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Hobby Farms and Hobby Farm Home -
Reader Mail
Your Letters, Comments and Feedback
Your Hobby Farms letters and email messages (Hobby Farm Home, too!) are important to us. If you have a comment about an article you've seen in Hobby Farms or Hobby Farm Home, a tip or personal experience that you would like to share online, please email it to us at hobbyfarms@bowtieinc.com.
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 Organizational Ideas?
I'm a new greenhouse grower in a relatively new greenhouse. I've been going through our seeds to try and get some semblance of order. We currently keep them in regular, white envelopes inside shoeboxes.
While this method keeps things organized in alphabetical order, it causes certain problems, too. The envelopes can be sealed only once and this leads to seed spillage when pulling out and putting away (especially when they are inadvertently turned upside-down). Do you or other readers have any idea or practices you've found effective? The Internet isn't an option for me; I don't have access.
Jonathan Segal
New Jersey
Send us your ideas for Jonathan via e-mail at hobbyfarms@bowtieinc.com.
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 Spot the Error!
In Farm Garden (March/April '08, page 40), the photo accompanying "Rhubarb Reminder" was inaccurate. Thank you to everyone who correctly identified the plant as Swiss Chard. One reader commented ... "That would sure make an interesting pie!"
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Do It Yourself
I read your article "Process of Elimination" (Jan/Feb '08) and enjoyed it. I was especially pleased to read that how the meat animal is handled helps with meat quality. Every animal that is raised for slaughter at our place is handled like a pet and the meat quality is outstanding.
While the information was geared toward hiring a processor, what about processing it yourself? We've been doing this for 20 years. I had someone teach me, then I purchased a great butchering book. You don't even need a cool box for hogs as long as you process them in the winter or fall.
Crystal Phillips
Arizona
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Counting Toes
I'd like to thank you for a great publication. I find many interesting articles and useful tips.
The article on animal tracks in the snow ("Wild on the Farm: Animal Tracks in the Snow" Jan/Feb '08), contained a small error concerning the number of toes that canines, felines and rabbits have.
Canines, felines, rabbits and hares all have five toes on the front feet. The dewclaws on your dog and cat are considered toes, but very rarely show up in prints. Clear rabbit and hare tracks will indeed show all five toes on the front feet. Paul Rezendes has a great field guide, Tracking and The Art of Seeing, which I would recommend to anyone who is interested in learning to identify animals by their tracks.
Margit Pruett
Internet
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Salute to Soays 2
I loved the article "Salute to Soays" (Jan/Feb '08), but then I'm a bit prejudiced as I, too, raise British Soays. I purchased my flock from Kathie Miller, who is wonderful, and one of the most caring and knowledgeable people about these wonderful, small and charming creatures.
I don't like to think that we will lose the genetics, but who knows with what is happening to our environment and the loss of habitat; it could happen. I was delighted that Kathie and the Weavers provided the information to those who might be interested in helping us with this worthwhile endeavor; my sheep provide me with joy and peace, and being allowed into their world is a pleasure.
Elayne Hailey
Idaho
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Salute to Soays
As I got it in the mail today, I am reading the current issue of Hobby Farms (Jan/Feb ‘08).
I am an animal lover—in fact a nature lover.Your article “Ancient Treasure: Soay Sheep” by Sue Weaver specifically intrigues me.
I wonder if they would get along with the Myotonic goats (class 2) that will soon graze and browse on my rural property of only 15 acres? I will have to read all I can find about them and visit (and question) all the Soay breeders I can locate.
Liz Cole
Georgetown, IL
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Sharp Solutions
 In the Nov/Dec ‘07 Farm Garden column by Susan Brackney, the “Take Time to Sharpen” information is a great idea. I would like to note, however, that files are designed to cut in only one direction and using them any other way will dull the file’s cutting “teeth.”
The machined cutting teeth only cut when the file is moving from tip to handle and from left to right as the file moves away from you. In the picture that accompanies the information, the file appears to be moving right to left, meaning proper sharpening of the tool would not take place and the file would soon be useless.
The first time you use a new file correctly, you’ll be amazed at how fast the job gets done and how much less effort you’ll exert!
Dwight Buck
Buck’s Barnyard
Nampa, ID
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Move over Marge
I’m a great fan of your magazine, finding helpful information in every issue. However, I was truly baffled after reading “Low-fat Cows” on page 15 of the Jan/Feb ‘08 issue. After finding the press release that led to the article online, I think I see what Fonterra is aiming for.
While finding cows that produce higher amounts of Omega-3 is an admirable goal, the main thrust of the Hobby Farms article seems to imply that a cow that produces 1 percent milk would be a boon to the industry or consumers. I cannot see how this could be true. Whole milk straight from a cow (presumably where at least a few of your readers would source theirs) usually ranges from 3.5 percent to 5.5 percent.
Many breeds favored by hobby farmers are heritage breeds that tend toward the higher end of this spectrum. The extra fat removed from whole milk is used for a variety of foods, including ice cream, butter and cream. In fact, due to an overall shortage of butterfat in recent years, dairy farmers have been paid handsomely for the amount of fat in their milk and have been busily breeding cows to increase the level of fat produced genetically.
Most dairy farmers would be wise to closely watch a cow that tested 1 percent butterfat as a level of fat this low generally is an accurate forecaster of impending metabolic disaster. Moreover, our friends in New Zealand, the world’s largest exporters of dairy products, place a huge premium on production of milk solids (fat, protein and other solids) since this is what they export. At 1 percent fat, Marge is taking up lots of space and not
producing much exportable product.
Seth Johnson
American Guernsey Association
Tunbridge, VT
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More Myotonics
Thanks for the great article on Myotonic goats ("The All-American Goat" Nov/Dec 2007). I have been interested in the breed for years, but have only recently purchased a few for my farm. What great animals they are. I was intrigued to read about the Miniature Silky Fainters, as I had never heard of them before. I can't really imagine having a goat with such a long coat in my barnyard, which can get pretty muddy, but they sure are pretty! Thanks for opening my eyes to a different facet of this intriguing breed.
Jan Smithy
Andover, OH
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Not Just for Décor
 I would like to comment on the article “The Cinderella Pumpkis, ”in the Sept/Oct 2007 issue. I grow the Rouge Vif d’Etampes (or RVE as I call it) pumpkin and I certainly disagree with the statement that “it’s best used as a decoration.”
In pumpkin pies and other baked goods, it is one of the best pumpkin varieties in existence. It far excels most field pumpkin varieties in baking, both in flavor and in nutritional quality. The RVE pumpkin can also be eaten baked like a yam, since it is not stringy like a field pumpkin.
Jeffery Goss
Billings, Missouri
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