Before I forget: when you process your pigs, there is a lovely treat called gammon that you simply must request from the people who process your pigs. It's similar to Canadian bacon, buts I think about it as the result of ham and bacon having a baby. Get it sliced, you can use it like Canadian bacon or my favorite: open a chicken thigh, lay in a slice of Gannon and either a spinach or cheese or other stuffing, roll it up and toothpick it. Roll the little things in spicy brown mustard mixed with mayo, then dip it in Panko, parmesan and paprika. Salt and pepper as desired throughout the process. Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes.
I slow boil a joint of gammon and when it's cooked but still warm I shred it with folks and serve on warm baked bread as sandwiches/cob/bap/roll lo, my youngest son basically eats most of it when I buy one lol👋🇬🇧
My husband and I went to a stone-age open-air museum in Albersdorf, Germany. There we learnt that there is evidence of tree-hay usage for cattle back into the neolithic, and they would use pits that were covered by wood to store it. So it's even older than the romans, more like 7000 years old at least.
Oh I just noticed Abby has figured out the doggy door in the pasture. I watch all your videos and I know you had to open the gate for her. I need to get out more.🤣
Best way to save that downed locust tree is to cut it right below the breaking point (preferably with a hand saw to minimize bark tearing) and apply a generous amount of copper based pruning sealant on the stump (to prevent rotting). It will sprout again next spring and, because it already has a well developed root system, grow a lot faster than a seedling, probably reaching previous size in 3-4 years providing you select one primary sprout (the most vigorous) and prune the others over next couple of years.
The Molly Murder commercial was entertaining. In another video you ask for suggestions concerning sheep breeds. I was watching a video about what a homesteader would have done different concerning sheep. He suggested buying mixed breed sheep for your first flock since they are less expensive and you will make mistakes with your first flock. He also recommended buying local sheep. He moved from Utah to North Carolina. He brought the sheep that he had raised in Utah. The sheep died. Thank you for an interesting video.
Morgan, retired horticulturist here. Arborculture was one of my specialties. So, from Wikipedia..Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level, resulting in a stool. New growth emerges, and after a number of years, the coppiced tree is harvested, and the cycle begins anew. Pollarding is a similar process carried out at a higher level on the tree in order to prevent grazing animals from eating new shoots.
Again, from the People's Encyclopedia Wikipedia Pollarding is a pruning system involving the removal of the upper branches of a tree, which promotes the growth of a dense head of foliage and branches. In ancient Rome, Propertius mentioned pollarding during the 1st century BC.[1] The practice has occurred commonly in Europe since medieval times, and takes place today in urban areas worldwide, primarily to maintain trees at a determined height or to place new shoots out of the reach of grazing animals.[2][3] Shortly after pollarding Two years after the pollarding A line of willow pollards near Sluis, Zeeland, Netherlands. Traditionally, people pollarded trees for one of two reasons: for fodder to feed livestock or for wood. Fodder pollards produced "pollard hay" for livestock feed; they were pruned at intervals of two to six years so their leafy material would be most abundant. Wood pollards were pruned at longer intervals of eight to fifteen years, a pruning cycle tending to produce upright poles favored for fencing and boat construction. Supple young willow or hazel branches may be harvested as material for weaving baskets, fences, and garden constructions such as bowers. Nowadays, the practice is sometimes used for ornamental trees, such as crape myrtles in southern states of the US.[4][5]
I don't know if you are in the UK or in the USA/Canada. I've got an Osage Orange tree that I started from seed in the spring of 2022. The leader froze off during the winter so 'she' has sort of 'self espaliered'. Osage Orange has hard 3 cm long thorns and was used as fencing back in the 18th and 19th centuries before the invention of barbed wire. My tree is very robustly healthy but cannot stay where she is: middle of the centre bed at my allotment garden. She really loves where she is and I've got a small guy growing beside her. She's put out 'suckers' as well that are coming up from the ground around her. I read that they don't like to be transplanted but that I can root the cuttings. That option would be for next year. Any suggestions if you know anything about Osage Orange?
In my experience, you can wait until the plant has gone dormant for the winter and try to transplant then. Not 100%. Or transplant your sucker. Or try rooting a cutting. I'm in U S Oregon's Willamette Valley. We share the nearly same ecology as UK. just a warmer summer and cooler winter. Good luck!
This was an interesting topic, because I knew absolutely nothing about it. I didn’t know there was such a thing as tree hay. You’re a good storyteller.
Interesting, never knew that cows can eat 'tree hay', sounds like it would work best if you owned just a couple of cows. Thinking ms. Belinda might have been the reason Abby had a small cut in her leg, she's certainly not shy anymore,lol. Another great mini class Morgan, thanks for taking us along. All is well at Gold Shaw Farm🐻.
My granddad always baled his own hay for the cows on his 80 acres. I don’t remember he ever had more than 10-12 cows at a time. It was an intensive week or two in the hot summer, but the local farmers would all help each other out during those weeks. Weather was extremely important. They also shared equipment so everyone didn’t have to have all the equipment. Not sure how they shared the cost. My point is it was definitely a shared activity among all the small farmers in that midwest area.
00:15 Love that dog flap in the fence. 1:41 Poor old cow has an itch in a difficult place. 6:05 Abby behaving like a pig in mud. 12:54 That bull has something on his forehead. Thistle or something
Ever taste black locust blossoms? Tastes like sweet corn! We have a lot of black locust on property, naturally. Actually, the state of Michigan considers it invassive. It does spread very easily by both seed and roots. Those little ones you have might actually be clones of its neighbor, through the root system, not necc started by seed. They will show up even more if you cut one down, it will send up shoots everywhere .
Yes, I was thinking the same thing. My yard is overrun with black locust saplings. It's quite a problem. It is considered an invasive (and prohibited) plant in my state, MA. But if you want a tree that will grow its own forest, it's good pick, I guess.
I concur. He's in a couple years have a dangerously disproportionate number of black locust for the herd size. Not to mention when he runs over the thorns with his e bike.
Thanks for the info it was fascinating. not to complain but you might want to check the lens on your camera I was watching this on my laptop and thought the screen was dirty but it was a spot on your lens. It kind of distracted me a bit. Sorry for being fussy about it but when i'm low on caffeine it happens. Hope you, your wife, the four foots have a great rest of the week... Oh and the birds too.
@@briana7515 None honestly. I'm aware of making hay from grass, but a hay like equivelent from trees? Not something i've ever even heard of up until now. This is not a thing that i knew existed.
Here in the UK farmers also make silage to feed their cattle. Which is fermented grass. Looking it up, it does appear to rather a complicated process. So could be an interesting thing for you to investigate.
As far as I know, Silage is usually made from corn, where they grind the entire plant when green and allow it to ferment to produce a higher protein concentration. From childhood, I remember smelling it in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania, which was a dairy region in the 1980s. Being expensive, it is mostly used for dairy, which requires a higher protein intake to keep production up. Beef cattle do best simply on grass, though the seed of corn is used in the US to fatten them up.
@@Winterascent In the UK silage is made from grass and stacked on the farm in large airtight plastic bales. We don't have a lot of corn by products to process, because we don't grow corn for corn syrup.
@@corringhamdepot4434 What you're describing sounds more like hay, as silage fermentation, like alcohol fermentation, requires specific conditions. However, without seeing it, I don't really know. Most corn in the US is used for animal feed, not corn syrup, but the syrup is made from dried corn seeds and is chemically processed, so it isn't really directly compatible with silage that uses the entire plant. What plant or species are they using for this? Wheat grass or whole annual grasses?
You have no idea how many times I've started cleaning my monitor during one of your videos and I go "Oh yeah, farm video... dirty camera not my monitor, Abby probably knocked it over" Lol.
Molly is a great salescat for you Morgan. I will be purchasing the book as a gift for a family I love dearly. Their kids do not use digital screens, so until I can preorder with a gift option, I will not be ordering. It will be a win-win situation. I get to give a gift and support you as an Author.
Same, Can't wait until the physical copies are ready. I know my niece will enjoy it. She enjoys turning pages and the bright colours of the illustrations and her Mum would prefer she doesn't spend too much time looking at a digital screen (she sometimes plays interactive educational games on an I-pad, but her time using it is strictly limited.)
Looks like you have a lot of grass around there Morgan. You need an old flail chopper and a wagon. I think your tractor would run a smaller one. Even after you bring the cows to the barn for the winter you could go chop a bit and bring it to them.
Pollarding and coppicing only differ in where the cut is made. Coppicing involves cutting the trunk of the tree near the ground, promoting regrowth from the stump the next year, while pollarding involves topping the tree, creating a fist shapoed bole from which new growth will from.
Please be careful with oak trees. We recently lost 6 ewes (ruminants) from eating Johnson grass and pin oak leaves. I was told that pin oaks can be toxic and in combination with the Johnson grass, which was under stress at the time the girls dropped like flies. Normally, the Johnson grass is not a problem,but here it has been very dry and hot.
Love how your trees are growing! And branching out, lol. Baby Bea is at least a toddler cow, if not a downright youth cow! Discerning cattle sniff their tree branches prior to consumption 😊😆 . Hope this newest hurricane Lee isn't impacting Vermont. Y'all have already had more than enough damage causing weather.
I don't think this grows in your area, Morgan, but out here on the West Coast there's a plant called winterfat; it grows during the fall and winter, and is good feed for animals, only fair for horses. Might look into it, though I think it requires a dry climate.
I really like your videos. Tree hay sounds like an interesting concept. In my village there are some goats and sheep who eat leaves and needles from trees. But I don't understand why in vermont hay bales get wrapped. In our country that gets called haylage and grass/hay fed farms can't feed it. The hay bales in our country only get banded with yarn or netting. But many farmes just put the hay in a barn without baling it.
As a thought experiment that may provide useful information to keep in your hip pocket. Look into used and or auction hay making equipment suitable for use on your tractor. An additional complication for you is your current use of haylage. That might be a bridge to far if you ever should decide to harvest your own hay. Conventional round bails my be your best option if you ever decide to make hay. However a manure spreader may be useful in its own right if you normally have excess bedding pack or other compost which might be good to apply to your pasturage. 😊 Mark Fay
I like the idea of buying from a local who in turn may buy from you one day. When you first introduced this topic my first thought was "Morgan's time is worth money" How much time would go into gathering and preserving the tree fodder? ( not to mention the questionable nutrition). You are raising and providing a high quality, organic item. I feel that tree fodder would be and unnecessay, labor intense risk.
Never heard of tree hay! Just seems like a hell of a lot of trees needed to feed 10-12 cows! Watched a video about hay in drought times, a lot of hay sellers bale up hay containing a lot of sticks & whatever in the field, so just a tidbit to make sure your hay is all good grass! Love your passing knowledge, loved Molly’s lil commercial! 🤗❤️
I am wondering about the idea that cutting hay to feed your own cows removes organic material from your land. If you collect the waste from the area the cows winter and spread it back on your land, it shouldn't be much different than if the cows had eaten the grass in the field. I have friends who have raised organic grass-fed cattle for decades in Minnesota and they cut hay on their own land. They know how many head of cattle their land can support, including the hay they cut for the winter months. It is a part of their paddock rotation. They have a lot more land in pasture, 150 acres or so, which makes it easier. Some years they might need to buy a little extra, and others, they might have some to sell. But the bulk of winter feed they produce themselves.
Just wanted to point out, that the carbon in the plants is coming right out of the air anyway… - and with some plants even the nitrogen. As long as the manure gets back onto the field (and with it the phosphate etc.), there’s probably pretty little that needs adding now and then.
In Norwegian, we have an expression “i beit” meaning “out of options”, or “last resort”. Many Norwegians today don’t know it, but “beit” is an old word for livestock feed made from tree branches. People used it when they didn’t have enough hay in the spring and wanted to keep their livestock alive until they could be put on grass. The tradition has died out because of better systems for trade in hay and livestock: if a farmer doesn’t have enough proper feed, they buy some.
you could combine tree hay making with making firewood by felling mature trees and trimming the branches off and setting those aside while you're making the firewood. That's something you need to do anyway when you chop down trees.
trees have a lot of important nutrients in the bark and the leafs wich are very good for cows, horses and others. so to feed ssome branches and leafs to your animals is a very good thing and can help with their overall health. so as a bonus to the hay it is good and to harvest som branches is not as time consuming as it would be if you tried to feed only tree hay
You could buy a Scythe and cut some grass and make some hay the medieval way. You could probably make a few piles without doing to much work and save some money. Every little bit helps
He could also hire someone local to make a few bales from part of his pasture if not growing his heard. Hay does require chemical or other fertilizers, but if he is cycling nutrients from his herd to the field and back, that is sustainable. Not that I object to fertilizers, but the more he can do from his own fields, the better.
During WW2 in Norway most things like food were rationed. Even concentrate feed was scarce so they supplemented with cellulose that came from the factories in large flakes. They were soaked in water, some molasses added and given to cattle.
Watch and see if Molly is being a little (female canine) to Palbo very often, or if the other cats are. He may need to be easing into a semi retirement, and since he is not an indoor cat candidate he might need a neck chip and a electronic door to a little space where it is warm and exclusively HIS. Also, protect his dry food and water. Every morning one of my cats beats up on her sister if BOTH food bowls are empty!
Coppicing is when the tree is cut to near ground level. Pollarding is when the cutting is from above the trunk height. Whatever the cuttings are used for us a separate matter. Where the cut is made determines whether it is coppice or pollard.
I would sooner use your herd to help restore the secret pasture and the periphery of the existing pasture by browsing the new growth in spring, than make tree hay. That, and maybe log part of your upper forest to convert to pasture, but people here would freak out if you did that.
If you're wanting to grow most of your own feed. Wouldn't it be more efficient to simply get some cleared pasture & grow your own hay? It wouldn't even need to be on or next to your property since you wouldn't need to be there every day. Thanks for introducing this to us though. Its really interesting.
Never mind you explained why you don't want too. Much better to just get it from a neighbor. Since you're a neighbor you'll get the best anyway & you might even save money if you eventually raise more cattle by simply trading meat for hay. Although you probably make more on the meat since a lot of subscribers will pay for both the better quality & because they want to support you too. I certainly would if I were close enough as a treat for myself. I'd also be willing to take some older hens that done with egg laying. I've heard that if they're cooked low & slow for hours they turn extra yummy.
Morgan there are a lot of people(especially the homesteading communities) who get local people who do the baling and cutting off their land. That maybe and option. Amish are pretty efficient at doing that. Daniel Arms with Arms Family Homestead , Gary Walker with Walker Farm Fam does it that way and Dusty Baker with Cross Timber Bison also. Dusty is Daniel Arms brother-in-law. Daniel actually sells a part of the hay that is baled from his property over to Dusty.
@Gold Shaw Farm - Morgan, great topic. But sadly it seems you forgot to mention a big part of why tree haying was so prevalent in the past. The land was being worked, new land opened up, and old mixed forest was turned to pollards (New growth higher than animal feeding height) or Coppicing (lbranches grow closer to the ground). Tree hay could be sourced from coppices that produced tool handles and faggots (stick firewood), and often times giving the full branches with leaves to the animals was a less wasteful means of stripping the branches of their leaves, and turning it into food. Another big aspect was claiming new land, its not like wood chippers were a thing of the past, and so this yet again was another way to take a "waste" product and turn it into an input for another farm activity (raising animals for x,y,z). Its really permaculturesque if you think about it. So while it may not be right for you currently, I think that is one benefit in your own personal situation, if you worked it into how you do things. Now this isn't tree hay storing for the winter, but its a great way to incorporate more varied diet for your cattle. Trees as well are deep miners for minerals, so it is an additional nutritional source that they have low access too.
Black locust and honeylocust trees are definitely not great for humans and dogs. It'll give you the runs for a while but you'd have to eat a lot to do permanent damage. When boiled though, honeylocust seed pod flesh is somewhat edible. The seeds themselves are rock hard though, so I don't recommend breaking your teeth. The Kentucky Coffee tree is related, and the beans can be roasted and brewed into a half decent coffee alternative.
dear mr farmer please be safe from the large storm lee as it may impact vermont with lots o' rain ~ its large so you will probably see the far edges of it ~ but still ~ be safe mr farmer ~
My great-grandfather had some sort of mechanical stuff for cutting hay before electricity ever reached the area. No power tools, but not a scythe either. I have pictures somewhere of my grandmother circa 1910, in her brothers' overalls standing on top of the hay wagon. No clue what he fed them, but it sure wasn't trees! Those went into the wood stove.
If tree hay were a good nutritious option, it would be sold like hay is. But I grew up on a big cattle operation and have never heard of it, suspect it’d be a diet of cardboard. All green stuff is not created equal, there’s vast differences in nutrients and proteins between hay grasses and stuff like tree leaves. Bet it’s cow Doritos, great snack but not food.
I know there is a debate or some controversy of 'grass-fed beef' vs 'grain-fed beef'. But I have never heard of supplying cattle with 'tree-hay'. Morgan even though you are adopting a lot of modern methods of farming your choice of livestock is the more traditional route. Cattle, water-fowl and chickens and this year adding pigs. I would still consider your farm as more of a 'Farm' than a 'homestead'. A lot of people that I watch especially the Oklahoma and Alabama crews have goats as livestock animals. Some have even added sheep. But goats love trees and leaves.
Very kewl! I've never heard of tree hay! When you pull hay off a field, however, much of it goes back into the soil. Nitrogen-fixing cover crops can help, as can bring in nutrients. A soil nutrient and excrement analysis would be really helpful. I was looking into buying a mass spectrometer to do analysis for human food, such as eggs, meat, etc. Hmmm... This certainly has me thinking. I need to put together an analysis program, testing protocols, etc. to justify the costs of the equipment. I'm working on it. A good mass spec costs a lotta money. However, It's beenbon my radar for quite a while. I have some more research to do to put together a budget/business plan. Be careful of castor beans that grow wild, as they can be very toxic and can kill cattle. I lived on a farm where they grew wild, and the owner lost a few to eating castor beans and/or the plants. I'm with you on the medicinal plants, yet I have concerns about locus, and I'm aware that Ponderosa pines can cause spontaneous abortions in cattle. If you have any book references of plant toxicity and farm animals, particularly cattle and chickens, please share! I'm checking with USDA and University Extensions to get whatever info I can. I have an interest not only in people's nutrition but livestock as well. Very helpful and informative. Thank you Mogan!
I am not a farmer, but I am wondering if it would be economically good to hire someone with the equipment needed to mow and bale hay to come and harvest your acreage to produce some winter hay. I am guessing the mowing would need to be some time before the baling, in good weather, to dry the hay enough to prevent rot. I wonder if how that cost would compare with buying the same amount of hay. It wouldn’t be enough to last all winter, but would it be a help?
Before I forget: when you process your pigs, there is a lovely treat called gammon that you simply must request from the people who process your pigs. It's similar to Canadian bacon, buts I think about it as the result of ham and bacon having a baby. Get it sliced, you can use it like Canadian bacon or my favorite: open a chicken thigh, lay in a slice of Gannon and either a spinach or cheese or other stuffing, roll it up and toothpick it. Roll the little things in spicy brown mustard mixed with mayo, then dip it in Panko, parmesan and paprika. Salt and pepper as desired throughout the process. Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes.
That sounds delicious
I slow boil a joint of gammon and when it's cooked but still warm I shred it with folks and serve on warm baked bread as sandwiches/cob/bap/roll lo, my youngest son basically eats most of it when I buy one lol👋🇬🇧
My husband and I went to a stone-age open-air museum in Albersdorf, Germany. There we learnt that there is evidence of tree-hay usage for cattle back into the neolithic, and they would use pits that were covered by wood to store it. So it's even older than the romans, more like 7000 years old at least.
Oh I just noticed Abby has figured out the doggy door in the pasture. I watch all your videos and I know you had to open the gate for her. I need to get out more.🤣
That cracked me up! But yeah, she now gets it!
I also noticed she used the door👍❤️ smart girl..
@@GoldShawFarm Abby just got it on “Abby Time”. Hehe ❤
Best way to save that downed locust tree is to cut it right below the breaking point (preferably with a hand saw to minimize bark tearing) and apply a generous amount of copper based pruning sealant on the stump (to prevent rotting). It will sprout again next spring and, because it already has a well developed root system, grow a lot faster than a seedling, probably reaching previous size in 3-4 years providing you select one primary sprout (the most vigorous) and prune the others over next couple of years.
The Molly Murder commercial was entertaining. In another video you ask for suggestions concerning sheep breeds. I was watching a video about what a homesteader would have done different concerning sheep. He suggested buying mixed breed sheep for your first flock since they are less expensive and you will make mistakes with your first flock. He also recommended buying local sheep. He moved from Utah to North Carolina. He brought the sheep that he had raised in Utah. The sheep died. Thank you for an interesting video.
If Morgan is telling a story, I’ll be listening to the story. Every time.
Morgan, retired horticulturist here. Arborculture was one of my specialties. So, from Wikipedia..Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level, resulting in a stool. New growth emerges, and after a number of years, the coppiced tree is harvested, and the cycle begins anew. Pollarding is a similar process carried out at a higher level on the tree in order to prevent grazing animals from eating new shoots.
Again, from the People's Encyclopedia Wikipedia
Pollarding is a pruning system involving the removal of the upper branches of a tree, which promotes the growth of a dense head of foliage and branches. In ancient Rome, Propertius mentioned pollarding during the 1st century BC.[1] The practice has occurred commonly in Europe since medieval times, and takes place today in urban areas worldwide, primarily to maintain trees at a determined height or to place new shoots out of the reach of grazing animals.[2][3]
Shortly after pollarding
Two years after the pollarding
A line of willow pollards near Sluis, Zeeland, Netherlands.
Traditionally, people pollarded trees for one of two reasons: for fodder to feed livestock or for wood. Fodder pollards produced "pollard hay" for livestock feed; they were pruned at intervals of two to six years so their leafy material would be most abundant. Wood pollards were pruned at longer intervals of eight to fifteen years, a pruning cycle tending to produce upright poles favored for fencing and boat construction. Supple young willow or hazel branches may be harvested as material for weaving baskets, fences, and garden constructions such as bowers. Nowadays, the practice is sometimes used for ornamental trees, such as crape myrtles in southern states of the US.[4][5]
Wouldn't Oak contain too much tanin? Stomach problems? Bloat?
I don't know if you are in the UK or in the USA/Canada. I've got an Osage Orange tree that I started from seed in the spring of 2022.
The leader froze off during the winter so 'she' has sort of 'self espaliered'. Osage Orange has hard 3 cm long thorns and was used as fencing back in the 18th and 19th centuries before the invention of barbed wire.
My tree is very robustly healthy but cannot stay where she is: middle of the centre bed at my allotment garden. She really loves where she is and I've got a small guy growing beside her. She's put out 'suckers' as well that are coming up from the ground around her. I read that they don't like to be transplanted but that I can root the cuttings. That option would be for next year.
Any suggestions if you know anything about Osage Orange?
I had never heard of tree hay. I had to check the date to make sure it was not the first of April!
In my experience, you can wait until the plant has gone dormant for the winter and try to transplant then. Not 100%. Or transplant your sucker. Or try rooting a cutting. I'm in U S Oregon's Willamette Valley. We share the nearly same ecology as UK. just a warmer summer and cooler winter. Good luck!
Sometime, you can't see the forest for the trees. Had to say that. I agree with you, your time and health is worth using your neighbors hay.
This was an interesting topic, because I knew absolutely nothing about it. I didn’t know there was such a thing as tree hay. You’re a good storyteller.
Interesting, never knew that cows can eat 'tree hay', sounds like it would work best if you owned just a couple of cows. Thinking ms. Belinda might have been the reason Abby had a small cut in her leg, she's certainly not shy anymore,lol. Another great mini class Morgan, thanks for taking us along. All is well at Gold Shaw Farm🐻.
Highlands can browse, too, and so they could be used to restore his pastures on the periphery.
My granddad always baled his own hay for the cows on his 80 acres. I don’t remember he ever had more than 10-12 cows at a time. It was an intensive week or two in the hot summer, but the local farmers would all help each other out during those weeks. Weather was extremely important. They also shared equipment so everyone didn’t have to have all the equipment. Not sure how they shared the cost. My point is it was definitely a shared activity among all the small farmers in that midwest area.
@2:45 NOT a Hacksaw, you want a BOW saw. Hacksaws are for cutting metal.
00:15 Love that dog flap in the fence. 1:41 Poor old cow has an itch in a difficult place. 6:05 Abby behaving like a pig in mud. 12:54 That bull has something on his forehead. Thistle or something
Ever taste black locust blossoms? Tastes like sweet corn! We have a lot of black locust on property, naturally. Actually, the state of Michigan considers it invassive. It does spread very easily by both seed and roots. Those little ones you have might actually be clones of its neighbor, through the root system, not necc started by seed. They will show up even more if you cut one down, it will send up shoots everywhere
.
Yes, I was thinking the same thing. My yard is overrun with black locust saplings. It's quite a problem. It is considered an invasive (and prohibited) plant in my state, MA. But if you want a tree that will grow its own forest, it's good pick, I guess.
I concur. He's in a couple years have a dangerously disproportionate number of black locust for the herd size. Not to mention when he runs over the thorns with his e bike.
I’m so impressed how you really think thru & then share with us your farm decisions. Thanks. I’m enjoying & learning so much.
Thanks for the info it was fascinating. not to complain but you might want to check the lens on your camera I was watching this on my laptop and thought the screen was dirty but it was a spot on your lens. It kind of distracted me a bit. Sorry for being fussy about it but when i'm low on caffeine it happens. Hope you, your wife, the four foots have a great rest of the week... Oh and the birds too.
Must say, at 43 years old, this is the very first time i've heard the term "tree hay" being used :)
out of curiosity what term have you heard?
@@briana7515 None honestly. I'm aware of making hay from grass, but a hay like equivelent from trees? Not something i've ever even heard of up until now.
This is not a thing that i knew existed.
So all the trees you can feed the animals are the same ones I can feed to the bugs!!! Fantastic
Here in the UK farmers also make silage to feed their cattle. Which is fermented grass. Looking it up, it does appear to rather a complicated process. So could be an interesting thing for you to investigate.
Really popular in western Canada as well. There are companies that will come in a do the work for you. Silage piles are real common.
As far as I know, Silage is usually made from corn, where they grind the entire plant when green and allow it to ferment to produce a higher protein concentration. From childhood, I remember smelling it in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania, which was a dairy region in the 1980s. Being expensive, it is mostly used for dairy, which requires a higher protein intake to keep production up. Beef cattle do best simply on grass, though the seed of corn is used in the US to fatten them up.
@@Winterascent In the UK silage is made from grass and stacked on the farm in large airtight plastic bales. We don't have a lot of corn by products to process, because we don't grow corn for corn syrup.
Yes silage is good food for winter
@@corringhamdepot4434 What you're describing sounds more like hay, as silage fermentation, like alcohol fermentation, requires specific conditions. However, without seeing it, I don't really know. Most corn in the US is used for animal feed, not corn syrup, but the syrup is made from dried corn seeds and is chemically processed, so it isn't really directly compatible with silage that uses the entire plant. What plant or species are they using for this? Wheat grass or whole annual grasses?
I first learned about Tree Hay from Billy at Perma Pastures Farm. Good to see you spreading the word about it too Gold Shaw
Your orchard is coming along nicely Morgan!
You have no idea how many times I've started cleaning my monitor during one of your videos and I go "Oh yeah, farm video... dirty camera not my monitor, Abby probably knocked it over" Lol.
Molly is a great salescat for you Morgan. I will be purchasing the book as a gift for a family I love dearly. Their kids do not use digital screens, so until I can preorder with a gift option, I will not be ordering. It will be a win-win situation. I get to give a gift and support you as an Author.
Same, Can't wait until the physical copies are ready. I know my niece will enjoy it. She enjoys turning pages and the bright colours of the illustrations and her Mum would prefer she doesn't spend too much time looking at a digital screen (she sometimes plays interactive educational games on an I-pad, but her time using it is strictly limited.)
Very interesting and educational, interspersed with the antics of the animals. Love these videos!
So sorry it looks like Lee is coming your way. Stay safe, prayers for you all.
Another thing Pollarding is for is... Poles! Long straight timbers make good fenceposts (or spears, if your into those)
As the song goes - you have to make hay when the sunshines
And this summer has been so wet
Just wanted to say stay safe out there. Lee might bring a lot of unwanted weather out that way. Take care of yourself and the furry family!
Looks like you have a lot of grass around there Morgan. You need an old flail chopper and a wagon. I think your tractor would run a smaller one. Even after you bring the cows to the barn for the winter you could go chop a bit and bring it to them.
That is the recommendation from Molly made me immediately buy the Audiobook. Sold!
i LOVE the cat dialog.
Pollarding and coppicing only differ in where the cut is made. Coppicing involves cutting the trunk of the tree near the ground, promoting regrowth from the stump the next year, while pollarding involves topping the tree, creating a fist shapoed bole from which new growth will from.
Please be careful with oak trees. We recently lost 6 ewes (ruminants) from eating Johnson grass and pin oak leaves. I was told that pin oaks can be toxic and in combination with the Johnson grass, which was under stress at the time the girls dropped like flies. Normally, the Johnson grass is not a problem,but here it has been very dry and hot.
😢
Great job on narration Allison.
I thought that was one of the voice actors who worked on the audio book.
The spot in the middle of the lens was driving me crazy! Lol! I keep trying to brush it off of my screen. Great video though, as always.
Little foot was a fan of the tree stars too
A+ Advice; when yoou are small keep it as simple as you can (!!)
Love how your trees are growing! And branching out, lol. Baby Bea is at least a toddler cow, if not a downright youth cow! Discerning cattle sniff their tree branches prior to consumption 😊😆 . Hope this newest hurricane Lee isn't impacting Vermont. Y'all have already had more than enough damage causing weather.
I don't think this grows in your area, Morgan, but out here on the West Coast there's a plant called winterfat; it grows during the fall and winter, and is good feed for animals, only fair for horses. Might look into it, though I think it requires a dry climate.
Loved the Molly Murder Mittens commercial!
I really like your videos.
Tree hay sounds like an interesting concept. In my village there are some goats and sheep who eat leaves and needles from trees.
But I don't understand why in vermont hay bales get wrapped.
In our country that gets called haylage and grass/hay fed farms can't feed it. The hay bales in our country only get banded with yarn or netting. But many farmes just put the hay in a barn without baling it.
you planted trees are looking good
As a thought experiment that may provide useful information to keep in your hip pocket. Look into used and or auction hay making equipment suitable for use on your tractor. An additional complication for you is your current use of haylage. That might be a bridge to far if you ever should decide to harvest your own hay. Conventional round bails my be your best option if you ever decide to make hay. However a manure spreader may be useful in its own right if you normally have excess bedding pack or other compost which might be good to apply to your pasturage. 😊
Mark Fay
Just PLEASE STACK the hay in an orderly manner this year. Last year's disorderly piles drove me nuts and I am not OCD. 😄
Go to your neighbors in PA! We always have hay even if it’s also been a super wet summer, it’s been also hot so dry enough for the grass
I like the idea of buying from a local who in turn may buy from you one day. When you first introduced this topic my first thought was "Morgan's time is worth money" How much time would go into gathering and preserving the tree fodder? ( not to mention the questionable nutrition). You are raising and providing a high quality, organic item. I feel that tree fodder would be and unnecessay, labor intense risk.
Never heard of tree hay! Just seems like a hell of a lot of trees needed to feed 10-12 cows! Watched a video about hay in drought times, a lot of hay sellers bale up hay containing a lot of sticks & whatever in the field, so just a tidbit to make sure your hay is all good grass! Love your passing knowledge, loved Molly’s lil commercial! 🤗❤️
I am wondering about the idea that cutting hay to feed your own cows removes organic material from your land. If you collect the waste from the area the cows winter and spread it back on your land, it shouldn't be much different than if the cows had eaten the grass in the field. I have friends who have raised organic grass-fed cattle for decades in Minnesota and they cut hay on their own land. They know how many head of cattle their land can support, including the hay they cut for the winter months. It is a part of their paddock rotation. They have a lot more land in pasture, 150 acres or so, which makes it easier. Some years they might need to buy a little extra, and others, they might have some to sell. But the bulk of winter feed they produce themselves.
Just wanted to point out, that the carbon in the plants is coming right out of the air anyway… - and with some plants even the nitrogen.
As long as the manure gets back onto the field (and with it the phosphate etc.), there’s probably pretty little that needs adding now and then.
Molly sold me on the book😂😂😂❤❤❤❤❤
In Norwegian, we have an expression “i beit” meaning “out of options”, or “last resort”. Many Norwegians today don’t know it, but “beit” is an old word for livestock feed made from tree branches. People used it when they didn’t have enough hay in the spring and wanted to keep their livestock alive until they could be put on grass. The tradition has died out because of better systems for trade in hay and livestock: if a farmer doesn’t have enough proper feed, they buy some.
you could combine tree hay making with making firewood by felling mature trees and trimming the branches off and setting those aside while you're making the firewood.
That's something you need to do anyway when you chop down trees.
trees have a lot of important nutrients in the bark and the leafs wich are very good for cows, horses and others. so to feed ssome branches and leafs to your animals is a very good thing and can help with their overall health. so as a bonus to the hay it is good and to harvest som branches is not as time consuming as it would be if you tried to feed only tree hay
Your own commercial #1!
You could buy a Scythe and cut some grass and make some hay the medieval way. You could probably make a few piles without doing to much work and save some money. Every little bit helps
He could also hire someone local to make a few bales from part of his pasture if not growing his heard. Hay does require chemical or other fertilizers, but if he is cycling nutrients from his herd to the field and back, that is sustainable. Not that I object to fertilizers, but the more he can do from his own fields, the better.
Could hire local or wait a couple years and “hire” his nephews to work on the farm in the summer. Kids=Free Labor. Lol
The way your black locus have sprouted I have to think they send out runner trees like our former sunburst locus did. 👍🏻🤞🏻
Great info❤ I have guinea pigs might look into tree hay before I get told grass hay is for the zoo elephants
During WW2 in Norway most things like food were rationed. Even concentrate feed was scarce so they supplemented with cellulose that came from the factories in large flakes. They were soaked in water, some molasses added and given to cattle.
Fodder willows is the ticket...fast growing, grows to 6 metres, harvest throughout the year, great stock feed when needed
There's a spot in the middle of the screen, Morgan. I thought it was on my side, but attempts at cleaning don't work. Check your lens.
Tree hay would be a heck of a lot of hard work......Thanks Morgan 👍
l am going to go over to pick up a copy of Toby Dog audio book......Old Shoe🇺🇸
Watch and see if Molly is being a little (female canine) to Palbo very often, or if the other cats are.
He may need to be easing into a semi retirement, and since he is not an indoor cat candidate he might need a neck chip and a electronic door to a little space where it is warm and exclusively HIS. Also, protect his dry food and water. Every morning one of my cats beats up on her sister if BOTH food bowls are empty!
Emerald ash borer destroyed my ash trees here in northeast CT. so sad.
Coppicing is when the tree is cut to near ground level. Pollarding is when the cutting is from above the trunk height. Whatever the cuttings are used for us a separate matter. Where the cut is made determines whether it is coppice or pollard.
is a separate matter
You vids really teach us a lot☺️
Audiobook already "booked" just waiting for the release and my monthly credit eh? ... lol ... keep up the fun and informative videos :)
Thank you!
I cant wait to read the book with my son :) sooo excited
I live for your pop culture clips. 😂😂
What's the difference between tree "hay" and browse? We always called tree branches with leaves browse.
I would sooner use your herd to help restore the secret pasture and the periphery of the existing pasture by browsing the new growth in spring, than make tree hay. That, and maybe log part of your upper forest to convert to pasture, but people here would freak out if you did that.
If you're wanting to grow most of your own feed.
Wouldn't it be more efficient to simply get some cleared pasture & grow your own hay?
It wouldn't even need to be on or next to your property since you wouldn't need to be there every day.
Thanks for introducing this to us though. Its really interesting.
Never mind you explained why you don't want too.
Much better to just get it from a neighbor. Since you're a neighbor you'll get the best anyway & you might even save money if you eventually raise more cattle by simply trading meat for hay.
Although you probably make more on the meat since a lot of subscribers will pay for both the better quality & because they want to support you too.
I certainly would if I were close enough as a treat for myself. I'd also be willing to take some older hens that done with egg laying. I've heard that if they're cooked low & slow for hours they turn extra yummy.
Morgan there are a lot of people(especially the homesteading communities) who get local people who do the baling and cutting off their land. That maybe and option. Amish are pretty efficient at doing that. Daniel Arms with Arms Family Homestead , Gary Walker with Walker Farm Fam does it that way and Dusty Baker with Cross Timber Bison also. Dusty is Daniel Arms brother-in-law. Daniel actually sells a part of the hay that is baled from his property over to Dusty.
This was very interesting! It is awesome to hear about tree hay, I definitely learned some new things. It does sound like a good treat.
One thing for certain, it’s going to be an expensive winter Morgan.
Belinda Carlisle is not here for the tree feed lecture lol.
@Gold Shaw Farm - Morgan, great topic. But sadly it seems you forgot to mention a big part of why tree haying was so prevalent in the past. The land was being worked, new land opened up, and old mixed forest was turned to pollards (New growth higher than animal feeding height) or Coppicing (lbranches grow closer to the ground). Tree hay could be sourced from coppices that produced tool handles and faggots (stick firewood), and often times giving the full branches with leaves to the animals was a less wasteful means of stripping the branches of their leaves, and turning it into food. Another big aspect was claiming new land, its not like wood chippers were a thing of the past, and so this yet again was another way to take a "waste" product and turn it into an input for another farm activity (raising animals for x,y,z). Its really permaculturesque if you think about it. So while it may not be right for you currently, I think that is one benefit in your own personal situation, if you worked it into how you do things. Now this isn't tree hay storing for the winter, but its a great way to incorporate more varied diet for your cattle. Trees as well are deep miners for minerals, so it is an additional nutritional source that they have low access too.
When you started talking about this city slicker thought it must be April 1. How did the guard tigers and bears work out?
Yes please stack the hay properly. Drives me nuts too.😂😂😂
You have some beautiful cows Morgan
Huh, never heard of tree hay. Thanks for the video.
You are ao right on the cattle and possible poisonous trees/plants. They know thay they can eat and what they cant for thr most part.
12:22 Morgan throwing shade on himself for making a shady pun 😂
excuse me but what is the pun or joke? (something to do with the sound of Tree Hay)
can someone spell it out
12:16 "No shade intended to anybody out there talking about tree hay..."
I absolutely LOVE murder mitten VERBALIZING
If storms blow down a lot of leaves and branches in the next few weeks before the leaves change, will you harvest that for the moo crew?
Black locust and honeylocust trees are definitely not great for humans and dogs. It'll give you the runs for a while but you'd have to eat a lot to do permanent damage. When boiled though, honeylocust seed pod flesh is somewhat edible. The seeds themselves are rock hard though, so I don't recommend breaking your teeth. The Kentucky Coffee tree is related, and the beans can be roasted and brewed into a half decent coffee alternative.
dear mr farmer
please be safe from the large storm lee as it may impact vermont with lots o' rain ~ its large so you will probably see the far edges of it ~ but still ~ be safe mr farmer ~
love this
do you collect mulch from arborists to help add nutrition to your soil?
My great-grandfather had some sort of mechanical stuff for cutting hay before electricity ever reached the area. No power tools, but not a scythe either. I have pictures somewhere of my grandmother circa 1910, in her brothers' overalls standing on top of the hay wagon. No clue what he fed them, but it sure wasn't trees! Those went into the wood stove.
Looking foreword to get the Toby Dog book's I love all you do in your videos. The name Tobe is a good name. I have a brother named Tobe. 😃
Very informative! 😉👍
Hi Morgan we in the u.k have had a wet summer
I swear, everything you do is just like playing SDV. This video explains Growing/Harvesting Grass all spring and Summer VS Buying hay from Marnie🤣
If tree hay were a good nutritious option, it would be sold like hay is. But I grew up on a big cattle operation and have never heard of it, suspect it’d be a diet of cardboard.
All green stuff is not created equal, there’s vast differences in nutrients and proteins between hay grasses and stuff like tree leaves. Bet it’s cow Doritos, great snack but not food.
I know there is a debate or some controversy of 'grass-fed beef' vs 'grain-fed beef'. But I have never heard of supplying cattle with 'tree-hay'. Morgan even though you are adopting a lot of modern methods of farming your choice of livestock is the more traditional route. Cattle, water-fowl and chickens and this year adding pigs. I would still consider your farm as more of a 'Farm' than a 'homestead'. A lot of people that I watch especially the Oklahoma and Alabama crews have goats as livestock animals. Some have even added sheep. But goats love trees and leaves.
Using common sense when it comes to farming makes it more practical at times.
I have to say, the background music is making me twitchy! 😒 Love your videos!
I can't get the pre-order in paper, only kindle and audiobook, do you have to be based in the US to get the paperback?
Very kewl! I've never heard of tree hay!
When you pull hay off a field, however, much of it goes back into the soil. Nitrogen-fixing cover crops can help, as can bring in nutrients. A soil nutrient and excrement analysis would be really helpful.
I was looking into buying a mass spectrometer to do analysis for human food, such as eggs, meat, etc. Hmmm...
This certainly has me thinking. I need to put together an analysis program, testing protocols, etc. to justify the costs of the equipment.
I'm working on it. A good mass spec costs a lotta money. However, It's beenbon my radar for quite a while. I have some more research to do to put together a budget/business plan.
Be careful of castor beans that grow wild, as they can be very toxic and can kill cattle. I lived on a farm where they grew wild, and the owner lost a few to eating castor beans and/or the plants.
I'm with you on the medicinal plants, yet I have concerns about locus, and I'm aware that Ponderosa pines can cause spontaneous abortions in cattle.
If you have any book references of plant toxicity and farm animals, particularly cattle and chickens, please share!
I'm checking with USDA and University Extensions to get whatever info I can.
I have an interest not only in people's nutrition but livestock as well.
Very helpful and informative.
Thank you Mogan!
You could grow a field of corn.
I am not a farmer, but I am wondering if it would be economically good to hire someone with the equipment needed to mow and bale hay to come and harvest your acreage to produce some winter hay. I am guessing the mowing would need to be some time before the baling, in good weather, to dry the hay enough to prevent rot. I wonder if how that cost would compare with buying the same amount of hay. It wouldn’t be enough to last all winter, but would it be a help?