Where we are now...

This blog is being created as a way for us to document our attempt at homesteading. We have already come a long way, but still have so far to go!

Back in 2003, we purchased 172 acres of land (mostly wooded) which abutted 8 acres my husband already owned (originally purchased by his grandfather and was landlocked). We were married in our field (after a lot of tree removal and brush cutting) in July of 2004. We have logging roads (from when previous owners logged) which we maintain as hiking/ATV trails. We had our land surveyed. I found the history paper trail for the survey- of each abutter all the way back into the 1800's, and my husband cut the lines for the survey around our perimeter.

Last year, we started an orchard of mostly apple trees and 2 cherry. We planted 20 trees in spring and some didn't make it through winter. This spring, we replaced those and added more. We now have 1 self-pollinating cherry, 1 self-pollinating peach, 1 mulberry, and the rest are a variety of apples (about 25). It looks like we may actually have some apples this fall as there are some small ones starting on a few of the trees! We also planted 10 blueberry bushes this spring. They should do beautifully as we have a ton of wild blueberry all over our land, especially in the field.

Also last year, I hatched White Leghorn chicks in my class with every intention of returning them to 4-H. We were going to wait until we built our house on our land before having farm animals, but my husband knows me better than that! Of course, I couldn't return the chicks and decided to keep them, then went on to buy other chicks to add to my flock- I couldn't have just White Leghorns! So, I bought 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Buff Orpingtons, 1 Maran, 1 Plymouth Barred Rock, and 1 Black Star (all were supposed to be pullets). Well, of the 7 Leghorns we hatched, 5 were cockerels and my Barred Rock "pullet" also turned out to be a cockerel (fairly aggressive one at that). At 6 weeks old, their mobile coop was done and they moved out to our land. We also built them an enclosure which attaches to their coop so they have a secure outdoor area. I learned quickly that our neighbor's dog really likes chicken as he stole and killed one of my 2 Leghorn pullets. Ironically, he got the other Leghorn pullet over a month later when the adolescent cockerels were chasing the heck out of her. She jumped the fence right into his jaws! Needless to say, I was done with the excess cockerels at the time and they became dinner. We kept one (Father Runty) and inherited another flock from some friends of friends. That 2nd flock came with an older Australorp rooster, Big Guy, who was fairly tame. Come winter, I lost a hen and Father Runty to a hawk (stopped ranging chickens and started keeping them locked in their coop and secure enclosed area for the rest of the winter). In spring, they were moved to our orchard and their old yard has become my 2nd garden (already have one at home). More losses and gains occurred in the flock. Big Guy got an infection from the hens picking at his feet and he died. I purchased some Golden Comet chicks back in March and some straight run Rhode Island Reds. I had a broody hen (who I was not going to commit myself to breaking) which I let hatch some of my own flock's eggs (before Big Guy died, obviously- have no adult roosters anymore). Mama hen now has 5 chicks she is caring for. I also hatched eggs in my class again with the help of an electric incubator and another broody hen, Matilda. The eggs were donated by the Hancock Shaker Village and I was told they were all Rhode Island Reds- surprise when 2 of our 9 chicks turned out to be black, not red! They are either Wyandottes or Dominiques since those are they only other breeds the Shaker Village has. I'll find out more as they get older. Matilda is happily raising all 9 even though she only hatched 4. I also ordered 40 meat birds and 12 layers from a local feed store. They gave me 41 meat birds and 14 layers (extras were free) and I have lost 1 layer and 2 meat birds. They are about 2 1/2 weeks old now.

This is the short version as there obviously were other small projects and on going maintenance of the land which has occurred, but you get the idea.