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I love this book George, it has some great ideas in there. I have not had time to read it all yet, but what I have read is very helpful. The time frame when it was written [ 1909 ] was a real turning point in Farming in this country. Steam engins were just about to be replaced by gas powered tractors. Cars were just starting to replace horses on the roads. People were moving off the farm and finding jobs in the factorys in our growing citys. The times they were a-changin as you might say. This book contains the wisdom and common sense of that by-gone era, I love it. The straw shed for sheep and cattle was a great program. I have seen several anvils made from old RR rails. Just some really great ideas in there, and it was written short and to the point. You have to be smart enough to figure out what he is telling you to do.

I was talking with an old fellow the other day about using a pick to dig dirt. He told me that the right way to use a pick was never lift it any higher than your head. Those guys in the cartoons that swing a pick round and around over there head are just that, cartoon guys. Let the tool do the work. A pick is a heavy tool and just lifting it as high as your head will do the trick. The same is true about using a scythe, the correct way to use it allows you to use it all day. Using a scythe the wrong way and you are tired out in less than an hour. The correct way is to bend at the waist and move your body, not your arms. Rotate at the hips. If you use your arms to hack at the work you won't last long. Hope this helps you when you are using these hand tools.

I have always tried to go with the No Work Theory of Gardening myself.

Something I learned at the PASA conference I attended last weekend was about garlic. Apparently there are some nasty diseases that can effect garlic and the amount of production you get. If you have these problems she suggested soaking you seed, [ the individual cloves that you plan to plant ] in a 10% bleach solution for about 20 min or so, then place the seed in wood ashes and roll them around to coat them with the ash. Wear gloves when doing this process to protect your hands. Them plant them as normal making sure to put the pointy end up.


PS I have not had any problems with my garlic so I have never tried this method, just passing it along here as something to try if problems arise.