Homesteading and Hobby Farm/Ranch

  • Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!



    Go here and give us your nominations!
    Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Give us your worst ones!
Kiroy

Kiroy

Marine Biologist
<Bronze Donator>
35,461
102,600
Sludig said:
So got to Oklahoma, already getting a farmers tan. Still trying to work out how to use the land. I have a pond that I think is just rainfall and a bit of groundwater seepage from uphill. Seems to leech behind it's berm into the stand of tree's behind ought to be good shady mudhole for livestock.

But silly things to figure out like do I leave the back 3 acres pasture for goats and a cow or two vs keep them in smaller pens and try and grow grass then cut it for them. (like get a season or two baled before getting the livestock) THen again I've seen some people saying that the savings of growing out a young cow vs just buying a steer needing a month of finishing isnt worth it.

Still work full time, so souring I think on trying to do 1-2 acres of crops, seems like starting an orchard of fruit and maybe a few nut tree's might be lower maintenance, feed most of it to goats/chickens etc, some for ourselves. I need more rainy seasons to see how the water is sitting again, the back gets kinda thin layer of sitting water muddy from what I saw this spring. Just had it brush hogged of 2-3 years worth of wild shrub and tree's.

Hard to find some of the medium zero turn mowers in stock, waiting for a 60" XDX hustler. Then I really liked this 25 hp mahindra tractor the guy used, similiar engine to smaller kubota but wider track/tires/heavier. Had seen where the bx kubota's struggled with their backhoes etc lifting themselves up too much trying to do much work. Then really need a small trailer for a lot of things whenever my truck ever gets built. (ordered January, looking like might get it december...)
Click to expand...

Goats are browsers so you don't have to worry about them messing with the pasture unless you put in a boatload. Cows mow, so also aren't too hard on pastures. Sheep graze really near the ground so are harder on the pasture, and horses will strait rip out the grass and fuck up your pasture in record time. Our goat pasture is about 2 acres that I can flood and sprinkler irrigate and 6 goats (3 pygmy 2 nigerian1 boer) + 2 sheep is just about perfect for that pastures health w/o having to put work into it other than some seasonal seed projection I do. Get an LGD and throw your chickens in that pasture as well.

I'd start your gardens at 1/2 acre for the first year and get a feel for it before decided how much more. It really does become a lot of work. We keep 1/2 acre of flowers and 1/4 acre of vegetables and it's a decent amount of work, but as our soil improves (we're no till) it's getting easier.

As for the mower, my next zero turn will be a commercial model. Properties like ours just beat the shit out of them. Make sure you can service the hydrostatic drives!
 
Last edited:
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user
Sludig

Sludig

Potato del Grande
10,075
10,766
Kiroy said:
Goats are browsers so you don't have to worry about them messing with the pasture unless you put in a boatload. Cows mow, so also aren't too hard on pastures. Sheep graze really near the ground so are harder on the pasture, and horses will strait rip out the grass and fuck up your pasture in record time. Our goat pasture is about 2 acres that I can flood and sprinkler irrigate and 6 goats (3 pygmy 2 nigerian1 boer) + 2 sheep is just about perfect for that pastures health w/o having to put work into it other than some seasonal seed projection I do. Get an LGD and throw your chickens in that pasture as well.

I'd start your gardens at 1/2 acre for the first year and get a feel for it before decided how much more. It really does become a lot of work. We keep 1/2 acre of flowers and 1/4 acre of vegetables and it's a decent amount of work, but as our soil improves (we're no till) it's getting easier.

As for the mower, my next zero turn will be a commercial model. Properties like ours just beat the shit out of them. Make sure you can service the hydrostatic drives!
Click to expand...
I'm still almost suprised 2 acres only handles that few relatively small critters, though maybe just dropping sheep vast improvement. Was planning dwarf goats. Useless except as pet, but was looking at a miniature donkey baby but we dont even have fencing up yet. Until old house sells, I guess stalled out of caution, just figuring out ideas.

Just bags of some kind of grass seed you throw out in the spring? Would think birds and bugs would go bananas on them.
 
Kiroy

Kiroy

Marine Biologist
<Bronze Donator>
35,461
102,600
I'm always mixing it up. Since i'm broadcasting I try to keep it as cheap as possible cause I lose some to birds and germination failure. Buckwheat, cereal rye, triticale and then i'll usually spread out some thicker cover crops in areas I know there's shitty weeds and foxtails to try to outgrow them. I don't really have to do much though since the pasture reseeds itself, most of what I do is maintain soil quality and patch spots where undesirable plants are creeping in.

And with my goats I still give them some alfalfa pellets, proteins blocks and minerals to supplement what they get in the pasture.
 
Sludig

Sludig

Potato del Grande
10,075
10,766
Remember them as a kid, but guess my tree's (1 evergreen but seen a few at least one some of these other giant tree's I have), but I have bagworms. Neat but guess really bad for the tree's. Any experiences dealing w/ them? Got another couple tree's I've seen no bagworms out front basically doing fall dropping of leaves right now, unsure if they can't tolerate this heatwave or just whernt getting enough water, or sick in some other way. Dunno since I just moved here and not familiar with a lot of the local life.
 
C

Captain Suave

Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
5,357
9,089
I just got back from a week at my dad's newly-finished hobby farm in the FL panhandle. He's got 120 acres, mostly feed grass with a bit of timber, and a 4-acre spring-fed lake. It is SO MUCH FUCKING WORK. It's half a job just maintaining the equipment needed to do the actual work, and the rest is fun stuff like spraying roundup in the blazing sun to keep invasive plants out of the pasture.

I totally get it - my family had an amazing time, but I'm not sure it makes for a relaxing retirement. Hats off to you Blazin Blazin for taking on similar.

1659455434012.png

1659455478820.png
 
  • 4Like
Reactions: 3 users
Blazin

Blazin

Creative Title
<Nazi Janitors>
7,119
36,612
Captain Suave said:
I just got back from a week at my dad's newly-finished hobby farm in the FL panhandle. He's got 120 acres, mostly feed grass with a bit of timber, and a 4-acre spring-fed lake. It is SO MUCH FUCKING WORK. It's half a job just maintaining the equipment needed to do the actual work, and the rest is fun stuff like spraying roundup in the blazing sun to keep invasive plants out of the pasture.

I totally get it - my family had an amazing time, but I'm not sure it makes for a relaxing retirement. Hats off to you Blazin Blazin for taking on similar.
Click to expand...

It's definitely a lot of work, hardest adjustment for me is that I'm use to wanting work completed before I do something relaxing. I've learned that on the homestead work is never complete so it's harder for me to strike some sort of balance. I try to sit down at PC and I just think of things that need doing, have done the least amount of gaming probably in 25 yrs for me.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
14,736
2,626
Sludig said:
I'm still almost suprised 2 acres only handles that few relatively small critters, though maybe just dropping sheep vast improvement.
Click to expand...

Depends where you are heh. In the high desert of SE Montana we figure you need 25-40 acres to support a single cow. Places in Nevada it might be 300+ acres per cow.

Sheep aren't really different than anything else. If they're damaging the land it's because you're overgrazing it, not some kind of inherent problem with sheep. Leave any animal on the same ground for too long and they will overgraze it. Even if you turn 10 sheep out in 1000 acres they will overgraze some areas and under graze others. If you really want healthy pasture you need to have animals in it for a short time and then get them out long enough for the plants to fully recover before it's grazed again. It's the second bite on the same plant that causes overgrazing. I don't know that there's really a practical way to do that on 2 acres but that would be ideal.
 
Kiroy

Kiroy

Marine Biologist
<Bronze Donator>
35,461
102,600
Blazin said:
It's definitely a lot of work, hardest adjustment for me is that I'm use to wanting work completed before I do something relaxing. I've learned that on the homestead work is never complete so it's harder for me to strike some sort of balance. I try to sit down at PC and I just think of things that need doing, have done the least amount of gaming probably in 25 yrs for me.
Click to expand...

Took me about 2 years to get it in my head that I can work at whatever pace I want vs killing myself going from project to project in shit weather. I've settled into a cycle where I typically work my ass off getting projects done in the spring and fall when the temperatures and weather are on my side, and just sort of maintain in the summer and winter (mowing/trimming/watering/animal chores ect). It's a pretty weird psychological hurdle to push through as a man who likes to get shit done as soon as I think of it or find a problem. Right now i'm sitting on my porch drinking coffee staring at my barn that needs new panels, doors and a paint job. I got my new chicken coop project that needs to be finished. I've got a few creeks that needs to be cleaned out really good. A few big fencing projects. Another garden plot to put in. But I'm not going to touch any of that stuff till our day highs are like 85 degrees, so fall.
 
  • 1Solidarity
Reactions: 1 user
Sludig

Sludig

Potato del Grande
10,075
10,766
BrutulTM said:
Depends where you are heh. In the high desert of SE Montana we figure you need 25-40 acres to support a single cow. Places in Nevada it might be 300+ acres per cow.

Sheep aren't really different than anything else. If they're damaging the land it's because you're overgrazing it, not some kind of inherent problem with sheep. Leave any animal on the same ground for too long and they will overgraze it. Even if you turn 10 sheep out in 1000 acres they will overgraze some areas and under graze others. If you really want healthy pasture you need to have animals in it for a short time and then get them out long enough for the plants to fully recover before it's grazed again. It's the second bite on the same plant that causes overgrazing. I don't know that there's really a practical way to do that on 2 acres but that would be ideal.
Click to expand...
His land was the 2 acres. Mine is closer to 4 maybe. Few brushy outcrops with trees and a pond. Pond almost gone in this heat wave, in worried about it being too dangerous and stagnant. Not sure if i fence off, try to run a pump on it, or what. Unusual drought here so have to see the future. Chock full of frogs.


Just took my new zero turn out. Hit some hidden synod in the heavy existing brush hogged areas, though just cut over as it was like 1 inch saplings. Close to 3 hours for 5 acres, since much of it is uneven rough, only front acre is semi lawn.



I think I'm going to try and likely fail to spot for 5-10 mini goats (trying to keep a few in milk and selling kids out possibly eating the excess) , mini donk and possibly a friend for him. And wife wants a mini sheep I'm scared to see prove of. Then a bunch of chickens. Or possibly keep to like 4 goats and try these small kunekune pigs that will supposedly just graze to slaughter weight without a bunch of fed like a full size pig.


Right now biggest obstacle is trying to get cheaper fence than going to tractor supply. That and finding decent labor to help as that's a lot of t posts for a city slicker to put in. Some of the 5 acres has usable fence plus hedge, though i also need to divide it up into front and back and probably 2 sections on back to attempt to rotate grazing fields.
Have decent egg from house sale but no sense blowing thru funds needlessly.

Seen better prices on like 300ft rolls, but need machinery to carry and lay them I guess.
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
14,736
2,626
Sludig said:
worried about it being too dangerous and stagnant
Click to expand...

Get yourself a TDS (total dissolved solids) tester. I have a professional one that cost like $350 but there are much cheaper ones on Amazon which for all I know would do the job as well. If the water is below 5000ppm it's probably safe. If it gets above that you should have it tested to see what minerals are in it. If it's high in salts or sulfites it might not be safe to drink but if it's below that point no matter what is in it the levels are probably okay.

Sludig said:
Right now biggest obstacle is trying to get cheaper fence than going to tractor supply.
Click to expand...

Electric fence is your friend. Maybe you want some nicer looking permanent fencing on the perimeter, but for internal fences get yourself a decent charger (not solar unless you really have to), a roll or two of poly wire, and some step-in posts and you can have a fence wherever you want it in an hour and you can take it back down and move it somewhere else just as fast.
 
Sludig

Sludig

Potato del Grande
10,075
10,766
BrutulTM said:
Get yourself a TDS (total dissolved solids) tester. If the water is below 5000ppm it's probably safe. If it gets above that you should have it tested to see what minerals are in it. If it's high in salts or sulfites it might not be safe to drink but if it's below that point no matter what is in it the levels are probably okay.



Electric fence is your friend. Maybe you want some nicer looking permanent fencing on the perimeter, but for internal fences get yourself a decent charger (not solar unless you really have to), a roll or two of poly wire, and some step-in posts and you can have a fence wherever you want it in an hour and you can take it back down and move it somewhere else just as fast.
Click to expand...
I was thinking bacteria or excessive algae or algae die off. Wonder if my aqarium rodi tds even registers that high.


Do you run off battery? Running power out to the field seems tricky. Then do you just rotate and charge them or something?
 
Kiroy

Kiroy

Marine Biologist
<Bronze Donator>
35,461
102,600
Sludig said:
I was thinking bacteria or excessive algae or algae die off. Wonder if my aqarium rodi tds even registers that high.


Do you run off battery? Running power out to the field seems tricky. Then do you just rotate and charge them or something?
Click to expand...

I used solar battery fencing for about 6 months while getting some fence up and had no problems.
 
Blazin

Blazin

Creative Title
<Nazi Janitors>
7,119
36,612
68004761012--74CDC09E-8596-4683-BA37-876167AA21BB.jpg


Die you little bastard! I was proud of this shot from a decent distance, can see hole just under his arm, dropped him on the spot.

This photo is shitty but this was quite a decent buck.
IMG-6361.jpg


I really want to get a good optical zoom camera, so much wildlife and I never have a good camera handy to capture it.
 
  • 3Like
Reactions: 2 users
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
14,736
2,626
Sludig said:
I was thinking bacteria or excessive algae or algae die off. Wonder if my aqarium rodi tds even registers that high.
Click to expand...

True the TDS meter won't help you with bacteria. I've never had trouble with that but I suppose it's possible.

Sludig said:
Do you run off battery? Running power out to the field seems tricky. Then do you just rotate and charge them or something?
Click to expand...

You can do it with a car battery and rotating from the charger but if you can plug it into AC power that's better as you can get a much more powerful shock for less money. Rather than running 120V out to the field it's easier to just run your fence all the way to the plug. Adding a few hundred yards of fence is really nothing once you are set up with posts and wire. You can run an insulated wire for part of it as well if it's a problem having a hot wire in a particular area.

People do get by with the little solar chargers, but in my experience they work for a while until one animal figures out that it doesn't really hurt that bad and starts going through it and the rest follow. The "miles" rating on them is complete nonsense. Chargers are rated in joules and I wouldn't buy one with less than 3 joules. 6+ is better. Most solar chargers are 0.2-0.6J and solar chargers in the 3+ joule range are pretty spendy. I have a 12J solar setup that has never failed me but I think I paid $1300 for it and you can get a good plug in unit for much less money.

Goats are pretty special for getting out of fences no matter what kind you use or so I've been told.
 
Blazin

Blazin

Creative Title
<Nazi Janitors>
7,119
36,612
Went implement shopping, I want this flail mower
IMG-6389.jpg

Sorry she is always blocking my view. This flail mower
IMG-6388.jpg

Being able to run mower offset from tractor would save me a lot of frustration of tires pushing grass down. Current issue is I only have one set of hydraulics at the rear and would need two but I may just buy extension hoses and run it from the FEL controls which would be nice to have the joystick control. Almost $7,000 mower however.
 
  • 3Worf
  • 1Quality Calories
  • 1Like
Reactions: 4 users
Locnar

Locnar

<Bronze Donator>
2,828
3,142
Blazin said:
They are a plague putting massive holes in my field. You ever hit a big ground hog hole while running equipment?
Click to expand...
No , they don’t live in FL, and I don’t even own a lawnmower ! Wont you just be killing them forever ?
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
14,736
2,626
You should try a badger hole. I broke one of the wheels completely off my baler in one of those once.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.