Beautiful. I was carried away to the farm by your telling.
I've been reading 'Keeping a Family Cow' and preparing making a move to Maine to have farmland, having no past experience. I'd love to know more about your small farming adventures. How many cows did you have? Did you always keep a bull? Was this in Canada? I already can relate to that guilty feeling, that I should have gotten this or that done. I felt oh so tired after becoming that man for only a few minutes.
I'm a retired soldier and real estate broker in NC. We started farmsteading about 10 years ago and it has been a steep learning curve. Thankfully, it's also forgiving when you make mistakes, and I've made almost all of them.
We started with 2 cows and 5 pigs. Pigs are easy. We also raise broiler and egg laying chickens, which is easy except for the processing, and requires almost no space. Cows are more difficult and more expensive to raise, and unless you know how to do AI (artificial insemination) or have a county extension that supports that or neighbor with a bull, you really do need a bull. We chose cows because we wanted the raw milk; we don't raise beef cows. Cows take a lot of land to raise.
Our gardens and our animals are all we really need if push came to shove. If you're buying land, buy the most you can afford--you'll never be sorry for that decision. Water source is important. We run on 3 wells, but an irrigation pond; a river, creek or stream; or a lake nearby would be a real plus.
by the way, what do you think of as lots of land?-- we've looked at homes with 20 acres and farms with 200. Sometimes there's mostly woodland and 5 or 10 open. A farm with 20 open acres feels way bigger than 100 acres of woods.
Depends on what you're hoping to build, a farm or a home/farmstead. Cows take a lot of pasture space/hayfields. Small animals can be raised in small areas. We read Eliot Coleman's book The New Organic Grower that got us interested as growers of our own food. Lots of good info in that book. It grew from there. Ten Acres Enough is another easy read that helps you consider what you'll really need.
Thanks for that advice. I've been reading up on this stuff and I'm dismayed by the prevalence of AI. I guess there is some hope of having a neighbor with bull in the areas we are searching.
I've never raised turkeys, but we do several batches of broiler chickens every year. Easy to do, doesn't require too much space. Friends who raised turkeys said it can be challenging. I do enjoy keeping my freezers full of good food! Best reason to farm, in my opinion.
Wonderfully told story. This captures how one feels at these moments in farm life!
Beautiful. I was carried away to the farm by your telling.
I've been reading 'Keeping a Family Cow' and preparing making a move to Maine to have farmland, having no past experience. I'd love to know more about your small farming adventures. How many cows did you have? Did you always keep a bull? Was this in Canada? I already can relate to that guilty feeling, that I should have gotten this or that done. I felt oh so tired after becoming that man for only a few minutes.
Clara
Hi Clara, thanks for the kind words.
I'm a retired soldier and real estate broker in NC. We started farmsteading about 10 years ago and it has been a steep learning curve. Thankfully, it's also forgiving when you make mistakes, and I've made almost all of them.
We started with 2 cows and 5 pigs. Pigs are easy. We also raise broiler and egg laying chickens, which is easy except for the processing, and requires almost no space. Cows are more difficult and more expensive to raise, and unless you know how to do AI (artificial insemination) or have a county extension that supports that or neighbor with a bull, you really do need a bull. We chose cows because we wanted the raw milk; we don't raise beef cows. Cows take a lot of land to raise.
Our gardens and our animals are all we really need if push came to shove. If you're buying land, buy the most you can afford--you'll never be sorry for that decision. Water source is important. We run on 3 wells, but an irrigation pond; a river, creek or stream; or a lake nearby would be a real plus.
Thanks for reading.
by the way, what do you think of as lots of land?-- we've looked at homes with 20 acres and farms with 200. Sometimes there's mostly woodland and 5 or 10 open. A farm with 20 open acres feels way bigger than 100 acres of woods.
Depends on what you're hoping to build, a farm or a home/farmstead. Cows take a lot of pasture space/hayfields. Small animals can be raised in small areas. We read Eliot Coleman's book The New Organic Grower that got us interested as growers of our own food. Lots of good info in that book. It grew from there. Ten Acres Enough is another easy read that helps you consider what you'll really need.
Thanks for that advice. I've been reading up on this stuff and I'm dismayed by the prevalence of AI. I guess there is some hope of having a neighbor with bull in the areas we are searching.
I've never raised turkeys, but we do several batches of broiler chickens every year. Easy to do, doesn't require too much space. Friends who raised turkeys said it can be challenging. I do enjoy keeping my freezers full of good food! Best reason to farm, in my opinion.