Give this some thought before replying then lets have some fun. I would like to hear what you guys would like to have in a homestead. Don't be afraid to dream. It doesn't cost anything. Property, house and outbuildings, equipment, animals ect. And explain why.
This can be a lot of fun. Maybe I am different but I love to daydream. May be why I am an aspiring writer. It's kinda like therapy to me. Gets me out of the stress and ho hum of everyday to daydream about a better situation and circumstance. Anybody out there care to join me? I'd love to hear about your dream.
Lets Dream a Little
OK...thanks for this post. I seldom have time to post, but do read the homesteading almost every night before bed. and appreciate all the ideas.
This caught my eye immediately, as when our kids were young, we used to sit around our old dining table and take turns expressing our dreams.
We all still do this. Mine is that the stream that runs through our neighbors property would change course, split, and run a branch through our property too. We have a windmill with wonderful water, but I would love to have enough water to power a waterwheel for electricity.
Also, since dreams are for free, I would love to have our 12 acres fenced tight against coyotes and packs of dogs, so we could once again have pigs, ducks and dairy goats. It would also have to have an electric charge. After living here for 35 years, and the neighbors horses breaking through for our grass, our fence is useless.
I have a good tight fenced pen for our chickens, but so far the property fence is in the dream stage. This dream will probably be a reality some day, as one of our sons is clearing the fenceline of cedar and brush, so as soon as we can afford it, we will buy the wire. We have plenty of cedar posts cut and waiting.
I am 77 and blessed with perfect health, but my DH is a disabled Korea/ Viet Naam war vet, so I have to check back to the house often to help him. I do have a big garden.
Oh...and since I can dream, I wish I had a much bigger barn/shed. We used to raise rabbits, and want them again, but we have filled the rabbit shed with lots of stuff we need covered, like wire, tools, etc. So I can no longer hang any of our great cages and install rabbits, or they will be pooping all over the 'stuff'.
We used to grow almost everything we ate, but somehow fell into the easy 'shopping', after the kids grews up. So to sum up my dream, it is to once again be independent of commerce, as much as possible.
Thanks for reading my long post.
That's a great dream. Add more when you think of it. I have lots of dreams for a homeplace. I would like my house to be logs, squared off and dovetailed. I want a deep wrap around porch and I want a dog trot or breezeway completely through the middle of the house seperating it into 2 parts under one roof. I want floor to ceiling windows opposite each other for cross ventilation. I want all the windows to open like doors and have shutters over them too. Houses down the bayou have those. I would like a cellar so I could store things in cold storage during the winter. I would also like my attic to be tall enough to stand up in and be floored. That way I could comfortably use it for storage. I would like a big clawfoot tub so I could soak but I would like to have a seperate standup shower with one of those rain showerheads and lots of body sprays. I would like a hot tub too.
More of my dream later.
30 years younger! =0) Knowing what I know now.
A root cellar for sure, new fencing down the SE property line, a milk goat & the wherewithall to actually do the milking (I worry I'd get bored after a month), a small tractor w/small acreage farming tools. Or maybe a good team of Fjords w/said tools. A real barn, not just run-in sheds & carports. More rain water collection tanks.
A peach tree, an apple tree, a plum tree.
And a nice strong young man who would show up sober & do what I told him. LOL
I'd like a huge array of solar panels and some personal sized wind turbines for back up on overcast days and a huge bank of batteries to store all my power. I would like several year round springs for water and a flow well. I would like some nice year round creeks to be in all the animal pastures so I wouldnt have to haul water. I'd like a spring house so I could sput a trough in it to keep my drinks cold in. I could also use it to kep other food cool in and I would want it big enough so I could put a chair in it and sit down to cool off in summer.
OK, while we're dreaming...
what I really want is the electric atv...
http://www.polarisindustries.com/en-us/ATV-RANGER/2010/Mid-Size-Utility-Vehicles/RANGER-EV/Pages/Overview.aspx
and the solar panels to keep it running.
If I had that, I'd also have the money to hire that nice sober biddable young man to do the heavy work around here.
Remember, we are dreaming. We have all thge money we want. BUY you a young man. LOL
They're for SALE?! Oh my, it has been a while since I've checked eBay... must go do market research. LOL
This morning I'm dreaming of a concord grape vine for juice, & a patch of grain. Also a truckload of juniper wood for the fire... we've got pine/fir mix & it starts nice & works for the warmer days, but it's nowhere near as hot burning as juniper. That's a phone call I need to make.
Guess I'm too earth-bound in some ways... I like dreams I can achieve. OK, maybe not the young man, or the atv, but the grape vine & the peach tree is on the list for sure!
Have you read Gene Logsdon's "Small-Scale Grain Raising"? It might have some of your feed grain answers. According to him you need about 12 bushels of corn to fatten a feeder pig to butchering weight. That's a 50' x 120' foot plot of field corn. Even if you don't do the pig size, you might find some help w/the chicken's feed.
Jay, loved the wedding video, and Logsdon's book sounds like something I need to read, too. Thanks.
Cajun, this thread is a cool idea....
I'd also want the full 15 acres completely fenced. What's the saying "Horse strong and hog tight"? Definitely a barn. Might as well dream about a good tractor with all the attachments, as well as solar panels, a root cellar and a well. A good long drink from the fountain of youth, too.
It's inspirational, Robin, it truly is.
Here's a quote:
"In rural Kentucky, where my wife grew up, an expert is defined as someone who can purse his lips up close to the rear end of a mule and in one huff, blow the bit out of its mouth."
Now, with that said, I must go out & work on my next dream... another covered garden patch, this one for beans or tomatoes, so will be covered w/30% shade cloth so the rain can come in but not the wind.
While I'm doing that, I think I'll dream about the pasture being plowed & planted. It's just native scrub right now.
And the rain to make the grass grow?
Oh, yeah, that bit! The devil's in the details...
LOL
I want 200 flat acres while I'm dreaming. I'd like it all fenced. Some I'll leave for a wood lot. Some I'll use for a big garden including a grain patch and some I'll use for pasture. A big part of it I will clear and grow hay on. It's a good cash crop. So now I will need a tractor for the garden and other small tasks and I will need a swather and baler for the hay. I'll need a chainsaw for the wood lot. Need a a nice barn for the stock with a big loft for all my hay that i keep. Need a big metal building to store the hay i will sell through the winter. I can get a better price for it if i hold it until people need it more. I want my barn to br stone on the bottom floor. Just the walls. I want the well to be in the barn so it does not freeze in winter. I'll need a conveyor to get my hay into the loft. Want my hens to be able to come into the barn so part of their run will have to be in the barn. That is where the nests will be. Then I won't have to have a seperate hen house. Want to have a run in for the goats too. I like having everything under one roof. Makes feeding time much easier. I'll only have a few riding horses and a cart pony. Maybe a few miniature Jersey's but I'll ahve to give that more thought. I know i want some rabbits and they will have a corner of the barn too. I like rabbit meat.
OK, how 'bout an apartment in the barn for the help? A nice cozy one bedroom would suit me fine... I mean, suit a hired hand fine. =0)
Whew! I'm exhausted just thinking of all the work you'll be doing. LOL
LOL So sweat as long as I'm just dreaming. Jay, you would be a fine hired hand. You are surely not afraid of hard work. Bring those donks with you and we will put them to work plowing the garden. If you have an intact Jack we can breed some gaited mares and sell gaited saddle mules. They still go for very good prices here. Another good "cash crop". Always have to be thinking about the bottom line.
It's a good thing I'll have that deep porch to sit on and rest. Any of you ever been to Cades Cove in Tn?
OH, now that's another dream... that my jack would breed mares. Nuh-unh, he doesn't swing that way. He thinks they're nuttier than a Snickers bar, won't go near them. He has his STANDARDS, y'know. LOL
I'm not sure how the donks feel about hard work... I think they might have allergies to it. LOL
Cades Cove is beautiful and very interesting. We got married in a beautiful park in Gatlinburg, and spent our honeymoon touring the area. Saw several black bears and lots of deer. I took lots of pictures of scenes I'd like to paint someday.
I did not know you were a painter. I'd love to see your pics of Cades Cove. I think it is one of the prettiest places on earth. I could live there. My favorite place is the homestead you have to hike a 1/2 mile to that has the spring house behind it. I love that spring house. I stand in the midst of those places and try to feel what the pioneers felt when they built them and lived there. I would like to visit some ghost towns in the west. I love old places like that.
Here is one of my favorite pics from Cades Cove.
Well, it's a good bet that I didn't hike the 1/2 mile back to see that homestead. We walked back to one, but it was only 1/4 mile. Loved the homestead at the back of the loop with the water wheel. I don't remember what all the buildings were, but it was so cool to see. I love old buildings too and wonder about their history.
If money isn't an issue, I want a huge solar dome to cover 2-3 acres during the winter. 5* here,
LOL... I'd be good w/hot tub & a massage.
I'd be very glad for just 1 flat acre at this point.
Cajun, if it weren't for reasonably flat land, I wouldn't be able to get done what I do.
Flat? Now where's the fun in that?
The new bed I made this week is a terrace. We don't have the slope that you do, Cajun, but we've got enough of a slope that terraces are necessary.
I'd like for somebody else to handle my life's paperwork. Gah!
If I ever get rid of these horses at the house I'll have plenty enough room to garden where I have them now. It's rocky so I'll have to go with raised beds but I'd rather that anyway. I like to have ground cloth under everything so I don't have to worry with many weeds.
A friend called today and offered us the used of his barn. That will take 2 of the horses from here so that will just leave Ben here in the trailer. It's a 3 horse slant load so he has plenty of room. It's like a nice stall for him.
A secretary. Hmm Hadn't dreamed about that.
Save those feed sacks... I think they might work just dandy for a weed barrier, w/some sort of mulch on top.
Neat that you've found a barn... will they feed for you?
Sometimes it's the things you never imagined that are the greatest gifts. =0) Like the wind not coming up today until I was done tilling & watering. Thank you weather gods... LOL
DH will still have to feed but they will be in out of the weather. It;s a small barn with just the one big stall. Only my 2 horses there.
What a kind & generous offer, in any case. I'm sure it'll help keep weight on them. And ease another worry. =0)
I'll "spin" some homesteading dreams... some are attainable and some are pipe dreams.
Chickens! I've had them over the years and have just drifted away from them. I will again have a few gals someday but for now it is not feasible. I would resist any larger livestock as it takes more... money, work, maintenance for larger stock. I could live on eggs, chicken and fish as well as fruits and vegetables. I would have planted a decent orchard years ago when we moved here.
We consider ourselves blessed to have lived on 14 rural acres for the past 31 years. I have simple demands and over the years have acquired a few things that make life easier like a small diesel tractor with equipment. There was a day I wished for a pto driven rotary tiller but no more. I don't have time to garden on that scale. I have an easy start chainsaw that I am capable of mastering and we have an adequate firewood source. I have access to the basic skills and tools I need for simple repairs and projects. I love my greenhouse and would make some changes on it but it is so much of an improvement that I hate to grumble.
I do consider water to be an imperative aspect of homestead life and life in general. We have a deep and fairly good sized, manmade pond. Its' water source is runoff only. It attracts wildlife and supports fish and crawdads. If I were dreaming, I would want springs on our acreage. Springs to feed the pond on a year around basis. A spring that is boxed or maybe protected by a spring house to provide a cold, palatable water source. A cistern of sorts to retain a large supply of rainwater for basic household and gardening use. We have fireplaces but they are not as efficient as the box heater in the greenhouse so I would wish for a large box wood heater for the house with water piping that circulates through the floor of the house to provide radiant heat throughout the house and put the heat where it is needed most. Also, the capability to cook on top of the heater in wintertime.
More time to devote to gardening and preserving foods as well as herbals. An improved soil garden spot and being physically able to do what we used to be able to do in our youth. Primarily, downsizing from where I am at would be more satisfying... less to tend to and keep up with as we age.
I'll add more thoughts if they come to mind. Great fun to read y'alls hopes and pipedreams for the homestead. Thanks for the thead ~ pod
It is a fun thread and I think it is good to dream.
It's certainly what I do on lousy weather days. =0) Cook up new schemes.
I would like to have pipe fencing around the perimeter of our property so that there wouldn't be cows out on the road when the hot wire failed - like when some idiot misses a turn and drives into our fence. The pipe fence might make an "impression" on him too! Run in sheds in every pasture and paddock would be nice too. And...
Pipe fencing would be great.
Just nice tight field fencing would work for me.... I spent a summer wire brushing & painting a pipe fence once... never again!
I'd have to hire somebody to do that. :)