|
|
Post by MichaelGramlin on Nov 5, 2019 13:58:23 GMT -6
Hello! After a few disagreements with my previous Farming Partner, we have decided to part ways. This means that I am now going at it alone! And I am setting up my very own Gramlin Farms in the beautiful area of Greenwich Valley. I have recently moved into a lovely little cottage in the small village of Straid, where I am paying £3000 every 9 days. ( The length of my Seasons.) The neighbours seem lovely and I am loving the change! It is a lovely little village with everything that I need! There is even a warm, welcoming pub!  To my name, I still have my original, old Deutz Fahr Agrostar 4.17, soon due an engine overhaul. A cost I don’t need right about now! I have my trusty Claas Arion 460, and my red Rumbler Van, recently bought second hand from the local car dealer for the fantastic price of £9,995! I own field number 27, which is a decent size and has the potential to become a solid source of income, come harvest time. However there is a lot of work to do and I think it will take many years to reach where I want to be. My first plan, as soon as the temperature increases is to get the field planted and hopefully have a successful first year on my own!  I have £40,000 cash in the bank, as a small loan from the bank and plan on spending this on some small implements to get me started around the farm. If anyone is sellign any old, used and more importantly not very expensive items they think may fall in my budget, please let me know. After talking to other farms in the pub, I have already managed to arrange some jobs to generate some income when work doesn’t need to be completed on my own field. I hope that this all works out and I hope you will all enjoy continuing to read how my new venture turns out! |
|
|
|
Post by MichaelGramlin on Nov 5, 2019 14:13:17 GMT -6
My first update! After some discussions with my previous partner, I have managed to get hold of my new John Deere 690 Bailer and my Fligel transport Box! So that I have somewhere to store these, I have also just bought my very first thing for my farm, a brand new 'shed'. (It is more of a large tent!) But you have to start somewhere! I'm already thinking that the positining of the shed might not have been the best; right next to a dirt track and under soem trees. I can see the mud already!  |
|
|
|
Post by MichaelGramlin on Nov 6, 2019 11:50:14 GMT -6
It has been a very slow start to farming this year. An unusually cold spring has meant that we have been unable to get into the field until now, almost half way through the season. After talks with the local dealership about a plow that my tractor would be capable of pulling, I decided to lease a RovicLeers 2.8m plow. With the lease costing by hour I have tried to complete as mucha s possible, as quickly as possible, to try and minimise costs. In total it took nearly 2 days or work to plow my only field, a field that is not even very big! However, I have time on my side with only having the one field.  After the plowing was completed, the field needed to coated with lime. The machines available at the shop that were capable of spreading the lime were both too big for my tractors, so I was in need of both a tractor and a spreader. I asked the dealership for a large tractor to try and complete the job quicker, however I did not expect the size of the tractor that they revealed to me! It was giant and felty totally out of place slowly travelling down narrow country lanes It did do an amazing job though and it was a lovely treat to get to use such a large piece of machinery.  £9,700 down and the field is now ready to be seeded. I am still unsure what to plant. Any recommendations would be most welcome. |
|
|
|
Post by MichaelGramlin on Nov 7, 2019 15:00:38 GMT -6
Another few days have passed and the ground is still too cold to start seeding! So, to try and generate some income I phones a couple of the farmers I met in the pub a couple of nights ago to ask if they had any work available. Luckily for me, and for my finances, there were 7 fields in the local area that needed to be fertilized. That meant a quick trip to the bank for a small £10,000 extension on my loan and then straight to the shops to purchase a brand new Kuhn Sprayer.  It cost about £20,000 but just from fertilizing these fields the cost will be covered, so I saw it as a brilliant opportunity. The weight of the sprayer filled to capacity on the rear of my small Claas was a bit of a problem, even with the front weight however we managed to get the jobs done. Now just to wait until the ground finally thaws a little and I can get this years seed in the ground! |
|
|
|
Post by MichaelGramlin on Nov 9, 2019 16:26:48 GMT -6
Seeding can begin! It has finally begin to warm up and I can finally start to get the seed in the ground. This called for a quick trip down to the local dealership in order to see what seeders they had available. With my limited horsepower options were limited and I settled on a Stara Ceres Master 3570. Why it did only have small working width of just over 3m it did offer the capability to fertilize while seeding, saving me time later! And my little Claas tractor pulled it without a problem. I was surprised by the amount of seeds and fertilizer that we went through for such a small field. It took just about two days to get this single field planted. I think in the future it may be worth looking at investing in some larger equipment.  |
|
|
|
Post by MichaelGramlin on Nov 12, 2019 12:07:09 GMT -6
Long time without an update. After a pretty boring summer it was finally time to harvest. Again, with very little equipment on the farm, it was time to rent a harvester and get the harvest complete. The crop that had grown in my field seemed to me to be brilliant quality. However, with no place to store the crop until I could sell for a higher price, I had to sell straight away. I still managed to make a decent profit, not bad for my first harvest on my own. Somehow my harvest managed to go by without a single problem, and this first year on my farm, there doesn’t seem to have been a single problem let’s hope it continues like this.  |
|
|
|
Post by MichaelGramlin on Nov 13, 2019 11:56:45 GMT -6
Winter is here and it is time to try and keep warm. Or at least it was until I received the fantastic offer to travel to Rogue River and have a go at logging! This fantastic offer was from Insellys Logging Company who are based at Rogue River. As soon as I arrived I could tell that this was a serious setup! Some of the equipment that they had were gigantic! I have never seen equipment of that size before. They can process trees within seconds, and do it with ease. It has taken me a few days to get to grips with the controls and to refine my practice however I feel like I am starting to get the hang of things and I am starting to build up my speed. I think I may have discovered a new passion with this logging. The views are not too bad either.   |
|
|
|
Post by MichaelGramlin on Nov 14, 2019 10:11:57 GMT -6
I have only been back at Gramlin Farms in Greenwich Valley for a matter of minutes before I received a phone call from the dealership. It was about two new additions to my growing farm. The first I had purchased from a man selling his used New Holland Combine for a very good price! Even though the header was small and it was an older piece of equipment, I decided to purchase. It will come in very handy for next years harvest. The second was something that I had never planned on buying but with the current sale and the vastly reduced prices it was too good to miss. It is a brand new Claas Scorpion 1033 telehandler. It is a fantastic piece of equipment and I am sure I will create lots of opportunities for its use.   |
|
|
|
Post by PrincessJessi on Nov 18, 2019 9:31:53 GMT -6
just dropping a comment so this will show up in my notifications. This is my favorite part of the forum! I love following all your farm stories  |
|
|
|
Post by MichaelGramlin on Nov 28, 2019 14:42:06 GMT -6
Sorry I have been away for some time! I have had other business ventures crop up, so I have not been at the farm. I can't say what I have been up to at the minute, but the farm has been being run by some contractors. Who I have to say have done a brilliant job! Now that I am back, I am planning on buying a small field and starting to get some proper sheds set up, so it is not just my green 'tent' shed that I currently have. Anyway, hello again everyone. I'm back now |
|
|
|
Post by PrincessJessi on Nov 28, 2019 14:51:56 GMT -6
Welcome back.. I am sure I can speak for everyone and most certainly myself in saying that we have missed you and look forward to you resuming you blog I hope you are well |
|
|
|
Post by MichaelGramlin on Nov 30, 2019 9:14:11 GMT -6
I’m back working on the farm. A new day! I decided that it was time to upgrade my buildings a little and after searching the local area for a suitable place, I have purchased a new, small field in the centre of the town. It was a fantastic price because the ground isn’t too suited to growing. Perfect for what I need though! It took a few weeks, but the builders have done a fantastic job. To begin with I have had two small buildings constructed. A grain shed and a small workshop/storage barn. They will be sure to keep me and my equipment safe and dry! I have also just had a good phone call from the dealership who have said that 20 bales have been delivered for free from a very kind local farmer. I don’t have a use for them just yet, but hopefully I will soon! It was also a good opportunity to use the telehandler that I bought on sale a while ago! It’s been sitting still since I bought it! Anyway, the farm is back in business and we can get things working again!   |
|
|
|
Post by MichaelGramlin on Dec 1, 2019 9:47:10 GMT -6
Not much to say from over winter. I’m loving my new sheds and they give some brilliant space to do work in warmth. That being said, it has been a pretty mild winter, only frost and no snow. Spring has brought with it another fantastic opportunity. The chance to lease a field from a fellow farmer in the area. It is field 33 which is a decent size and should give me the chance to make a bit of extra income over the next year. This again meant a trip to the dealership to rent a tractor capable of pulling a good size plow. They had the same one available that I have used the last couple of times. Soon, I hope I'll be able to afford a larger tractor for myself! The tractor only just fit on the back of my trailer, and the weight almost beached it on a couple of the bigger holes on the dirt tracks. But the plowing is done and the field is ready to be worked.  |
|
|
|
Post by MichaelGramlin on Dec 3, 2019 11:41:10 GMT -6
There has been some more work on the farm. The builders have been back, as you can probably tell from the mess around the yard. They have constructed another shed for equipment, placed some very high powered lights (perfect for night work) and have created a small area around the caravan I have just purchased. Even though it is a lot smaller, and a lot more cold than the house I have been renting, it will allow me to save some money in the long run. And hopefully soon buy my own farm house and a proper bit of land! Things still seem to be going really well! With no major problems so far. I’m still hoping it continues like this.   |
|
|
|
Post by mike33s on Dec 7, 2019 2:28:26 GMT -6
Enjoying the blog, the pictures and the story. Keep up the good work.
|
|
