Falun Red looks more subtle and authentic than bright red barn paint

The reasons include environmental friendliness, and the way it allows wood to breathe while it protects from sunlight and water. It’s protection can last between 8 and 13 years before new applications are applied.

It originated as a byproduct of a copper mine in Sweden. It’s made from natural iron ochre, water, rye flour and linseed oil. The color resembled red bricks, so was painted onto the lesser wooden Swedish mansions for appearance sake. Once it was discovered how well it preserved wood, the rural people started using it regularly on their barns and cottages.

It’s called “Falun Red,” and another reason people like to use it instead of modern red paint is that it has a more authentic historic and pleasing look. When you see blazing opaque red barn paint on some modern barns… to some people, something just doesn’t seem quite right.

At this point we don’t have a precise recipe, but would love to know of one if anyone has a source. Two reported sources for purchasing it (we have no business affiliate and have not ordered from them ourselves) are solvent-free-paint.com and swedepaint.ca. — www.microecofarming.com

Both of these can be useful, but when feeding (hopefully organic) veggie leftovers, be sure not to toss in the rubber bands that sometimes accompany the produce when purchased. If rubber bands get stuck in the chicken’s crop, it can remain there indefinitely, filling up the space while the chicken gets thinner and thinner no matter how much she tries to eat.

Also, be sure chickens have plenty of grit when being fed the large, hard seeds of winter squash. Grit consists of sand and tiny pebbles (oyster shell, crushed egg shells and compost/soil won’t suffice). And, make sure this food is just a supplement. One farmer found one of his ill hen’s crops full of too many undigested winter squash seeds when it had gorged on them too quickly and with too little grit to grind them. — www.MicroEcoFarming.com

Similar to corn mazes, but steeped in more mystery and attracting huge crowds, a handful of English farmers in the past along with “cereologists” have made more money on crop circles that appeared in their fields than they could have with the grain reaped from the flattened plants. The mystery itself – that these could not be made by humans — is no doubt part of the draw.

In this article on how humans can make crop circles for themselves, we’re not suggesting using deception as a form of agritourism, but instead, using the popular draws of novelty, discovery of DIY methods, and the miracles of art that humans can create when they put their minds to it.

Many micro eco-farms don’t have large fields to use for typical crop circles, and even small-scale farming often avoids fields of large monocrops. But one of our editor’s own rural microfarm, for example, has a couple acres of natural hay meadows, and other small farming projects may be able to adapt the project.

We have no personal or business affiliate, nor have we tested it ourselves.
– www.MicroEcoFarming.com

But we knew they were wrong. And now the status quo is catching up and seeing the new mathematics of micro eco-farming. When calculating how small and micro farms make money farming, you don’t use the same calculations as you do for big-ag commodity farming. Theirs is a different world.

Here’s a quote from a recent USDA report on how small and micro farms make money farming:

“Historically, farmers have been “price takers” when they deal with mainstream markets such as wholesalers, terminal markets, mainline food service distributors, or brokers—i.e., they exert little control over the prices of their goods. Such price-sensitive market outlets tend to favor farm enterprises that produce large quantities of undifferentiated agricultural commodities at low cost. The consumers who purchase these goods also tend to be relatively “passive” buyers, for the most part neither aware of nor interested in how or where their food was produced.

Today, however, an emerging wave of alternative marketing channels is enhancing the potential for smaller farmers to generate larger revenues by off ering products with specifi c qualities or production process characteristics not commonly available from mainstream suppliers. These might include featuring unusual or “heirloom” varieties of products (especially agricultural products with characteristics that deteriorate or diminish when transported long distances). Other traits that may increase marketability include organic certification, integrated pest management, sustainable farming methods, or locally grown product.

These alternative market channels can be divided into two categories—farmto-consumer marketing and farm-to-firm marketing. In farm-to-consumer marketing, the farmer sells directly to individual consumers without an intermediary. Farmers markets, farm stands, subscription farming schemes (also known as community supported agriculture, in which consumers prepay for a season’s worth of fruit and vegetables, thus sharing the risk with the farmer), pick-your-own operations, and fl ea markets are the most common forms of direct-to-consumer food marketing.

Generally speaking, in direct-to-consumer marketing, farmers are “price makers,” able to determine prices because their products have distinct characteristics, not easily substituted, that consumers want.” The full PDF is at http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5076556&acct=wdmgeninfo

– www.MicroEcoFarming.com

As your melons begin to swell in size, help them get as sweet as possible. Find ways to raise the melons’ temperature if your summers are in general of typical temperate climate. This helps the watermelons turn starches to sugars more easily. Watermelons also tend to like warmer nighttime temperatures, whereas some other heat-loving crops aren’t as picky about nighttime dips.

A few methods: Large rocks around each melon will soak up heat by day and release it slowly overnight. Black plastic or recyclable black paper around the melons will also heat things up. Recycled plastic milk jugs painted black will absorb lots of heat during the day and release it at night. — www.MicroEcoFarming.com

Affiliate sponsor: How to Grow Square Watermelons

Growing berries sometimes means lots of fresh fruit all at once. Most berries such as blueberries and strawberries… even grapes and cherries, have a great texture when frozen whole. Your customers can also put fresh berries on kabob or popsicle sticks and freeze them for summertime snacks.

If growing berries is a major crop for your farm, other recipes to seek out for your customers are handcrafted berry soda pop, berry syrups, and of course the familiar berry jams, jellies, pies and muffins. — www.MicroEcoFarming.com

If you’re selling herbs or other crops to make into value-added products, Mountain Rose Herbs is one of our favorite and only affiliate wholesale sources for bottles, jars, tins, tea bags, cotton muslin bags, misters, jugs, lip balm tubes, powder containers and lotion pumps and so on.

If you’re interested in viewing their products for selling herbs, this link goes to their main site, then click on “Products” at the top.

This long established company supports organics and local eco-farming around the world in multiple ways, including donating and supporting higher eco-causes.

Their products are often made of recycled materials and very socially and environmentally sensitive, which is something you can pass on to your customers, letting then know your packaging is eco-friendly, when using them for selling herbs.

Mountain Rose Herbs also sells ingredients sometimes needed by those selling herbs who want to formulate their herbs into products that need waxes, aloe vera, and so forth.
— www.MicroEcoFarming.com

Many states are participating, and here’s a link specifically to the Kansas land giveaway. See our full story on finding farmland at www.MicroEcoFarming.com

We welcome legitimate information from real farmers or small business owners. We don’t welcome ads for insurance disguised as articles by real farmers or real small business owners.

Right now, here is an excellent PDF from the non-profit Center for Rural Affairs on how health care reform helps with small business and rural health care now and in the future. — www.MicroEcoFarming.com

This quote is from the Trends Research Institute, which accurately predicted many events, including the current growth in micro farming:

“Craftspeople and small manufacturers that can establish a reputation for quality products will be able to build thriving micro-brands, while marketers who can amalgamate micro-cooperatives into true local commerce organizations will carve a solid niche for themselves……”

— www.MicroEcoFarming.com