Tractor needs repair

As we have been adding more and more row crop to our little farm, it was suggested we fire up the old Kabota tractor to so some of the heavy work. Son in law Duane, a professional rancher for many years, came down from Sacramento this week and took the time to give me his opinion. Could the Kabota be repaired, or should it remain a "lawn ornament?" It's a pretty cruddy looking thing; you have to stick a knife in the ignition to get it to turn over, and it needs $1,000 worth of tires all around. There's not much remaining of the seat and the paint is so faded it looks like it belongs in the trash heap. It's missing part of the starter mechanism and a valve. He added up all the parts we need to get it running again, and it definately makes sense to repair. That's great news. Daughter Tessa says the most important thing is new paint.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Harvest Ticket, Page One

Image
..... Collards are here this week. Mild flavored and nutrient dense, these leafy greens are often overlooked but are worth a try! Be careful not to overcook--like other cruciferous veggies--overcooked collards have an unpleasant odor. A cancer preventing cruciferous vegetable--recent studies indicate that steamed collard greens have the greatest cholesteral-lowering ability of all leafy greens. Read more about collards at this link: http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?dbid=138&tname=foodspice Mizuna is new in our boxes this week, too. Milder flavored than typical arugula; this popular Japanese leafy green will add some zip to an otherwise mundane salad. The sawtoothed spicy leaves can be added to soups, added as a raw chopped garnish on a cooked dish, or steamed like spinach with perhaps some drizzled Califiornia olive oil and a dash of well aged parmesan cheese. Finally, Ghandi's reportedly favorite food: purslane is here for a few weeks before the cold kills it back. The herb ...
Read more

Mandatory Pasteurization Concerns

This just landed in my e-mail box: Mandatory Pasteurization of Almonds as of September 1st, 2007 has taken effect . From now on it's impossible, in fact, illegal, to get raw Almonds in the United States. Nuts sold as "raw" are not actually raw any more, but processed. Here's what Jason Sinclaire has to say on that subject: "Truly raw almonds, with their enzymes intact, are a living, nutrition-packed food. Raw almonds that have been soaked and sprouted are nutritionally superior food to heated almonds, and are more easily assimilated in the digestive process. Heating almonds over 112 degrees destroys their enzymes, and greatly diminishes their nutritional value. Heating also leads to rancidity of nuts." Every almond sold commercially from here on out has to be pasteurized. Also, let's keep an eye on almond pricing, because almond growers are now required by law to truck their almonds to one of five just-built USDA approved pasteurization facilities in Cal...
Read more

Chicken News

I'm not sure where to begin. There are times when I suppose all farmers feel like farming is handing them their ass. This month could certainly count as that for me. Six months ago predators killed our egg laying chickens and after a few months of reflecting, we ordered more through the mail. Determined to protect these new pets, we built what neighbors and friends have jokingly referred to as "Chicken Fort Knox." We encirlced a portion of the macadamia grove with six foot coyote proof fencing, and then electrified the whole thing for good measure. Every one of us here at one time or another has made the mistake of leaning against the fencing and gotten blasted. There's a reason an electrical jolt is called a "shock." It truly is shocking ; as in mometarily enducing tears. Don't let the little solar powered gizmo that sends the power into this fence fool you. It means business. So I guess we were fairly confident of our chickens' safety. We planned t...
Read more