Alice Acres
Ridin' The Range
I lurked a short while - found this site on a llama health online search. Then I joined and decided I like this community. 
I did the intro section shortly after I joined, so if you read it, you already know some things about me and our farm. My forum name is Alice Acres - and named after the small lake (Lake Alice) behind us and is the southern border of our property.
I'm Dawn, my husband is Todd, and we have 3 grown kids. Twin daughters who are married and parents of our 3 grandkids - with a 4th on the way.
Our youngest is our son - and all are mid twenty-somethings
This past year was a landmark - Todd and I both hit the mid-century mark.
We both grew up on small farms, and both were in 4-H and FFA.
We've always lived rural, and bought our current farm about 22 yrs ago.
Also - our kids are the techie sorts...and them and all their friends have decided in the event of a zombie apocalypse, that they all are moving here, because we know how to survive.
OK, here are the Q/A's:
1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like? Minnesota - born and raised. Being in the middle of the country and continent, we get the temperature extremes. Highs 90's-100's F in the summer, and -20F or less in the winter.
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status? 5 Todd and I, twin daughters and a son. Also 3+ grandkids. They all live nearby - in the town 5 miles from us.
3. How would you define your farm? Small farm - 24 acres.
4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed? I would travel more, and also expand my huge hobby habits. I am always busy....I rarely sit still...except like for now.
5. Have you ever built a house, barn , or other types of building? Do you want to? No - but I'm a pretty handy person.
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet? Not me, but Todd welds. Stick, MiG.
7. Who or what inspired you to be a farmer/rancher, hobby farmer? I grew up on a 40 acre farm, and so did Todd (about 18 acres), and when we married, we both agreed we never could live in town.
8 Is it a hobby or an occupation? Mostly hobby, but it does help feed us, and we can use it on our taxes.
9. In what areas are you knowledgeable and in what areas would you like to learn more? Hmm, many areas of knowledge as I've been in this lifestyle my whole life. IN HS and college I worked at the local grain elevator and did many things - retail, feeds, crop moisture testing, ordered supplies and ran the elevator on Saturdays. I have an AD Animal Research degree, and had a production job for 5 yrs as a farm manager of a 35,000 laying hen operation. I've been working as a nurse for about 30 yrs - a hospital RN (Ortho/neuro/trauma) for 20 yrs, and then switched to high-tech homecare - clients on vents, trachs, feeding tubes, paraplegia, etc. currently. I also teach dog training classes - I grew up doing this also - showing, field trialing, hunting. I currently do dog stuff a LOT. I show conformation, obedience, rally, agility, weight pull, back packing, herding, dog sledding and therapy dogs. I'm a therapy dog evaluator (TDI for 18 yrs) and AKC - CGC. I also foster for 2 breed rescues - Old English Sheepdogs and Basset Hounds. And Todd and I met at dog training classes. We currently have 6 dogs.
10. In what types of farming will you never choose to do? Crop farming.
11. Are you interested in providing more of your own food supply? Always
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world? Dog events, reading, or one of my many hobbies.
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi? Tractor
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these? Sew, knit, felt, draw a little
15. Can you legally have all forms of livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds? Yes - any. Right now we have sheep, llama, pony, chickens.
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood? No
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing? We have big flower and veggie gardens. I do the flowers, Todd does the veggies - but I can/freeze/dehydrate the veggies.
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives? Yes, but not lately. Todd fishes any chance he can get! (Bait/lures)
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City farm? Country? 24 acres - totally rural, on a gravel road. But close to a 2,000 pop. town in 5 miles, and a 50,000 pop. city in 10 miles.
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, degreed? Pretty expert in many areas,( but not in goats!)....Animal research degree (AD) , RN - so it applies to many health issues w/ our animals - I can do pretty much anything they need.
21. What is your farm specialty? Or what one would you like to learn? Mostly sheep and Chickens, and hay too.
22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take? Hmm, think I got that covered...for now anyway.
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet? Just basic project construction.
24. Are you interested in herbal animal medicine? Yes, with proper research to back it up!
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be? Right here is pretty good.
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking? We used to have a wood stove, and Todd got tired of doing wood. He grew up in a house that was 100% wood heated (and in MN, that's a big project). Now we have a corn/pellet stove that heats the core of our house. Regular furnace for base level heating for the bedrooms, etc.
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be? Superman
28. Are your family or friends also interested in animals? Most are to some degree.
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs? I don't like to cook - I can, but don't enjoy it. Todd is a great cook - he does most of our cooking. I clean up. Yes to the whole/natural foods. We have our own meat, veggies, fruit, eggs whenever possible.
30. What was your best animal experience? Worst? Best - just enjoying our farm life. Worst - losing my 1st purebred show ewe (who became my pet and buddy) to a retained lamb (one came out, didn't know a 2nd was in there). She ended up dying. I was about 13.
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs? Todd is a hunting fool. We eat many interesting things....
32. What skills do you have that help you be more a self sufficient farm? Between Todd and I and our life experiences, we can do most anything.
33. Do you process your own meat? Can or preserve? Todd and his buddies and brothers do the butchering/processing. I know how...but usually am at work when they do it. I can/freeze/dehydrate.
34. Do you use alternative energy sources on your farm? Would you like to? No - but would love to.
35 What is on your to do list? Learning how to do stained glass.
36. Have you ever lived completely off what you produce? Would you like to? Not totally..and I'm just enough girlie that I probably wouldn't.
37. In what do you trust? Family, faith and my dogs
38. Do you make and fix things yourself to save money? Oh yes - I'm cheap!
39. Has the experience with animals changed your attitude or habits? Can't really say, as this has been my entire life. But I'm sure it has made me more responsible and a better person.
I did the intro section shortly after I joined, so if you read it, you already know some things about me and our farm. My forum name is Alice Acres - and named after the small lake (Lake Alice) behind us and is the southern border of our property.
I'm Dawn, my husband is Todd, and we have 3 grown kids. Twin daughters who are married and parents of our 3 grandkids - with a 4th on the way.
Our youngest is our son - and all are mid twenty-somethings
This past year was a landmark - Todd and I both hit the mid-century mark.
We both grew up on small farms, and both were in 4-H and FFA.
We've always lived rural, and bought our current farm about 22 yrs ago.
Also - our kids are the techie sorts...and them and all their friends have decided in the event of a zombie apocalypse, that they all are moving here, because we know how to survive.
OK, here are the Q/A's:
1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like? Minnesota - born and raised. Being in the middle of the country and continent, we get the temperature extremes. Highs 90's-100's F in the summer, and -20F or less in the winter.
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status? 5 Todd and I, twin daughters and a son. Also 3+ grandkids. They all live nearby - in the town 5 miles from us.
3. How would you define your farm? Small farm - 24 acres.
4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed? I would travel more, and also expand my huge hobby habits. I am always busy....I rarely sit still...except like for now.
5. Have you ever built a house, barn , or other types of building? Do you want to? No - but I'm a pretty handy person.
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet? Not me, but Todd welds. Stick, MiG.
7. Who or what inspired you to be a farmer/rancher, hobby farmer? I grew up on a 40 acre farm, and so did Todd (about 18 acres), and when we married, we both agreed we never could live in town.
8 Is it a hobby or an occupation? Mostly hobby, but it does help feed us, and we can use it on our taxes.
9. In what areas are you knowledgeable and in what areas would you like to learn more? Hmm, many areas of knowledge as I've been in this lifestyle my whole life. IN HS and college I worked at the local grain elevator and did many things - retail, feeds, crop moisture testing, ordered supplies and ran the elevator on Saturdays. I have an AD Animal Research degree, and had a production job for 5 yrs as a farm manager of a 35,000 laying hen operation. I've been working as a nurse for about 30 yrs - a hospital RN (Ortho/neuro/trauma) for 20 yrs, and then switched to high-tech homecare - clients on vents, trachs, feeding tubes, paraplegia, etc. currently. I also teach dog training classes - I grew up doing this also - showing, field trialing, hunting. I currently do dog stuff a LOT. I show conformation, obedience, rally, agility, weight pull, back packing, herding, dog sledding and therapy dogs. I'm a therapy dog evaluator (TDI for 18 yrs) and AKC - CGC. I also foster for 2 breed rescues - Old English Sheepdogs and Basset Hounds. And Todd and I met at dog training classes. We currently have 6 dogs.
10. In what types of farming will you never choose to do? Crop farming.
11. Are you interested in providing more of your own food supply? Always
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world? Dog events, reading, or one of my many hobbies.
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi? Tractor
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these? Sew, knit, felt, draw a little
15. Can you legally have all forms of livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds? Yes - any. Right now we have sheep, llama, pony, chickens.
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood? No
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing? We have big flower and veggie gardens. I do the flowers, Todd does the veggies - but I can/freeze/dehydrate the veggies.
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives? Yes, but not lately. Todd fishes any chance he can get! (Bait/lures)
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City farm? Country? 24 acres - totally rural, on a gravel road. But close to a 2,000 pop. town in 5 miles, and a 50,000 pop. city in 10 miles.
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, degreed? Pretty expert in many areas,( but not in goats!)....Animal research degree (AD) , RN - so it applies to many health issues w/ our animals - I can do pretty much anything they need.
21. What is your farm specialty? Or what one would you like to learn? Mostly sheep and Chickens, and hay too.
22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take? Hmm, think I got that covered...for now anyway.
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet? Just basic project construction.
24. Are you interested in herbal animal medicine? Yes, with proper research to back it up!
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be? Right here is pretty good.
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking? We used to have a wood stove, and Todd got tired of doing wood. He grew up in a house that was 100% wood heated (and in MN, that's a big project). Now we have a corn/pellet stove that heats the core of our house. Regular furnace for base level heating for the bedrooms, etc.
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be? Superman
28. Are your family or friends also interested in animals? Most are to some degree.
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs? I don't like to cook - I can, but don't enjoy it. Todd is a great cook - he does most of our cooking. I clean up. Yes to the whole/natural foods. We have our own meat, veggies, fruit, eggs whenever possible.
30. What was your best animal experience? Worst? Best - just enjoying our farm life. Worst - losing my 1st purebred show ewe (who became my pet and buddy) to a retained lamb (one came out, didn't know a 2nd was in there). She ended up dying.
I was about 13.31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs? Todd is a hunting fool.
We eat many interesting things....32. What skills do you have that help you be more a self sufficient farm? Between Todd and I and our life experiences, we can do most anything.
33. Do you process your own meat? Can or preserve? Todd and his buddies and brothers do the butchering/processing. I know how...but usually am at work when they do it. I can/freeze/dehydrate.
34. Do you use alternative energy sources on your farm? Would you like to? No - but would love to.
35 What is on your to do list? Learning how to do stained glass.
36. Have you ever lived completely off what you produce? Would you like to? Not totally..and I'm just enough girlie that I probably wouldn't.
37. In what do you trust? Family, faith and my dogs
38. Do you make and fix things yourself to save money? Oh yes - I'm cheap!
39. Has the experience with animals changed your attitude or habits? Can't really say, as this has been my entire life. But I'm sure it has made me more responsible and a better person.
