Friday, August 27, 2010

Life on the Farm, day 7

We've still not completely settled into this place, but still, it already has the feeling of home. We have so much work to do to get this place ready to roll for next spring that I don't know where to begin!

On the short/urgent honey-do list:
-Add smaller-gauge fencing to the south side of the chicken yard, to keep the banties off of my lawn.
-Mow the grass of the lawn that will become the garden.
-Borrow a goat to eat the pasture down a bit.
-Weed, weed, weed
-Harvest plums
-Start building a second chicken coop
-Make a garden plan/start building raised beds

This is going to be one jam-packed Fall and Winter, in terms of chores, at least. I'm looking forward to the rewards of running a farm, but have to admit that I'm a little daunted by the work that it is going to take to get things rolling. Here's the thing about our little farm - it's just 3.5 acres, but there is nothing besides a few fruit trees and little bit of fencing that is farm-ready about this place. We have no barn (or even a garage!), the fence is in poor shape, the pastures are way overgrown, and there is no garden at all. Getting this farm established is going to take a lot of hard work just getting the infrastructure in place. Not to mention, schooling myself in the fine art of animal husbandry. Right now, we're taking a hard look at dairy goats, pigs, turkeys, angora bunnies and possibly Dexter cattle. It's a good thing that we have a long, cold winter coming up - I'm going to need a little Winter's rest before the madness of Spring descends.

In the mean time, just for my own notes, I will try to post daily what we've harvested from our not-quite-yet farm. ;)

For today -
3 eggs
1 lb, 4 oz of blackberries

5 comments:

  1. Your new farm sounds so exciting!!! I'd love to raise all of those animals :) Good luck with your chore list - I have no doubt that you'll be ready to go come spring!

    for goats, out here the Nigerian pygmie goats are popular, they are small but produce as much milk as the full size ones - according to our 4H at the county fair :) I love these little goats and want some desperately!! What kind of goats are you looking at?

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  2. I haven't gotten that far yet! lol We're not going to need all that much milk, since I'm fairly sure that we'll only be using it to make cheese and perhaps feed some to the piggies, so a dwarf breed would probably be ideal for us.

    I've got sooo much research left to do. I've checked out a stack of library books about goats and pigs, now I just need to find the time to read them!

    Thanks for being my first commenter, chicky! ;)

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  3. Your children are so lukcy to be having this life experience. I grew up on a farm and I have fond memories of watching births, feeding animals, the smell of the barn, and being able to go outside and pick something for my afternoon snack.

    I'm looking forward to living through your blog. Thanks for sharing your journey!

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  4. So is this your new blog? Are you still going to keep the other one going? lol......enjoy these busy days - you've got plenty of time until next year....just keep telling yourself that. As for the cattle - even just 1 or 2 steers for meat you would have plenty of room for - a shed and 1/2 an acre is enough....and you'd have your OWN beef - which NOTHING in the stores can compare with......buy them small (this fall) and you could be eating your own beef late next summer:) have a great time!
    Kris

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  5. I'm going to try and keep the GGG blog focused on my household stuff and crafts, I think. Oh, and the winemaking. ;)

    Thanks for the insider info, Kris. I am overwhelmed by how much there is to learn about building a farm! I'll will most definitely be hitting you (or your kids) up for cow & pig tips when the time comes. ;)

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