In its never-ending quest to make lawn care less of an energy-eating hassle, Agri-Fab introduces the new SmartCart, SmartSweep and SmartLink systems designed to save consumers energy, headache and time. This new family of SmartTools joins the already extensive lineup of familiar Agri-Fab lawn and garden implements.

 

According to company insiders, the SmartCart sets a new standard when it comes to transporting and dumping large loads of leaves, compost, soil and other materials. This 800-pound capacity single-axle cart features a foot release mechanism for dumping and sufficiently reduced number of parts to make assembly a breeze.  Similarly, the SmartSweep 44-inch wide sweeper makes short work of picking up leaves and grass clippings.

 
“In a downturn economy, today’s homeowners are spending less money traveling and entertaining and spending more time at home, and they’re looking for inexpensive ways to make home improvements without sacrificing a lot of time or using a lot of energy,” says Mark Short, Agri-Fab’s vice president of marketing and product development. “The SmartSWEEP not only provides these benefits, it also eliminates common lawn sweeper complaints and responds to new consumer needs.”

Just how does the SmartSweep accomplish all of that? Well, the company actually asked consumers what they wanted in a lawn sweeper for starters … and then engineers designed a high performance product that easily folds to a compact size for out of the way storage. The SmartSweep is also easy to dump, features an adjustable offset tow bar that allows simultaneous mowing and sweeping and a larger 25 cubic-foot capacity bag that reduces time spent dumping.

Agri-Fab’s SmartLink lawn grooming system includes a patent-pending design that allows you to convert a single implement platform from plug aerator (comes standard with platform) to tine dethatcher to turf shark aerator to roller and back again in seconds, and without tools. The SmartLink package saves on storage space and money because you don’t need a completely separate implement for each turf task. And since the attachments snap into and out of place, you will never be left with a long trek to the barn to look for the right wrench to swap the roller for the aerator.

I haven’t put any of these tools through their paces yet, but I have had good luck with other Agri-Fab pull-type implements. I look forward to spending some quality time with Agri-Fab’s Smart system soon. Look for them at a dealer near you.

GRIT Magazine bloggers Rebekah and Andrew Sell gave up the bright lights in Colorado Springs, packed their things and moved to rural Wisconsin to follow an agrarian mission. The Sells, with a new baby on the way, decided to take over the daily operation of a family farm and to make producing the highest quality food their life’s work. Their grit, determination, and profound faith have guided them every step of the way.

As if that accomplishment wasn’t enough, Becky and Andy documented their first year on Foxwood farm by writing a book about the experience … as it was happening. Lavishly (and authentically) illustrated with Becky’s photography, the couple’s book  is an inspiration. If you ever thought about doing what these folks did (after only a year of marriage), or if you did it, but didn’t document the experience, I know this book will inspire and evoke all manner of pent up emotion.

First Year On Foxwood Farm: A photographic Journal from January to December 2008 is currently available in soft cover, hard cover with art on the jacket and hardcover with the art right on the cover. If you are looking for help with any of your New Year’s resolutions, or inspiration in general, order your copy here.

There are times when I look at my email box in the morning and feel mild despair. So many emails to answer, even more to delete, and then there are electronic newsletters, marketing blasts, and the dreaded spam.

There is one piece of email that I look forward to each morning ... sometimes I even think about what it might contain as I make the drive in to work. That special daily delivery comes in the form of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute's OPEI SmartBrief. No matter how stressed or busy I feel, I always take time to open the OPEI SmartBrief and peruse the headlines and lead blurbs. More often than not, there is something in the OPEI SmartBrief that entices me to click on in for the whole story.

The OPEI SmartBrief is a comprehensive electronic newsletter that covers the entire outdoor power equipment industry. Although the piece is definitely geared toward outdoor power equipment professionals, dealers, manufacturers, and others with a stake in the business side of outdoor power, the OPEI SmartBrief is the place to see how the economy affects tractor manufacturing, what companies are selling or buying other companies, who has the latest and greatest equipment, what to expect from your equipment dealer in the spring and so much more. If you are like me, and you care about who made the diesel engine that's installed in the latest and greatest utility vehicle, then you should definitely give the OPEI SmartBrief a test drive.

While you are at it, take a look at the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute's website. This site contains a wealth of information for consumers and professionals alike. Whether it's industry news, safety, emissions, fuel handling or mulching that occupies your mind, the OPEI website is well worth exploring.

Without the OPEI SmartBrief in my bag of tricks, I don't know how I would keep on top of this rapidly-changing market. Sure, I am a certifiable outdoor power equipment junky, so I would find the information somehow, but the OPEI SmartBrief makes it ever so much easier ... and enjoyable.

Years ago, instead of making hay to carry our Angus herd through the winter, we stockpiled pasture and fed the standing hay through the dark months. This year, we decided to try the same experiment with the Highland cattle here in Kansas. The winters are milder here in Kansas than in Ohio, where we winter grazed the Angus cattle. And since the farm has way more grass than animals to eat it, I figured winter grazing the Highland cattle would work. In fact, it appears to be working quite well, so far, in spite of the snow and ice that has accumulated off and on in the last several weeks.

This morning it is already in the 50s, so it hardly feels like winter, but suffice it to say, there is plenty of good standing cool season forage (with about 25 percent green) in the lows, and more shaded areas. The warm season patches are completely dormant, and not good for much more than roughage, but the combination has been more than sufficient to keep the Highland's condition scores up and the young heifers and bull gaining and growing.

Winter grazing isn't for everyone, but I believe in letting cattle and other highly adapted domestic animals have a chance at fulfilling their genetic potentials ... I don't mind subdividing and carefully managing pastures year-round either. People are most skeptical about winter grazing because of the chance for snow cover. I have discovered that seeding some of the stockpiled pastures with small square or little Allis-Chalmers-made round bales is all you need to train the herd to look under the snow for sustenance. Alternatively, you can sprinkle some of their favorite range cubes (in front of them) in the snow on some of the tallest stockpile. In both cases, the cattle will inadvertently discover the good grass while rooting out their "treats." Once trained, the herd doesn't bat an eyelash when you ask them to get after the good grass under the snow.

Days like today make winter grazing a complete no brainer. Why on earth would I carry hay to them, when they can harvest the hay themselves? Winter grazing of some sort has the added benefit of spreading excess nutrients around. Instead of finding tons of manure around hay feeders, the Highland cattle deposit it wherever they happen to be ... the way nature intended it. When I have fed hay, I fed it to the cattle on the meadows it came from, in windrows and not in bale feeders. But that's a story for another day.

I didn't know about the wonderful German confection called marzipan until my 20-something year old high school German language teacher gave me a small box of marzipan fruit for Christmas my sophomore year (yes, I had a terrible crush on her). The perfect miniature beauty of the marzipan fruit didn't stop me from sampling; I have been smitten by the flavor of marzipan candy ever since. Who knew that almond flour (with some low percentage of bitter almond) and sugar could be worked into such a delicious and versatile culinary clay. The material is used for much more than making delicious little figures, but that's what I keyed in on ... and am still focussed on.

I am shocked to report that I have gone whole hog with marzipan this Christmas. Kate, who most definitely doesn't love the flavor of marzipan, gave me a box of chocolate covered marzipan and a marzipan pig. I am embarrassed to report that I have consumed an entire pork belly, pair of hams, pair of shoulders and more, already this morning. I am weak when it comes to marzipan.

There's more to the marzipan pig than meets the eye, however. This confection is a traditional German gift that symbolizes good luck and prosperity when given at Christmas and New Year's. I am indeed lucky ... this particular pig had a meerschaum pipe and four-leaf clover in its mouth.

Marzipan is but one of the many Christmas delights that I carry with me from those misty days as a kid. What is it about snickerdoodles, molasses cookies, mincemeat pie and hard cider (well, maybe I didn't get into stump juice when I was a kid) that so delight on this day? I can't rationally explain it, but festive food always played a part in our seasonal celebrations. I'd love to hear about some of your holiday traditions ... why not post a few of them in the comments here.

 Merry Christmas everyone. Thanks for making our work at GRIT so joyful.

We have had a Kubota tractor on our various farms for the past 16 or 17 years. Our 36 horsepower Grand L model (based on a larger chassis than the B-Series) got hauled from the New Hampshire farm to Kansas (along with an antique road grader, some Cub Cadet garden tractors and a bunch of implements) shortly after we moved. The Kubotas have served us well as general utility tractors … and in a pinch they even managed to move 1800-pound round bales (not a recommended practice) in the winter when the big old IH 656 or 574 wouldn’t start. Kubota offers an incredible array of compact, sub-compact and full-sized tractors … some of their newest offerings are in the smaller chassis B-Series compact line.

Late this year, Kubota introduced four new models to its popular B Series compact utility tractor line. The new Kubota B2320, B2620, B2920 and B3200 tractors are versatile, powerful and productive, featuring more horsepower and triple-range hydrostatic transmission (HST), which offers the operator enhanced power and control.  The B3200 leads the pack with a 4-cylinder, 23 PTO horsepower, high performance E-TVCS (three-vortex combustion system) Kubota diesel engine, power steering and standard mid-PTO.

“The B-Series tractors have always been one of our most popular lines because they are small enough to be extremely versatile, yet powerful enough to conquer larger landscaping and even light construction jobs,” says Jeremy Coltin, Kubota product manager.  “This year we have really taken the legacy of our B-Series tractors to a new height, giving customers even more value, with increased power, control and comfort.”

The B2320, B2620 and B2920 come equipped with three-cylinder Kubota liquid-cooled diesel engines and the entire series offers the E-TVCS combustion system for increased power, excellent torque characteristics, cleaner emissions and low noise and vibration. The three-range shift (high/medium/low) featured on the new B Series HST models lets operators find the right speed to suit their task. The HST provides smooth shifting and powerful performance for heavy-duty loader applications. Maximum traveling speed ranges from 11.2 to 12.3 mph, depending on model; the B3200 boasts an 8.1-gallon fuel tank.

I haven’t had a chance to put these new B-Series machines through their paces, but I don’t expect any major surprises when I do. I can’t wait to see just how that new engine performs in the 3200 while digging with the backhoe attachment. Look for these, and a whole lot of other tractors at a Kubota dealer near you.

Mike, from CRM Distributing (1-877-276-3478), recently sent one of their Ohio-made, heavy-duty steel fire pit/grills ($289 direct from manufacturer) to Kansas for us to try. I was immediately impressed by the unit because its box, which seemed impossibly small, weighed over 60 pounds. Obviously CRM’s Backyard Fire Pit was no lightweight.

As it turns out, the box was relatively small because the Backyard Fire Pit ships flat … or nearly so. The innovative design consists of a flat base with legs, 8 pit side pieces (four with vents and four without), swing away grill and grill support post. The pieces were beautifully crafted of heavy-gauge mild steel with stainless steel grill mesh, air controls and fasteners.

Assembling the Backyard Fire Pit took a bit of effort … arranging the pit sides was made easy with their unique bottom-clamp design. I struggled for about a minute to get the last pit side installed … along with the grill support post. The entire project took me about 40 minutes … mind you I set the thing up outside, on the ground, on a very cold, windy day. I probably spent 5 minutes chasing the instructions, all told. Once it was fully assembled, Kate and I moved it to our bare-ground fire pit and fired it up.

The CRM Backyard Fire Pit preformed very well. Its approximately 26-inch diameter fire box was ample for burning some scrap cardboard along with some Osage Orange billets we collected during various post-harvesting excursions. In fact, the Backyard Fire Pit makes our campfires a little safer … and helps me reign in my temptation to build the fire ever larger.

Since we had a couple of wax-impregnated fire starting aids from CobLites (www.bynaturellc.com) and Holy Smokes (www.nermanlockhart.com), we gave them a try too. The wax impregnated corn cobs from CobLites were slightly easier to light in the wind than the wax impregnated sawdust wafers from Holy Smokes. However, both were easy to light and worked well to start the cardboard and other kindling on fire.

Stay tuned for a long term report on the Backyard Fire Pit. We will put it to good use this winter. If you want more information, please give Mike a call ... he doesn't have a website.

I woke up on Sunday knowing that in spite of the frigid wind, I was going to cut some Osage Orange limbs for posts. While I was at it, I was going to install a post for one of Kate’s bird feeders … even though the ground now has several inches of frost.

My first task was to get the chainsaw running. The trusty Husqvarna fired up on full choke after about 10 pulls with the compression release open. I was pretty amazed, especially since the gas was left over from the last time I cut wood back in August. It took longer than usual for the saw to warm sufficiently enough to run at full throttle, but hey, it was in the teens, temperaturewise.

Once I knew the saw would work, I replaced the chain with a brand new one from Oregon. I will cover chain saw chain sharpening another time, but suffice it to say, I didn’t feel like dressing the teeth in my unheated shop. Next, I loaded the saw, a couple of dogs and a can of gas/oil mix into the Polaris Ranger 700 and headed off to look over some of the more overgrown Osage Orange trees on our place.

I didn’t cut any trees down completely, but I did trim large trunks and branches from several. I will use the posts for garden fencing, livestock fencing and for trellises and other yard/garden/vineyard structures. The beauty of Osage Orange is that it will outlast most other kinds of posts in this region … including lighter-weight, steel t-posts. The Osage Orange posts can be set with their bark on and need no treatment whatsoever to make them decay resistant. The wood is dense … the heartwood is yellow-orange.

Sawing in the winter is joy compared with sawing in the summer. With the sap drawn down into the roots, the trees cut more easily, and the tops are much easier to trim with the leaves out of the way. I didn’t haul all the posts back to the barn yet, but I did bring one in to use for Kate’s bird feeder. I used a couple of gallons of hot water to melt the frost enough to get the post-hole digger to penetrate the soil. That post, now planted about 30-inches in the ground, should last forever.

After planting the post, I trimmed the top level and attached the feeder with three deck screws.  Within minutes of mounting and filling the feeder with peanuts and sunflower seeds, our feathered friends began to flock in.  The delight on Kate’s face warmed any cold that had crept into my Carhartts … another good day in Kansas.

Earlier this year, Kubota released the RTV500 utility vehicle as the company’s first gasoline-engine powered UTV. Kubota is known in North America for its fine line of diesel power plants, but the company has built similarly rugged liquid-cooled gasoline engines for many years.

The RTV500 is designed around a compact chassis that makes the nimble new machine able to fit into a full-sized pickup truck’s 8-foot long bed. It weighs in at nearly 1,300 pounds and can tow 1,100 pounds safely and with ease, thanks to its new variable speed hydrostatic transmission (VHT). This new UTV offers no big surprises when it comes to the innovation and quality we have come to expect from Kubota, but the engine opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

The Kubota RTV500 is powered with the company’s GZ460FE3UV two-cylinder liquid-cooled, electronically fuel-injected engine, which makes cold weather starting a no-brainer, creates enhanced power and eliminates the need for a carburetor … and all the associated maintenance issues. The VHT drive eliminates any need to adjust belts and offers engine braking sufficient to make any descent smooth and safe.

I haven’t had a chance to test drive the RTV500, and I look forward to spending some quality time with the machine soon.

When the folks at Orion Outdoors sent one of their Original Cookers 18 months ago, I was excited because it was billed as a smoker. When it comes to cooking meat, I love the ritual that surrounds smoking. Until the Orion Outdoor Cooker arrived, I didn’t smoke food as often as I wanted to for the simple reason that it was an all-day (afternoon anyway) affair with tending the apple wood fire and all.

The first time I fired up the Orion Original Cooker, I was at work … it was the day before Independence Day in 2007. I had applied a rub to the 12-pound turkey the night before. I was a little skeptical at the instructions that called for a mere 7 minutes per pound of bird … timing from the moment a match was put to the charcoal. I let that turkey go for about 90 minutes, and it was done and delicious.

We have used the Orion Original Cooker many times at home and at work. Kate was in the mood for a smoked organic chicken last weekend, so we fired up the Orion in the wintry blast and weren’t disappointed. The Orion is part smoker, part steamer and part convection oven. It is just about foolproof … although I managed to get a brisket a bit drier than I wanted last summer when I forgot to pull it off in the prescribed time. It was perfectly edible after an hour of extra smoke, but not an award winner.

I am not ready to give up my double-chamber traditional wood-fire smoker by any means. There just isn’t any better way to relax, than with friends, icy beverages and a long summer afternoon tending the smoker. However, as an outdoor cooking enthusiast, I will always have an Orion Cooker on hand for those days when I want the delicious flavor and texture of smoked pork shoulder, and I want to get a few chores done around the farm.

See the latest photos here.

New Holland brass still haven’t approved Boomer 8N images for public display. The photos I posted in my initial blog were pulled at the company’s request. Stay tuned, they (and more) should be coming soon. Check the photos here.

I do have some additional information on the Boomer 8N to share, however. The Boomer 8N tractor is based on the company’s Japanese-built, compact chassis … in fact it is essentially the 3050 tractor with a mechanical CVT instead of the 12x12 synchro shuttle gear transmission. Of course, the Boomer 8N also features the retro-classic styling and a few other “unique” features. Neither SuperSteer nor Sensitrak will be available in this first iteration. New Holland plans to have the Boomer 8N available to consumers nationwide in March of 2009. I would look for the CVT to appear in other Boomer models shortly after the 8N is released.

The Boomer 8N is 10 feet 2 inches long, 6 feet 6 inches wide and 8 feet 2 inches tall at the ROPS. The base tractor weighs in at 2,950 pounds. It will be available with a curved-boom loader painted red. Other 8N attachments include a rotary cutter and back hoe … both sporting the red paint job. Other implements will be available … and of course NH’s non-8N 3-point implements will work, too … those that are painted black will look the best, in my opinion.

The Boomer 8N will be customizable. You will be able to select chrome accessories such as exhaust and diamond plate steps and platform, canopies, decals and more. A retro-style grill guard will be available (in red), and  you might even be able to name your tractor and have a decal applied to that effect.

Stay tuned for more Boomer 8N information as it becomes available.

Last weekend, the weather in Osage county was balmy enough that I decided to go ahead and stain the Mulefoot pig shelter and the chicken house we built from scraps. Kate had kindly made the trip to town to pick up a gallon each of red Rustoleum, green stain and white stain. The stains are actually heavy latex Behr stains that will cover paint and other stains. Kate had the paint store match the green with the color on a scrap of plywood left over when I made the Mulefoot pig house.

Since it was still cool, and the wind was blowing about 20 miles per hour, I did a quick and dirty job. I would say it is definitely a 20-foot paint job … because it looks pretty good from a distance of 20 feet or more. There’s not much to report on the process. What can you really say about brushes, rollers and roller pans blowing over and dumping their contents in the wind? It was a small enough coloring job that it was fun. And it was all over before the arctic blast hit Sunday afternoon.

I will also admit, now, that I am very fond of Kate’s color scheme. Red roof, green walls and white trim … white trim on the chicken house anyway. The colors work very nicely together. I can’t tell whether the animals enjoy their digs any better than before, but we sure do.

Although there is still plenty of pasture left for our Mulefoot pigs to root around in, we have been supplementing their earthy excavations with a grain and mineral ration that’s certified organic. The coarsely ground Mulefoot pig feed includes such goodies as roasted soybeans, corn, wheat and a host of minerals suited specifically to porcine preferences. The pigs also enjoy trimmings from the various organic greens that Kate brings home from the market … often the Mercantile in Lawrence … but sometimes Dillons in Topeka.

Now that the weather has turned cold … at least for a few days … we have been giving the pigs some of our leftovers. For example, after everyone had eaten their fill of turkey soup, we poured the remaining fat and broth over some leftover rice and about a dry quart of whole oats. After soaking for about 8 hours in our stainless-steel slop bucket, I poured the turkey-flavored stuff into the trough. The Mulefoot pigs squealed with such delight … snorting, rooting and smacking … there was no doubt they were enjoying themselves. Last night, there was a similar scene, when I gave them the smoked chicken remains … sans bones.

One thing is for sure about Mulefoot pigs. They aren’t afraid to let you know how they feel. And when they are happy, it is sheer delight.

I know that plenty of you remember the good old days when GRIT was still a newspaper. Many of you have written, or called to let us know that you were once a GRIT news boy or girl. Some of you even credit your years selling GRIT with some level of your success in business and life in general. Robin Van Auken’s latest book: Sunday GRIT: A Newspaper Legacy pays tribute to GRIT’s founder, Dietrick Lamade, and the incredible journalistic legacy that is GRIT, which is alive and well today.

Sunday GRIT’s 136 pages are packed with details on GRIT’s amazing legacy, starting with the purchase of the struggling newspaper supplement and its evolution into a national periodical with more than a million copies in circulation.

While the story itself is fascinating to me, I was also mesmerized by all the historic photos, advertisements and cartoons that were reproduced in Van Auken’s book. Did you know that one successful marketing campaign for GRIT involved posters that portrayed frog-like caricatures in unlikely poses, along with quirky text that seldom made sense? Or women’s silk stockings were only 69 cents a pair in the 1930s? Did you know that Sylvania unveiled the Blue Dot flashcube in 1966 … to the great delight of amateur photographers around the world? All of this and more is part of GRIT’s rich 126-year-old history … and all of it is chronicled in Sunday GRIT: A Newspaper Legacy.

This book makes a perfect gift for any GRIT fan … you can wrap it in a cool reproduction GRIT bag for the former GRIT carrier on your Christmas list. You can find both the book and the bag at our online store.

We’ve done virtually all the rough country mowing at the farm the past two seasons with DR’s 44-inch cut, 17-horsepower, electric start, tow-behind Field and Brush Mower. DR Power recommends pulling the mower with an ATV or garden tractor. We have used both of those motivators and a couple of different UTVs with good success. The danger with using the UTV is that the mower controls aren’t as close at hand as is optimal. The DR tow-behind Field and Brush Mower has performed exceptionally well, considering the abuse it’s experienced.

I will admit to being a mite skeptical to the concept of such a scaled-down mower for rough-country cutting. Until we got this mower, we handled all the rotary cutting with a Bush Hog Squeeler mounted on the 36-hp Kubota’s 3-point hitch. Some of our country is really rough … strewn with chunks of limestone no less … so operating the tractor in our roughest pastures isn’t very comfortable. With their long suspension travel and cushy seats, the ATVs and UTVs eat those bumps for breakfast and come back looking for more.

Behind the Polaris Ranger Sportsman 500 ATV, the DR tow-behind Field and Brush Mower was a dream to operate. I first used the mower to cut some hiking trails around the farm. I was able to make the paths at about 11 miles per hour. The ATV was surefooted and comfortable at that speed, and the Kohler twin-cylinder engine had no trouble spinning the Field and Brush Mower’s blade … except in the thickest and tallest grass in moist lows. In those areas, I had to slow the mowing to about 5 miles per hour. The Polaris/DR Field and Brush Mower combination was also invaluable for cutting the acres of fire break around the CRP, in preparation for the controlled burn we accomplished last spring.

Since I don’t have much luck controlling musk thistles with herbicides, and I don’t really like spraying the stuff, this year I went after the herbaceous pests with the tow-behind Field and Brush Mower. This time, I used the Cub Cadet Volunteer UTV to pull the mower. The mowing was pretty light-duty for the Cub Cadet, but it was surely comfortable mowing. I got so carried away with shredding thistles that I eventually mowed about 20 acres with that combination. Again, the Field and Brush Mower performed flawlessly. Somewhere along the line, the entire front projectile guard on the mower got torn off. It is made of a flexible rubber-like material, and I suspect that some thorny Osage Orange seedlings just grabbed hold of it as I was mowing them down. I think this piece should be replaced with something like chain mail … or it should be available as an option. I didn’t feel worried that the piece was missing when using the UTV, but with the ATV or garden tractor, it would have been potentially dangerous.

This fall, Kate and I cleaned up the fire breaks and paths and mowed a bunch of cedar saplings with the DR Field and Brush Mower behind the Polaris Ranger 700 EFI XP. The Polaris is a dream machine when it comes to mowing … and since it has a speedometer, I was able to document that mowing at 10 miles per hour was easy to do. The Field and Brush Mower is a monster when it comes to chewing up small trees and brush. The 17-horsepower version is rated to shred saplings up to 2 inches in diameter. I know ours has tasted a few trees that were larger. On our last outing, I noticed a couple of bolts that attach the motor housing to the deck had worked loose and fallen out. The machine’s manual indicates that you should check and tighten all nuts and bolts periodically. Considering that the mower has around 60 acres of bouncing around and almost 40 engine hours on it, I am not surprised that some things came loose. I have done no checking or maintenance on the machine other than changing the engine oil.

I continue to be impressed with the quality and utility of the DR tow-behind Field and Brush Mower. Truth be told, the Kubota-mounted rotary cutter never got used this year. I am not ready to sell the Bush Hog Squealer just yet, but it certainly isn’t going to get the hours going forward as it used to in the past.

A couple of weeks ago I inadvertently misplaced one of my Yellowstone elk hide gloves … it was the right-hand glove in the last pair I had. It was dark by the time I figured out that it was AWOL and no amount of searching turned it up the next morning. I discovered the remains of that Yellowstone elk hide glove on Sunday. The dogs discovered it somewhere and converted it into a chew/pull toy. My hand still fit into the glove, but it was fairly gnarly.

I discovered Yellowstone gloves around 12 years ago after shredding a pair of top-grain cowhide gloves after a couple of hours of fixing a stretch of barbed wire fence. My hands are still well scarred from that, and many earlier fencing experiences. Yellowstone is a well known brand among cowboys and ranchers in the West. They quite simply make the best elk, deer and goat hide work gloves that I am aware of … and they do it in a small family-owned factory in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Cool eh?

Yellowstone has dealers in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. The company is really set up as a wholesale manufacturer and supplier, but for those many of us who are unlucky enough to live outside their distribution territory, the good folks at Yellowstone are willing to take our orders over the telephone … and to sell individual pairs at a very fair retail price.

When I called Yellowstone last week to restock, I was disappointed to learn that they were short on elk hides, so there were no elk hide gloves available. After a bit of conversation, I learned that the real problem was with the elk hides themselves. Yellowstone was having a difficult time getting unblemished elk hides from which to make their gloves … come on all you elk hunters, can’t you select your trophy based on hide quality instead of rack size? I also learned that they had a limited number of blemished elk hide gloves … made with the less-than-perfect elk skins. We chuckled over the phone, since the gloves are blemished after the first fencing project. I ordered several pair … in size 9½. While I was at it, I ordered a couple pairs of full-grain goat hide gloves, too … they are lighter, cooler and really nice all-around gloves. You can fence with them in a pinch, too.

Why elk? I have found that full-grain elk hide gloves are the only gloves that will allow me to grab barbed wire virtually anywhere and pull. The fiber structure in the Yellowstone elk hide gloves is such that they simply do not tear … they don’t cut the way cowhide does either. Instead, the barbs penetrate partially into the hide and then the hide just kind of stretches. It’s difficult to explain, but once you have experienced Yellowstone full-grain elk hide gloves, you will never go back.

Yellowstone gloves are sized to your hand … the old-fashioned way. You will need to take some measurements to get a good fit, but like the legendary handmade White’s Boots, you take the measurements once and wind up with a leather product that fits like a glove … quite literally.

My Yellowstone glove order arrived last Saturday, just in time to do a little fencing and to protect my hands from the cold and snow that arrived yesterday. That little package is like the blue blanket I carried around as a toddler … a good supply of Yellowstone gloves is the ultimate security blanket for me.

What do you get the person who has everything this year for Christmas?

According to Purdue University, my youngest daughter Alaina’s alma mater, the gift of immortality tops the list this year. Huh? Wait a minute … immortality? There has to be a catch, right?

It turns out that Purdue University is auctioning the naming rights to several new animal species discovered by researcher John Bickham, a Purdue professor of forestry and natural resources who specializes in genetic studies of fish and wildlife, including biodiversity and biosystematics. If you are on the receiving end of one of these gifts, your name will be Latinized and immortalized. Mere mortals though we are, we will eventually turn to dust … or pickled jelly … as planned. Only your name will be immortalized … and only in the international scientific community at that.

First up for naming is a rare relative of the little yellow bat that’s currently known as Rhogeessa tumida. Bid early … bid often.

"This provides a terrific opportunity to recognize someone who loves science and wants to be more involved in the discovery of a species in the vast world around us," says Bickham, who is donating the species naming rights to Purdue. "They would be able to join me and a Purdue team on a future scientific research expedition. Plus, the species name is forever, so you'd be immortalized in the international scientific community."

All joking aside, this novel approach to fundraising offers an excellent opportunity to make a difference. Proceeds from the naming project will be used to fund environmental research at Purdue and in the country of the new species' origin. In addition, the funds will be used to host symposia and to sponsor undergraduate and graduate student research programs. Check out Purdue’s naming initiative website for more information.

Why, I bet you could drive your loved one positively batty by naming this little winged wonder after her or him. I can just imagine the look on Kate’s face if I were to show her a photo of her new namesake. Now if it was a new David Austin Rose variety, her response would be completely different. I think I’ll stick with something conventional this year … perhaps another 100 trees I can plant in the spring.

Photos courtesy Purdue University.

Somewhere around six weeks ago, Kate called me at work to let me know she had purchased five large Black Hills Spruce trees at a local nursery. She noted that they were too big to fit into her Subaru Outback. I was assigned the duty of picking them up on my way home from work … oh joy, I thought.

Since we had already planted a couple hundred trees and shrubs early in the spring, I wasn’t thrilled to have a bunch of big container trees to plant, but I dutifully picked them up … each weighed about 250 pounds. It wasn’t that easy to get them into the bed of the old IH pickup, but I managed. The thought of digging those five big holes made me weary.

I dropped the spruce trees next to the corral by the stock tank so I wouldn’t forget to keep them watered. I finally found the motivation to put them in the ground yesterday.

As with virtually any chore around the farm, the tree planting went much easier than I expected. Since the root balls were relatively large, I chose the shovel with the Dig Rig attachment on it to make the holes. The Dig Rig is an affordable attachment that increases the shovel’s capacity while providing a comfortable step … it reduces stress on your feet, knee, leg and back. I had used the Dig Rig equipped shovel to dig potatoes and plant a few perennials over the summer, but it really made a difference with digging the five large holes for the spruce trees. I didn’t make the holes as large as the arborists typically recommend, but our soil was mellow and moist, so I figured the trees would settle in with no problem.

After planting the end trees, which I am pretty sure are Norway spruces not Black Hills, I paced off the total distance, did some quick math and determined that the other trees (two Black Hills spruce and one Colorado blue spruce) needed to be planted at 6-pace intervals. One by one, the trees went into the ground (along with a 5-gallon bucket of water) like clockwork.

Years ago at our place in South Dakota, Kate and I planted about 50 Colorado blue spruce of similar size, along with about 1,000 seedlings. The seedlings are now about 8 feet tall … the 50 big ones are closer to 15 feet tall. We will be pushing 70 years of age by the time these trees get that large, but as Kate always says, “You plant trees for the next generation.” Hopefully the next generation will enjoy these spruces as much as we do.

Last night, as Kate and I were hanging out in the kitchen, contemplating the lovely blue cheese and pinot noir she had put together for pre-supper snacks, she looked up at her new fluorescent light fixture and let out a small shriek. “What is that,” Kate asked, pointing up.

It was our first mouse of the season … not bad considering it’s December 6^th. This particular mouse had found its way inside the cloud-like thermo-plastic light fixture … all we could really see was a shadow with four little feet and a tail. Since the light fixture is tight against the kitchen ceiling, we figured it came in through the stone foundation and made its way to the fixture through one of the balloon-framed walls to the second story’s floor joists. 

Last year, we had mouse encounters of all kinds through most of the fall and winter. Our snap traps, glue boards and construction foam did little to stem the tide. The 101-year-old house hadn’t been occupied for a couple of years before we bought the farm; the mice felt like they owned the place. One evening about a year ago, I watched incredulously as small crumbs of construction foam fell from beneath the kitchen counter. When I stuck my head in the cabinet to see what was going on, I was face to face with a mouse … we just looked at one another for a few seconds and she went back to gnawing open the passage into the cabinet where her nest had been the day before. The nerve, I thought.

When spring came, we decided to make it really uncomfortable for the mice. We brought two cats into the house, and I went looking for a better kind of mousetrap. Today, we have a single indoor cat and two very effective traps built by AgriZapper called the Rat Zapper Classic and Rat Zapper Ultra. 

The Rat Zapper is very effective on mice … we don’t have rats in the house, thank goodness. This “better” mousetrap appeals to the mouse’s curiosity and willingness to explore small cave-like areas. You can entice the little creatures with a bit of dog kibble … when they explore deeply enough they get zapped with sufficient voltage to stun them instantly and kill them within seconds. The Rat Zappers even have a light that blinks to let you know to dump the dead critter into the trash … no more getting up close and personal with the carcass … no more blood or other gore to contend with. The humane Rat Zapper is battery-powered, will kill many mice before running out of juice and is the best tool I have ever used in the seasonal battle against invading rodents.

We loaned the Rat Zapper Classic to a friend during the summer … she had a mouse in her garage. The mouse was dispatched the first night the Rat Zapper in place. We keep the Rat Zapper Ultra (more batteries, cooler look and a few more features) armed and on location all year.

The last time there was a mouse in the Rat Zapper was last August; our mouser of a house cat has become fat on Science Diet and a bit on the lazy side. She did catch a late-season cricket … I bet she dreams of the days when mice were plentiful. I know we don’t.

Last week, after deciding that the Mulefoot pigs needed to expand their foraging horizons a bit, I set up a temporary 5-wire electric fence around part of the pine grove. There are plenty of hackberries and a few acorns on the ground in there, thanks to the deciduous trees that have colonized part of the understory … and the cattle left a bounty of good grass.

Since I have plenty step-in Poly Posts, t-posts, 17-gauge steel wire and assorted insulators on hand, that’s what I used for the fence. My design will make purists cringe, but years of management-intensive grazing experience taught me that a lot of approaches work … even if they are unorthodox.

The “new” fence was going to border the existing Mulefoot pig enclosure, so I opted to make use of the existing welded-wire/barbed wire permanent fence for one side of the new paddock – I chose two t-posts in that fence to define two corners. I drove new steel t-posts to define the other two corners of the enclosure. Since I don’t love wiring up doughnut insulators at corners, and I knew that this fence was only needed for a month or so, I decided to use step-in Poly Posts for the corner insulators. I simply stepped the poly posts into the ground with the clips facing the t-posts and wired them together. The t-posts anchor the Poly Posts.

Running the wire was relatively easy. I set the spool on a small jenny at one corner and walked lengths of wire around the new paddock. I routed the wire through the clips on the “corner” posts, so that the strain would be against the post and not the clips themselves. Once the wires were run, I installed the rest of the Poly Posts and cut an opening in the welded wire to give the pigs access.

This temporary electric enclosure took about 45 minutes to put together and it encloses about an acre of ground. The wires at 6 and 12 inches are sufficient to keep the pigs in and smaller critters out. The three higher wires keep the cattle and hopefully coyotes at bay. So far, we have not left the pigs in their wooded paddock at night though, so it may not be totally varmint proof. It is charged by a single lead wire to the existing permanent electric fence.

After assuring themselves that the opening in the welded wire fence was indeed real, the pigs explored their new wooded pasture and set to discovering tasty treasures that only they could appreciate. We feed the Mulefoot pigs a certified organic grain and mineral ration, but they now spend most of their day out in the pine grove rooting around.

Find the latest photos here.

Check the updated information here.  Photos are posted here.

I am sitting at the gate in LaGuardia waiting for my flight home to Kansas. I have just finished taking a look at and operating New Holland’s newest Boomer concept (in New York City’s Central Park), the Boomer 8N, which is due in dealer showrooms early next year … look for them in March. The Boomer 8N takes its styling cues from, and traces its roots to, the venerable Ford 8N. This new 8N compact tractor boasts 50 horsepower at the engine, distinctive, timeless styling, an innovative continuously variable transmission, and capabilities one would expect from a 50-horsepower tractor. Look for more information at New Holland’s Boomer 8N website in January or February.

My first impression of the tractor was all wow. The styling, while modern, takes attractive cues from the 8N of old. Rather than just adding a slightly modified hood sheet to an existing Boomer tractor, the design team at New Holland, in collaboration with their colleagues at Fiat, created a flat-topped hood with retro-style grill that screams Ford 8N. The tractor’s LED teardrop-shaped headlights have been sculpted into channels carved into the grill and hood sides. The padded seat … fully adjustable and ergonomic … is reminiscent of the original pan-style seat. The Boomer 8N’s gauge cluster is analog with just the right touch of vintage. There is also an electronic information screen that will eventually provide all kinds of speed and system information. The tractor’s color scheme included a red frame and belly with light gray grill, hood and fenders. It looks just right, even with its heavy-duty front drive axle, which is standard. The machine features New Holland’s robust hydraulic system, an electric PTO engagement switch and plenty of chassis to mount loaders, backhoes and lots of three-point attachments.

The New Holland 8N features a naturally aspirated, indirect-injected four-cylinder diesel engine, 2,800-pound-capacity three-point hitch, and electronically modulated CVT transmission that’s controlled by a single pedal. Push on the pedal and various sensors detect torque and load characteristics, which in turn adjust the transmission’s “gear” ratio and engine rpm. Forward and reverse are controlled with a shuttle lever that controls a pair of clutch packs and allow seamless, clutchless shifting from forward to reverse and back again.

I found the New Holland Boomer 8N to be easy to drive, functionally well thought out, and incredibly well styled. The machine is a breeze to start, and operating it is as easy as selecting a range (limits the drive pedal’s speed range electronically) with a switch, and pressing the go pedal. If there ever was a tractor as easy to drive as a car, this is it. Onboard diagnostics make troubleshooting a breeze, although trouble is not anticipated in this well-designed package.

“We’re excited to introduce landowners to the New Holland Boomer 8N, a modern compact tractor that acknowledges its heritage,” says Doran Herritt, compact marketing manager at New Holland. “Since 1917, New Holland has provided its customers with machines that are dependable, versatile and easy to operate. With superior quality and distinctive style, the redesigned 8N is the perfect addition to the Boomer line.”

The company has not yet set the Boomer 8N’s MSRP, but its goal is to make it competitive. New Holland Senior Director of Brand Marketing David Greenberg made it clear that the company plans to build as many of these tractors as the market wants. It is surely not a limited-edition collector machine. It is true to its roots as a workhorse, a real modern-day classic.

Pictures to come!

We’ve been fortunate to have a 2009 Polaris Ranger XP at the farm for the past few months. The machine has come in handy pulling the DR Field and Brush Mower and Polar and Agri-Fab trailers on various pasture maintenance and wood harvesting adventures. As a motivator, the Polaris Ranger XP is powerful, comfortable and more than able. But it is so much more than that.

The Polaris Ranger XP has become my favorite tool for fencing. The ample cargo bed handles 6-foot T-posts and all manner of step-in poly posts with ease. There’s plenty of room for buckets of tools, spools of wire and post drivers, and the machine makes an excellent anchor platform for pulling wire tight. What strikes me most about the 2009 Polaris Ranger XP is that it starts right up, every time, and is ready to go more or less instantly. No more manual choking and coaxing a cool engine to life, only to move 100 yards down the line. I credit the machine’s fuel-injected 700 cc engine and electronic management system for that.

With its bench seat, the Polaris Ranger XP has plenty of room for a helper and a couple of dogs. We have successfully un-spooled miles of wire with me tending the jenny and Kate at the wheel. The Polaris Ranger is much easier to fence with than a pickup truck or tractor. It is more nimble than either, has sufficient cargo capacity and is easier to get into and out of. When I was a youngster, ease of ingress and egress wasn’t much on my mind, but today, several decades later, it is a serious concern. The Polaris also offers a comfortable ride, and plenty of get up and go when you need to run a couple of miles back to the barn for another box of staples.

I am sure we have only begun to tap into the utility and fun that the Polaris XP utility vehicle can provide. Stay tuned for updates.

Folks at the local garden center in Osage City know that garlic is typically planted in the fall, but they don’t stock garlic-for-growing in autumn because most people in Kansas plant it in the spring. Undeterred by that bit of news, Kate decided it was time to try a few different varieties of garlic next year, and so she spent way too much time on the Nichols Garden Nursery website and ordered too many different garlic varieties to count. The box of garlic has been around for a while … I finally got some of it planted on Thanksgiving Day.

My first task was to till up part of the garden for the garlic. I chose to turn the ground that had been lettuce, spinach and peas earlier this year. The soil was already pretty mellow, but I wanted to turn the chicken-scratched straw into the top few inches. Since I was working a relatively small part of the garden, I used our trusty old BCS tiller. This 8-horsepower Kohler-powered machine is as heavy-duty as they get. It has an all-gear transmission and automotive-type dry clutch. Kate thinks it is hard to start … I will tweak the carburetor some day.

After the tillage, I used a little four-tine hand cultivating tool to create shallow furrows … my lines are only relatively straight. I next placed individual garlic cloves pointy side up in the bottom of the furrows. After I had four rows of garlic cloves placed, I gently pulled and pushed soil into the furrows until the garlic was covered. By then, another daughter and her husband had arrived for the holiday, and it was time to take a tour of the farm and have some fun.

I hope that November 27 is the right time for garlic planting in Kansas. It was about 45 degrees and the soil was still warm. I guess we’ll know come spring whether this effort was worth it.