farm

I am a straight male INFP.I get along well with people,but have difficulty in the field of romance.Probably not unusual for INFPs

It make not happen soon, but one day I would like to have a farmette.

We’ve decided that keeping large animals is no longer do-able for us; with the new pregnancy and with my son’s speech disability, I can no longer devote time to their care. We’ve sold the two remaining male sheep, and we have mother and daughter donkey up for sale. My friend in Kansas is supposed to come get the male donkey and the last ewe when they get their truck fixed. So, we’re left with the chickens, who are getting old and not as productive. I guess we should be happy that they’re giving enough for us to eat, and a little extra to almost cover feed.

Winter is finally here. Time to play in the snow and tend the cattle.

Our river is so dry that our water plant can’t draw in enough water to supply the people. All of the older people say that the weather has changed dramatically since they were young.

so we decided to let the donkeys and sheep into the front area where there’s plenty of grass. We get to save some money on feed, thank goodness.

I have at least 8 dozen eggs to sell tomorrow, I just need to get going early enough to make that transaction and still get to storytime before it starts.

Sombrea (momma donkey) still hasn’t popped yet, so we’re just watching her get bigger.

We’ve plans to buy a pen for the grazers so what little grass we have has a chance to grow. Paying $130 for a round bale of hay (which lasts just less than a month) is getting old, and is seriously thwarting our ability to pay down our credit card debt. DH wants to hire someone to mulch our cedar piles, but I want to postpone it until we can pay off another card and/or do a transfer of our high-interest one.

We aren’t getting much out of our chickens, enough for us to eat, and a few dozen to sell each week, but not enough to cover the feed we buy (layer pellets, corn, and oats). Maybe we’ll back off on the grains, now that there’s more insect life for them to find. Must consult my experts [Phelan]. There’s one hen who’s been rejected by the flock, so we protect her at night in the old rabbit hutch. I think we’ve pretty much missed the window on expanding the flock, as we still don’t have a safe place for any chicks—a new coop, with a hover, is yet another project we don’t have the money (or time) to build.

We’ve also missed out on our spring garden, so we’ll have to see what we can do in the fall (a.k.a. growing season #2 in TX). All we have now is the oregano that survivied the icing we got back in January.

Dang, but it is hard to make this place a working farm that will qualify us for agricultural status, and the following property tax break. It seems like we need to win a big enough lottery to hire full-time people.

we couldn’t sell the donkey as we’d hoped. She pulled up lame the day the buyer came to get her. We could not in good conscience sell a walking vet bill, so we sent them home with one of the male sheep (whom they have named Donkey) we’d been planning to sell.

So, we have the donkey for at least another year. She’s pregnant and due sometime this summer. After that baby has weaned, we will be delivering him or her up to the people who had wanted to buy the momma. They’ve already bought a cart and a garden plow for their new addition. We should have no trouble selling the momma, as long as we can keep her healthy.

growing up on 20 acres was no walk in the park aside from the chores the closest friend I had lived 2 miles away so its not like I could play just accross the street like everyone else. But when my friends would come to my house they got to do and see things that other kids only wished to do or see. We had cows, pigs, chickens, goats, and sheep. we even had a creek going right through the property needless to say we had a blast. My parents still live there and we still visit once a week and all the grand kids play in the same way we did. it’s so cool to show them how to just get dirty and have fun.

DH and I have had several talks about the future of our farm. We’ve come to the conclusion that we don’t have the time to start any new production (so, no rabbits or cattle), and with the drought, we need to sell the 3 sheep geldings (one has sellable wool, so we’ll probably wait anouther month to shear that).

Our older donkey has been sold to a friend in Kansas-she and her husband will be picking her up in a few weeks. We need to get her immunized and papered by then so the transport over state lines goes smoothly.

With what we save on hay and feed, we should be able to afford to build some cinder-block raised beds, and we can start growing some of our own food. If I can grow and sell some herb plants, that will add a little to the income I bring in (right now, it’s just egg money).