That Pile of Steel Isn't Junk Its Gold!

This pallet full of old cultivating teeth, clamps hillers and shields, was all sitting under a tree rusting away. Saved by someone who hoped it may be used once again. If you have a pile of old cultivating equipment don't throw it away. That is Gold. One of the obstacles to food security is the access to land. Another is access to equipment. There is so much great equipment just rotting on the side of old fields. If you have items from the old farm no one uses anymore we want to connect those pi... more...

Wide Cultivator Shovels Add Hilling Action

This year I really began to experiment with different cultivator teeth and shovels. I found a set of these rusty old shovels in the barn. After a summer of high speed cultivation in the sandy soils they are like shiny polished silverwear. I found these shovels to give great hilling action. In the center of two row crops such as corn, beans, Brassicas and leeks it throws the soil up over the weeds. Used in conjunction with the flame weeder we have been able to eliminate the hoeing on those crops ... more...

Farmal Cub Cultivating Tractor

If I could go back now. One of the first things I would have bought was a specialized cultivating tractor like this Farmall Cub. The purchase of this tractor was made possible by my dear friend Anita Harwood, who passed away several years ago. When Anita's estate settled I found out she had left me $5,000. I felt that Anita's love of the farm and the vegetables would live on in the investment in the cub. When I first opened the little vegetable stand ten years ago she was one of my first custo... more...

Subsoiler

This single shank subsoiler is used to break the hard pan which builds up with tillage. If you are growing root crops, it is good to fracture the subsoil to allow deeper root penetration.
We have also used this tool in our no till experiments. After a mature cover crop is flailed down, we run the subsoiler over the center of one row crops such as tomatoes. The plants are then easily plopped in and drip lines set. No tilling no weeding.

Harrows

Brush Cutter

This is a 48 inch brush cutter. It is used to mow down cover crops, keep back the blackberries and for general tidying. As a growing technique, I have found it useful when my crew and I can't keep ahead of the weeds, to choose certain crops to be left. Leeks are a recoverable choice. Think of them as a long term investment not to be cashed in until the dead of winter or even spring. Direct seed them. Flame weed pre-emergence and again about three weeks after emergence. Let the weeds come in and... more...

60 inch rotovator

This Maschio tiller was purchased brand new. For the first few years I used an old 48 inch Howard Tiller. The Howard had belonged to my Grandfather and was in Kamloops. When my Uncle Russ found out I was trying my hand at farming, he said he'd bring it down to Vancouver in his pickup. I met him in the alley of an Italian neighborhood. Three of us used brute strength and ignorance to get it from one pickup to another. Howard's are great heavy duty tillers; the only problem is the English chain i... more...

3 row planter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC-k3mlW_FY&feature=channel This three row Planter Jr. was found in the old woodshed. After thirty years under a leaky roof all it needed was some wd40, a good twist with a pipe wrench and a couple of new springs. To me this is one more reason to always choose metal over plastic when it comes to your tools. I use this tool to do all direct seeding on the farm. We also use it to set the lines for transplanting. This allows me to follow up with several cultivation... more...

Flame weeder

Organic farmers do not use herbicides so we must create a weed management program, involving cover crops, crop rotations, flame weeding and cultivation. This push-type Flame weeder was ordered from the US for $700. By the second year it was saving me more than $10,000 per season in labour. The flame weeder is used for pre-emergent burning for everything except corn, leeks, onions and garlic. These can be burned after they are up because they emerge from a central growth point. A couple of tips..... more...

Cultivator Teeth

Straight teeth on the sides and wide shovel in the middle.

Massey 135

I really like the Massey 135. I have two of them. I use it for cultivation, planting and manure spreading. A really good tractor.

Floating Row Cover

Floating row cover has many cons and a few pros in my mind. Yes it speeds things up a bit, but it also weakens plants I find. I personally like growing everything outdoors in its window of opportunity. We don't focus on all hot weather crops because we simply don't live in a hot weather place. But we do live in the best place for year round harvesting. I use the floating cover on the feb 5 planting of arugula and raddishes. More for a clean germination than for the quickness of the crop. For ear... more...

Potatoe Harvester

In the sandy soils we like hand digging potatoes. In the clay soils, We bring in the harvester. It still needs a full day of Ateam action to make it run the way I want it to but for now it beats doing it by hand.

Home Made Threshing Machine

Broadcast Spreader

This old broadcast spreader came from Roy Hawes. He was a great mentor and friend to me. I was inspired by his passion and enthusiasm. Some of my favorite times were driving Roy around the farm to show him all the different things we were working on. Several weeks before he passed away he came in with his son. He'd sneaked out of the hospital; dressed in his robe we had his final tour. We drove his red car all around the fields of the farm. Mid September sunflowers were bordering all the fields;... more...

modified potato hiller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP5RNyqtR9s
Click the link to watch the modified hiller in action

potatoe planter

This steel wheeled planter is probably 80 years old. But I have now been using it for four years and it still does the job. We do three large potato plantings. I like to use the sandy upper fields and take full advantage of early planting and free water until almost the maturity of the crop. I am finding as I grow more and more varieties of potatoes that I love Potatoes. The planting with this old tool is one of the treats of spring, Its a lot of fun. Especially knowing from my early years the d... more...

6 row baby greens planter

Ordered from Johnny Seed. I sold it to a greenhouse grower as it didn't fit my weed management system. Also I have to high residue from cover crops to use without difficulty. The three row Planter Jr. handles the residue much better and is very versatile in seed size range.

single plow

Stirrup Hoes

Cultivator

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP5RNyqtR9s&feature=channel .This simple spring tooth cultivator is key to the weed management strategy. The movable teeth are added or removed before cultivation to match the seeding pattern used with the three row seeder. For crops such as cucumbers, squash and artichokes there is only minimal hoeing required after cultivation. For crops such as brassicas, corn and beans which are planted only on the outside two rows, a tooth is placed in the center and to cover... more...

Tandem Discs