Anybody garden with horses or mules

countryboy84 · #21 06/25/11, 10:08 PM

Farmboybill not sure if I spelled it right but or can for that matter but they are called rasps or raspbits. It is a type of cultivator that have three point that are stationary and the beam is bolt on at angle so as you plow it kinda does the job of hoeing also. I will take some pics this upcoming week and put them on my blog you can go take a look there.

FarmboyBill · #22 06/25/11, 10:58 PM

Never heard of it. I have a book by Lynn Miller whose wrote book bout (Horsedrawn Tillage, Tools) He has nothing in it listed as such. Im interested in seeing your pics.

countryboy84 · #23 06/26/11, 07:38 AM

Yeah I have never seen them in a book either and I have a bunch of them about working horses some of the books are from as far back a the 1940's and still dont show them. But with the fender to protect youngs plants they will do a darn good job. Plowed many acres of corn. And I will get those pics as soon as I can.

rileyjo · #24 06/26/11, 08:17 AM

I have a horse that is trained to pull and all the equipment but I havent actually tried it yet. I have a big garden too.
Does that count?

FarmboyBill · #25 06/26/11, 01:26 PM

almost lol

lmrose · #26 06/26/11, 01:29 PM

Well, I said I would put pictures on my blog of my DH working with the horse and machienry but couldn't get the computer to download the pictures! When I figure out what went wrong I will post pictures. I think it is great other people are farming with horses, mules or oxen. As long as there is pasture and hay they keep working regardless of how high the price of gas rises!

plowhand · #27 06/26/11, 03:18 PM

There used to be a one horse cultivator sorta like that called a Brinly-Rastus. Brinly was the company name, I really like to use the plow I have. They still make plows for garden tractors, or they did till recently.

FarmboyBill · #28 06/26/11, 05:53 PM

That was Brinley Hardy

deerhunter5555 · #29 06/26/11, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YuccaFlatsRanch

I garden with RAISED BEDS which obviates the need for any kind of equipment used to turn the soil. Read the following books to help you get going:

Lasagne Gardening
Square Foot Gardening
The Four Season Garden

When you are done you will have saved the $$$ spent for Horsepower and used some of it in Cinder blocks to border your beds.

My goal is to have six beds 4 feet wide by 25 feet long, and 2 existing beds that are 4 by 60 feet. That's a little over 1000 SF and I can raise all of my own veggies except for things like potatoes corn and melons which are space intensive, and in the case of sweet corn and potatoes - cheap to buy.

IF, your goal is to have a horse that can help you in the garden, then stop trying to justify the horse and just get yourself one. I would guess you could pay someone to raise your garden for you for less than the $$$ required to own a horse - they are not cheap.

Care to share how you construct your beds...do you morter your blocks and lay them like a typical wall? Did you dig below the frost line to prevent freezing and thawing from cracking your walls?