Market Farming

[robert schuler <sunnfarm AT bellatlantic.net>]

Another option is to hire a farmer to plow and disc over the land one time
then you take over with your tiller. One of the hardest jobs with walk behind
tillers is incorperating cover crops. If you ever had a rye covercrop get
ahead of you a hand tiller can become hopeless. When I started out I used my
troybilt a lot, I used my tractor for primary tillage then swiched to the
tiller. The most I could cover was 5 acres. I think I was able to cultivate 5
acres between rows with the tiller in around 10-12 hours, this was 30+ years
ago so my memory is fuzzier than usual. I found that the practical amount of
land for a hand tiller is less than one acre, beyond that your time consumed
walking behind the tiller takes away from other more needy chores.
When I started out I was thirty years younger and stronger and the cost of
making a living was a joke compaired to today. I don't think a hand tiller
alone will be enough to generate a living today on a full time farm.... Bob.
Sunny Meadow Farm
Bridgeton, NJ.

Old Timin' wrote:

> I jumped from 1 acre to 3 this year. It is a market garden. I hope to jump
> up to 5+ next year so I can add corn to my market offerings, plus more
> cucurbits. My rototiller is an old Milwaukee Equipment tiller made in the
> 50's with a 9 horse honda engine and a 24" tilling width.
> Oldtimin
>
> _______________________________________________
> Market-farming mailing list
> Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming
>
> Get the list FAQ at: http://www.marketfarming.net/mflistfaq.htm