Sunday, September 26, 2010

BLAST FROM THE PAST

I opened a word doc I called "homesteading" that I had saved about 5 years ago. Here were my goals then:

FARM GOALS
* = income producing

1. Produce enough compost for personal use.
2. Produce almost all of my own vegetables—all seasons
3. Produce all of my own meat
4. Produce all of my own herbs
5. Have website for personal use and farm sales
6. Forage for fire wood
7. Catch rain water
8. Composting toilet
9. Grow garlic *
10. Grow Muscavoy ducks *
11. Grow rabbits *
12. Have 2 dairy goats *
13. Build small milking shed
14. Tanned Rabbit Skins *
15. Rabbit Rawhide *

Kind of cool that some things have changed but most have not!

5 comments:

Faith said...

That's fun to find things like that. You have certainly stuck to it.

I managed to build a two room goat milking shed for 50 dollars. The milking room is about 7 feet square, and the attached, walk-through feed storage area is about 5 by 7 feet.

I went behind Tractor Supply and used the huge pallets that they throw away. The feed room is smaller because 3 of the pallets were smaller. 8 of them did the job, and then stapled a doubled, heavy duty tarp down for a roof, which I have to replace every few years.

Basically the cost was the brackets I bought to fasten them together more securely, the screws, the tie-down stakes, and the tarp. I had blocks to set it on already, to keep it off the ground and free from rot.

It's been up for maybe 8 years and still just as sturdy. :o) With a little more money, I could put a more permanent roof on it, but as I am goatless now, I'm not worried about it.

~Faith

Tracy Bruring said...

Did you originally have gots? I wonder how you could fit them in to your schedule as busy as you are! It looks like a great place for a few chickens!

Faith said...

Yes, I had 13 dairy goats a few years ago. Got rid of the last two as my DH was leaving. If I'd known he was leaving I'd have kept them. And many years before that I raised pygmy goats for fun. Also had a few meat meat goats here and there.

We have chickens, only about a dozen. Just for eggs right now.

~Faith

Tracy Bruring said...

I just can't do goats. I lived on a goat farm in a camper for 3 years saving my down payment. After that I just don't think they are cute any more and are too much of a pain to raise for meat. My fences are just not escape proof enough. So Rabbits and Chickens it is for now.

Faith said...

I hear you. While I loved having the home made soft cheese every day, the raw milk kefir, and making goat milk soap, I don't miss them much. They can be cute, but they can be a lot of trouble and very high maintenance.

I don't like the milk for drinking. I'd really like a cow. A Dexter for just the two of us would be dreamy...

~Faith