TOOLS, CONSTRUCTION, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY > What are you building?
Stewie's farm... The trials, the victories, the blood, sweat..
stewie:
this is my first rule when working on my farm - cardio.
I've been ghost for about 3 months. Some know i moved up from being a suburbanite with every sort of convenience within 5 mins for me to a "farmer". it's been quite the transition. The Lord has humbled me not only with the work on the land but also with my family (who requires me time). I now have to drive 20 mins to reach a store and when i do go i need to be well prepped - like shopping lists and my daughter who reminds me about everything i always forget. Aside from the structural foundations, there is no concrete on the property - my driveway is 250 feet or dirt/grass and when it rains - mud. I've seen my tank (pond) swell 3x since late october and learning how the land handles water, flooding and wind.
We have 42 acres. 36 is leased to row crop and hay right now, so the area i am (current) actively work is 6 acres. Out of those 6 acres, 4 were totally covered in weeds, brush, crap and general lack of care and maintenance for almost 10 years. The first months i spent just clearing trees, 2 acres of blood weed, demoing old, rotted, dangerous structures - as well as working a 9-5 IT job. I've never ever been stretched so thin - ever. I am going from 6 am to often 11pm at night. With winter here, i have 2 hours of sunlight per day to work with if i am in the office during the day. Luckily i work from home a few days a week which is awesome.
Until the spring i am on a serious budget and while i can borrow my friends KUBOTA for heavier jobs, i like to - when I can get in a good cardio working out and do it by hand. I've never been in such good physical shape as i am now. Spring time will bring a UTV and possibly an older pickup into the mix.
Since 8/26, ive cleared 20 trees from the tank. this involved me wading up to my waste in nasty water with my darling STIHL saw felling willows, etc then dragging those trees 300 feet to a burn pile. A friend and I managed to take a few roots/stumps out using his tractor.
I've set 1.5 acres ablaze. The burn has turn that pasture area in the greenest grass on the land. This week i'll be setting ablaze a burn pile the size of a house as well as another .75 or so acres to prepare for bees, herbs and a vegatable gfarden.
I've demo'd an an entire 3 tiered deck with just a mallet and my STIHL. With the help of a friend, put up 300 feet of ranch fencing to make a backyard and built a 24x12' deck.
Built an entire 18x6' chicken coop (pics below), raises 26 chickens (20 are in the coop, 6 are going in our yard), met and selected SHEEP so we can start a herd for the spring, got a pot belly pig, wound up with a barn cat and planted to 2 pecan trees.
we have currently 3 large livestock pens. I am in the process of clearing those after 6 years of utter neglect. i plan to have that done this week (cardio, cardio, cardio). I've hard my arms and legs mauled by fire ants almost 12 times, slashes, punctures, rashes and allergic reaction from all the work, but.... i love it.
I took an entire weekend and attended workshops and lectures at a wonderful homesteading fair up in Waco. I left there armed to take on just about anything and blessed and humbled because the land i sit on now is so perfectly situated for what we want to do.
2017 will bring the adding of almost 1000' feet of fence line to open up more pastureland for the sheep, a veg garden, 2 small barns and some other TBD's.
Lol, and that's just the outside... i will not speak of the actual house. lol.
My life has been turned upside down. I've learnt more in these 3 months then my entire lifetime. God has placed new people in my life who are showing me the ropes and laughing when i screw up, then have a beer with me after.
I'm a farmer.... but i still wear my MERRELLS hiking/tac boots, tru-spec pants and an assortment of "breathable" shirts. I dont see this changing much. lol.
I'll make this an ongoing thread as i gather more pics and project info....
Casa De Cluck
stlaser:
Awesome! Congrats on the wonderful new life.....
Atkinsmatt:
It's great when it's your place. Good work.
Flyin6:
--- Quote from: stewie on December 25, 2016, 02:41:14 PM ---
this is my first rule when working on my farm - cardio.
I've been ghost for about 3 months. Some know i moved up from being a suburbanite with every sort of convenience within 5 mins for me to a "farmer". it's been quite the transition. The Lord has humbled me not only with the work on the land but also with my family (who requires me time). I now have to drive 20 mins to reach a store and when i do go i need to be well prepped - like shopping lists and my daughter who reminds me about everything i always forget. Aside from the structural foundations, there is no concrete on the property - my driveway is 250 feet or dirt/grass and when it rains - mud. I've seen my tank (pond) swell 3x since late october and learning how the land handles water, flooding and wind.
We have 42 acres. 36 is leased to row crop and hay right now, so the area i am (current) actively work is 6 acres. Out of those 6 acres, 4 were totally covered in weeds, brush, crap and general lack of care and maintenance for almost 10 years. The first months i spent just clearing trees, 2 acres of blood weed, demoing old, rotted, dangerous structures - as well as working a 9-5 IT job. I've never ever been stretched so thin - ever. I am going from 6 am to often 11pm at night. With winter here, i have 2 hours of sunlight per day to work with if i am in the office during the day. Luckily i work from home a few days a week which is awesome.
Until the spring i am on a serious budget and while i can borrow my friends KUBOTA for heavier jobs, i like to - when I can get in a good cardio working out and do it by hand. I've never been in such good physical shape as i am now. Spring time will bring a UTV and possibly an older pickup into the mix.
Since 8/26, ive cleared 20 trees from the tank. this involved me wading up to my waste in nasty water with my darling STIHL saw felling willows, etc then dragging those trees 300 feet to a burn pile. A friend and I managed to take a few roots/stumps out using his tractor.
I've set 1.5 acres ablaze. The burn has turn that pasture area in the greenest grass on the land. This week i'll be setting ablaze a burn pile the size of a house as well as another .75 or so acres to prepare for bees, herbs and a vegatable gfarden.
I've demo'd an an entire 3 tiered deck with just a mallet and my STIHL. With the help of a friend, put up 300 feet of ranch fencing to make a backyard and built a 24x12' deck.
Built an entire 18x6' chicken coop (pics below), raises 26 chickens (20 are in the coop, 6 are going in our yard), met and selected SHEEP so we can start a herd for the spring, got a pot belly pig, wound up with a barn cat and planted to 2 pecan trees.
we have currently 3 large livestock pens. I am in the process of clearing those after 6 years of utter neglect. i plan to have that done this week (cardio, cardio, cardio). I've hard my arms and legs mauled by fire ants almost 12 times, slashes, punctures, rashes and allergic reaction from all the work, but.... i love it.
I took an entire weekend and attended workshops and lectures at a wonderful homesteading fair up in Waco. I left there armed to take on just about anything and blessed and humbled because the land i sit on now is so perfectly situated for what we want to do.
2017 will bring the adding of almost 1000' feet of fence line to open up more pastureland for the sheep, a veg garden, 2 small barns and some other TBD's.
Lol, and that's just the outside... i will not speak of the actual house. lol.
My life has been turned upside down. I've learnt more in these 3 months then my entire lifetime. God has placed new people in my life who are showing me the ropes and laughing when i screw up, then have a beer with me after.
I'm a farmer.... but i still wear my MERRELLS hiking/tac boots, tru-spec pants and an assortment of "breathable" shirts. I dont see this changing much. lol.
I'll make this an ongoing thread as i gather more pics and project info....
Casa De Cluck
--- End quote ---
I'd love to see plans for that chicken coop!
One of the nicest ones I have seen to date, well done!
TexasRedNeck:
That's a level of commitment that few acheive. Congrats and thanks for sharing.
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