Our Farm

[ahavah]

I've been neglecting this blog. I'm going to try to work on that. I've been sharing most of our pictures and updates on facebook, so a lot of you have probably seen these already. I'm long overdue for a picture post about our new place though, so I thought I would share

Comments

Re: wow! that is so wonderful!

[ahavah]

Thank you! Our goal is to be self-sufficient, so eventually we hope to grow nearly everything we use. Last year at our old house, I had a successful garden for the first time. I focused on salad & salsa makings (lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, onions, garlic, & volunteer squash from our compost pile). It was the first time I was ever able to grow anything, and it took years of working with the soil & composting to make it happen. So an actual farm will probably be slow going. I plan to start with another kitchen garden and work my way up to more crops. (If you're interested in seeing last year's work, I have my garden album here).

I'm hoping to add potatoes (which I've tried before with little success), broccoli, and anything else that catches my fancy when the seed catalogs come. Eventually I hope to get into herbs & medicinal plants, and possibly try a few citrus fruits if when we get a greenhouse built. I do indeed really want an orchard, but we'll have to wait until we can afford to clear out several more acres. I'm wanting apples, plums, pears, cherries, and maybe some nut trees. The local extension office sells a pretty cheap pecan package, with several different types of pecans. I don't like those, but Josh does. I personally would really love chestnuts. We used to have two chestnut trees, and nothing is better in the winter than roasted chestnuts.

As for animals, I hope to have a lot! We're starting with chickens and working our way up. I'd like to have a few goats, and eventually a little Jersey milk cow. Josh is really interested in getting into the Angus market. Since we're hoping to focus on endangered breeds, I might look into that and start breeding cows on the critical list, but I'd like a jersey first for kitchen milk. One day I hope we can have horses, and we really want to do rescue work as much as possible, so I'd take anything whose life we might save, really. I don't want to get larger animals until we have the room & skill to grow our own hay and grain, though. Without having jobs, we just can't afford to buy in so much food just yet.

Re: wow! that is so wonderful!

[i_scribble]

I'm really impressed. While I am virtually certain that a farm life is not for me, I'm always impressed with people that can make it work.

I love pecans... They're so tasty. :)

When you do eventually get in the beef cattle market, you can probably do well with high-end meats- organic, free range beef. Maybe even lamb & goat...

But yeah, I can see wanting to wait until you can manage large animals! And doing rescue work w/horses is great.

Think you might do anything w/heirloom crops, either in the kitchen garden or in the fields (when you get to that point)?

Re: wow! that is so wonderful!

[ahavah]

That's definitely our goal. We'd love to have everything organic, and I'm hoping to focus on heirlooms. At the moment, I'm just going to use up the seeds I have. Last year we got lots of cheap (like 25 cent- a dollar) seed packs from Wmart and the dollar store. I plan to use those, and grow them organically. Anything I order will be either heirloom or organic seeds. I ordered lots of catalogs, if they'll ever arrive, and I'm considering buying a membership with Seed Savers. I may wait until my skill level gets better though, so it's not a waste. I need to actually go through my seeds and see what I still have.

Re: wow! that is so wonderful!

[maiabee8]

Goats and sheep give really tasty meat and are much easier to raise and *way* easier on the environment than cows of any sort. (Goats also have the advantage of not really needing feed much of the year even on a smaller acreage). Llamas are also a cool idea in this climate - they are much cheaper than horses/other pack animals (since like goats they eat grass and unlike horses don't need multiple acres per) and will protect sheep and goats from coyotes/wolves. If you felt like it you could also sell their wool in the summer and make a killing (one skein of llama wool goes for ~$25 in St. Louis ).

Re: wow! that is so wonderful!

[ahavah]

Thanks! I do hope to work up to goats &/or sheep. I'd read that llamas are good guard animals for them. I don't really know a lot about llamas though. I'd have to learn a lot more. I hope to learn about making wool, so that may be in our future!

Re: wow! that is so wonderful!

[i_scribble]

I thought about mentioning alpacas (similar to llamas) for the fiber aspect of it. Also, you can get cashmere goats, or other breeds with good wool for spinning. And rabbits, too! I wasn't sure how much you were into fiber- from everyone I've met it seems to be a real labor of love if they raise, spin & dye their own.

You could probably find someone willing to help you with that, or create/become part of a co-op for fiber fanatics, where all members pay & assist w/the animal upkeep and help harvest/spin the wool! Heh. That would be neat.

Re: wow! that is so wonderful!

[ahavah]

I'd heard of alpacas, but I didn't know you could get fiber from rabbits, too. I know literally nothing about the fiber arts, but it's definitely something I'd like to learn one day.

Re: wow! that is so wonderful!

[i_scribble]

Oh, yes. At the MD sheep & wool festival, they not only sell the finished products, but also livestock. When I was looking at the rabbits, the vendor was explaining (to someone else) the fiber that angora bunnies provide, and pointed out my hair as an example of the color for a particular bunny when it matured! Pretty funny.

You can use the fur/hair/wool from almost any mammal, but the ability to spin it may not be great. I want to spin (or have someone spin for me) my dogs hair into yarn, but since her hair doesn't grab itself together well (it's too smooth), it has to be spun with something else.

Ok, I'm just rambling now... I gotta hit the hay. Congratulations again on you homestead!

Re: wow! that is so wonderful!

[ahavah]

Thank you! Well, if you learn about spinning doggy hair, you'll have to teach me when you come this way. :D Achaiah's is probably too short though, but the girl sure can shed...