I’ve been working hard moving out to the homestead. It’s quite an undertaking but I’m picking away at the work load, bit by bit. This explains my market absences of late. Please bear with me folks, while I adjust through these changes.
In between all the chaos I’ve managed to get these things planted for future harvests:
A last ditch effort for a late season harvest of green beans. Don’t hold your breath on these just in case the frost gets em’!
Lettuce Spinach Mustard Turnip greens
Cress Parsley
Carrots Onions Turnip roots
Coming up to plant soon: Late season cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, rutabaga, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage, garlic, kohlrabi, coffee chicory, collards, sweet peas, cool season culinary herbs and medicinal herbs! Plus several more coming soon, so stay tuned folks!!!
Did some surveying at the property today. Carved out a nice 6 acre chunk of the land that will be devoted to the animals for the homestead. 1st section- A barn area on the high ground near the soon-to-be driveway location, which will be roughly 1/2 acre. There will be high and dry ground big enough for a large horse/cow and hay barn one day. Plenty of space for a smaller goat/sheep barn and STILL plenty of space for a nice big chicken/goose/duck/guinea/turkey coop! The animals will NEVER have to stand in swampy ground! 2nd section- The pond, surrounded by woods for wind breaks and the little gulley to serve as natural drainage of the pasture land. This is roughly 2 acres. This section will be permanently connected to the barn to allow for year round access to shelter, birthing areas, feeding areas, water, and rambling through the woods. With a little bit of work, this pond could be easily deepened and doubled in size so as to accommodate live fish. Do y’all remember my hand trained fish in the KY pond that came to the surface when I snapped my fingers for easy netting? Talk about convenient and fresh fish dinners! Lol
Lastly, there will be 3 separate pasture areas that will be rotated according to the grazing conditions during each year. Each pasture will be roughly 1.25 acres in size.
Got one surveyed property line marked from point to point.
The first animal section that will be fenced off is the wooded pond area. A small, temporary shelter will be placed inside that penned area so I can move my animals out there asap. I was able to get 3 of the 4 sides marked out for that yesterday too.
The whole 15 acres will be divided up almost in half by the driveway which will run down the center on its highest peak. The west side will be the animal area because it includes a natural pond with it. The east side, which gently slopes down to a natural gulley for drainage will be for fruit orchard, field crops and garden space.
I’m estimating to have 4 acres of field crop space, 2 acres of orchard space and 2 acres of garden space. Due to my diligent research, efforts and planning- NONE OF MY GROWING SPACES WILL EVER FLOOD!!! Praise God!!
I’ll be leaving about 2 acres of standing woods behind the pond up, which I’ll use as a natural privacy source. I will build my home in the middle of it. Having a sensible plan for my new place feels great! Knowing that I’ll be moving to a place where my ground will never be crop dusted with poisonous chemicals is such a relief. This new homestead place WILL BE a success because it’s location was meticulously chosen by me. So I know it’s going to work!
