[Low Tech] Crop Rotation Patterns

[fredtheobviouspseudonym]

Originally Posted by robertsconley View Post
I have a question that is somewhat unrelated to crop rotation but is related to medieval agriculture.

What are sheepfolds used for in animal husbandry? I know they are a pen for sheep. But you got your pasture and you got your sheepfold/pens out in the pasture land. What role they play in the whole scheme during medieval times before the 18th century enclosure.

Originally Posted by (E)

Shearing, mothering on, marking, docking, monitoring sick animals, reducing food intake with prolapse cases (bearings), drafting/sorting, weaning, tarring, crutching, emptying out, training dogs and any situation where there will be lots of catching.

Temporary sheepfolds (hurdles) were set on farm fields to provide, um, natural fertilizer.

The decisions on where to set these hurdles and regarding how many sheep to pen therein could be the sources of legal actions.

[(E)]

Originally Posted by fredtheobviouspseudonym

Temporary sheepfolds (hurdles) were set on farm fields to provide, um, natural fertilizer.

The decisions on where to set these hurdles and regarding how many sheep to pen therein could be the sources of legal actions.

I am using hurdles at the moment for docking lambs.

There would be an added benefit for the recipient of the fertilizer as well. Sheep graze at a lower level than most other ruminant animals, so they remove more vegetation, making it easier to plant afterwards.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by (E)

I am using hurdles at the moment for docking lambs.

There would be an added benefit for the recipient of the fertilizer as well. Sheep graze at a lower level than most other ruminant animals, so they remove more vegetation, making it easier to plant afterwards.

This was a source of real friction with cattlemen, around here, in the 19th Century "Open Range" days. The sheep cropped the grass much lower to the ground than cattle -- so much so, that it took as long as a year to grow back enough to make for useful cattle pasture.

Sometimes the arguments between shepherds and cattlemen used firearms as punctuation.

[Flyndaran]

You're using more of the free stuff than I am. You gonna' die for taking something that isn't mine either!
Insane sense of entitlement isn't just a trait of today's youth, eh?

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

You're using more of the free stuff than I am. You gonna' die for taking something that isn't mine either!
Insane sense of entitlement isn't just a trait of today's youth, eh?

When it comes to one's livelihood, sometimes dispassionate consideration of facts is a bit more than many people can manage.

[scc]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Huh. Looking at the Wikipedia pages, it looks like the toxic oil's effects in dietary intake of natural rapeseed was initially over-estimated. (The older I get, the more outdated random pieces of data I know become.)

Not something to ingest loads of when you have preexisting heart issues, but when is that ever an issue for the majority of a campaign setting?

I'm actually asking the question for the Steampunk/Space idea that keeps popping into my head where petroleum is mostly reserved for spaceflight and so something else must be used for ground vehicles, and well recently I remembered that Diesel's original design was designed to burn vegetable oils.

Note for those with AtE: Vegetable oils are definition liquid at room temperature, so unless there's snow on the ground you won't need to heat it

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

When it comes to one's livelihood, sometimes dispassionate consideration of facts is a bit more than many people can manage.

I understand and would even fully understand coming right out and demanding special treatment to survive. It's just how hypocritical humanity is in general.
Something to keep in mind even among the "good guys" in any plausible setting.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by scc

I'm actually asking the question for the Steampunk/Space idea that keeps popping into my head where petroleum is mostly reserved for spaceflight and so something else must be used for ground vehicles, and well recently I remembered that Diesel's original design was designed to burn vegetable oils.

Note for those with AtE: Vegetable oils are definition liquid at room temperature, so unless there's snow on the ground you won't need to heat it

Well, then of course how toxic rapeseed oil is over long term or even short term consumption wouldn't matter one whit. Heck, it might help to make it a nice niche crop if the public exaggerates its toxicity.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by scc

petroleum is mostly reserved for spaceflight and so something else must be used for ground vehicles,

The are also other, older processes than biodiesel that start with coal or biomass of any sort, not necessarily oilseed. During WW2, Germany got most of its high-quality avgas, as well as lubricating oils and rubber, from the Bergius process. There's also the Fischer-Tropsch process, which is especially good for making heavier hydrocarbons like diesel or waxes. It starts with any source of hydrogen and carbon monoxide (which is usually something like liquified/gasified coal or biomass, or methane / natural gas). So there are potential alternatives. Or perhaps you prefer the setting to have amber waves of canola.

[robertsconley]

Originally Posted by (E)

Shearing, mothering on, marking, docking, monitoring sick animals, reducing food intake with prolapse cases (bearings), drafting/sorting, weaning, tarring, crutching, emptying out, training dogs and any situation where there will be lots of catching.

It is easier to move the labour to the sheep than vice versa. Also at some times of the year (lambing leaps to mind) you want to move the sheep as little as possible so having a pen close to where the sheep graze is useful. (Portable yards are the modern equivalent)

(Thumbs up) thanks that gives me an excellent starting point. Basically I like to learn this stuff and then distill it to give a sense of life to the setting. This helps me add in color details when PCs run across pastures and herders.