When I farmed with horses, the most used piece of equip. was a 4’x10’ wooden sled I built, it had replaceable hickory soles, I used that thing for about 20 years. But I had 2 teams that each horse average weight was 1800lbs. Had ladder racks for haying, standards for logging. For working the land, I used a turn plow, ride on disc, spring tooth harrow. For haying, #7 McCormick mower, IH ride on dump rake. Fun fun fun. Most of my equipt was given to me by old timers who just wanted to see it used again.
6 Likes
Mike, for Slovenia standards that is preety flat, yet still a lot hillyer that the pictures show
Haha your acrobatic bale harvesting made me laugh Tom 
It took 6 drives l think. Its on the way from work so no extra driving. Just not fun doing it after a nightshift…
When l made this video l thod “heck, since l am at it…” and made a video of the road l was driving on. I know Tom likes that kind of stuff, if noone else
I had to pick up a drake at some guy living about 3 miles from my home, yet l neaded navigation. You can see how that is possible in our kind of landscape
And the drive home. Some might say this is not woodgas country. That person might be right, but it never stoped me trying…
https://youtu.be/p_VhR8gXMRQ
12 Likes
Wow!
Even early morning going home from a nightshift I wouldn’t want to go to sleep in that wonderful landscape (and weather). Extreemly beautiful. Thank you for the videos. As soon as this Corona business is over with I’ll be knocking on your door.
3 Likes
Dont mind the door, they are always open for you. Come in and help your self with a cold one, fridge is on the left
4 Likes
Oh, l forgot. On the last video l wanted to show some wood porn (huge beech trees) but it seems someone put some censure before the tree trunks (bush and leaves). The forest belongs to the state and like everything it is badly managed/harvested. Probably the only positive thing you ever get from a state neglecting things, huge beechtrees
I admit l have naughty thods everytime l drive past it. Just one of those trees is worth my month salary in firewood…
7 Likes
Nice country you live in Kristijan. I see what you mean when you say you drive with your foot in the throttle. The roads sure are narrow! Are there any left side doors and body panels left on cars in the salvage yards?
5 Likes
Ha, its not so bad those are the small country roads. Mountain roads if you will. In the valey the roads open up.
Its interesting driving on those hills and serpentines in winter thugh…
5 Likes
Thanks Kristijan; Those were great fun. I put it on full screen which made it more beautiful country. I see that blue Lowry sitting by the road at the start of one video— how do they manuver them on that narrow winding road. I heard the GPS talking to you— the voice sounded just like the voice on the ones here, but in a different language. It seems she (GPS) took you in a circle–started at the Lowry and came back to it. Just as you turned into you house, you pointed at something—what were you showing us? Thanks for the ride. TomC
4 Likes
Tom, l guess gps is equaly anoing in any language
Pointed at my new hive. More on that later.
Kinda small milestone today, look at the first protein born and raised on the new farm. Fryed rabbit.
17 Likes
Mmm! Rabbit good.
The rabbit i had was a sweet tasting meet.
5 Likes
Looks good Kristijan. What is the recipe for the breading crust on the outside?
4 Likes
Rabbit can easyly be tough and tasting off if prepared incorrectly, if its done right its fall of the bome and sweet.
I realy like raising them. They are by far the fastest and cheapest meat of them all. All they realy need is grass and water and after 3-4 months its big enaugh to slaughter. A hare has on averidge 8 young every month. I have 3. In theory, those 3 hares can produce 300 young in a year, thats over 600 pounds of free premium meat!
Unfortunaly, occasionaly we loose a entire crop if coccocidosis (bacteria) infect the young when they stop sucking.
Don, the classic. Dip in flour, beaten egg then bread crumbs.
10 Likes
Only takes a few minutes from this
To this
To this
Cant be any fresher thain that. And free
Some growing progress.
Will be brewing beer allso! Wild hops
13 Likes
Impressive Kristijan! Looks delicuous. I can see you’re prepared for what’s coming.
I was expecting a sawmill update as well, since your video showed up on Youtube the other day.
About beer. Youngest daughter and her boyfriend brewed beer resently too. Too bad they live almost 200 miles from here. We have a couple hops bushes. They grow like weed. Maybe I should give it a try myself. Do you have a special recipe?
6 Likes
Here, in Colorado, we have Coors Brewing. I have been told that they dry and gasify their brewers grains. Apparently spent hops contain a lot of energy.
Rindert
4 Likes
I have heard of spent brewers grains being fed to cattle, dairy cattle specifically. My Dad was very interested in the dairy industry and I followed him about. He would be 101 years old this July, and I miss him a lot!!
“edit” Hey Kristijan, I just want to say how much I enjoy your progress reports and admire your “Get 'er Done” attitude and energy!! Beautiful Homestead! 
8 Likes
True! The plot we made in to a garden was all hops. Its preety much the only thing that can poke trugh layrs of leaves and hay we mulched with!
Makes good eating thugh. The shoots, while young, can be quick boiled and taste like asparagus.
Recepie, depends. Beer brewing can be as simple as diluting and fermenting a can of bought beer extract to fully all-grain method with up to 10 different barley malts and many other cereals, hops vorietys etc…
I suggest starting with “farmers beer”, a form of cheap beer made at home once.
Corn was first browned on a pan slightly, then boiled in sweetened water with a bit of hops, strained, cooled, piched with yeast and either ferment open and drunk flat (like Guiness) or fermented in the bottle for a carbonised version.
The beer will be low in alcohol and taste but its a refreshing summer drink that cant get you drunk.
Substitute corn with barley coffe (dont know the English name??) and you get dark beer with better taste!
Some important calculations, each gram of sugar converts to half a gram of CO2 and half alcohol. Some wery important formula to concider doing any fermentation, to prevent drinks to be to strong or to weak, flat or litle bottled time bombs
Start with 2% hops regarding water, no more. Many people think beer is made out of hops but the reality is hops is just a spice! Like gingerbread is not made out of just ginger…
Brewing the right beer requires some more education and equipment but will, with practice, produce beer thats 10 times cheaper and 10 times better thain anything bought.
8 Likes
Did you soak those sticks in water so they would have roots started before you planted them int the garden?
TomC
4 Likes
Tom, you reffering to tomato poles? No need for soaking, hazelnut poles like sprouting anyway. Sometimes they grow better thain the crop
JO demanded a update. Been haying last week. Me and son woke up at 4.30, ate breakfast and some redneck RedBull and went scything
(Son has water in so dont call the cops just yet )
After drying for 2 days, my hay “harvester” had a hickup Mr Wayne knows all to well.
Took me so long to get it out and fix it the dew fell on the hay and it had to wait till the next day to finish harvesting. Then, unfortunaly, some hay dot wet from out of the blue shower
but its ok, potatoes need some mulch allso.
Its allso cherry season! Yum!
Those are wild “bird” cherrys. But not like l have seen anywhere else. Usualy they are bitter and all stone. Those are only a hint bitter, sweet and quite a bit bigger. I have at least 20 huge trees on the property, all wild, only one or two are small fruiting. Seems there has to be a interesting gene pool of half domestic hybrids on this mountain!
13 Likes
Your cherries look like something that grew at my Grandmother’s house (Northwest Ohio, USA). The trees were small and gnarly, with dark black bark. Cherries were red, small, tart, yet put a little sugar on them… Yummy Pies, Tarts, Preserves, Jam… been a long time… 
5 Likes