Washingtonians

[Cowgirlgrace]

Quote:
We have a 6 family shared well. I checked on the water rights thing and I am allowed to use 5000 gal a day per area like 5000 for personal, another for livestock and another for crops. At least thats what I gathered from the info.

Read it carefully. The well agreements I am familar with....do not mean this. But I could be totally wrong - and since I have not read your agreement...I don't want to steer you wrong. Just make sure and read it really good and read it 2 or 3x. Just to verify.

There is no well agreement as far as water usage amounts with the well users. They don't own the water beneath. This is concerning amounts set by the county. It's standard although if you need more you can always go to the county and fight for it but it's a long hard expensive fight usually not worth it. Besides, the contractor who put these houses in only put a meter on our pipe and no one elses. We were the first and only house for a while and since no one else has one they don't have a clue that we do. The fight over water here is not the water but pump useage. People think the more the pump is used the faster it wears out but what they don't realize is a pump is happiest when running constantly. It's the on and off that wears it out.

 

[AriLovesChickens]

I'm sitting in the car with a chirping bag of crickets. They're making my skin crawl.

(Got the crickets for chicken entertainment, and Ari fell asleep in the car).

 

[Cowgirlgrace]

Quote:
I forgot about the Wineries. Actually that's quite a good idea. Fresh cheese and of course soap would be a great seller.

My initial thought was to raise farm fresh eggs, lots of people do that here, but then, I found the Muscovy, a bug eating machine! Along with a good meat source as well. There are a small handful of people who have learned the cheese business and have taken their goat cheese to the wineries, farmers markets ect. It does take certification, which I would be willing to do, and learning to make soap to sell at some of these places as well. I don't know that I ever intended to be totally self sufficient, as in my husband would quit his job? He likes it too much. My intent was to make the land pay for itself. My thought was if I raise well bred goats, chickens and ducks, I could maybe make enough to pay for feed, irrigation, up keep. I could be dreaming, or way out in left field, because I am not an accountant nor am I good at numbers. I have tried to keep records of feed and supplies so that I knew what I was spending this year. We get a lot of people through this area that do have money. So, I wanted to tap into part of wine industry, as well as the specialty cheese market. We don't have the high property taxes ect that you have over there, I would consider it reasonable for the amount of land we have. I just know that I want to do something I love and be good at it and make enough to make it work???

I hear you! Me too. There is something else. In France, Barbary (it's what they call a dressed Muscovy) sells very well. Anyone who loves wine, would probably go for Muscovy breast. The problem is, and why we sell to the Asian market, is that you need to be licensed to sell dead poultry (but you don't need a license to sell live birds, and the Asians want them live).

Actually ,there is some problem with Muscovies. but can't find the info just at the moment.

Ah, the Wineries, you actually have a better "Potential" market than I do! Hey, if you need any marketing help in the spring, give me a buzz - I was in a marketing position in a big Biotech before moving up here.

A useful link for you pettec: http://smallfarms.wsu.edu/

and when next we meet we can talk about what little information I have on becoming a small farm processor. It's an inexpensive way to get certified to sell under a certain # of butchered birds a year- but you have to meet certain requirements. Hope some of this helps. Don't forget- utilize your cooperative extension people!

The USDA Eqip program offers several grants for various projects. The NCRS has a High Tunnel grant available also.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Quote:
Read it carefully. The well agreements I am familar with....do not mean this. But I could be totally wrong - and since I have not read your agreement...I don't want to steer you wrong. Just make sure and read it really good and read it 2 or 3x. Just to verify.

There is no well agreement as far as water usage amounts with the well users. They don't own the water beneath. This is concerning amounts set by the county. It's standard although if you need more you can always go to the county and fight for it but it's a long hard expensive fight usually not worth it. Besides, the contractor who put these houses in only put a meter on our pipe and no one elses. We were the first and only house for a while and since no one else has one they don't have a clue that we do. The fight over water here is not the water but pump useage. People think the more the pump is used the faster it wears out but what they don't realize is a pump is happiest when running constantly. It's the on and off that wears it out.

Very much not in my experience: well pumps, especially submersibles, are meant to pump a pressure tank to a specific level and then stop, and only come on when water is run; real irrigation pumps are meant to run constantly, but that's not what residential pumps do. The worst thing is when the pump is short-cycling- that burns out the electric motor really fast, unless the switch goes first. Having a residential pump run all the time increases the wear rate of parts in sandy wells (most Wetside wells have at least some sand) and kills you with the power bill: our pump bill went from $9 a month to $150 when we developed a hole in the suspension pipe.

(I've been responsible for pump replacements here for over thirty years now, and it's a set of lessons I've learned the hard way).

 

[FlyRobinFly]

Just had to share what I picked up today...and he fits in so well with my existing critters!

And it's the larger of the two!

 

[FlyRobinFly]

Er, it's NOT the larger of the two that I picked up today. Sheesh!

 

[Cowgirlgrace]

Quote:
There is no well agreement as far as water usage amounts with the well users. They don't own the water beneath. This is concerning amounts set by the county. It's standard although if you need more you can always go to the county and fight for it but it's a long hard expensive fight usually not worth it. Besides, the contractor who put these houses in only put a meter on our pipe and no one elses. We were the first and only house for a while and since no one else has one they don't have a clue that we do. The fight over water here is not the water but pump useage. People think the more the pump is used the faster it wears out but what they don't realize is a pump is happiest when running constantly. It's the on and off that wears it out.

Very much not in my experience: well pumps, especially submersibles, are meant to pump a pressure tank to a specific level and then stop, and only come on when water is run; real irrigation pumps are meant to run constantly, but that's not what residential pumps do. The worst thing is when the pump is short-cycling- that burns out the electric motor really fast, unless the switch goes first. Having a residential pump run all the time increases the wear rate of parts in sandy wells (most Wetside wells have at least some sand) and kills you with the power bill: our pump bill went from $9 a month to $150 when we developed a hole in the suspension pipe.

(I've been responsible for pump replacements here for over thirty years now, and it's a set of lessons I've learned the hard way).

I heard and read this in several places including a residential home show. And once again, the company that installed the new pump confirmed it also. It was even suggested we install something (can't recall the name) that just keeps recirculating the water. We didn't have the money plus there is the issue of electricity. I just don't need people complaining because my use of water is wearing out the pump. Someday we'll put in our own well or move! I will never again share a well. Major headache.

 

[Cowgirlgrace]

Oh, and if you raise large livestock to sell the meat there is the new USDA slaughtering trailer that allows you to also sell your meat frozen and by the package from your farm or Farmers Market. If it's done at a WA slaughtering facility it is only WSDA and you need to sell it on the hoof and the individual who purchases it needs to work with and pay the facility for cutting and wrapping.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote:
No, Lemon Balm is related to mint, Lemon Grass is related to Irises (I think- I'll look it up later). Lemon Balm is great bee food, by the way- its latin name is Melissa officianalis, and Melissa means "of a bee." It's a self-seeding root-running beast, and my chickens love it, both leaf and seed.

Is it the stuff that looks like mint, but smells like floor cleaner?

 

[broodytood]

Quote:
I LOVE the sound of crickets!!! Reminds me of warm summer evenings in CA. I wish it would just snow already... then the grey would be less depressing!