TheFarmOfDreams- a long awaited adventure

[Baymule]

I am so happy and excited for you and your family. Plus a family compound, it just doesn't get any better than that. You and your family are going to have a wonderful life.

I love the old barn, what a picture it makes!

I love canning, dehydrating and freezing the meat I raise and the vegetables I grow. I have squirrel DNA. I will be delighted to help and advise you in any way.

For deer fencing, build 2 fences about 4 feet or wide enough to run the riding lawn mower between. Deer can judge distance on a single fence, but not on 2 placed close together. Also, my grandpa built a deer fence. He built a good tight wire fence, I think 4 or 5 feet tall. He placed tall posts, about 8 feet and ran a cable at the top. Then he hung cables from the top to hang past the top of the fence. He placed the hanging cables a foot apart. The deer wouldn't jump through it.

 

[Baymule]

Probably just the nasty things.... like zucchini!

Hey zucchini is good stuff! I make egg, zucchini and mozzarella lasagna noodles and it's darn good. Plus zucchini bread! Yummy!

 

[Thefarmofdreams]

Probably just the nasty things.... like zucchini!

Lol!!! There were some squash vines and the like lol

I am so happy and excited for you and your family. Plus a family compound, it just doesn't get any better than that. You and your family are going to have a wonderful life.

I love the old barn, what a picture it makes!

I love canning, dehydrating and freezing the meat I raise and the vegetables I grow. I have squirrel DNA. I will be delighted to help and advise you in any way.

For deer fencing, build 2 fences about 4 feet or wide enough to run the riding lawn mower between. Deer can judge distance on a single fence, but not on 2 placed close together. Also, my grandpa built a deer fence. He built a good tight wire fence, I think 4 or 5 feet tall. He placed tall posts, about 8 feet and ran a cable at the top. Then he hung cables from the top to hang past the top of the fence. He placed the hanging cables a foot apart. The deer wouldn't jump through it.

You are so kind Bay! Thank you! We are definitely excited to have our own little village. We definitely don't have that now... despite 20+ members of my husbands family living within 5 miles. We're pretty isolated here. I can't wait to have help and community and friends for the kids literally next door!

I love the barn too!! I'm beyond words with excitement... although I'm terrified to hear from the barn specialist about the bits of rehab it needs. As far as I can tell, the wood is SOLID. And the roof is fairly new. but the beams supporting the first floor are a composite of many beams, and are bowing. So the back wall is sinking and bowing the foundation out. The fix, in my head anyways, seems straight forward. It should just need better (and better placed) support posts. But jacking up a barn 2.5 story is definitely not something I want to tackle ourselves.

I can see it done in my mind's eye though.... livestock in the bottom, and one corner turned into a much-needed gym for the kids (think gymnastics mats and climbing walls and ropes to climb, etc), the upper story will be a couple horse stalls (i know, wood floor is a concern, but from what I've researched it is doable, especially with good maintenance, and the horses outside 80% of the time), a NICE tack room, equipment storage, possibly the chickens... and hay in the loft. It's gonna be amazing.

I'll definitely look into that for the deer fence! I think the kitchen gardens might be... spread about. There isn't a lot of clear space. Unless we clear right behind the house, to help push the pasture farther from the well.... So I really don't have a solid plan pre-made for the food growing.


I CANNOT wait to pick your brain about canning and preserving!! If that is what squirrel DNA means, I definitely have some too, lol!!! I don't even have a small garden or a single animal... but I just bought 6 extra pounds of ground meat so I could put 6 packs of meatballs in the freezer for next time, lol. My grandma grew up post-depression on a farm, and I think some of her careful habits have been passed down. I'm never happy unless we have several weeks worth of food on hand. (Forgive the paper towels. I still haven't figured out how to get kitchen towels to come out animal hair-free so it can touch food! )

 

[Alaskan]

Forgive the paper towels. I still haven't figured out how to get kitchen towels to come out animal hair-free so it can touch food! )

 

[farmerjan]

Your type barn is typical of many older style barns... we have quite a few here in Va too. The bottom is designed for the animals.... the second story is for equipment, grain, maybe something like chickens but NOT for large livestock due to the urine and manure produced. I would not even want sheep on the second floor except maybe for a few temp lambing pens.. I don't like chickens housed in the barn above the cattle or horses due to lice and such.... and passing coccidiosis to other animals through the bits of manure that might get through the floor. Plus, in cold climates like yours, you don't want alot of empty head space above the chickens. They want to roost closer to the roof/ceiling for heat . And less vulnerability... they will roost in the rafters if you let them. Many of the old ones did not even have a floor for the "3rd story" ... it was just a huge space that went to the roof.... in the old days it was for loose hay.... and then for stacking sq bales as high as you could, climbing the ladder up the posts on the side of the "drive in bay" and standing and stacking more on top of them to the roof.
Here many are cantilevered out over the bottom floor stalls to protect it from the weather and so that a wagon could be brought in close and the hay could be thrown out onto the wagon so easier....It doesn't look like yours is built that way, but did not see the side where the "bottom" is.

 

[Baymule]

I have a 921 All American pressure canner-the only company still making pressure canners in AMERICA. I adore it. It is a finely machined precision instrument of preserving food. I named mine THE BEAST.

With the sudden resurgence of interest in canning, there might be a waiting list. Check it out and if there is, get on it.

I also have a 9 tray Excalibur dehydrator. I got the solid sheets for liquid stuff. I wish I had got the timer on mine.

neither one of these is cheap. It is an investment in good food for your family.

 

[farmerjan]

Paper towels with a little grease from draining meatballs work just fine in the wood stove....

 

[Thefarmofdreams]

Your type barn is typical of many older style barns... we have quite a few here in Va too. The bottom is designed for the animals.... the second story is for equipment, grain, maybe something like chickens but NOT for large livestock due to the urine and manure produced.

Thank you for the thoughts! I totally understand the concerns with livestock on the second floor. From the research I've done though, a few horses, if properly managed and the floor properly prepped... Could be doable. It would only be for emergency/nasty weather. Imo horses do best outside. I'm hoping upstairs works out, because the bottom floor is too short for a full size horse. I've found a few resources about keeping horses on second floors. I plan to talk to the barn specialist before making any permanent decisions. Worst case, I guess the horse gets a custom extension downstairs. That is a good point about the chickens that I hadn't thought of though. I'll have to keep them downstairs, or in the area on the main floor, under the loft, where it has a lower ceiling and cement floor. I do plan on building them a contained area wherever they winter, and tractoring them in mild weather. (Our loft does have a floor for it, but no front wall, it's open to the main floor, and the barn isn't cantilevered.)

I have a 921 All American pressure canner-the only company still making pressure canners in AMERICA. I adore it. It is a finely machined precision instrument of preserving food. I named mine THE BEAST.

With the sudden resurgence of interest in canning, there might be a waiting list. Check it out and if there is, get on it.

I also have a 9 tray Excalibur dehydrator. I got the solid sheets for liquid stuff. I wish I had got the timer on mine.

neither one of these is cheap. It is an investment in good food for your family.

Hahaha THE BEAST sounds excellent!! That's what I named my commercial KitchenAid mixer. I will definitely look into the all American canner and the Excalibur dehydrator soon. (A canner is definitely on my Xmas list, lol. Maybe DH will get it.).

I totally understand the importance of a good investment on these types of things because of how beneficial it is long-term! No interest in cheap garbage I have to replace yearly.

 

[Thefarmofdreams]

Working to prepare for fencing today. I am hoping to be on the farm, getting rid of weeds and walking our fences out by the weekend! And putting hay in the barn!

So today I need to decide the details about the purple dog run area, and the purple odd shaped dry lot on the picture I posted. The dog run is definitely going to be a privacy fence, so hopefully they won't be SO barkful when they're out. So 4x4's and fence panels there. And a good gate to get the lawn mower in.

The dry lot is a bit trickier. It needs to keep in the horse and his donkey posse. Electric for sure. I think I'm going to buy a high end solar charge (i KNOW i KNOW, they're finicky and don't always work well. Thus high end. Right now, the barn doesn't have electric and it's over 300' to the nearest plug.) I want to do at least 1 pass with electric tape so it is more visible, but I'm undecided whether to do the whole fence in tape. I've worked with tape before.. It was okay. We also need to decide about posts. Long term we want wood posts for sure... but DH is pushing to just do T posts for now, and worry about augering holes and buying expensive wood posts later. We can always repurpose the old T posts when we expand pasture. I might use T posts on the straight sides, but do the corners up proper with wood posts and bracing. I plan on putting the posts 8ft apart, so it'll be easy to add on no climb horse fence if/when we want to. Then the dry lot could contain almost any livestock we might want to get. Especially if reinforced with electric to keep critters from rubbing on it. I foresee it being our nursery area for birthing, closer observation for medical concerns, and to limit eating for special needs animals. But long term, it won't be anyone's full time/permanent home- we want them out on pasture. Just need to clear said pasture....

So... 4x4 wood, round wood or t posts? Wire or woven or rope? So many decisions. Off to price check and research some more.

 

[Alaskan]

Right now, the barn doesn't have electric and it's over 300' to the nearest plug.

Hummmmm.

My pasture is maybe only 100 feet away... so not sure on 300 feet.

BUT, I would figure it out without solar. Animals are always aware of the electric. As soon as it shuts off they bolt.

for our pasture we bought a roll of quality insulated copper wire. The charger was on the side of the house, with a great ground. Also, then I could just walk out my door and see it was on. The insulated copper wire connected the charger to the fence. We just rolled that wire down the hill, never buried it, had it a foot or so off the path. Nothing bad ever happened, but running it through a busted up garden hose would be a safer smarter choice.

Not sure how much copper wire costs now, but I would see what 300' of that would cost.

I suggest you call premier one fencing. Ask them if 300' of copper wire would work. Might just need to buy a stronger charger.

I used a premier fence with their fiberglass posts. Held up just perfect. Looks nice too, way less risk of shorting out the electric than with T-posts, and they last longer than wood.

In my paddock I did the electric fence with t-posts. Every so often an electric rope would pop off an insulator and then it touches the t-post and sparks.

I want to do at least 1 pass with electric tape so it is more visible, but I'm undecided whether to do the whole fence in tape. I

I was very happy with electric rope. No wind damage like what you get with tape.

I used it on my pasture with the fiberglass posts from premier, used on T-posts for my paddock, and used it with little temporary step in posts for temporary pastures.

It holds up great.