Farming for Self-Sufficiency

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Independence on a 5-Acre Farm

Copyright © 1973 by John and Sally Seymour, Introduction copyright © 1973 by Schocken Books, Inc.

Ah, the vicissitudes of time. Two years ago, when there were NO currently relevant small-scale-farming introductory handbooks available, many of us welcomed the publication of Richard Langer's Grow It! with open arms. Now that we're all older and more experienced, however, some folks find it increasingly easy to criticize that breakthrough beginner's guide (see the Feedback sections of MOTHER NOS. 23, 24 and 25).

Which brings us to another breakthrough book that is just as important (probably more so) now as Grow It! was two years ago . . . and which may well come up for its share of criticism in another 24 months or so.

Be that as it may, John and Sally Seymour's record of 18 successful years on a shirttail-sized homestead in England is important now and should offer welcome encouragement to today's back-to-the-landers . . . both real and imaginary. I started serializing the book in my No. 25 issue and I'm sure that many readers will want a personal copy for their home libraries.—MOTHER.

OTHER FIELD CROPS

Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the
 which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

GOD: Genesis 7:29

OATS

Oats is a most excellent corn for stock feeding, and grows very well in a damp or cold climate. Thus in Scotland it grows better than wheat and is there used as human food, which prompted Dr. Johnson to jibe at his Scottish friend Boswell that they fed men in Scotland on what in England they only fed to horses, to which Boswell replied: 'Yes. Better men—better horses.' It will grow on wetter and more acid land than either wheat or barley.

Oats is a fine grain crop to grow on the smallholding, because not only can it be very easily crushed to feed to stock or fed in the whole grain, but also it can be fed 'in the sheaf'. This is the way we feed it, and a very good way it is too. We cut it with a binder, harvest it in the usual way, and then throw each cow, bullock or horse one sheaf a day each all through the winter. The animals eat the straw and grain and the whole lot (and would eat the string too if you left it on) and they absolutely thrive on it. Thus we save ourselves the trouble of threshing and winnowing and milling and all the rest of it, for the cattle do it for us. Horses thrive on their oats given in this form too, although horses on heavy work would need a proportion of crushed oats as well.

Oats do very well after permanent pasture or a long ley, for they will grow well on rotting vegetable matter. As they are normally planted in the spring it means that you can go on grazing the ley right up to December. Then you should plough the land to give the frost a chance to break it down and help make a seed bed. You can broadcast the seed straight on to the ploughed land, in March or early April, at the rate of four bushels (1-1/2 cwt.) an acre, and harrow hard afterwards. If the land is heavy and cloddy go on harrowing half a dozen times until you have broken it up pretty fine. Harrow at first along the furrows—not across them. It's a good thing to roll oats after the shoots have come up above the ground, to press the roots in and give them a firmer hold. You don't have to though.

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