Look and See vs. Come and See

This movie, about the life of Wendell Berry, looks interesting. However for me it might be preaching to the choir.

In a odd, or maybe not, coincidence, the title is very close to this movie, which I think is the most moving, haunting anti-war movie I've ever seen.

If you look on YouTube you'll find the whole movie there.

7200 Planter Repair

The John Deere 7200 conservation planter I bought a week ago has a few minor problems and I've started working on them.

The fertilizer boxes have a metal auger and housings that were corroded by the caustic fertilizer used by the previous owner. I won't be using the highly corrosive ammonium starter that conventional farmers use, though I will still use the fertilizer boxes to apply a much milder poultry manure next to the seed.  For that I need to stop the "rot" by cleaning and repainting the affected metal parts. I'm putting in stainless steel fasteners where I can.

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Lots of scraping and grinding. Wire wheeling.

After (on left) and before (right) cleaning. For the next step to work I just needed to get rid of any loose flakes. It was still a mess.

There are 3 fertilizer boxes with a housing at each end and an auger that pushes fertilizer out each side, where it is dropped into a slit made by an opener ahead of each row.  The layout in the bottom of each box is roughly as shown in the pic above. The auger is driven by a shaft connected via roller chains to the ground wheels.

I used a product called Corroseal that converts the rust into an inert metal. To finish these off I'll put 2 coats of oil paint over them.

Rust, also known as Iron Oxide, is formed by a chemical reaction in which Iron oxidizes when in the presence of Oxygen and water or excessive moisture. Iron Oxide lacks many of the structural characteristics of the original Iron material and will continue to spread deeper into the material. If left alone, rust will almost always result in total failure of the panel or component affected. It should be noted that once Iron has been converted to Iron Oxide, it cannot be changed back. Thus, even if converted to a more stable compound as in the case of a rust converter, there will still be a permanent decrease in the physical properties of the component affected.

How a Rust Converter Works in Theory
Rust converters are designed to neutralize existing rust as well as prevent it from advancing its damage. The active ingredient in most rust converters is Tannin, in the form of tannic acid. This tannic acid combines with the Iron Oxide to form a more stable compound called Iron Tannate, which is typically black in color compared to the reddish color of rust. Many commercial rust converters will include both a polymer to act as a protective layer, and an additional acidic compound designed to accelerate the chemical processes related to the tannic acids. One such acid, known as Phosphoric acid may also work as a rust converter itself, by reacting with the Iron oxide and converting it to black ferric phosphate.

The drive (roller) chains - 16 for sure maybe more -  are a little rusty so I'm cleaning them with "Evaporust". Next I'll put a coat of chain oil on them and reinstall them on the planter.

I still need to hook up the planter to the hydraulics on the tractor and make sure the vacuum system, marking arms,  seed monitor, and fertilizer auger are ok.

Once everything is working I'll put it in the shed so it's ready to go for next spring.

Kim Chi

Before I started making it, at least 5 years ago in Chicago with H2 (¡Hola!), I was intimidated by all the different "recipes" online. The fact that it sits out on the counter and decomposes (safely) added to my worries.

Now I make a batch, in this case a gallon, every few months. It goes on everything. To me its nothing more than chopped veggies with salt, allowed to ferment.

Dealing with Giant Ragweed

We don't have much, thankfully, though it's coming. Whether you spray (conventional farming) or till (organic) its a problem. Breaking up the timing of tillage by growing different crops seems to be key.

The Nordells, who farm in PA, have a "weed the soil, not the crop" approach that makes sense.

New on the Farm: John Deere 7200 Conservation Planter

I bought it a couple of days ago at a farm retirement auction and drove west 100 miles to Rogers, MN to pick it up today.

It appears to be in really good shape and won't (hopefully) take much work to get it ready for next spring.  Conservation means that it's able to do "no-till planting" of corn, beans and similarly sized seeds.  We aren't no-till; the main way to get rid of weeds in an organic rotation is to till the soil. However I'd like to start minimizing the amount of tillage for a couple of reasons.  It has benefits to soil health, and secondly, I'm hoping to reduce the number of times that I have to spend tilling the soil prior to planting in the spring. There's a small window to plant. Any extra rain means I can't till until the soil dries out which can cause a delay in planting.  Late planting leads to lower (or no) yield.

click on any pic for a larger, clearer image

Lastly, I put some paint on the 300 gallon diesel fuel tank. So many things here are beat up and falling apart it makes me feel good to push back against all the decay.

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

by Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,

vacation with pay. Want more

of everything ready-made. Be afraid

to know your neighbors and to die.

And you will have a window in your head.

Not even your future will be a mystery

any more. Your mind will be punched in a card

and shut away in a little drawer.

When they want you to buy something

they will call you. When they want you

to die for profit they will let you know.

So, friends, every day do something

that won’t compute. Love the Lord.

Love the world. Work for nothing.

Take all that you have and be poor.

Love someone who does not deserve it.

Denounce the government and embrace

the flag. Hope to live in that free

republic for which it stands.

Give your approval to all you cannot

understand. Praise ignorance, for what man

has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.

Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.

Say that your main crop is the forest

that you did not plant,

that you will not live to harvest.

Say that the leaves are harvested

when they have rotted into the mold.

Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus

that will build under the trees

every thousand years.

Listen to carrion — put your ear

close, and hear the faint chattering

of the songs that are to come.

Expect the end of the world. Laugh.

Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful

though you have considered all the facts.

So long as women do not go cheap

for power, please women more than men.

Ask yourself: Will this satisfy

a woman satisfied to bear a child?

Will this disturb the sleep

of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.

Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head

in her lap. Swear allegiance

to what is nighest your thoughts.

As soon as the generals and the politicos

can predict the motions of your mind,

lose it. Leave it as a sign

to mark the false trail, the way

you didn’t go. Be like the fox

who makes more tracks than necessary,

some in the wrong direction.

Practice resurrection.

“Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” from The Country of Marriage, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. 1973. Also published by Counterpoint Press in The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry, 1999; The Mad Farmer Poems, 2008; New Collected Poems, 2012.

Farm Update: Replanting Soybeans + Birds in the Yard + Sickle Mower

The first planting of beans, about a month ago, didn't take, so we'll do about 38 acres again.  First dad (76 yrs old and works like crazy) re-tilled with the field cultivator, then we planted them with the drill.  Crop insurance will cover a percentage of the loss, not sure of the numbers.  Towards the end of the video we go a little off topic, but I don't really know how to edit these things. I'm also not interested in spending the time to learn.

Here's a short video of the birds as they move around outside. At about 8 weeks old they roam around looking for, and I'm hoping, eating ticks. There is a big problem up here with Lyme disease; I check myself constantly for ticks. I can occasionally feel them crawling on me but more often than not I lift up my shirt or pant leg to find nothing. Which is good, but it starts to play with my head after a while.

I got the sickle mower that I bought at auction hooked to the tractor and so far it's working. In a week or so I'll pull it 10 miles down Highway 63 and mow the 65 acres that are in clover. It's a slow process but given the equipment we have, the best option for getting rid of weeds ahead of next years corn.

Since I shot the pics, we took off the duals (the outside tires). They're good for added traction when you want to till, but when they're off its easier to mow. (They don't trample the grass ahead of part of the mower.)


Click on either of the images to make them bigger.