China in order to resell it as their own. However, 2010 saw better weather across the Midwest to the Dakotas, resulting in improved local honey production. 

Categories
Urban Farming

The Big Soup

Vegetables for soup

Photo by Judith Hausman

Need a way to use up those garden veggies? Throw them in the soup pot.

The air is cooler, the garden is straggling and our tastes are turning. It’s time to throw everything into the soup pot, trusting our palates and our instincts, flying without a recipe, seasoning at will. Minestrone is not for purists.

First, you have your sofrito — that is, the indispensable onion and garlic family and any form of those: shallots, leeks, cipollini and so on. Also the prolific pepper family: bell, long, Hungarian, wax and so on. Just be circumspect with the very hot one — they can really take over. Chop them coarsely (this is not the place for a delicate, tiny brunoise) and soften them with the onions and garlic in olive oil in a large, heavy pot. Toss in any sliced celery and fennel you can find. And the carrots. Let’s not forget the carrots!

Look around your fridge or kitchen counter for some vino — in it goes, red or white. Wait until the liquid evaporates a bit, turn down the heat and drop in plenty of random tomatoes. I core but don’t peel them, but many people do peel. I bet you’re already seeing gorgeous colors in the simmering pot, aren’t you?

Dice the last zucchini or yellow squash, tip and cut up the last green or wax beans, dice the new potatoes into small-ish cubes so they cook evenly. When those vegetables cook to semi-tender (just spoon out a piece or two and test it), add chopped greens, such as chard, kale, cabbage, and Asian ones, too, like bok choy, napa cabbage or totsoi. About the only garden clean-outs I omit are beets and winter squash, but hey, if you like them in, they go in. It’s your minestrone.

About this time, you can decide to add broth if you like it soupier, or you can freeze this Big Soup base and add the broth when you defrost. You can also start cooking a starch separately now. Brown rice is good, barley is good and whole-wheat macaroni is, too. You should also cook kidney beans, chick peas, lentils or black beans separately, or open and drain a can of cooked beans instead. Any starch or beans will soak up the liquid from the soup if they cook directly in the pot and they take up a lot of room in the freezer.

The last-minute finesse is the herbs: I always seem to have plenty of forlorn basil to tear into the soup, but oregano, parsley, lovage and rosemary are great in this mix, as well. Adjust the salt and pepper to your taste now.

If I freeze the minestrone, I like to use quart zipper-closed bags but it’s a shame not to eat at least some of this Soup of Life right away. In fact, minestrone makes great party food. Let your guests ladle up a bowl of bubbling Big Soup right from the stove. Then lay out bowls of garnish on the table: grated cheese, pesto, roasted garlic cloves, anchovies, diced black olives and homemade garlic croutons. Offer several kinds of herb butter and bread — I like corn muffins, a crusty peasant loaf and maybe a walnut-whole-wheat round. Pour plenty of rustic red wine, cider or seasonal beers. If you play your cards right, maybe someone will even volunteer to bring an apple crisp for dessert.

Read more of The Hungry Locavore »

Categories
Equipment

Hand Power Has Its Place

Power tools have their place, but so does a hand tool and a bit of elbow grease. Sure, a power drill gets the job done fast, but there’s something terribly satisfying about slipping a sharp bit into a brace and working your way through a piece of wood. Feeling the saw bite through the grain with each slice and capturing the right rhythm has a magic and a music all its own.

The same holds true for a plane. Anyone who has ever smoothed down an edge or removed excess material can attest to the pleasure of watching each fresh curl of wood appear.

Certainly my favorite hand tool is the wood chisel, one I use all too little. A sharp, well-cared-for chisel is like a carving knife. While you can use a mallet to drive it, a careful craftsman knows it works best under hand pressure alone.

While hand tools offer a symphony of sounds and satisfactions in their quiet use, their real bonus comes in the control they offer. Power tools rip through wood and other materials at such high speeds and with such efficiency that it’s easy to go too far or too deep. With hand tools, you are constantly in touch with the material being worked. You feel the shift in the bit or the variation in the stroke that tells you to slow down more and take extra care as you complete that hole or cut.

Finally, there is no high-pitched whine, no hearing protectors or extension cords, and less fear for fingers, eyes and other body parts. There also seems to be less stress. Life just seems to move a little slower when you are using a hand tool, and that’s all too rare in the modern world.

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Categories
Equipment

Don’t Get Caught in the Cold! Get an Emergency Generator

Standby generators like the Briggs and Stratton Storm Responder 5500W/8250W can be useful during outages
Courtesy Briggs & Stratton
Briggs & Stratton Storm Responder 5500W/8250W

If you weren’t one of the 3.8 million homes without power as a result of storms during the first three months of 2010, be thankful. Storm-felled trees and ice can take power lines down with them, and lesser-populated areas are often lower on the power-restoration priority list. Sometimes restoration can take days, a week or even more, as was the case earlier this year with winter storms in California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, southern Maine and New Hampshire. 

“The aging utility grid and severe weather are combining to cause outages that are more frequent and last longer,” says Cathy Olig, senior channel manager of Generac, the world’s largest manufacturer of automatic standby generators. While worst-case impacts of power outages may include water pipes bursting in the winter in the North or mold and mildew damage in the summer in the South, power outages year-round can turn well-stocked freezers into compost and worse. Extended power outages are even more painful if your income stream depends on a home office, heated greenhouse, irrigation or other power-needy devices.

Avoiding these problems, as well as powering modern amenities, such as fresh water, are all reasons to install your own emergency power resource. There are many generator options available, from tractor PTO-powered and gas- and diesel-powered portable generators to permanently installed standby generators powered by propane or natural gas. Picking the right generator for you is as much a matter of knowing yourself as it is understanding generators.  
 
Generator Options 
“Which generating unit is best for you depends on what you want to power,” says Olig. “Do you want a solution that is hands-free and ready to go when the power goes out or a portable system you move into place as needed?”

Melanie Tydrich of Kohler Power Systems, which has manufactured generator sets since 1920, says, “We recommend having an electrical contractor come in and review your power needs and electrical system before making a generator purchase. … They may recognize things you didn’t think about.” 

Once you identify your needs, picking the right generator is relatively easy. Total the watts needed to power necessary items in the event of a power outage. If wattage information isn’t available, use this formula: Volts x Amps = Watts. This will give you the power production necessary to keep the chosen systems running.

Of course, few things in life are ever truly simple. Motorized appliances, such as freezers, refrigerators and air conditioners—anything that has a pump or compressor—require two to four times the running watts just to start. Thus, generator size has to be adjusted for start-up draw. Look for the peak motor-starting kVA rating when evaluating a generator.

“A very high peak motor-starting kVA rating lets you use a smaller generator to power up multiple high-start-up motors,” says Tydrich. “A large appliance or farm equipment may not require a lot of wattage to run but will need it for the start-up.”

Portable Generators 

John Deere Compresserator
Courtesy John Deere
John Deere Compresserator

Generator options include portable or standby. The big difference between the two is versatility of portables and ease of use of standbys. Portables are ideal if you have multiple needs, such as remote well pumps along with a few key household circuits, like freezers or refrigerators you can power up periodically to maintain the desired temperatures. When not needed for emergency power around the house, portable generators can provide temporary power at a campsite, worksite or remote cabin. 

Portables can be on wheels or skids for mounting in a pickup or even on the back of a UTV. Larger cart-mounted portables with motors or PTO power are also available with sufficient power for an entire house or even a farm. PTO-powered generators would seem ideal for farm use.They eliminate the need and cost of a dedicated motor. Tractors generally see year-round use, while a motor for a generator needs to be tested regularly to ensure it will work when needed. The downside is that while powering a generator, the tractor is not available for other storm-related work, such as removing snow or downed trees.

For added versatility, some common farm tools, such as many portable AC/DC welders, can also be used for emergency power. The John Deere Compresserator consists of a combination motor/compressor/generator. It’s available in wheel or skid models with power ratings of 1,600 to 4,000 watts. Buyers can pick from 8- and 30-gallon capacity tanks and single- or two-stage compressors as needed for particular applications.  

“Contractors and farmers appreciate the convenience of an air compressor and generator in the same package,” says Chris Spyrow, product manger for John Deere. “It takes care of two needs with a single machine and single motor. You cut costs up front and in maintenance later.”

 The Compresserator is also available equipped with an inverter. While inverters can double the cost of a portable generator, they produce a higher-quality power, run quieter, and throttle up and down as needed, saving fuel.

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Categories
Urban Farming

Festival Spotlights Local Pumpkins

Jack-o'-lanterns

Courtesy Allison Smith

Greenbelt, Maryland, uses locally grown jack-o’-lanterns to give seasonal flair to its forest preservation program.

They may not be Charlie Brown’s anticipated Great Pumpkin, which gives presents to good boys and girls, but the pumpkins at the Greenbelt Pumpkin Festival in Maryland do an even greater deed by involving the community in a sustainable event.

This year’s festival kicks off at noon on Oct. 19, 2013, with a free pumpkin carving event at the Greenbelt Forest Preserve using 250 pumpkins purchased and donated from local farms. That night, the carved pumpkins lit with candles will be positioned on stumps, on the ground and in trees to create a glowing trail in the forest preserve.

The trail will open at 6 p.m. for the general public to walk and learn the importance of preserving the forest.

In past years, organizer Allison Smith says their mission was to grow pumpkins from the city’s own pumpkin patch for this and future festivals.

“The Greenbelt Pumpkin Festival’s pumpkin patch was intended to provide part, if not all, of the jack-o’-lanterns for this year’s festival,” Smith says. “I needed to find a way to rely on Greenbelt for pumpkins, since the last two years have been very difficult in getting pumpkins. Some farmers took back their pledged donations when harvest came, and they realized they couldn’t afford it. Others were hiking up prices and going back on the promised wholesale price they’d quoted me in the summer.”

Beginning in November 2009, Smith worked to restore a 5-year neglected and weed-infested Greenbelt Community Garden plot.

“It took weeks of persistent work to just get it down to the level that I could create dirt mounds,” Smith explains. “I got advice about growing pumpkins from anyone who would give it.”

Smith used all compost in the garden and weeded by hand to keep the garden 100-percent organic.

Paul Downs, founder of the Pumpkin Festival, coached Smith through mound-making and ceremoniously planted the Big Max pumpkin seeds. Smith was committed to making the best pumpkins possible.

“In these gardens, there is no water source, so gardeners walk across the street and use the hose from the Greenbelt Homes, Inc. offices and carry the water in buckets back to their garden. I would do this sometimes in between other work (with nice clothes on!) if I got the chance to sneak in a watering,” Smith says. “We noticed our first little pumpkin growing, and we were thrilled! And then we noticed another one, but it was growing in between two fences and was inaccessible.”

However, a month of drought was followed by several days of rain, and the plants were taken by fungus.

“We were forced to pull off our one tiny pumpkin from its dead vine,” Smith says. “I knew that our experiment had failed, but I am still determined to do it next year, with two or three more garden plots.”

For this year’s event, Smith was able to raise money to buy farm-grown pumpkins and says she hopes it will serve as a model for other urban agricultural-related events in Greenbelt.

To start a pumpkin festival in your town, Smith offers the following tips:

  • Get support from your local government. They will help with logistical elements for the festival and community garden.
  • If you’re applying for a community garden plot, apply for permits to use public space on your selected dates. Apply for permits far in advance, and be open to changing dates.
  • Create a budget: Decide how many people you need to serve; shop for the best price on carving tools and pumpkins; and get the best advertising prices. Set a fundraising goal.
  • Ask community members to help with the garden. Involve young people by creating tasks that anyone can do, such as digging mounds and weeding. Go organic — compost and hand-weeding is best for pumpkins.
  • Begin raising money by calling and emailing businesses, friends, politicians and members of your community. Use the web, including listservs, Craigslist and social networking sites like Facebook. Recruit volunteers to carry the pumpkins.
  • Thank your supporters. They deserve praise for their help, and seeing their neighbors supporting your festival will encourage more people to join.
  • Make your pumpkin festival visible to the community in the weeks leading up to it. Set up promotional tables at farmers markets and local plant nurseries to help market the event.

Smith would like to offer her support to people starting a pumpkin walk in their town. Visit the Greenbelt Pumpkin Walk Facebook page for more information.

Categories
Animals Large Animals

Using Herding Dogs on the Farm

herding dog dogs farm
Jeanne Menjoulet/Flickr

It looked so easy: All we had to do was move 30 sheep from the barn to a vegetable plot 100 yards away so they could graze the cover crop. The sheep calmly filed through the gate—until someone knocked over a bucket, and the sheep bolted.

Three sheep headed east around the machine shed. Four sheep darted around the west side of the barn toward a construction area. Another group took off toward the railroad tracks, and the remainder charged downhill toward the highway.

Managing livestock runs the gamut from the terror of situations like this to the joy of watching a newborn staggering to its feet. It was fun when you got those first few lambs, kids or calves. You knew each one by name. It wasn’t much trouble to feed, medicate or move them around the farm because they were pets and would follow a grain bucket anywhere. Now, you have too many to coddle.

Of course, working with livestock also has its risks. How many times have you been knocked down or smashed against a fence when the herd panics or crowds in to be fed?

You could take on a hired hand and all the expense and worry that’s included. But have you ever thought about a hired paw? Maybe what you need is a stock dog. A good stock dog, or working dog, comes from generations of carefully bred, proven bloodlines that have preserved a phenomenal instinct and ability to work livestock.

All herding dog breeds, like Border Collies, Corgis and German Shepherds, evolved out of our need for help with managing our grazing animals. As we’ve become less agrarian, most herding dogs have become companion animals and are bred to conform to breed-specific appearance. The vast majority does not work on a farm or ranch. As a result, the instinct to herd is being bred out of many breeding lines.

The Working Dog
Thankfully, there are people who still breed herding dogs based on their aptitude for work—it’s what exists in their brain and heart that matters. These dogs, like  exhibit an amazing instinct—an inborn ability to read and react to livestock—and a work ethic that puts many humans to shame. Most herding dogs would rather work than eat, drink or sleep. They show up every day, ready and eager to work.

Anyone who has a good stock dog will tell you that it’s worth its weight in gold. A good herding dog can easily replace the efforts of multiple helpers when it comes to moving livestock. They’ll gather your entire flock, move them wherever they need to go, separate out individuals, hold them in place and protect your backside—all for a bowl of dog chow and a pat on the head. Farmers have used working dogs for hundreds of years as valued, if not essential, partners. Once you’ve seen a good dog work, you’ll wonder why you never thought of getting one before.

Before you decide on a specific dog breed, consider your livestock and how you manage them. The type of stock and its environment call for specific abilities.

All herding breeds do not work livestock the same way. This is not to say that each breed can only work one type of stock. It means that you should choose the breed suited for the work you need done.

If you want a dog that can go out hundreds of yards to bring in a large number of livestock, you’ll want one that has good gathering skills. Gathering means the dog will run out in a sweeping arc to end up behind the stock and fetch them toward you. Border Collies and Australian Kelpies are good choices for this kind of work.

If you work with your livestock in smaller areas and tight spaces, a driving dog might be best. Driving dogs push the stock along from behind and tend to work closer to the stock than a gathering breed. Most herding dogs can drive, but it comes more naturally to driving breeds, such as Australian Cattle Dogs and Australian Shepherds. Driving dogs need to be forceful to move animals—especially cattle—through chutes and crowded pens. Dogs that work cattle will dash in and give them a nip on the heels to get them moving, yet are wary and agile enough to leap out of the way before they get kicked. Some Border Collies can work cattle if they come from working lines that breed and train these dogs to be more forceful with the larger animals.