Devonviolet Acres

[Southern by choice]

 

[Hens and Roos]

That's great! You will have to post some updated pictures

 

[MsDeb]

Such a fun way to start the holidays!!! Enjoy!!!

 

[Baymule]

Now that's the way to start the New Year! I am so glad that you found a painter and that he can start right away. Our plans of cleaning up the outside with a couple of day laborers might get rained out. But there are always FLOORS to lay!

I am so happy for you. You might even be able to start on the fence yourself, once you get settled in. It is hard physical work, but you don't have to be in a hurry. Do a little at a time and don't kill yourself trying to get it all done at once. Tractor Supply and (I think) Atwoods do not deliver, but Lowes, McCoys and Home Depot do deliver and I believe you could find what you want and get it delivered. Or do you have a truck?

What is a roll of goat wire? 300 feet? Set your goal to put up one roll of wire at a time. Use T-posts (easy to drive) and heavy treated wood posts for H-bar corners and gate posts. You can buy a post auger at Harbor Freight. We bought one, it comes with the 4" auger and we bought the 6" auger to go with it. It is on sale now! If you don't have one near you or your daughter, I know there is one in Tyler. If you decide to buy one, be sure to call ahead to make sure it is in stock. Haven't used ours yet, just dying to get out in the dirt, but have to finish house first. I have used post augers before, it sure makes the job easier!

http://www.harborfreight.com/15-hp-gasoline-auger-powerhead-with-bit-60622.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-diameter-auger-bit-95973.html

This might be a good time to mention to go to the tax office for your county and file homestead, agriculture and senior citizen exemption. You can only do this in January.

Just thought of this--maybe your painter could recommend someone to help you with fencing if you don't want to do it yourself.

 

[Baymule]

Hey Girl! I packed garden seeds today and set some aside for you and your DH.

Bottom left corner is the Thai #3 Long Beans
Top left corner is Oxacan Green Dent corn.
Top right corner is Violets Multicolored Butterbeans
Bottom right corner is Egyptian Walking Onions

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Now that's a great Christmas gift, Bay!

 

[Baymule]

Now that's a great Christmas gift, Bay!

Devonviolet and her DH moved from Pa. to be closer to their daughter and family. My DH and I are moving to the Tyler area to be closer to our daughter and family. (not as far, but funny that we are both moving for the same reason) We figured out that we will only be 45 minutes or so from each other. How cool is that?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Now that is awesome! My DD lives in Allen, and someday I'd like to get up that way too.... for now - we're only 4.5 hours away... sheesh.

I think it's cool that ya'll are gonna meet!

We'll be heading north tomorrow.

 

[Devonviolet]

Now that's the way to start the New Year! I am so glad that you found a painter and that he can start right away. Our plans of cleaning up the outside with a couple of day laborers might get rained out. But there are always FLOORS to lay!

I am so happy for you. You might even be able to start on the fence yourself, once you get settled in. It is hard physical work, but you don't have to be in a hurry. Do a little at a time and don't kill yourself trying to get it all done at once. Tractor Supply and (I think) Atwoods do not deliver, but Lowes, McCoys and Home Depot do deliver and I believe you could find what you want and get it delivered. Or do you have a truck?

What is a roll of goat wire? 300 feet? Set your goal to put up one roll of wire at a time. Use T-posts (easy to drive) and heavy treated wood posts for H-bar corners and gate posts. You can buy a post auger at Harbor Freight. We bought one, it comes with the 4" auger and we bought the 6" auger to go with it. It is on sale now! If you don't have one near you or your daughter, I know there is one in Tyler. If you decide to buy one, be sure to call ahead to make sure it is in stock. Haven't used ours yet, just dying to get out in the dirt, but have to finish house first. I have used post augers before, it sure makes the job easier!

http://www.harborfreight.com/15-hp-gasoline-auger-powerhead-with-bit-60622.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-diameter-auger-bit-95973.html

This might be a good time to mention to go to the tax office for your county and file homestead, agriculture and senior citizen exemption. You can only do this in January.

Just thought of this--maybe your painter could recommend someone to help you with fencing if you don't want to do it yourself.

Yes, it IS an awesome way to start the new year. And it will always be easy to remember our farm anniversary!

Thanks for all the suggestions, Baymule. We are thinking about maybe doing the fence ourselves. I think OFA said a good rule of thumb is $6.00/foot. I'm assuming that means materials and labor. If that is the case, we are looking at $4,100!!! YIKES! That would take a big chunk out of our farm fund! So, your suggestion to do it ourselves is getting more appealing.

We have a really good equipment rental place near us, so are going to check their price to rent the auger, rather than buy one. But you have a really good point, that a power auger is the only way to go when digging fence post holes!!! We were told there is clay about 12" down, so hand digging would be torture!

I ran into the painter who didn't call back with a quote. . . It turns out he had the flu and was REALLY sick. We had a nice chat, and since he could use the work, we might have him help us with the heavier work on installing the fence. The three of us could work together to get the fence installed and in the end it would be cheaper.

Our biggest challenge is going to be to find the property line, with all those trees. The property was surveyed before we bought it, but the surveyor didn't use many stakes - four corners and a few in the cleared area. The property is 150 feet wide and 1450 feet long (I call it our spaghetti ranch ). So, it is going to be a challenge to find the property line when we get back into the woods.

I'm not sure where we will get our fencing supplies yet. We have a pickup with full size (8 foot) bed, so should be able go transport them ourselves.

I really want to get the fencing in before we get our puppies in mid Feb. But, if push comes to shove, we have the chicken yard that we could put our layers and the puppies in, so the pups can start imprinting on the chickens right away, since they aren't being exposed to chickens right now. Then we will just have to wait until we get the fence in, before we can get the goats, and get them used to each other.

This is the chicken yard we currently have. It is not goat safe, but for now will work for chickens and dogs. The coop is totally inadequate, so we will have to build a coop, before getting our first ten layers.

Correct me, if I am wrong. But, from what I have read, we can put the puppies in a dog crate, in the middle of the chicken yard, during the night (and maybe put a tarp over it for warmth?), when we can't be with them, so they don't harass/play with the chickens. Since we are able to be home all the time, we should be able to leave them out of the crates for most of the day, since one or the other can be with them at any given time.

 

[Devonviolet]

Devonviolet and her DH moved from Pa. to be closer to their daughter and family. My DH and I are moving to the Tyler area to be closer to our daughter and family. (not as far, but funny that we are both moving for the same reason) We figured out that we will only be 45 minutes or so from each other. How cool is that?

Yes! I'm so excited to finally meet Baymule! We are going along the same path at the same time, and are close enough to visit each other along the way. How cool is that???