Playing farmer

Travis did you talk to them about leasing , in the South people who want to keep their land but want a little cash ,lease their land, maybe you could work out a trade for milk and eggs.

Reading that, I thought we were neighbors, or you were living in my house.  Got an old one, too...had to redo the whole inside and replace the floors, had to coat the roof, and have to do it again when it gets a little cooler.  But it is paid for and is home and we are comfortable in it.  Rich in blessings, but poor in material stuff.

My wife is gonna love the color of that Chcken Coop, I do too. Don’t be a Stranger.

Good looking chickens and please tell me the paint was on clearance.

The paint was left over from a woodworking project a lady hired me to do. Building her young daughter a light up purple bed frame. She paid for the paint but didnt want the rest of it. There are a few purple projects around the place now. Chickens dont mind so far.

Good to hear you are going to start some seeds Goldbrick! Planting something is proof that you believe in tomorrow. Never a bad thing.

Hope everyone is doing well! Been an adventure so far this 2020. Not much going on for projects. Have just been eating eggs and daydreaming about the future gardens. Cold outside still but the trees can feel the change, some are already starting to bud out just a bit. Their excitement just cant be contained, like mine. A few of the more excited trees even had enough buds that I could feed some to the rabbits. One of their favorite treats at the start of each year.

Kitchen sink stopped draining and then with the added weight of water started leaking. My father retired for the 3rd time a few months ago and was all to excited to help redo the sink and pipes with me. Cooked him a big breakfast and played a little dumb being sure to ask all the questions. He likes best to tell people how to do things so it helps to play a little dumb. No pictures as the temporary fix for the sink drainage , although it is a proven method, is not exactly up to the standards of the city council. It will work fine while the new house is being built.

It would be easy to see a broken sink and shoddy repair work by previous owners as a hardship. Instead I am happy they did such a bad job. It was , as most things are a blessing. A day working in the sun with my father. There is nothing on this planet I would give in trade for that. The goal of the day was to fix a sink, the memories made were plain things , very simple and very priceless.

Wondering how many other things around the place could randomly "break".

The dog shelter I work at when Im not doing anything else is full up currently. So have been having a few dog sleep overs at my house. Not exactly having heat is easily replaced when you have 4 dogs on the bed. So wrangling dogs, planning a house, working a job, working at dog shelter, moonlighting at other peoples houses doing repairs.

Life is a beautiful thing and I am blessed not to be wasting a second of it. I hope you all are equally as blessed.

Good job all around! I just heard from a Wall Street expert that all there is to farming is "dig a hole, drop in a seed, and cover it with dirt". Anyone can do it. 🤯😈😉

I want to echo this sentiment.

Good to hear from you.

I did go back to the brick yard a few times.  Built an outdoor grill/oven type thing for a cousin, built a mail box holder thing for a lady who hers gets hit every couple Saturday nights, and a few other things.   Have lost count of how many I have gotten from the place.   Has to be several hundred easy.  

The next weekends were spent around my place.  Rabbits being born and trying to convince chickens to stay broody.  Did manage to start seeds and although moving with purpose taking time to appreciate the beauty of Spring.  Walking around surrounded in the world becoming so green almost all at once , with pops of color from flowers and the trees it is hard not to feel poetic.  With every step the doubts of winter thawing off and the reassurance that I am doing exactly what I was meant to do coming back like an old friend. 

It has been about four months working from home for me. Which to me is about as perfect as it can get. Aside from the computer time from 8-5, I have unplugged. No news, no problems, no nothing except what is actually life. I literally turn off my internet at 5pm every day. When people come for eggs, or veggies or whatever I cut them off if they talk about anything considered news.   I never go anywhere only the Dollar General Market  every two weeks for supplies I dont grow yet,  and the Feed store.  I have to wear a bandanna in the DG market , which I laugh at myself looking like a bandit. 10 year old me would have loved it. 

Gardens been doing wonderfully. The veggie freezer is already full and fresh produce is in every meal. 75% of the meat is being grown here also. Had to purchase another big freezer which is a good problem to have.    Local company delivered a small dump truck of wood chips for free. It has taken me the 4 months to move it all but it will make beautiful compost over time.  I think my favorite hobby as a play farmer is making dirt.  So much of life depends on the small layer of topsoil.  

Chickens and rabbits are doing their best to get through the heat,  makes for lots of lazy days of them.  Added another 6 chickens to the laying flock to add some color to the egg variety.  15 or so rabbits and 10 roosters went into the freezer. 

Built a small barn addition because I got tired of looking at the wasted space. Will put my rabbits out there in their cages when the weather is nice. Raise chickens under them for a time,  to do the work for me of clearing out the rabbit waste and turn it with the wood chips to make more compost.   Get rabbits, chicken and dirt for vegetables.  Feed the extra vegetables to the chickens and repeat. 

Clearing out some parts of the garden that are done,  to put in some fall crop seeds.  Trying to plant something almost every day.

I know things are not great everywhere,  I wish you all well.   As always I remember how truly blessed I am and every day is a beautiful adventure. 

The next adventure will be starting the house soon,  which I am excited for the test in patience and humbleness I know is coming.  It is the one project in the past 4 years I have drug my feet on.  I paid for the septic permit already,  so no turning back now. 

Been following this thread since day one. I have very much enjoyed it and thanks for the good wishes. Best back at ya!

Congrats!!! Your Heart is in the right place, and I hope it is always that way for you.

Good morning everyone! Hope you all are having a blessed day. Figured I would go through a little bit of whats going on in my world.



Last year I put over 200lbs of Chicken and 100 lbs of rabbit in the freezer. Along with truckloads of veggies off my two garden beds. Fed myself and a few families on the down and out with that. As blessed as I was to be in a position to help , I ran out of give away food.



So this year adding more garden space, which thankfully for a fallen tree got enough space to add another 25ft by 50 ft bed. Chickens had not had a chance to run on it yet, but its still growing ok.







So now have 3 and 1/2 good garden spots.  There was a 4th one on top of a hill ,  but I got tired of it not working.  And so I wouldnt be tempted to try it again planted fruit trees on it to expand the orchard.  Trees are doing wonderful there. Nature knew it wasnt a garden spot,  took me a few years to realize it.  

Got a photo of a few rabbits enjoying the weather for a few more weeks.   The breeders are in the barn ,  I dont breed them during the summer I feel its just to hard on them in the heat.  Will pick that up again in late summer/ fall 






Gardens are doing great ,  to good to be fair.   The reason being all the rain in my area.  The plants are taking it easy and not realizing life is short and they need to get to work making fruit.  Hopefully they realize this sooner or later,  but I never get tired of looking at the plants growing.  They are better at being plants than me,  so they will do what they need to when the time comes.  Despite what timeline I think they should follow. 




I remember often praying for more patience.  So how lucky I am in trying to build a house to get to be patient.  The project is months behind,  the biggest issue is doing it myself,  there are things I need to hired done and everyone is so busy currently they have even forgotten how to return phone calls (ok I am still working on the patience thing a tad).  There is a time for everything and this will come.   I am pretty dumb,  but smart enough to realize there will be a point I am to busy and wished it would slow down some.  So might as well enjoy the slow part now. 





I am still blessed beyond what anyone deserves,  and this year will hopefully be a record for me in giving food away to folks.  We have all been touched in some way or another by this past year or so. My youngest cousin and his wife were hit with a less than 1% of illness reaction and now she will never walk again.  The bills ,  and hours at hospitals, and trying to raise a young daughter there are lots of ends they have that are just not meeting.    While I am not in a position to make all problems go away ,  I am in a position that none one in that house will have to go without a meal ,  no matter what the future has in store for them.  Did I know this when I started this adventure 4 or so years ago?  Of course not,  but because I listened to my heart and took steps forward I am able to help not haveing to catch up to help . 

I do not say this to blow my own horn , that is the last thing that should ever happen. I am humbled daily by sweat and my own failures. Just this morning was shoveling rabbit poop/hay mix onto an asparagus bed,  tripped over basically hay.... face down into the poop part.  Busted up nose is a good way to remember to be humble.  Ive had fruit trees die,  rabbits lose litters,  plants not grow, trees fall down,  current trailer testing the defination of "liveable".   It is all part of an adventure that will put me in my place anytime I start feeling "special".  Lessons in humility are often the most important ones. 

If your heart is leading you down a path ,  a path that would put you in a position that in a few years you can help people then you might want to listen .  In a few years people might need your help ,  they probably already do now.