Dream Farm What would yours be?

If money(and time) were no issue, what would your dream be?

For myself, I would have a breeding program for large black pigs and British White Cattle. Also I would raise Red Bourbon and Narragansett Turkeys. And there would be goats scampering around everywhere! lol I can see them kicking up their heels and jumping! My garden would be about 2 acreas(I would hire someone to weed!) And maybe a place where neighbors could plant a garden of their own(not enough people know how to even plant a seed nowadays-wouldn't it be great to change that!) Oh, and I can't forget about my ducks! I would have a pond dug for them to swim in!
How about you?
Sue

My dream is a mini farm with about 10 acres. I would like to have it set up to take in stray dogs and chickens. I think Gods plan is that i rescue stray cats because i have 4 that found ME. But MY dream would be dogs and chickens that need to feel what a good life is.
I would like to be able to take them in with the ability to let them stay until they are matched up with the right home, or 4-ever if needed.
I have hope that one day i will have the ability to do this on even a small scale.

I already have the first part of my dream on 7.25 acres. If I could amend it or change it, I'd have ten more acres of rolling landscape, beautiful healthy soil, nice sturdy fences and a serious tractor with all the accessories so working my little piece of the earth would be easier and less time consuming. Then I could grow more to sell quicker so I could spend more time with my kids. I think the rest would fall into place. I'd also love to have a friend that enjoys doing what I do. I have to say though, I'm not unhappy with what I already have. :)

I would like to farm chickens all day long. And hire some handsome farm hands to shovel out all the chicken poop for me, so I wouldn't have to! They could also put up a couple of acres of fencing, so I could have goats and train my goats to take me around in a goat cart, so I could goat my way to school every day ( about a mile). That would really thrill my third grade students! And then they could fan my DH and I with big palm fronds!

Okay, I guess I really want to be the chicken Cleopatra!

But for now, I do love my little Coop D'Etat ladies.

I would love to have a goat drawn cart! Have you seen the goat bonnets that sit on top of the heads with their ears poking out?! I saw a pic of a goat once where it was pulling a cart wearing one of those bonnets-too cute.
I must say I'm very happy with what I have and consider myself very lucky to have land to farm and raise animals on but it's nice to dream, what if!
Badseed, I know what you mean about wanting a friend who enjoys the farmlife. Most everyone I know listen politely to my farm stories but that's as far as it goes. It cracks me up when people over the years find out I have goats. The one question everyone asks is, "What do you do with those?" Sometimes I think goats have unfairly gotten a reputation of being smelly and troublemakers. I've had people take off running when a goat has nibbled on a coat-the response is always-he/she is trying to bite me! Maybe I could run a Get To Know a Goat Program!

About 12 years ago I asked myself the same question...and spent 2 years looking until I found it. I'd like more land of course and a reliable hired hand 2 days per week. Everything else is fallling into place on a little more than 5 acres with gardens, orchard, pasture, a 100 year old barn, a big machine shed, a 100 year old remodeled (finally) farmhouse with attached greenhouse, chickens, goats and my dear dogs. I feel very lucky. I need new fencing but will work on that this year. Oh, and I'd like heat for the greenhouse and.....a Llama!

A dream farm. About 500 acres, about 300 cropland and 200 pasture. A herd of about 150 registered Jersey cows all classified at least VG and production of at least 20,000 lbs., good fences, buildings and up-to-date equipment and the money to pay enough good dependable help to keep it running smoothly. There'd also be a decent house within walking distance from the barns and a couple decent riding horses....and the time to ride them.

It would also all be free and clear from the bank and making a profit!

Janet

Your place looks beautiful! Are the trees in your orchard old varieties or is it something you started? Before I moved onto the family farm my dad cut down an old pear tree, a mulberry tree that was 70 years old and a couple of old apple trees. My brother was living here and didn't like them; soon after he met a girl that didn't like the farm(too far from the store!) so he moved away. I was devastated! I never said anything to him but I thought it was such a loss. They all were still producing well.
How did you get such a wonderful picture of your farm-I love the view!


This message was edited Feb 5, 2009 8:26 AM

Kydaylilylady,

With all those Jerseys you should open a nice ice cream shop with all that wonderful cream you'd be getting!

Sandy,

Reality will be in a year or so a first or second calf heifer on 29 acres with six tenths of an acre of daylilies and enough of a vegetable garden to sell at two farmers markets. At that point in time I'll have to borrow Mom's churn and her ice cream freezer. I don't think she's used it much since they sold the cows.

Janet

A dream farm. What a NICE idea for a thread!!!!!

DH always wanted to be a farmer but says it just wouldn't pay the bills (only history of farming was great grandparents long gone).

Being young we thought 2000 acres sounded right, lol.

NOW, 8 years later we would just be happy as a clam to live IN the country instead of the big city. We hope to move from current home and begin the dream of our "farm" in less than 10 years, while kids still young, they will be homeschooled so it won't exactly be a life change for them.

We would like 12 acres because in Texas that is the minimum to claim ag excemption on property taxes so why not!? And on that land we'd like some longhorns, just a few, some Belgin Blues, just a couple, some chickens, couple pigs, some pigmy goats for fun. We do not long for horses as we know they aren't that helpful to a farm really, their cost and care is so much that with young kids and tending the animals as just part of home life, not our bread and butter, we wouldn't be able to care for horses.

Nice custom home with huge wrap-around porch, lots of trees, nice garden beds up close to the house and a nicely fenced perimeter of 12 acres with a few animals. Yep, that would be my dream. Thank-you for letting me envision it!

Enough money to run acres and acres of rolling grassland, 1/3 wooded, several creeks,a lake(with ducks), all fenced. Nice victorian farmhouse with inside atrium and greenhouse. Several barns equiped to hold tractor, a small herd of Spanish Mustang, pygmy goats, chickens, bunnies, and a heated section for the Australian Cattle dog rescue I've always wanted to do. Oh, and a pool, can't forget the inground pool!

SaananSandy ~ we have *traveling photographers* that come around here every few years or so and sell you the framed photos - I finally caved and bought one last year.

My orchard is primarily apples planted maybe 20 years ago by a previous owner, plus there are 2 pears, 1 old struggling peach and a new peach I planted last year. I don't spray so I need to figure out a better orchard management program. What a horrible shame that your brother destroyed your orchard...oh my.

Oh, and I met my dream of paying off my mortgage two years ago - such a relief
I love this thread

Catherine

Oh Catherine, I am so happy that you have paid off your mortgage. That's the one thing I fear most is to have something happen and we can't pay. We have quite a few years left! Since we are concentrating on the mortgage we try to make improvements on the farm which are free(just sweaty!). We've done alot of building stone walls and when we cut the winters wood we are slowly making more pasture-I leave some trees which are healthy and the birds really seems to appreciate it. Do you have an extension to contact about orchard management? We never sprayed either so we had good years and so-so years! But nothing beats going out into your yard and getting a nice juicy pear straight from the tree!

I am so enjoying what everyone has written! I can envision each and every one. Definitely makes me sit here and daydream!
Janet, I can just picture sitting on the front porch eating some of that homemade ice cream! Hey if I bring some of my wild blueberries, we could have fresh blueberry ice cream. My aunt makes some every year and boy is it good.

Sue, happy daydreamer!

Does it hafta be a farm? Cuz I have a dream property/farm/do what I want land dream. Let me know if it hasta be a farm. Gnite see ya tommorrow.

Well, I don't think it has to be a farm...just country living. We don't classify our as being a "farm". We do have chickens, 2 cats and a PITA (pain in the a**) beagle. So, maybe it is a farm. My dream always was 10 acres with the house in the middle of it so I wouldn't have close neighbors, and I am living it now. We bought the property in '93, set our house in '95, and moved in full-time in '99. We do have neighbors but all but one is seasonal. The one that is not, we can only see their house in the winter when the leaves are down off the trees. No orchard, but do have wild apples, blackberries, raspberries, and two small gardens that we are able to tend easily.

Our nearest town only has about 300 residents and wally-world is 35 miles away from home so we only go there when we have to. Doctor and hospital is 20 miles away so it's close enough to go to when necessary.

A big strong barn helper named Sven (who looks great in tight jeans)who does all my chores and then gives me a back rub when hes all done with them
Then cooks and cleans up my dinner
Thats my perfect farm........


edited to add

STOP PINCHING ME
I dreaming here!!!!!!!

This message was edited Feb 7, 2008 8:35 AM

hey crestedchik....does Sven have a brother? a cousin?....*grin*

You might be dreaming, but I DO have that dream barn helper. My dh does all the heavy work, cooks and cleans, washes clothes, and gives me back rubs, too. I have had him for 37 years and wouldn't trade him for all the tea in China, or any where else for that matter.

He even pumps my gas for me. I have never had to do that either. :o)

You all can have the big strapping lads! I want a wife. I have a husband to earn the money and me to do the work. I need someone to deal with the cooking, cleaning and kids. LOL

That's not a wife, that's a housekeeper, nanny and cook!

LOL But a wife MIGHT be cheaper than all three of those!

Well, I'll darned well say that I AM!!!! (and I suspect you are too!) LOL!!!

Yeah, once you have kids, it's amazing how little you need to live. LOL

It doesn't have to be a farm...like granny_goody said whatever your country living dream might be! I don't think you have to have 50 acres to consider yourself a farm girl/boy! Our neighbor has little over an acre and he is as happy as a pig in...well you know!! He has his chickens, a couple sheep and two pigs(well he's down to one now-pork chops anyone?)
crestedchik, I like your way of thinking!! Although my dh is the best- maybe the young strapping lad can do most of the strenuous work so my dh won't be too tired to give backrubs!!lol!

I think my smaller dream would be a hired hand that had enough common sense to put the brake on the tractor before he took it out of gear so it wouldn't roll down the hill and split in half when it hit a tree. Oh yeah, he or she'd have to come to work on a regular basis and actually work when they're there too.

I live in the heart of Phoenix. A city that has sprawled and grown like mad over the 25 years I have been here. My dream would be to own 5 acres of land here. To grow Citrus and flowers, and to raise animals. In my neighborhood, there are still homes with land, raising chickens, cattle, llamas, Emus, and lots of other creatures. On my quarter acre lot I have two dogs, five cats, and 16 chickens. Including one rooster - and my neighbors love his crowing. So far. It is nice to bring a bit of my country roots to the city.

my wife and I have 10 acres, its kinda on side of hill but its 10 acres. my dream would be to have a small fruit orchard, a few more wind break trees than I have know. Chickens and maybe, another shop so our garage could be walked in normally. We are pretty darn happy with what we have, but I've gotta lot of work to do. Now that I'm done with military life, can't wait till our dream farm is done. Anybody in central nevada have a grader, dozer, track excavator, and loader I can borrow? I'll pay to rent em. Gotta change the layout of this property. Ladies I do have a strapping young male helper, good looking kid, smart, well sometimes. My brothers boy helps me out alot, hes pretty young though, only 16, and dont think he does foot rubs, his girlfriend gets jealous. enjoyed reading your posts, makes me smile everytime I come into these forums. Have good weekend.

Janet, your comment reminded me of what my son did the other day- he was using the tractor to bring wood from the woodshed to the house. I just happened to look out the window to witness the tractor rolling away, thankfully not towards the house. I gave a holler and I have never seen my ds move that fast before! Luckily it didn't hit anyone or anything. It scared the dickens out of him and I don't think he'll ever leave the tractor without using the emergency brake.
An in-law of my uncle had a terrible accident by not using the brake. He stopped his tractor and got off to open a gate. When he was between the tractor and the gate, the tractor started rolling and pinned him to the gate. If it wasn't for someone nearby it probably would have killed him. He was laid-up for over a month but luckily he recovered from his injuries.

Hey horseman_tanker, too bad you didn't live closer! We'd give ya a hand!

Well, I thought you would never ask! : )

We want somewhere between 20-40 acres in either Missouri, Tennesse, or Arkansas. We want at least half of it in forest. In the forest I want mushrooms, especially morels that I could eat and sell. There would be wild-simulated ginseng, oak, sassafras, cedar, osage orange, paw paw, persimon, beech, birch, a variety of trees and wildlife. I want it to smell like the woods. I want the woods to be old enough that it has old logs rotting on the forest floor, with all kinds of mosses growing on the ground. Lichens can grow on the limestone boulders that stick out of the ground. I would use purple paint instead of those tacky no-tresspassing signs. If our land could attach to another peice of land that was in woods, that would be great. And enough squirrel and deer to hunt in the fall. If we have a lot of land, I might take up trapping in the winter.

On the edge of the woods, I want blackberry and raspberry bushes; wild ones, I don't mind sharing with birds and I don't want to spend extra time and money for upkeep. In the feild/meadow I want all kinds of wild useful plants I could experiment making medicenes with. There would also be rabbits in this area I could hunt. All five of my future kids will grow up here and learn to love the outdoors and nature.

Now, imagine we've gone through the woods and through the field/meadow. Now we can see the house in the distance. From now on it's a gently slope upwards. First we come across our huge garden. There's fruits and vegetables and nuts and cotton and grains and sunflowers. The millet is growing for the chickens in the winter. The corn is growing for the chickens and the people. There are beans growing up the corn. There is mulch between the maze of plants, and it's rotting and makes it smell like the woods. In with the rest of the gardent there will be grapes, blueberries, strawberries, gooseberries, etc. When snails get on things, I bring them inside and add them to my escargo farm. There will be a several small movable chicken/duck/geese tractors that I can fit in between plants if I want to, or if I am down there with them, I can just let them free range a couple hours before sunset.

Past the garden is a small orchard where there are pecans, walnuts (on the edges), cherries, plums, apricots, pears, hickory, ginko, elderberries, more paw paws and persimmons. There will be bat houses, and if I'm blessed, a colony will come and move in. I would be thrilled to provide free housekeeping for them by composting their guano, in exchange for them eating bugs that would get on my trees. Under the trees I would move the chicken/geese/duck tractor when necessary to eat grubs and small weeds under the trees. I would also plant some kind of low maintence plant that the birds can forage off of, to decrease feed cost. They would eat rotten fruit that falls and fertilze the areas they go. I would get eggs, meat, feathers and manure from them.

Past the orchard is a large fenced pasture, that is full of native grasses, annual and pereniall, suited to their enviroment. Inside the permanent fence are movable electric wired paddocks, where we can rotational graze. I'm not so crazy for cows, but if my husband wants some, we'll have them. If we do, I want a large basin of water with a little ladder for the birds, so they can drink safely and eat the bugs and flies that torment the cows. Goats would be good to use to rotational graze with them, since they prefer to eat different things. And chickens after them, so they can pick through the poo and eat parasite larvae. I would milk the goats and use the goat kids for meat. I like dual purpose animals.

Now, on the right of the pasture will be a barn for milking, hay storage, tools, winter shelter, and calving or kidding if necessary. There will be a big compost pile outside, as none of that lovely manure will go to waste. And the compost pile won't be foul, it will be well balanced and tolerable smelling. A manure filled field smells like money you say? Smells like overgrazing and potential disease to me! The barn will be equipped with running water, so I could just run a hose out to the water basins everyday.

On the right of the pasture and down the hill a little will a huge pond. There will be a cluster of treew with wide canopys overreaching it. The leaves will drop down occasionally and disrupt the mirror surface. There will be a peninsula where we have a small shed with a canoe inside of it. Near the back, there will be cattails overtaking the back. This will provide protection for small fish, so I don't have to keep restocking the darn thing every year. Also, cattails are edible food for wildlife and people. In the pond will be catfish, bass, small minows, crapie, turtles, frogs, lilies, different kinds of water plants, crawdads, and snakes. Yes, snakes. There will be little islands in the middle of the pond for ducks to use. I'll have a duck safe house on the edge of the water. Although they'll probably be safer from coyotes on the little islands, don't you think? Not from hawks, though, they'll need somekind of shelter from them.

Oh, back by the orchard I'll have several beehives. This will increase my crop and give me honey every so often. I might have herbs growing underneath the trees, like lavender or bergamot, pennyroyal or mint. Bees like those, right? Hopefully they will pollinate my trees and garden, and have enough food so they don't swarm off into the great unknown. I hope the bats don't eat them. They're on different sleeping scedules anyway, right?

As we get closer to the house, we see that it's an underground house, the roof and 3 walls are covered. It faces south, and uses passive solar heat, with a little wood heat in the winter. Maybe. Maybe it's our old trailer with a storm shelter, we'll see what we can afford after all the previosly mentioned!

I've got it all drawn up on paper, and I'm sure my fantasy will instantly materialize someday. My husband says the magic words are "Get....a ...second.... job...." Just joking, we've been saving for years and can almost taste our dream coming true. Just a few more bucks and a more secure job, and we'll feel secure making the purchase.

that's a beautiful picture! And its often said that visualizing your dream makes it come true!

thankgod that was a awesome read, sounds like you have thought about this a time or two,