A good farmer’s always learning

I might not be posting as much over the next few weeks because I’m making a cross-country trek from New Mexico to Oregon. Here’s why:

• I came to NM from NY just over a year ago because my boyfriend was going to grad school at New Mexico State Univ. He just finished, so we have the option of relocating.
• While I love NM in more ways than one (the friendliness, the culture, the live-and-let-live attitude, the striking landscape, the low cost of living) I don’t want to spend the rest of my farming career squabbling over water rights so that more and more people can fill their swimming pools and water their lawns in the desert.
• I miss trees. And the sound of a river running. And distinct seasons. Plus I have some cozy winter coats that are going to turn into moth food if I don’t use them.
• Job prospects are not so great here for either of us. The Pacific Northwest has a lot more going on in terms of agriculture (more opportunities for me) and the three largest cities are quite close together (more opportunities for him), making it more likely that we can both pursue careers while still living together.
• Cost of living in Oregon is reasonable. We found a two-bedroom apartment in a relatively new, well-kept complex in Salem for $550 per month. Private health insurance is affordable as well.
• Returning to the East coast doesn’t attract either of us. After living out West, the “other side” seems too crowded, expensive, and rigid (versus dynamic, growing, taking shape). We feel we have a better chance of achieving our goals out here.

The runner up was Missouri. But Oregon won out, perhaps because of the diverse landscape (mountains, ocean, and desert) or Portland’s awesome food scene or the lure of the temperate rainforest up in Washington. Who knows? Oregon, here I come.

Notes based on Gardening for Profit (Chapter 7) by Peter Henderson.

Back then when horses did all the work, there was lots of horse manure to be had. So Henderson took advantage of it and really piled it on.

At least six months before applying it, the manure was dumped in a natural depression. If there wasn’t one, they dug one out 18-24″ deep. They put up a 6′ fence around it. The wagons were pulled up next to the fence and fresh manure was tossed in, spread out evenly throughout the depression. Pigs were kept in the enclosure to break things up, and they were fed weeds and unsold vegetables from the field.

• I wonder how large this manure pit needed to be. I guess it depends on how much manure he needed, which depends on how much land he was preparing (he’d spread 50 to 100 tons per acre).
• Also, how many pigs? Two? Ten? That’s probably a function of field size and manure quantity, as well.

Henderson was a big fan of horse manure, and not just because it was plentiful. He considered it 1/3 more valuable than that of cattle and pigs, in terms of weight (i.e. 100 lbs of horse manure would work just as well as 130 lbs of cattle or pig manure). He also cites horse manure as being extra beneficial as a pulverizer on stiff soils. Read the rest of this entry »