Ponker
Loving the herd life
How long ago did you start farming and what drove you to it?
We started our adventure about six years ago. I had changed careers and moved back to the USA. (Spent 8 years working abroad.) Then I fell ill. I had blood clots in my lungs and my life changed in one single moment of time. My legs don't work right anymore and I forget a lot - A LOT! My hands go to sleep and I drop stuff... anyway my life changed. My spouse is older than me by 18 years. We had the house where we raised our son with about an acre and a half of land. We decided to start eating healthy (we already had a big garden every year) by raising dairy goats and making our own dairy foods. And of course chickens...
Then, we found out that the county [THE COUNTY - not city] had zoned us out of our property rights. We purchased our property in the coutry so we could do as we pleased with it. Well, the joke was on us! It was forbidden to had orchards, paddocks, meadow, bees, livestock, corrals, chickens, ... and the list went on. it was a long list inclusive of every imaginable farming activity. The only thing allowed on our property was a pool, garage, and grass. I fought but was laughed out of the city council meetings. And then something happened... more people started showing up, and there was a lot less laughing. People were NOT buying property in the county due to their excessive restrictions.
During the fight with the county, we purchased a piece of timber property in Southern Missouri and put a cabin there. We spent most of our time at the cabin. As the county started relaxing their restrictions, we started comparing... and then we decided that paying to ask for permission to use our property via the permitting process, didn't sit well since we purchased our property free from restrictions. In essence they decided to ban us from everything and then allow us to do some things if we ask and pay. - no thank you. We sold our business and our house and moved to Arkansas on July 15, 2015 with our two dogs.
What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like?
North Central Arkansas - close enough to Missouri to throw a rock across the state line. Well, that's an exaggeration. State line is only 12 miles North of our little homestead. Its a transitional zone, we still experience 4 seasons although the winters are mild and the spring and autumn are pretty wet. The summers are hot. We have a lot of ticks and chiggers.
How would you define your farm?
Our little farm is 16 acres. We have eight acres pasture and eight acres timber. We have a house, barn, chicken coop, shed, carport/duck house, and garage. There are two ponds on the property, one watershed on the pasture and one spring fed down in the woods. We sit on the top of an Ozark 'mountain'. We have just finished the front and sides fencing. We did 48" 4"x4" woven wire on the front with a strand of barbed wire along the top and bottom. Along the sides we did 'web wire' with 2 strands along the top and one strand of barbed wire along the bottom. The paddock next to the barn is now fenced with 48" 4"x4" woven wire with a strand of barbed wire along the top and bottom. I cannot WAIT until the rest of the permanent fencing is done but it is so incredibly expensive. In the meanwhile, we use electro netting temporary electric fencing and its great. Five 100' sections can make some pretty decent paddocks for grazing and I can move it around.
Ducks arrived first, ten Muscovies. As they grew, we realized we had six drakes and four ducks. Four drakes went to freezer camp. Got our first egg three days ago.
Rabbits were next. Four American Chinchilla registered rabbits made their way here from Southern Illinois! it was a heck of a ride. They were young and so we patiently waited for them to grow old enough to breed. As they matured, Gloria, a checkered giant, came to live here and soon her babies were born...
To qualify as a farm for the Natural Resources Conservation Service I had to have livestock, so two Katahdin ewes came home with me. My neighbor, a sheep man, has taken me under his wing and was helping me learn about raising sheep. He sold me my two Katahdin ewes. Later, I learned he bought them from the sale barn. I have started getting other advice and reading many many books. A lesson I learned very soon was that my neighbor, the sheep man, cut corners and generally didn't do things the way they should be done. I have since taken blood samples of my ewes and sent them off for testing for Johne's and OPP and since I has the blood, I did Scrapie geneotyping just for the heck of it. I now have 4 registered Finnsheep and Spotty, one of the Katahdin crosses just had two lambs. Eight sheep total counting the lambs.
Chickens came October 29th as day olds. Of course, they came in the house. It was far too cold outside for day olds. they stayed in the brooder, in the house for three week. A very long long three weeks. Then they went to the barn and finally to the coop. We have red and black dorkings, assorted favorelles, iowa blues, and guineas - lavender, pearl, chocolate, and one other kind I can't remember off hand. 25 total. Got our first egg three days ago. It was pretty cool to find our first chicken egg and first duck egg on the same day.
And now we have an Anatolian Shepherd, Prince. He is 17 weeks old. A handful.
And last but certainly not least, we have Tinker and Pongo our two house dogs who we treat like children. Cane Corso.
What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed?
Probably jack up the barn. I can tell its not as high as it used to be. I think that project is one that will never get done.
Who or what inspired you to be a farmer/rancher, hobby farmer?
The American food supply is incredibly poisonous. I want to supply wholesome food to my son's family and my grandchildren. I plan to make an occupation out of it and a direction for my grandchildren to get involved with showing animals. So I am going to start showing my Finnsheep. Then I can teach my grandchildren when they get old enough.
My Finnsheep come from very good stock. I can market the wool, the breeding animals, and show stock. My Katahdins are for meat. At the very least, I'll get them to pay for themselves.
In what areas are you knowledgeable and in what areas would you like to learn more?
I've already been showed a path that could have ended in disaster. Thankfully, I have sought out more advice and educated myself through books and research. What I had thought was a wonderful mentor turned out to be someone who does things just enough, and hopes for the best. I will not take chances like that. Its hard to know when you're being led down the wrong path when first starting out and still learning. The hard part is knowing that I don't know enough and that there are so many opinions out there that conflict. What is the wrong way for one person is the right way for someone else. I need to learn more about everything!
In what types of farming will you never choose to do?
I'll never crowd. Never spread disease. Never sell dangerous animals. I'll never neglect or allow my animals to be sick or injured without care.
Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world?
Sitting in the pasture with my sheep. Or at the keyboard writing. I have several books out there on Amazon. Its what I do now... besides being a farmer and loving it.
Any random thoughts?
One thing I have found is that my life has started to revolve around poop. Is everyone pooping ok? Has everyone had a poop recently? That's not normal looking poop! And then there is all the poop, all the time. A never ending supply of great fertilizer FREE! That rabbit pee is like liquid gold.
I'm stressing a little over the flies this summer. I've ordered my fly predators and trying to keep the compost piles cooking but the outside of the pile is always fairly cool. Keeping the bedding picked up and clean. And using the odor spray which really works great to eat the ammonia with enzymes.
Well, that's enough for now. I'll continue tomorrow. Its time to feed the Finn lambs (bottle babies). Then I'll fall into bed completely exhausted. It sure is nice to be sleeping all night again. I always get that Green Acres song in my head when I think about my career abroad and my farming life now. There is no contest, farming is by far and away, hands down better.
We started our adventure about six years ago. I had changed careers and moved back to the USA. (Spent 8 years working abroad.) Then I fell ill. I had blood clots in my lungs and my life changed in one single moment of time. My legs don't work right anymore and I forget a lot - A LOT! My hands go to sleep and I drop stuff... anyway my life changed. My spouse is older than me by 18 years. We had the house where we raised our son with about an acre and a half of land. We decided to start eating healthy (we already had a big garden every year) by raising dairy goats and making our own dairy foods. And of course chickens...
Then, we found out that the county [THE COUNTY - not city] had zoned us out of our property rights. We purchased our property in the coutry so we could do as we pleased with it. Well, the joke was on us! It was forbidden to had orchards, paddocks, meadow, bees, livestock, corrals, chickens, ... and the list went on. it was a long list inclusive of every imaginable farming activity. The only thing allowed on our property was a pool, garage, and grass. I fought but was laughed out of the city council meetings. And then something happened... more people started showing up, and there was a lot less laughing. People were NOT buying property in the county due to their excessive restrictions.
During the fight with the county, we purchased a piece of timber property in Southern Missouri and put a cabin there. We spent most of our time at the cabin. As the county started relaxing their restrictions, we started comparing... and then we decided that paying to ask for permission to use our property via the permitting process, didn't sit well since we purchased our property free from restrictions. In essence they decided to ban us from everything and then allow us to do some things if we ask and pay. - no thank you. We sold our business and our house and moved to Arkansas on July 15, 2015 with our two dogs.
What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like?
North Central Arkansas - close enough to Missouri to throw a rock across the state line. Well, that's an exaggeration. State line is only 12 miles North of our little homestead. Its a transitional zone, we still experience 4 seasons although the winters are mild and the spring and autumn are pretty wet. The summers are hot. We have a lot of ticks and chiggers.
How would you define your farm?
Our little farm is 16 acres. We have eight acres pasture and eight acres timber. We have a house, barn, chicken coop, shed, carport/duck house, and garage. There are two ponds on the property, one watershed on the pasture and one spring fed down in the woods. We sit on the top of an Ozark 'mountain'. We have just finished the front and sides fencing. We did 48" 4"x4" woven wire on the front with a strand of barbed wire along the top and bottom. Along the sides we did 'web wire' with 2 strands along the top and one strand of barbed wire along the bottom. The paddock next to the barn is now fenced with 48" 4"x4" woven wire with a strand of barbed wire along the top and bottom. I cannot WAIT until the rest of the permanent fencing is done but it is so incredibly expensive. In the meanwhile, we use electro netting temporary electric fencing and its great. Five 100' sections can make some pretty decent paddocks for grazing and I can move it around.
Ducks arrived first, ten Muscovies. As they grew, we realized we had six drakes and four ducks. Four drakes went to freezer camp. Got our first egg three days ago.
Rabbits were next. Four American Chinchilla registered rabbits made their way here from Southern Illinois! it was a heck of a ride. They were young and so we patiently waited for them to grow old enough to breed. As they matured, Gloria, a checkered giant, came to live here and soon her babies were born...
To qualify as a farm for the Natural Resources Conservation Service I had to have livestock, so two Katahdin ewes came home with me. My neighbor, a sheep man, has taken me under his wing and was helping me learn about raising sheep. He sold me my two Katahdin ewes. Later, I learned he bought them from the sale barn. I have started getting other advice and reading many many books. A lesson I learned very soon was that my neighbor, the sheep man, cut corners and generally didn't do things the way they should be done. I have since taken blood samples of my ewes and sent them off for testing for Johne's and OPP and since I has the blood, I did Scrapie geneotyping just for the heck of it. I now have 4 registered Finnsheep and Spotty, one of the Katahdin crosses just had two lambs. Eight sheep total counting the lambs.
Chickens came October 29th as day olds. Of course, they came in the house. It was far too cold outside for day olds. they stayed in the brooder, in the house for three week. A very long long three weeks. Then they went to the barn and finally to the coop. We have red and black dorkings, assorted favorelles, iowa blues, and guineas - lavender, pearl, chocolate, and one other kind I can't remember off hand. 25 total. Got our first egg three days ago. It was pretty cool to find our first chicken egg and first duck egg on the same day.
And now we have an Anatolian Shepherd, Prince. He is 17 weeks old. A handful.
And last but certainly not least, we have Tinker and Pongo our two house dogs who we treat like children. Cane Corso.
What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed?
Probably jack up the barn. I can tell its not as high as it used to be. I think that project is one that will never get done.
Who or what inspired you to be a farmer/rancher, hobby farmer?
The American food supply is incredibly poisonous. I want to supply wholesome food to my son's family and my grandchildren. I plan to make an occupation out of it and a direction for my grandchildren to get involved with showing animals. So I am going to start showing my Finnsheep. Then I can teach my grandchildren when they get old enough.
My Finnsheep come from very good stock. I can market the wool, the breeding animals, and show stock. My Katahdins are for meat. At the very least, I'll get them to pay for themselves.
In what areas are you knowledgeable and in what areas would you like to learn more?
I've already been showed a path that could have ended in disaster. Thankfully, I have sought out more advice and educated myself through books and research. What I had thought was a wonderful mentor turned out to be someone who does things just enough, and hopes for the best. I will not take chances like that. Its hard to know when you're being led down the wrong path when first starting out and still learning. The hard part is knowing that I don't know enough and that there are so many opinions out there that conflict. What is the wrong way for one person is the right way for someone else. I need to learn more about everything!
In what types of farming will you never choose to do?
I'll never crowd. Never spread disease. Never sell dangerous animals. I'll never neglect or allow my animals to be sick or injured without care.
Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world?
Sitting in the pasture with my sheep. Or at the keyboard writing. I have several books out there on Amazon. Its what I do now... besides being a farmer and loving it.
Any random thoughts?
One thing I have found is that my life has started to revolve around poop. Is everyone pooping ok? Has everyone had a poop recently? That's not normal looking poop! And then there is all the poop, all the time. A never ending supply of great fertilizer FREE! That rabbit pee is like liquid gold.
I'm stressing a little over the flies this summer. I've ordered my fly predators and trying to keep the compost piles cooking but the outside of the pile is always fairly cool. Keeping the bedding picked up and clean. And using the odor spray which really works great to eat the ammonia with enzymes.
Well, that's enough for now. I'll continue tomorrow. Its time to feed the Finn lambs (bottle babies). Then I'll fall into bed completely exhausted. It sure is nice to be sleeping all night again. I always get that Green Acres song in my head when I think about my career abroad and my farming life now. There is no contest, farming is by far and away, hands down better.
