TheBar1 Homestead- From a sword to a plowshare

Sorry for the delay in posting but I have been on the road quite a bit since my last post!  Since then I have been in DC for a couple weeks for some training, flew to MN (it took longer to go from DC to MN then it did from Amman Jordan to DC!).  Spent one day in Mn then flew down to Corpus Christi, Texas, picked up the new truck, drove to Shepherd AFB (Wichita Falls) for Chris's (my son) graduation from Air Force Tech school, then drove to Parker, Kansas to visit Synergistic Acres, on  to Fountain Mn to visit Root Prairie Galloways!  So pretty busy! Over the last couple days during the farm visits I was able to meet some really awesome people and learned quite a bit from from both my own observations and from all that Laura (Synergistic) and the Hodgsons(Root Prairie) were able to tell me!  As is always the case in a situation like this sometimes we get as many questions as we do answers.  I was very impressed with the different avenues used for fencing b...

Well tomorrow I get on a plane for the long flight back to the states for a little rest, and recuperation and while I am there I will be doing quite  bit of traveling and taking advantage of the opportunity to visit a couple farms that are raising Galloway cattle as well as seeing some operations with a similar set up to what I am planning to do.  While running around the country I will also pick up what will eventually be our farm truck and on top of it all get to see my son graduate from Air Force Tech school.  Over all will be a very busy month (including some time in DC for training). The truck we are getting is a 2007 Chevrolet 2500HD crew cab 4X4.  Due to the Mn winters we really needed the 4X4 and I wanted a truck big enough to handle the biggest hauling chores as well as have the option to put a plow on it if needed.  . The crew cab was a nice option, originally I was looking for a reg cab but they are almost impossible to find.  When this truck c...

Because we have decided to go with an organic and non-GMO crops we are faced with the challenge of  how to control pests that can decimate our crops and garden.  The only way I can figure on how to do this is a multi-layers approach of breaking up the pests life cycle, beneficial insects that will prey on pest larva and predators that feed directly on the pest along with some old fashioned manual picking the pests off of the garden plants!! The first step will be crop rotations, granted that will not help with many of the more mobile pest that feed on crops it will help to minimize the damage from those that are focuses on one particular crop like some of the corn worms and potato beetles.  The next step is to encourage beneficial insects by providing good habitat for them and then purchasing a starting supply.  Beneficial insects include Lady Bugs, ground beetles and different kind of wasps and spiders.  We will provide a good natural habitat for the benefici...