Picked my own pasture

I have thought of the cell phone connection for the laptop. That is still slower than regular dial up but the way technology is developing that could change overnight.

As far as magazines go I have the first ten years of Mother Earth on CD and I am ordering their next CD. I also subscribe to Backwoods Home and Countryside magazines.

I have thought about a milk cow vs a milk goat. When I was a child I got to milk a Jersey cow. What a sweetie, and the milk was wonderful; even after two skims of cream off the top. The problem there is there is to much milk gallons of the stuff twice a day while she is lactating. What would I do with all the milk?
I could feed it to the hogs, but then I would have to have hogs. I don't think I want hogs just so I could use the milk.
The chickens like milk also but not that much milk. I think I will stick with a milk goat; about two three quarts a day maybe feed some to the chickens make some goat cheese and soap.

The breed of chickens? I was thinking of Road Island Reds a good double purpose breed or Buff Orpingtons very nice looking breed. also Arucuna/Americunas they lay light blue and green eggs. The inside is the same just that the outside is colored.

I am lucky in that I won't have to make a living farming my pensions will provide cash income and I hope after the sale of my home to have a very small mortgage on the farm or have it paid off. I may find a way to add to my income and pay for the taxes by generating income with some project on the farm. If that happens swell, if not that's okay also. I enjoy rural life feel comfortable there, I enjoy tending gardens and live stock. I feel very peaceful around barns cows, horses, hay and enjoy the work. It is good honest sweat. Growing my own food and canning it myself would give me a feeling of satisfaction. It is fun going to the pantry and picking out some jars of food you put up a few months ago and making a meal from it. Just feels right.

When I have mucked out a stall and groomed a horse harnessed him up and taken a ride it feels great. I have done this before with a pony I had; she was a sturdy mare that could pull a cart with two adults with ease. Lots of fun :D. I have had chickens and it is fun to go to the hen house reach under her warm feathered body and find an egg or two, viola' breakfast and the real meaning of fresh :D There is always something to do, but you are the boss, you get to decide what gets done when it gets done how it gets done. Want a break? Take one your the boss remember?

Kitty
 
I'd be careful with that farming indulgence.

I heard of a farmer in Texas that won the $10 Million lottery. When asked what he was going to do with the money. He said he was going to buy a New Caddy and then probably just "farm away the rest" :D
 
just sit on the porch and watch the livestock graze and poop 
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I'm really excited for you, but I think that you should NOT poop on the porch!
 
TromboneAl said:
I'm really excited for you, but I think that you should NOT poop on the porch!
Click to expand...
Yeah, save that for the living room. :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
 
TromboneAl said:
I'm really excited for you, but I think that you should NOT poop on the porch!
Click to expand...

Sage advice! I am all for keeping poop off the porch and out of the house. I will be installing a boot scraper as soon as I move in - thinking of an advanced low tech item; organic, self powered, solar dried, air cooled, stationary model. Another words several scrub brushes nailed to a heavy board placed by the steps so sun can dry the mud and the wind can blow it away :D The house has a nice mud room for hanging your coats and leaving your boots. I will not wear barn boots in the house. Most of the time I will wear what God gave me or cover 'em with socks or slippers if the weather is cold.

If this all works out or even most of it works out I will be a happy ol' Lady in retirement. I know it's a lot of work, but I have never been afraid of work.

Kitty :)
 
Welcome to Kentucky Kitty. I live in Owensboro. I turn 57 today so I'm not going to make "early" retirement but 59 is my outta here and back to Tulsa, Ok. date.

You sound like you have really thought about what you want to do in retirement and taken action to make it happen. Good luck!
 
Kitty said:
Sage advice! I am all for keeping poop off the porch and out of the house. I will be installing a boot scraper as soon as I move in - thinking of an advanced low tech item; organic, self powered, solar dried, air cooled, stationary model. Another words several scrub brushes nailed to a heavy board placed by the steps so sun can dry the mud and the wind can blow it away :D The house has a nice mud room for hanging your coats and leaving your boots. I will not wear barn boots in the house. Most of the time I will wear what God gave me or cover 'em with socks or slippers if the weather is cold.



Kitty :)
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Kitty: Things were going so well on this thread. You discussed your new dream home and a dream land of 'milk and honey.' People responded with full support and wonderful ideas. Then things deteriorated. Nakedness--athough partial--was implied. Cleaning dirty animal stalls. Filthy boots. Etc. Oh, what a sullied world. Poop! It seems all of us have now gone over to the dark end side. :D Again. I see a pattern here.

--Greg


 
Apocalypse . . .um . . .SOON said:
Poop! It seems all of us have now gone over to the dark end side. :D Again. I see a pattern here.

--Greg
Click to expand...

heh,heh,heh..(sorry unclemick)

--Greg, it's obvious you are a city boy. Take a look at the subject of this thread. What the heck do you think happens in pastures? ....right..."poop happens". ;)

REW
 
Maybe you should start a blog, or some kind of journal of your experiences.
 
REWahoo! said:
heh,heh,heh..(sorry unclemick)

--Greg, it's obvious you are a city boy. Take a look at the subject of this thread. What the heck do you think happens in pastures? ....right..."poop happens". ;)

REW
Click to expand...

I care not to be sullied by such things. I see First and Second Law of Thermodynamic thingys. But I agree, they do happen.

But, thank god, we do walk on our hind legs, away from much of the bad stuff of life. W. doesn't deserve such an elevated position--to my mind. On the lighted side: Trickle down still seems to be working for a while.

--Greg
 
Kitty,

       I now live on a small ranch in central Texas hill country (check my profile and past posts). I am learning as I go, just as you seem to be doing.

       Poop is a big part of rural living. In my case I have become an expert on many forms of it.

       Some of my insights on it:

     1  Emu poop can best be scooped with a shovel after the strong summer sun dries it for a day or too. Usually much less viscous than most poop.

     2 Llama poop is larger than deer or goat poop and collects in a few chosen spots in great quantities - usually on my road from the gate to the house. The perps like to pick a spot and cannot be easily dissuaded from it. Each poop unit is larger but otherwise like the goat excrement.

     3 Longhorn poop creates the classic large pies that dry quickly and are easily moved or thrown for sport.

     4 Buffalo poop is heaver than cattle poop and forms higher mounds with ridges cascading from top to base. It burns well enough (known as chips to prarrie pioneers) but takes a long time to completely dry (look for light gray color before using in campfire) I also recommend cooking food in pot with lid when using it as fuel. It does not throw well like cow pies.

      5. Antelope (black buck) poop has smaller units than goats or white tail deer but larger than rabbits.

      6 Rabbit poop can be quite round rather than elipsoid in shape so do not mistake for M & M's

      7 Horse poop can be found as a pile of 'horse apples' which describes shape but the size of each unit is much less than a Red Delicious or Macintosh apple.

      8 I would not expect you need information on dog, cat, or other pet poops except  to say coyote poop is smaller than Labrador Retriever poop.

As for boot scrapes - soon enough you  begin watching where you walk instead of looking long ahead to the scenery. I learned that cowboy boots are well designed for not only easy poop scraping but the lack of laces and calf high construction prevents plant hitchhikers and sticker burrs from gathering on footwear or socks and provide good snake protection.  (it is said that emus control snake population)

Llamas make cute pets but even better is the fact that they will herd with goats and sheep and will charge a coyote or aggressive dog and thus protect the herd.

Around here keeping buffalo can help maintain a wildlife tax exemption.

You want an agricultural exemption. Do not lose it if the land you now own has one. It takes 5 years with the land being in 'production' to get one back. Check with the county and do what ever it takes to maintain the minimum requirements. The tax difference here on raw or Ag improved land is $2/yr per acre rather than $230/yr per acre. One or two acres (depending on the county) is taxed residential -  the rest at exemption rate.

Have fun in paradise - Around here the only sound I hear for days is the wind in the trees. My blood pressure and other vital signs have never been better.
 
Ol_Rancher said:
Poop is a big part of rural living. In my case I have become an expert on many forms of it.

My blood pressure and other vital signs have never been better.
Click to expand...

Ol_Rancher: You are truly a Sage in the wilderness farmlands of poop. You see patterns and behaviors unknown to most of us foolish city dwellers. You know the objects to avoid and the ones to enjoy. You accept and understand it all. Few can say such words as yours. You have found the Platonic ideal "form of the poop." I bow down to you and your wisdom.

--Grasshopper Greg
 
Apocalypse . . .um . . .SOON said:
Kitty: Things were going so well on this thread. You discussed your new dream home and a dream land of 'milk and honey.' People responded with full support and wonderful ideas. Then things deteriorated. Nakedness--athough partial--was implied. Cleaning dirty animal stalls. Filthy boots. Etc. Oh, what a sullied world. Poop! It seems all of us have now gone over to the dark end side. :D Again. I see a pattern here.

--Greg



You could be on to something..... threads do start off lofty and seem to edge slowly toward a more base nature. Maybe we just read to much into it all. It is like starring at those dots that are supposed to be pictures- are the pictures there or in our head?
Click to expand...
 
Congratulations Kitty! Hope this works out well for you. I promised you some links about windpower a while ago in another thread. I may be trying some of this for a backup system or for conservation at some point. Solar and wind mixed may be a way to go. I am a tinkerer and a techie type with a farm so I will work with it.  I am pretty far north for pure solar. Anyway here are the links

http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_wind.html

http://www.excessenergy.net/windgenerators.htm

http://www.solarenergy.org/workshops/workshop.php?id=8

http://www.awea.org/

http://www.solarnavigator.net/wind_turbines.htm

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/generaltech/article/0,20967,714431,00.html

Bruce
 
A lot hasn't happened since my last post. I had to wait for the previous owners to move out and they have.

I paid the place a visit two weeks ago. I love that old place but it sure needs some work. I tried out the wood stove in what we call the living room and what the Amish call a meeting room. The stove works great. I got my lanterns to work including an Aladin lamp that"suprise" does as advertised a nice 60 watt none flickering light. I am moving some furniture in this coming weekend. It is a big job.

The big thing is I have a new boss.... the boss from hell ... a micro manager in spades. He and I don't get along. I am under way to much stress. He likes to belittle people and demand way more than can be deliverd. So I have called HRM and asked some questions about retirement and I have decided putting up with this jerk is to much. I am going to take an early/reduced retirement and be on my way. I called a real estate sales rep and talked to her last night and she was very frank about what I could get for the my house and that still makes it viable.
There is a time to quit shilly shallying and get on with what has to be done (retire).

I checked and depending how I figure my pension it might cost me $50 a month or $100 not a big deal. Just have to pick a date fill in the forms and sign a contract to have the house sold.

Still makes me nervous though. I have a BLOG now it is
http://oakspringfarm.blogspot.com
Kitty :p
 
Kitty said:
A lot hasn't happened since my last post. I had to wait for the previous owners to move out and they have.

I paid the place a visit two weeks ago. I love that old place but it sure needs some work. I tried out the wood stove in what we call the living room and what the Amish call a meeting room. The stove works great. I got my lanterns to work including an Aladin lamp that"suprise" does as advertised a nice 60 watt none flickering light. I am moving some furniture in this coming weekend. It is a big job.

The big thing is I have a new boss.... the boss from hell ... a micro manager in spades. He and I don't get along. I am under way to much stress. He likes to belittle people and demand way more than can be deliverd. So I have called HRM and asked some questions about retirement and I have decided putting up with this jerk is to much. I am going to take an early/reduced retirement and be on my way. I called a real estate sales rep and talked to her last night and she was very frank about what I could get for the my house and that  still makes it viable.
There is a time to quit shilly shallying and get on with what has to be done (retire).

I checked and depending how I figure my pension it might cost me $50 a month or $100 not a big deal. Just have to pick a date fill in the forms and sign a contract to have the house sold.

Still makes me nervous though. I have a BLOG now it is
http://oakspringfarm.blogspot.com
Kitty :p
Click to expand...

You should have a BLOG. You write very well. Anyone who uses
"shilly shallying" is okay in my book. :)

I think you have your head on straight ER-wise. i.e. get on with it chop-chop! Re. "this old house"....
that looks like fun. Always did but I never had the skills or the time.
Now, I still don't have the skills and I have time but no energy.

Yesterday, I bumped into a life long buyer of fixer uppers who owns a cottage
here. He has owned about half the cottages in my neighborhood at one time or another. About 3 months ago he bought yet another one (I can see
it from my desk as I type). Anyway, this guy is coming off prostate
surgery and is about my age. I told him yesterday that I really admired
him because (while I see the same deals) I have no energy
(okay I'm lazy too :) )...................he said "Five years ago I would not have
understood what you meant. I do now". Listen up you youngsters.
It sneaks up on you. One day you are leaping out of bed in the morning
ready to take on the world. Blink twice and you are unsure if you can even
get up. much less make it
through the day. Nature is going to have it's way with us
soon enough. You will be well advised to enjoy the journey.

JG
 
MRGALT2U said:
You should have a BLOG. You write very well. Anyone who uses
"shilly shallying" is okay in my book. :)
Click to expand...

JG, it's time to wake up now, Kitty has one. :D

Kitty said:
Still makes me nervous though. I have a BLOG now it is
http://oakspringfarm.blogspot.com
Kitty :p
Click to expand...

Kitty, best of luck with your new "spartan" lifestyle. I agree with JG, you do have a wonderful writing style. :)

MJ
 
Thank you, all, for your kind words.

It has been said that I have a peculiar way of expressing my view of life. Or, was it that am just peculiar? Either way it suits me.

Kitty
 
Kitty,

I've enjoyed reading about your farm. Thanks for sharing and I'd love to hear more. I'll check your blog occasionally to see how things are going.
 
Kitty said:
Thank you, all, for your kind words.

It has been said that I have a peculiar way of expressing my view of life. Or, was it that am just peculiar? Either way it suits me.

Kitty
Click to expand...

Suits me too.

JG
 
Kitty,

It is great to hear from you again. I was thinking about you the other day and wondering how everything was going. I am so glad that you are doing the blog-I have it in my favorites now. I enjoy your writing very much also and I admire what you are doing. Thanks so much for keeping in touch! I am glad to see that you are living your dream!


Dreamer
 
Well things are moving along a pace. Took the first load of stuff to the farm and spent a day digging a ditch to get the water line repaired; that took only four trips to the only hardware store. Getting to know all the folks there real good.

I spent a week at the farm, sans amenities, we did get the water line to work the last few days so it made life a little easier.
Living without electricity is interesting. Oil lamps will work if they are large enough. Propane lamps give more light but make a hissing noise; I guess you get use to that noise.

I thought bathing would be a bigger bother than it was. I used a solar shower bought at a camping store, works great. I am thinking of improvements already to the shower setup.

Cooking on a wood fired stove is not bad either mine has a hot water tank in the back that holds over ten gallons of hot water. Lugging wood for the stoves is good exercise and keeps you toned up. My neighbor harvested the hay and turned over the garden space with his tractor for me. I discussed other rural topics like pasture improvement, tree planting and composting with him.

I think I am going to like this place after a week of living there I didn't want to return to my house in Virginia. I found that the local Library has free internet access so comunicating by email is possible even if the phone doesn't get put in right away.

I also liked the idea that after lunch I could if my schedule permitted take a nap-this improved my disposition. I like the stroll down the long driveway to check the mail and hearing the clippity clop of the Amish buggies as they pass the farm.

I found I have live stock already, pigeons, the previous owners left their pigeons in the barn. They seem to be doing well on their own.

The big news is I sent in my retirement papers. I will know in a week when my last day will be. I am not eager to inform my boss. I want him to remain the P. I. A. he has been so I can leave without even a hint of second thoughts.
I was so intense about getting the ret. application in that I waited for the DHL courier and personally put the envelope in his hands and made sure it was addressed correctly and that he didn't drop the envelope on the way to his truck.

Last night the night after I sent in the ret. papers I slept soundly and awoke refreshed. The die is cast the wheels ar turning etc. etc.

Kitty
 
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