Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tiffany Vaughan Rogers on June 12, 2012 at 4:00pm

Wow, sounds like a good program! Where is this located?

Permalink Reply by Karla Upton on June 30, 2012 at 1:19pm

Wow, sounds like a cool program.  I am not in a position to take advantage of it; however, here are some of my ideas (based on what I have done with my current few high desert acres in N NV and what I want to do when we move to Central TN).

• I know I will be doing all the day-to-day stuff myself, and although my husband will help with building bigger things, I will probably be doing much of the building, too, as he is not interested in farming/gardening/livestock
• Raise a flock of 15-20 laying hens + 2 roosters as two flocks, the second flock started two years after the first one, so that I always have some in good lay.  I am still debating if I will sell or freezer hens more than 4 years old.  From personal experience, I know that much more than 20 birds, however, that becomes too much for me.  This amount allowed me to provide enough eggs for my family and dogs, and sell some to coworkers.  In my future farm, there may not be many eggs to sell as some will also go to the pigs
• Hatch my own replacement hens (I won't have a large enough gene pool, so I will need outside blood from time to time)
• 2 cows - AI them every year and let the calves nurse until the momas wean them.  Sell one calf and put the other in the freezer.  Haven't done cows before, so if it works out well, maybe expand to 4 cows.
• 2 pigs - AI them, also, and sell most of the babies as "feeder pigs" - keep a few to put in the freezer
• 25 meat chickens, half for myself, half for market
• 1/2 acre garden (I've don this before) that can be used as a market garden
• A smaller test/trial garden, or use part of the bigger garden for testing
• 15 tree orchard, with some semi-dwarf and standard trees: apples, peaches, asian pears, nectarines
• preserving my own harvest
• rotational grazing for the livestock

I just turned 50, and I like a certain level of creature comforts, so I don't know how self-sufficient we can become, but I am planning to build into the infrastructure things that will help me continue to "work the farm" even as I get older.  For example, over time, I'd like to convert the in ground garden to all raised beds 2 ft high (3 ft wide).  That way I could sit and still reach most of the plants.  I'm currently putting together a 5 year plan based on the climate that we will be moving to in August.  I won't have land of my own again for a few years, but this might be a good thing, as it will force me to plan as a way to keep me connected to this dream.  I will, of course, garden while I am renting.  I don't think I can do my job as a project manager/systems analyst and work on farm property "away" from my house; but maybe I can participate in a community garden.  I think having a plan is critical, even if things don't ever go exactly as planned.  It is a great way to mitigate risks and take advantage of opportunities.

Good luck with your endeavor! Do you have a blog or a web site? I'd love to see how you all are doing!  Also, interested in other people's responses to your questions, even if they are not applying for the program.