I did it, I bought a farm

[LazyBkpr]

If your going to raise hogs make sure you can keep them penned. If they can get out they will. Been there done that.

   Isn't that the truth.  I have spent WAY too much of my life chasing piglets and pigs..  ONCE would have been too much...  I bury the panels now, AND put telephone poles along the inside of the Panel.. A few steeples through the cattle panel into the pole, and if they start to root out from under the poles I run a strand of electric...   Did I mention i really don't like chasing pigs?
   We also installed an outside wood burner, but I installed it "IN" the wood shed with an insulated chimney..   I'm here to tell you, when its -20 and the wind is blowing 40 mph that Shed makes a HUGE difference when i have to fill the stove...   Thats not to mention a cold November rain or an uncommon blizzard...   All I have to do is get TO the shed and I am sheltered while I fill the stove.  Buy a size bigger than they recommend.. I fill mine once in the morning and once in the evening.. In floor heat.. getting back into the house, taking off the boots and putting COLD tingly toes on that heated floor is pure bliss..   We have two items left..  a windmill to aerate the pond, and a windmill for power..

[DLMKA]

We're mostly moved in, just a few odds and ends at the old house. Lots of unpacking and organizing to do yet. I don't know how we got so much crap in the old house. Going to try to get a garden plot tilled and some fall veggies planted at the new place here in the next week. Have a few clean-up and repair projects to get started on soon. Will need to put a roof on the barn in the next 2-3 years, it's got some leaks and the old roof is slate so no good way to fix it short of a tear-off.

[Jen]

Would love to see pics of the place    And a pic of you and your wife in front of the farm house, you with a pitch fork 

[Gypsi]

Pitchfork an straw hats please!

[LazyBkpr]

   We have two items left..  a windmill to aerate the pond, and a windmill for power..

   American Eagle Windmill is up and pumping air into the pond..



   Now to figure out the windmill for power.. I thought some good old windmills scrounged from nearby farms.. a dozen or so, with one wire alternators on them to charge batteries would work fine.. wife disagrees...

    Any new pics of the farm yet?

[DLMKA]

Been here two months. Still getting unpacked and organized. Realize I have some flashing around windows that needs reworked and possible repair to water damage underneath :(  Surface drainage around the house and buildings needs work but I can borrow a bobcat from work, I just need to figure out the best way to get the water to go where I want it. We got the garden tilled up and ready for spring, I was going to till again this weekend but broke the rope on the tiller tonight. I need to get a new electric fence charger and sink new ground rods, have about 700' of perimeter fence to install before I can move pigs out on pasture. I just don't trust electric 100%. I'm going to get posts set in the next few weeks before it freezes and I can work the fence this winter as the weather allows. It'll take a few years to get things going and it's a lot of work but I wouldn't give it up for anything, I was never meant to be stuck living in town.

[Jen]

Need pics along the way D ~ such a lovely place and would like to watch it tranform 

[LazyBkpr]

It'll take a few years to get things going and it's a lot of work but I wouldn't give it up for anything, I was never meant to be stuck living in town.

       
  It can seem like a hard life when there is a lot of work to get done in a short time.. but then, there are those times when you CANT do anything, or are waiting to do them...   I think those times are the hardest...  I might get aggravated when I have a LOT to do.. but then, When I have nothing to do I find myself wishing I could get back at it again..

[brooksbeefarm]

Being a retired fire capt. in Springfield, Mo. it's hard to get me to leave the farm to go to the city for anything. The city has doubled in size and the traffic is awful, as for pigs, i used an elec, fence, once they touched it with there nose a few times making them go root there nose in the mud, you can take it down and you can't drive them across where it was until they find out it's not there anymore. I got rid of the pigs when my wife said either the pigs go or i go i'm not much of a cook so i sold them. . Welcome to the world of, i'll get this done today and fix that tomorrow (ya, right) or, well maybe next year will be better. Jack

[riverbee]

"I got rid of the pigs when my wife said either the pigs go or i go i'm not much of a cook so i sold them. "

...........

[lazy shooter]

@DLKMA:

That is a beautiful home and barn.  The vintage, New England style barn, really tweaks me up.  You can do a lot on 12 acres of good land.  Pigs and chickens don't require much space and you will have room for a huge garden.  We have a local fellow that sells vegetables from a trailer parked in front of  his home.  If he is not present he just lets people pay on the honor system.  He gardens about three acres around his home with one small tractor.  He told me he netted about 30 grand a year out of his operation. 

Another gal I know keeps chickens on a large remodeled cotton trailer and moves the trailer from hay farm to hay farm.  The chickens eat grasshoppers and insects like there is no tomorrow.  She had a symbiotic arrangement with several farmers and sells free range eggs galore.

Do some planning and you will have a lot of options on your farm.  It is a beautiful place.  I wish I was there and younger.

Lazy

[Perry]

Further to what LS said, there is a keep on Prince Edward Island that has a honey shack at the end of his driveway that runs on the honour system as well, and it bring in an astonishing amount of $$$ in a year (double digit I believe).

[lazy shooter]

"I got rid of the pigs when my wife said either the pigs go or i go i'm not much of a cook so i sold them. "

...........

I can add to that.  One of my middle ages pals lost his wife a couple of years back to Lupus.  Some months later he told his daughter he was going to start dating, and he had an interest in Mexican women.  She asked why in particular a Mexican woman (he is a tall Swede), and he said he loved all women, but he really liked Mexican food.  It reminded me of the above Jack quote.

[Perry]

 

"I got rid of the pigs when my wife said either the pigs go or i go i'm not much of a cook so i sold them. "

...........

I can add to that.  One of my middle ages pals lost his wife a couple of years back to Lupus.  Some months later he told his daughter he was going to start dating, and he had an interest in Mexican women.  She asked why in particular a Mexican woman (he is a tall Swede), and he said he loved all women, but he really liked Mexican food.  It reminded me of the above Jack quote.

 

[lazy shooter]

@DMKLA:

One thing about owning a farm, is that you never get it all done.  When I was a boy, we would plant and cultivate our crops, and lay them by.  Dad would then take us to the river for a few days of fishing, swimming and just plain fun.  He always said, you just have to take some time off because we will never get the ranch in perfect condition, and you won't.  There's always something to be improved upon. 

As an aside, I once had to put an electric fence around the lower part of my backyard wood fence to keep a digging  dog retained.  Soon there was a trail about two feet back from the fence, and I had to carry the dog over through the gate.  As an experiment, I turned of the electricity to the fence.  The dog never tested it.  Pigs are very smart, and I bet Jack is correct in that they won't get near the fence in a short time, (think two days).