By Jessie Dowling Last year I trained for, competed in and completed the longest and toughest horse race in the world: the Mongol Derby. It’s a multi-horse race loosely recreating Chinggis Khan’s ancient postal route, and stretches over 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of mountains, bogs, rivers, desert and vast steppe in Mongolia. Participants, who navigate
By Jacki Martinez Perkins, MOFGA’s Organic Dairy and Livestock Specialist The knowledge base for all farming endeavors needs to be extensive, but one major difference we see between livestock production and crop production is the year-round care and maintenance of a key source of revenue: the livestock themselves. Good quality feed and water keep them
Vermont farmer William Butler enthusiastically traded in his tractor for a team of horses for plowing, making hay and logging. With the increasing price of fuel and decreasing returns on milk, this move was economical (as was switching to organic milk production). “Now I’m keeping my money,” he says. Not only do the horses save
The power and beauty of draft animals delighted many visitors to MOFGA’s Common Ground Country Fair last September. Owners shared their expertise with numerous people who are interested in using this ecological method of farming, or who simply love the animals. English photos. Thanks to Ed Hamel for the captions. Sarah Faull of Mandala Farm
Don Webb and his team By Carolyn Steinhoff Smith Copyright 2006 I met Don Webb at a Farmer’s Market near Topsham, Maine. Tall and strapping, with a grizzled, full gray beard and a ruddy, weather-seasoned face, he was giving rides on a hay wagon pulled by two solid, beautiful gray Percheron draft horses. My friend
Some of the Mandala Farm family: front: Licorice and Shadow; back: Ross riding Kristi with Peg the chicken, Genio, Sara, and Enna with Rosie. Photo courtesy of Mandala Farm Genio driving Fjorgyn and Grane on a Cockshutt grain drill, seeding a cover crop of oats. Photo by David McCudden Two apprentices learning to drive a
Kenneth Copp prepares his horse Melody and his buggy – more time-consuming than turning a key and stepping on the gas pedal, but also less polluting. English photos. By Kenneth Copp Late one winter morning in March, I pulled in to the Belfast Co-op parking lot with our faithful horse Melody and one of our
Prince, formerly used in pulling contests, was rescued by Bruce (right) and now lives the good life with a family of horses on the farm of Jay (left) and Suzanne Philoon. Photo by Suzanne Philoon. by Suzanne Philoon This is the story of a Prince, perhaps more than one; and like many good stories this
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