TheFarmOfDreams- a long awaited adventure

Thefarmofdreams

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Another busy few months. Maybe over the winter i'll get caught up... It was one "thing" after another this summer- sister on vaca, sister QT for covid, then I was down for undiscovered reasons (my body was just like nope, youve done to much. no moving for 2 weeks.), then my house was QT for covid... then sister twisted her ankle... and i then tore my rotator cuff.. 😂 It never ends. My mom's floor is finally laid, but i need to do a few last pieces and the molding, i need to build her bathroom vanities so she has sinks... I'm half way done insulating a big water tank for the winter. Bought some wood to make a pallet wall around the future feed room to try it out for size. My sister got goats. I got 2 more rabbits. They're all set up and ready to breed starting february/march, but i still need to build their tractors for grow outs (altho i have enough room to grow inside if it comes down to it). I have buckeye chicks lined up for spring, and bought an ATV drawn trailer to turn into a mobile, secure coop to use during non-snow months. (I'm actually quite excited about that build!). My oldest has his own lawn tractor now, and is over the moon. And my littlest is in love with his donkey and its the sweetest thing ever. Oh! And the donkey boys got castrated, thank goodness that went well. And momma donk had her tiny baby 2 days before our house warming barbeque!!

The barn repair guy comes out next week so he can schedule our first round of repairs. (after i finally got rock devliered, tried to move it by hand and finally paid a neighbor to tractor it up against the barn for reinforcement.) And I got a forester to arrange to sell our timber. We're clearing 8 acres of pine plantation (2 for garden, 8 for pasture) and the rest of the pine plantation will be thinned by 50% to allow hardwoods to grow. It should hopefully pay for the fences around the 8 acres, the dry lot and if i'm lucky, a round pen. IDK if i dream of a garden fence so easily though. lol

Still no tractor :( Sister and BIL ended up buying the house next door instead of a tractor. It's important but means the tractor got pushed back. But also, no neighbors between us and the barn, YAY! My brother decided I need an ATV and took it upon himself to buy and refurbish one. It'll be here in a couple weeks, very exciting. My hugel kultur bed still isn't set up. And I'm behind on hoof trimming. And need to choose a couple deep cell batteries & an inverter to power some lights this winter. But we'll get there... eventually. At least we found a ton of great hay!

The hay lady was greatly impressed by my hay stacking (this after cramming 80 bales in my 4 horse stock trailer) And I skipped the straps, i guess i was feeling bold lol

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The rabbit colony "stalls"- room for 2 colonies w a buck each and 3-5 girls. Or fewer breeders and let grow outs grow inside.
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Here's Phobos the day he was born! Still hadn't even fully sorted nursing out.
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Riding Luke with my littlest helper. Such a farm boy.
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The kids also appreciate a barn full of hay. possibly not quite as much as me.
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The littlest helper with his beloved DaDa Donk
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The big kid w his tractor.
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I also made Luke a custom, donkey proof reverse-creep feeder so he can have hay outside but the donkey's cant get into it.
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The future chicken coop! I'm gonna make it a bit wider and longer. It should hold about 12 birds with pleeeennntttyyy of space, or more with a more rigid turn out routine so they aren't ever locked up.
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Thefarmofdreams

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I also am SERIOUSLY considering pasture pigs next spring. I found a great breeder that keeps his full time on 2 strands of electric, and I'd love to rotate them through the freshly cleared area to dig and root and deposit lotsa poop, and maybe even loosen some stumps before I turn it all into proper garden and pasture. I'm not 100% sure but I definitely 100% want to. :lol:

More pictures:

The littlest helper helped me load up logs for the hugelkultur bed.
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Rocks I had been trying to rake over and along the wall... I don't have a post-tractor picture. But it was not going well by hand.
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Goats! They're future mini-nubians. IDK much about them, not my rodeo, but they seem nice enough.
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Here's the water tank. Need to do 2 more sides and the top, then I'm going to plastic wrap the insulation to the tank (thus the frame to keep it from getting compressed), and i want to find the aluminum insulating blankets for a final layer? But I haven't been able to figure out exactly how to go about that yet. Also.. a heater... (which shouldnt be needed till january at the earliest 🤞)
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Bunnies in their colony, the girls enjoy the boxes, even the raised one. I want to put dirt around them at some point so they can dig. But it'll do for now.
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The littlest helper (again. he's always in the barn!) this time riding his donk with his shnazzy new saddle. Unfortunately he won't be riding dada for long, hes just too little for that.
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Ridgetop

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Goats! They're future mini-nubians. IDK much about them, not my rodeo, but they seem nice enough.
Welcome!!! But sadly those goats are not Nubians. More like Swiss breed crosses, and the gray and white have a lot of Toggenburg in them. Togg milk is nasty tasting. When buying house milkers, always try to taste the milk. However, you can eat goasts - even better tasting than lamb. By breeding them with a meat breed they will give you freezers full of meat.

Love the 3 level barn!!! Perfect for livestock, hay storage, winter play space for the children, etc. Great place! and all the family living close - cousins will have a ball together all the time! :love
 

Thefarmofdreams

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Welcome!!! But sadly those goats are not Nubians. More like Swiss breed crosses, and the gray and white have a lot of Toggenburg in them. Togg milk is nasty tasting. When buying house milkers, always try to taste the milk. However, you can eat goasts - even better tasting than lamb. By breeding them with a meat breed they will give you freezers full of meat.

Love the 3 level barn!!! Perfect for livestock, hay storage, winter play space for the children, etc. Great place! and all the family living close - cousins will have a ball together all the time! :love
Not nubians. MINI nubians- nigerian/nubian crossed. There's an adult doe there thats supposedly nigerian, bred to a nubian to produce 2 of the others (definitely her kids, bought as a trio when they were still nursing), the third (white one) is a nigerian/nubian cross as well. Supposedly. But they're QUITE small, so even if the other half isn't nubian, I'm pretty sure they're definitely part nigerian. But not my rodeo, or my knowledge area. I'm much more into my chicken and rabbit projects 😁

I also adore the barn. It was a HUGE selling point of the property. It's amazing. I can't wait till its all repaired.
 

Baymule

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Love all the pictures! Y’all have been working hard. Twisted ankle, Covid and torn rotator cuff. Y’all stop beating up on yourselves! LOLGlad y’all are better and making progress on the farm. That littlest helper is a cutie!
 

Thefarmofdreams

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The lumber company is here clearing our pasture this week! I love this property and our patch of woods so much, it's very bittersweet watching them stack ALL THOSE TREES. But I know it will leave me with an amazing expanse of pasture. And I am going to grow new trees and bushes and what not. But gosh. It is a little heart rending to watch them go.

But come spring... I can start fencing and stump removal and it's gonna be SO NICE.

Forest pre-thinning/clearing
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The beginnings of the 10 acres cleared
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Thefarmofdreams

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We got 45.5" of snow in the lazt not even 24 hours.... They're calling for another foot before it stops. It's.... Insane. We spent all day snow blowing.
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That is 4ft netting next to the sled. Early this afternoon.
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Note that the bottom rungs of the gate are buried. View from the manure pile.

I need to get better pictures of the insane amount of snow tomorrow. These are both from late morning/early afternoon before the last 2+ feet dropped
 

farmerjan

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Been listening to the weather reports on it... you guys are really getting slammed.... So darned early in the season.... everyone liked it to get a little cold for Thanksgiving, for hunting and all... This is nuts... One more reason that I am glad that at this "old age":old:old, that I am further south so don't get snows like that very often.....
Stay safe.... so GLAD that you got most things in the barn done already....
 

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