Rain's coming, can't let the needles get soaked.
Fall, ie fallen Pine needles and leaves, is always a perfect time to gather up my stockpile of future bedding for the animals. Every winter the animals pens get to be a mucky mire of messy mud, so I keep these Pine needles each year to lay down atop the gnarliness. It has helped the animals have a modicum of protection from the cold mud and ice.
Mid winters are always a pain as the snow cover and biting cold temps can give the sheep some distress, while the chickens just stay inside, the sheep and alpaca have to be more exposed. I try to lay down the Pine needles for them at various points to give their toes a bit of reprieve. That is where my needle reservoir come in handy. I have a stub road, past my dead end, and it is a perfect collection point for the Pine needles each year.
"THIS IS MY RAKE! There are many like it but this one is MINE!"
It is a truly awesome rake and was left with the house when we bought it. I presume it is a type of hay rake as the tines are a bit flimsy, but I have been working on a way to insert some stronger tines into the bar. This rake is very similar width to a landscaping rake, about 36 inches wide.
I use the rake to not only pull or rake debris but also to push it as well. After years of landscaping work I have figured out a bunch of ways to save myself work, and one is that almost no tool is single purpose. Every tool can be used in different than intended ways that will make the job far easier.
The old road side gathered up to the fence. It made a fairly large pile about 8 by 8 feet by 3 feet tall.
My supervisor had to spend a fair amount of time testing the depth, softness, moisture content, and appearance of the Pine needles. It's the supervisor so I kinda have to let him do what he wants. 😉
I raked the round about side of the fence up into a pile and pushed it towards the fence to more centrally locate the piles of needles.
Pitchforking the needles into the bed of my truck is a fairly quick method of moving them and is my largest sized "container" to haul with.
My storage space for the Pine needles is 2 old truck bed liners nested in each other. I have pallets backing them so I can easily pile the needles against them.
First batch unloaded into the storage, the second got piled on top. Last year I only had the one bed liner which allowed more of the needles to get ruined by weather. This year looks to be far better for being able to maintain the entire batch in a useable state.
The pile looks good. I have until about noon tomorrow if I want to gather any more needles before the weather moves in and soaks everything still out. We will see what I can get done tomorrow since it is time to go make dinner, I won't get a chance to rake anymore today.
The sheep, alpaca, and chickens will all be very happy that I spent the day gathering their bedding.
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Fleming Family Farm
FLEMING FAMILY FARM, LLC
Sustainable & Organic Methods | Heirloom Produce
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Great tip! I think it's crazy so many people rake their lawns and put the leaves in plastic bags for the recycling truck to take away. We have 3 monster White Oaks here that produce huge amounts of leaf litter for us to use in our coops, chicken yards and barns. I also add layers of leaves when building compost piles in the fall. I also store leaves in old feed bags to use throughout the year. I could never have enough!
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Most people just don't care or are ignorant of the uses it seems. Fortunately there is a green waste stream collection in most large cities so then it does get composted or turned to energy at least.
I have soooo many pine trees on the property that the needles are most prevalent. I also have a good number of maples, birch, and poplar but the sheep devour the leaves so I can't very easily use them for their pen. I do occasionally rake the leaves to feed to them but it is usually low on the priority list.
I hadn't thought of using the feed bags for storage. I will remember that for next year for sure as they would stack really easily and give another layer of protection from winter while under a tarp. Then just pop a bag off pile and use without needing the wheelbarrow in the snow. Nice idea. Thanks!
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"THIS IS MY RAKE! There are many like it but this one is MINE!" By any chance are you a Marine? Ha ha. We left North Carolina in July and to be honest, I was so sick of pine needles. My neighbor would burn them on the hottest and most humidest days in a burn barrel. It was horrible. I never raked them up, just mulched them when I ran them all over with the lawn mower. But after reading your post, it makes sense to use what you have, and the best part is that it is free!! Thanks for sharing!
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Hah! I was Air Force but the movie was standard fair on at least one tv in the dorms at anytime during tech school. For us it was a constant reminder that we didn't have it that bad in Air Force.
It has taken me a few years to figure out a use for them, but I have normally just used them for burn pile fuel before. Now they really get mulched into the soil with the animal traffic.
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Thank you for your service. I just retired from the Corps in March and my family and I are in the beginning stages of setting up our farm/homestead. It will be nice to grow more than two 4'x8' raised beds...and have animals.
Yes they are great at helping to start fires and keep mosquitos away.
Thank you for sharing this post!
Kenny
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Great set of pix and explanation. So...you have alpacas? What do you do with them?
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I have 1 alpaca. We have had them for the fiber, but they are stupidly private in regards to their health. One day they look fine and are up and about, the next they are cushed, then the next they are dead. I have lost more than I care to admit due to this.
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That is such a great, practical, and resourceful idea! Two green thumbs up!
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