Studying Agriculture/Farming

beans100

Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2020
Messages
86
Where can I study this online?

5b7e5a3a5bafe339db69f0a4
 

biometrics

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2019
Messages
20,268
What do you want to do with it?
What type of farming?
If I were to get a smallholding I want to know what to do with it. Would probably be crops like grapes, veggies, herbs etc. I need to learn stuff like soil composition, testing and feeding it. Which crops would suit the soil type. What to grow together or rotated. Dealing with pests. Etc etc. So nothing super advanced, but comprehensive enough to have confidence in what I'm doing.
 

TabacNW

Active Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2020
Messages
285
If I were to get a smallholding I want to know what to do with it. Would probably be crops like grapes, veggies, herbs etc. I need to learn stuff like soil composition, testing and feeding it. Which crops would suit the soil type. What to grow together or rotated. Dealing with pests. Etc etc. So nothing super advanced, but comprehensive enough to have confidence in what I'm doing.
Oh that's easy. Google or You Tube. :)
 
R

[)roi(]

Guest
If I were to get a smallholding I want to know what to do with it. Would probably be crops like grapes, veggies, herbs etc. I need to learn stuff like soil composition, testing and feeding it. Which crops would suit the soil type. What to grow together or rotated. Dealing with pests. Etc etc. So nothing super advanced, but comprehensive enough to have confidence in what I'm doing.
I can help you with that. Aside from the software development consulting work (my primary work); I've owned a working farm for over 15 years, with:
  • Over 300 Kalahari Red Goats; bred commercially and for our own slaughter.
  • A pride of over 50 peafowls for commercial sales
  • A flock of over 60 Marans style chickens (a French / Indonesian breed) which we both sell and keep of course for eggs.
Aside from the commercial aspect; we have also have:
  • A non commercial orchard which we use for making jams, preserves, dried fruit and ciders. We have a number of varieties of oranges, pears, lemons, limes, avocados, peaches, plums, apricots, figs, papayas, bananas, apples, kumquats, macadamia nuts, granadillas.
  • 2 medium sized non commercial growing tunnels for vegetables; e.g. spring onions, onions, cabbages, potatoes, mealies, carrots, spinach, tomatoes, fennel, celery, green peppers, chillies, garlic, cucumber, butternut, herbs (coriander, thyme, basil, lemon grass, fennel, ...)
Which we use no only fresh, but also to bottle homemade sauces, jams, preserves, dried fruit, ciders, pickling (onions, gherkins), dry vacuum packing (herbs) and freezing quite a bit of that produce.

Simply said we're for the most part self sufficient -- I assume that's somewhat similar to your interest in the small holding?
 
R

[)roi(]

Guest
Correct. Also, I don't see myself coding for the next 20 years.
If your interest is primarily growing vegetables, herbs, etc. then I suggest you look into a growing tunnel, which maximises the time you can farm year round, protects against pests, makes it easy to spray poisons, fungicides, etc... then look into drip irrigation or hydroponics; both provides ways to increase your yields.

An orchard is always nice to have; fast growers are peaches, plums, apricots which will typically bear fruit from year 2. Oranges, Apples, Pears take longer (> 5 years), Avocados trees take 10 years to bear this first fruit.

A chicken coop is handy, and you'll feed them from your all grain beer making. I maintain three areas for chickens, free range, in a egg laying coop and chick rearing coop (with heating lamps, etc.) The coops also serve as my composting areas; the chicken poop mixed in with the compost is a natural fertiliser for the growing tunnels. Compost is made up of kitchen scraps, beer grains and all the leaves (I have a lot of trees).
 

biometrics

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2019
Messages
20,268
If your interest is primarily growing vegetables, herbs, etc. then I suggest you look into a growing tunnel, which maximises the time you can farm year round, protects against pests, makes it easy to spray poisons, fungicides, etc... then look into drip irrigation or hydroponics; both provides ways to increase your yields.

An orchard is always nice to have; fast growers are peaches, plums, apricots which will typically bear fruit from year 2. Oranges, Apples, Pears take longer (> 5 years), Avocados trees take 10 years to bear this first fruit.

A chicken coop is handy, and you'll feed them from your all grain beer making. I maintain three areas for chickens, free range, in a egg laying coop and chick rearing coop (with heating lamps, etc.) The coops also serve as my composting areas; the chicken poop mixed in with the compost is a natural fertiliser for the growing tunnels. Compost is made up of kitchen scraps, beer grains and all the leaves (I have a lot of trees).
Btw, do you have people working for you or do you do it yourself?

For me a plus would be being active so would try do much of it myself.
 
R

[)roi(]

Guest
Btw, do you have people working for you or do you do it yourself?

For me a plus would be being active so would try do much of it myself.
It's far too much work for just me; plus I'm quite busy during the day with consulting / development side; the lack of travel hasn't reduced the amount of work. I have 4 permanent guys and bring in temporary workers for any non standard workloads e.g. walling maintenance / repairs, etc.

I acquired a lot of skills in the process; gardener, basic veterinary skills, welder, carpenter, plumber, electrician, mechanic, slaughterer, butcher, etc. you'd end up doing the same (or it can be too costly), it's a lot of fun if you don't see it just as work.

For example:
Last week and this week, I've aside from the remote development work with a Singapore client, brewed beers and done almost all of the welding for a new chicken coop of 160m²; then installed, zinc roofing and sides including weather proofing; built 12 new chicken laying boxes and roosts out of wood, and tomorrow I'll be installing the door I welded up today and also the chicken mesh I'm buying tomorrow morning; and in the evening if all goes well I'm planning to bottle about 60 quarts. We're also preparing the two growing tunnels for spring plantings.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
R

[)roi(]

Guest
For me a plus would be being active so would try do much of it myself.
Btw feel free to ask any question. I unfortunately learned many things the hard way; e.g. I lost far too many goats by only relying on the local vet.

Since the day I learned that farmers did much of this themselves I hardly ever use a vet. The farmer's store Obaro is a very useful place to discover; not only do they have all the stuff you'd ever need for most farming projects, they also keep stocks of all the veterinary medicines needed to treat your animals; antibiotics, thiamine injections, banding, etc.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

biometrics

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2019
Messages
20,268
Btw feel free to ask any question. I unfortunately learned many things the hard way; e.g. I lost far too many goats by only relying on the local vet.

Since the day I learned that farmers did much of this themselves I hardly ever use a vet. The farmer's store Obaro is a very useful place to discover; not only do they have all the stuff you'd ever need for most farming projects, they also keep stocks of all the veterinary medicines needed to treat your animals; antibiotics, thiamine injections, banding, etc.
For sure. Will take a few years though, but firmly in my mind...

Btw do you do things like having ducks to eat snails and stuff? How often do you end up having to use pesticides because more organic methods don't work or is too expensive?
 

biometrics

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2019
Messages
20,268
Btw feel free to ask any question. I unfortunately learned many things the hard way; e.g. I lost far too many goats by only relying on the local vet.

Since the day I learned that farmers did much of this themselves I hardly ever use a vet. The farmer's store Obaro is a very useful place to discover; not only do they have all the stuff you'd ever need for most farming projects, they also keep stocks of all the veterinary medicines needed to treat your animals; antibiotics, thiamine injections, banding, etc.
Btw, this would be a nice address around here... but pricey.

 
R

[)roi(]

Guest
For sure. Will take a few years though, but firmly in my mind...

Btw do you do things like having ducks to eat snails and stuff? How often do you end up having to use pesticides because more organic methods don't work or is too expensive?
I have peafowls, but they're not that much different from ducks when it comes to what they eat. They have a big body so if you allow them access to your veggie gardens; you're going to lose a lot, because there is nothing they like more than new fresh sprouts. If I allowed my peafowl access to my gardens I'd never have any produce; hence the growing tunnels.

You also need to be aware that some vegetables attract more insects than others e.g. cabbage family (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, ...) and unless you spray poisons you'll never end up with a successful harvest -- they btw also need a fungicide. Onions on the other hand need almost nothing except good composted soil, sun and regular watering.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

biometrics

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2019
Messages
20,268
Looks nice; large enough acreage for goats, sheep, cattle, etc. -- scenery is similar to my farm which is adjacent to the Magaliesberg.
Nice address for the money (Hemel en Aarde Valley), cheaper down the road.
 
R

[)roi(]

Guest
Nice address for the money (Hemel en Aarde Valley), cheaper down the road.
Exactly; you need find the balance that'll work for you...

I bought my place for the land; levelled pretty much everything on it, except the 2 boreholes. built a new house, stables, coops, walling, enclosed pastures, dam, growing tunnels, homes for staff, plumbing including septic and automatic french drain beds, etc.
 
Top