There are draft animals in the suburbs!

[chickade]

Hello from Swarthmore PA. Since I can’t live on a farm and know that the time is coming when I will need farming skills I have been learning about it on my half acre of upscale suburban land in SE Pennsylvania. I have two working dogs, have been keeping bees for three years, have 8 raised beds. I got my draft animals, two mini-goats, in May 2010. OK you can laugh now.

I attended a sustainable agriculture 2 day workshop on rotational grazing of grass-fed livestock, and wondered what those folks would do without electricity to run their high tensile fences, and how they would get the supplemental hay out to their stock when the forage is frozen under two feet of snow and petrol costs $10.00 a gallon.

Horses, oxen, and dogs will be necessary.

Those of us who have to work because we have kids in college and are saddled with expensive real estate and the associated taxes, who are married to couch potatoes, and who don’t have the skills to even have access to farm land have to learn somewhere. That is how I found your forum.

In my back yard we are learning Whoa, Gee, Haw, and also Come by!

[Carl Russell]

Awesome Chickade. Is that an Organic Couch Potato ???:eek::D

Nice to learn about your trajectory. Your farsightedness is admirable.

There is no laughing at serious study here. Draft mini-goats will do a fair amount of work I’m sure.

Good luck, and welcome, Carl

[TaylorJohnson]

Welcome and I for one am very interested in what you are doing. I think it is great that you are keeping bees and working dogs and goats in the city. The first thing I started using for a draft animal was a dog . I had a few dogs who could pull a Toyota truck when I was a kid. My wife has pictures of her Grandpa in Chicago in the early 1900s in a cart being pulled by a goat. I would like to see more pics , thanks for sharing . Taylor Johnson

[near horse]

Welcome chickade!

While one rarely has the perfect situation it’s your willingness to follow your passion that is important. Keep it up. It’s not the size that matters!

“In my back yard we are learning Whoa, Gee, Haw, and also Come by!” Who is learning this, your organic couch potato? 🙂

[mitchmaine]

hi chickade,
welcome to the group. the city of portland (maine). not one of the worlds big cities, but a city none the less, just passed ordinance allowing residents to keep six hens. it was a fight, but the small farmers took the day. glad to have your imput. mitch
a couch potato is still a vegetable, right?

[Andy Carson]

Welcome Chickade,
My wife and I are going to try our hand at beekeeping this year. I am glad to have you on board!

[reb]

Welcome Chickade to the best draft animal web site.
Richard

[Author]

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