Comments on: Manure More Precious Than Gold

By: Barbee'

Barbee' — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:46:36 +0000

Mr. Logsdon,
I’m back finally, thank you for the reply. The other person was concerned about the natural chemicals in the locust. I am on thin soil over limestone with stone outcroppings. I would love to grow some food plants and get my hands in the soil more. I had thought if I could get someone to build them for me I would be able to care for them, but I hadn’t thought about the drying quickly. I think that is more than I can handle now that I am in my 70′s I have to stop and rest after ever few steps, then take a few more, then stop and rest, etc., you get the picture… it isn’t pretty. Oh, well, it was just a thought. Some locust was available, but the more I think about it I think I better not – chemical danger or no. I didn’t know any other organic gardener to ask. Thank you for your thoughts on the subject.

By: ivan

ivan — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:14:27 +0000

Thanks, Gene. I’ll be careful. I’m going to sit down and try to detail all the procedures, go over them 2-3 times, and run them past the local extension people before I do anything.

Sorry to hijack a thread that was supposed to be about manure, but I guess if “all flesh is grass,” then all grass can be manure, at least on my 5 acres. :-)

By: Gene Logsdon

Gene Logsdon — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:38:55 +0000

Ivan, I don’t want to sound alarmist because I don’t think there is any danger in what you are proposing to do. Just remember that green silage in large amounts in a regular sealed farm silo, emits a poisonous gas. I don’t think you would have any problem with sacks or barrels of silage, but say you put it in plastic bags and sealed them, so the gas can’t get away, don’t stick your head in that sack and breathe deeply. Gene

By: ivan

ivan — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:47:03 +0000

Hi Kerri:

Thanks for the info. I had already seen the link for the Spring 1950 issue of Farm Quarterly, and being a heavy library user, had already explored my local library system’s databases for Farm Quarterly. No luck there, but I sure can try NCSU if I need to.

But I’m going to take Gene at his word that there’s little more in the Seiden article than what he had already excerpted. At some point, thought and planning must turn to action.

I have a large lawn. The only thing that makes it a lawn is that I keep it mowed. It’s mostly quackgrass and dandelions, with tiny patches of white clover. I’ll be looking to seed a little — not too much — more white clover. Penn State (my alma mater) says mow first, then broadcast — and once it is established, I’ll let it get about 4″ high, and then I’m going to mow it, wilt it, and pack me some silage, using Seiden’s recipe, and we’ll just see how it goes.

I’m thinking that if I mix the silage in the barrel as Seiden recommends, then store it in small bags as outlined here, and then in supersacks, I could produce some good winter fodder for my hens and reduce my feed bill.

If I actually do this and not just talk about it, I’ll share the results.

By: Kerri

Kerri — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:15:38 +0000

Ivan,

North Carolina State University claims to have issues between 1946 and 1972 of Farm Quarterly. Andrews University in Michigan has 1962-1972. Several universities seem to have various issues of Farm Quarterly in their Special Collections. And the Spring 1950 edition of Farm Quarterly is for sale!

http://www.goantiques.com/detail,farm-quarterly-magazine,756406.html

My suggestion is to start at your local public library and see if they can find local colleges and universities with back issues. It’s unlikely that any of those places will actually loan out an issue (they’ll often make copies of articles for a small fee or sometimes for free) but if it turns out that a place nearby has real for real paper copies, then you should plan a lengthy visit to read them.

Unfortunately, no libraries in Alaska have any copies of Farm Quarterly. This seems a bit odd since the University of Alaska Fairbanks was originally established as the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines in 1917. Perhaps the agriculture information in Farm Quarterly wasn’t particularly useful in Alaska? Actually, I think that must be it. I’m constantly finding information in this blog that just won’t work/can’t happen in Alaska. No offense, Gene; but at latitude 65 N, things are different than they are at 40 N. It’s certainly been a challenge figuring out what *does* work in these parts. Particularly trying to farm a tiny little urban yard.

Kerri in AK
proud alumna of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Library and Information Services (MLIS ’04)

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:39:26 +0000

I remember growing up in a small Kansas town where the cattle yards and slaughter house ruled the scent of the land. One end of town smelled like cattle, the other end smelled like soy beans. People always complained about the amount of sulfur released by the cows, but they never complained about the abundance of crops every year thanks to the ‘stench.’ I never minded the cow smell, the soy bean silos made me gag every time I walked by though. Now here I am in ‘big city’ Kansas and buying my organic manure compost by the bag.

By: Gene Logsdon

Gene Logsdon — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:27:59 +0000

Ivan, I don’t know where you can get back issues of Farm Quarterly magazine. It is the best farm magazine ever, in my opinion, and I am not proud that working for Farm Journal all those many years ago, I helped drive FQ out of business. It was a reader’s magazine yet full of great illustrations—everything a magazine should be, which is why it couldn’t compete with the punchier Farm Journal whose mindset was that a farmer wouldn’t read more than three minutes at a stretch. Farm advertisers would not support FQ. I write a lot about FQ in my book, The Mother of All Arts in case you are interested. Some library some place has to have bound back issues. Try land grant universities like Ohio State. The magazine was published out of Cincinnati. As for the article on grass clippings for chickens, it doesn’t say much more than what I reported in my book. Gene Logsdon