Roll farms
Spot Master
vi1. What is your climate like?
Indiana subtropic in summer, artic in winter, and MUDDY the other 8 mos.
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status?
Three, but our daughter is grown / gone now. I'm married.
3. How would you define your farm?
Exhausting, but worth it.
4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed?
Build a heated greenhouse and live in it.
5. Have you ever built a house, barn , or other types of building? Do you want to?
Ive helped build / modify nearly all our pens.
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet?
Nope, thats what my hubby is for. If I learned how, it would make it harder to justify the expense of keeping him around.
7. Who or what inspired you to be a farmer/rancher, hobby farmer?
Its always been the life-long dream of a kid born / raised in town who wanted / loved / needed animals around me. I kept rabbits in my mothers garage in a suburban neighborhood.
8 Is it a hobby or an occupation?
Started as a hobby, turned into an occupation when my real job went to Mexico.
9. In what areas are you knowledgeable and in what areas would you like to learn more?
Im pretty good w/ animal husbandry, gardening, etc. Id love to be able to do my own surgeries (c-sections and the like) here. I always want to learn more about anything Im interested in.
10. In what types of farming will you never choose to do?
Pigs or cows - again.
11. Are you interested in providing more of your own food supply?
Thats a large part of it. I despise store-bought food it tastes like the cardboard it came in.
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world?
In a good book.
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi?
No to the semi, yes to the tractor. But give me 15 minutes to practice and I'll drive the semi, too.
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these?
I make a lot of different things from Native American stuff (dreamcatchers, mandellas, etc.) to painting signs and ceramics, to sewing our curtains and chair covers.
15. Can you legally have all forms of livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds?
Yes, all kinds. We currently have goats, rabbits, guineas, chickens and one old fat sheep. Weve had cattle, swine, sheep, llamas, alpacas, and horses.
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood?
Nope. But DH can. See #6 above.
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing?
How much space are we allowed? I grow veggies and have roughly 300 different perennials and annuals. Im an obsessive seed collector and last year started selling perennial starts, bulbs, and seeds off the farm to help offset the cost of the plants I buy every spring.
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives?
When I have time.weve only made it to our pond once this year, between the heat and the gardens. We use bait.
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City farm? Country?
18.5 acres here, 5 acres at FILs place. This is country, FILs is zoned county but realllllly close to the city.
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, degreed?
UmmmI have a certificate that says I completed training at the Flying Mouse Computer Class in 1999.
Also completed the meat goat certification process at Langston U in OK.
21. What is your farm specialty? Or what one would you like to learn?
Goats w/ a minor in poultry (it used to be the other way around and we had 35 breeds of poultry and pheasants, and then BIRD FLU happened)
22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take?
Hmmm. There are so many existing already I doubt Id need to create my own.
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet?
Nope dh see 6 above. Well, I can frame / build simple things when hes at work butI have to let him feel useful.
24. Are you interested in herbal animal medicine?
Im interested in whatevers best for a particular situation be it herbal or traditional. I dont obsessively seek herbal info, but if I read something that others have luck with, I will file it away, try it, and see how it works here.
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be?
Alaska. Austrailia. Summer in Alaska and Winter is AU.
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking?
Nope. But were always cutting / splitting wood and giving it away or selling it. We have a lot of trees and lose some every year.
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be?
Able to heal sick animals w/ a touch WonderVet.
28. Are your family or friends also interested in animals?
The few people we socialize with are also critter folkpeople who arent, dont understand us. I prefer my animals to most people, anyway. I dont see my family much. They lead a different lifestyle, about who has what and where it came from and that sort of thing.
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs?
I dont necessarily like to cook, but I love to eat, and my cooking is how DH justifies keeping me.
I shop at an Amish grocery for spices and dry goods, grow / put up as much of our food as I can, and we only use our milk and eggs when we have em.
30. What was your best animal experience? Worst?
Best every time Ive saved a sick animal mine or someone elses.
Worst every time I lose one.
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs?
Aside from mushroom hunting, no.
32. What skills do you have that help you be more a self sufficient farm?
My determination. Hubbys penny pinching (why buy what you can make?)
33. Do you process your own meat? Can or preserve?
Weve raised our own and took it to a processor locally, but I am squeamish about guts and such so I doubt I ever do any besides chickens. We do a few mean roos every year, and have friends who raise pigs and cows so we just buy part of theirs. With only 2 of us, we cant really use whole hogs and steers.
I freeze a lot of stuff, my mother had an unfortunate canning accident and that scared me off of canning. And, again, w/ only 2 of us...we don't use much.
34. Do you use alternative energy sources on your farm? Would you like to?
We have solar lights in several places. Id like to use more solar power. I do a lot of rainwater collecting to water the plants. That's not alt. energy, but it saves the well pump some work.
35 What is on your to do list?
What isnt? I start a new one every day. Todays: gather 4 o'clock seeds, clean the kid room, fluff the deep litter in the chicken coops. I think it's easier to look at several small jobs daily than have one big one you keep putting off, so I try to break it up into manageable chunks.
36. Have you ever lived completely off what you produce? Would you like to?
In the summer we can for most of what we eat.
37. In what do you trust?
Very darn little I hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
38. Do you make and fix things yourself to save money?
When I can. DH is a mechanic and we can usually nurse things along for a loooong time. I love to refurbish things like old furniture and can find some use for nearly anything in our garden / yard. If it's crappy / rust / old looking, I'll stick it in the ground and plant something by it.
39. Has the experience with animals changed your attitude or habits?
Yep. I dont run screaming to a sink if I get blood or poop on me.
I have even less tolerance for humans than I used to. I can go a week at a time never leaving this place and not miss the real world one bit.
In addition to the list, I thought Id throw out there that I got my first chicken 19 years ago, 2 days after moving to the country. My first goat 18 years ago. Our first kids were born here in 1996. There were only 2 or 3 goat books available at the time and we didnt get internet until 2003, so a lot of what we know, we learned the hard way or by trial and error.
There are 2 things I wont tolerate irresponsible animal owners and bratty children.
If theres anything else youd like to know, feel free to ask.
Indiana subtropic in summer, artic in winter, and MUDDY the other 8 mos.
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status?
Three, but our daughter is grown / gone now. I'm married.
3. How would you define your farm?
Exhausting, but worth it.
4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed?
Build a heated greenhouse and live in it.
5. Have you ever built a house, barn , or other types of building? Do you want to?
Ive helped build / modify nearly all our pens.
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet?
Nope, thats what my hubby is for. If I learned how, it would make it harder to justify the expense of keeping him around.
7. Who or what inspired you to be a farmer/rancher, hobby farmer?
Its always been the life-long dream of a kid born / raised in town who wanted / loved / needed animals around me. I kept rabbits in my mothers garage in a suburban neighborhood.
8 Is it a hobby or an occupation?
Started as a hobby, turned into an occupation when my real job went to Mexico.
9. In what areas are you knowledgeable and in what areas would you like to learn more?
Im pretty good w/ animal husbandry, gardening, etc. Id love to be able to do my own surgeries (c-sections and the like) here. I always want to learn more about anything Im interested in.
10. In what types of farming will you never choose to do?
Pigs or cows - again.
11. Are you interested in providing more of your own food supply?
Thats a large part of it. I despise store-bought food it tastes like the cardboard it came in.
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world?
In a good book.
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi?
No to the semi, yes to the tractor. But give me 15 minutes to practice and I'll drive the semi, too.
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these?
I make a lot of different things from Native American stuff (dreamcatchers, mandellas, etc.) to painting signs and ceramics, to sewing our curtains and chair covers.
15. Can you legally have all forms of livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds?
Yes, all kinds. We currently have goats, rabbits, guineas, chickens and one old fat sheep. Weve had cattle, swine, sheep, llamas, alpacas, and horses.
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood?
Nope. But DH can. See #6 above.
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing?
How much space are we allowed? I grow veggies and have roughly 300 different perennials and annuals. Im an obsessive seed collector and last year started selling perennial starts, bulbs, and seeds off the farm to help offset the cost of the plants I buy every spring.
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives?
When I have time.weve only made it to our pond once this year, between the heat and the gardens. We use bait.
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City farm? Country?
18.5 acres here, 5 acres at FILs place. This is country, FILs is zoned county but realllllly close to the city.
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, degreed?
UmmmI have a certificate that says I completed training at the Flying Mouse Computer Class in 1999.
Also completed the meat goat certification process at Langston U in OK.
21. What is your farm specialty? Or what one would you like to learn?
Goats w/ a minor in poultry (it used to be the other way around and we had 35 breeds of poultry and pheasants, and then BIRD FLU happened)
22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take?
Hmmm. There are so many existing already I doubt Id need to create my own.
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet?
Nope dh see 6 above. Well, I can frame / build simple things when hes at work butI have to let him feel useful.
24. Are you interested in herbal animal medicine?
Im interested in whatevers best for a particular situation be it herbal or traditional. I dont obsessively seek herbal info, but if I read something that others have luck with, I will file it away, try it, and see how it works here.
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be?
Alaska. Austrailia. Summer in Alaska and Winter is AU.
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking?
Nope. But were always cutting / splitting wood and giving it away or selling it. We have a lot of trees and lose some every year.
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be?
Able to heal sick animals w/ a touch WonderVet.
28. Are your family or friends also interested in animals?
The few people we socialize with are also critter folkpeople who arent, dont understand us. I prefer my animals to most people, anyway. I dont see my family much. They lead a different lifestyle, about who has what and where it came from and that sort of thing.
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs?
I dont necessarily like to cook, but I love to eat, and my cooking is how DH justifies keeping me.
I shop at an Amish grocery for spices and dry goods, grow / put up as much of our food as I can, and we only use our milk and eggs when we have em.
30. What was your best animal experience? Worst?
Best every time Ive saved a sick animal mine or someone elses.
Worst every time I lose one.
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs?
Aside from mushroom hunting, no.
32. What skills do you have that help you be more a self sufficient farm?
My determination. Hubbys penny pinching (why buy what you can make?)
33. Do you process your own meat? Can or preserve?
Weve raised our own and took it to a processor locally, but I am squeamish about guts and such so I doubt I ever do any besides chickens. We do a few mean roos every year, and have friends who raise pigs and cows so we just buy part of theirs. With only 2 of us, we cant really use whole hogs and steers.
I freeze a lot of stuff, my mother had an unfortunate canning accident and that scared me off of canning. And, again, w/ only 2 of us...we don't use much.
34. Do you use alternative energy sources on your farm? Would you like to?
We have solar lights in several places. Id like to use more solar power. I do a lot of rainwater collecting to water the plants. That's not alt. energy, but it saves the well pump some work.
35 What is on your to do list?
What isnt? I start a new one every day. Todays: gather 4 o'clock seeds, clean the kid room, fluff the deep litter in the chicken coops. I think it's easier to look at several small jobs daily than have one big one you keep putting off, so I try to break it up into manageable chunks.
36. Have you ever lived completely off what you produce? Would you like to?
In the summer we can for most of what we eat.
37. In what do you trust?
Very darn little I hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
38. Do you make and fix things yourself to save money?
When I can. DH is a mechanic and we can usually nurse things along for a loooong time. I love to refurbish things like old furniture and can find some use for nearly anything in our garden / yard. If it's crappy / rust / old looking, I'll stick it in the ground and plant something by it.
39. Has the experience with animals changed your attitude or habits?
Yep. I dont run screaming to a sink if I get blood or poop on me.
I have even less tolerance for humans than I used to. I can go a week at a time never leaving this place and not miss the real world one bit.
In addition to the list, I thought Id throw out there that I got my first chicken 19 years ago, 2 days after moving to the country. My first goat 18 years ago. Our first kids were born here in 1996. There were only 2 or 3 goat books available at the time and we didnt get internet until 2003, so a lot of what we know, we learned the hard way or by trial and error.
There are 2 things I wont tolerate irresponsible animal owners and bratty children.
If theres anything else youd like to know, feel free to ask.
And Fiddles is cute. Is that prairie dog being cute or getting ready to bite? 
