Yesterday, a local farm had their annual open house and we went to check out what farm life is like. I must tell you that it was beautiful, enchanting, and it made each and every one of us want to live on a farm. Here are some photos from our adventure at The Goat Lady Dairy:
“Look, Momma! That goat is smiling!” Indeed he was…
Nothing more humbling than a goat having the same name as you. LOL
This is just one of the beautiful vegetable gardens on the property.
Peeking in on some hens laying eggs.
A hen peeking back, probably wishing we would mind our own business!
Don’t know why but I love that polka dot pig.
To see the rest of my pictures follow this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whimsigal/sets/72157602773285544/
Seriously, Sean and I have been frantically researching farm life and trying to figure out how we could do it! Any readers out there live on a farm? Have any tips?
We SO want to do this!
The devil’s advocate over in me wants to list the challenges of farm life (yes, we have a farm) but all in all, I have to say it is a great life, especially as unschoolers. One of my sons loves farming – everything about it. The other is far less excited but then, he has never known anything else. I think that coming to it from another situation would really make you appreciate it more. The best part – raising and growing your own food and working with nature.
Hey Madeline! Thanks so much for your comment. I bet it is a lot of incredibly hard work. Today I was researching milking cows and was amazed at the info I found. One cow can produce 3.5 gallons of milk per day. That’s crazy! That’s a lot of milk. For now, I think we’re going to start small and begin a garden in the back yard. I wish we could have a couple of chickens but I don’t think the city or our neighbors would appreciate that very much!
Is there anything that you can recommend for me to read about farming?
Evie
Oh my YES! We love THE FAMILY COW. We also got a subscription to Hobby Farmer and found it next to useless.
We’ve been planning to retire to an apple orchard, but the upcoming move to Ohio pushed the dream closer. We plan on 10 acres minimum. We plan to have 1 family cow, keep her bred regularly enough to stay in milk and reap the benefits of beef. We plan to have pigs and sheep, chickens and geese., many vegetables, and fruit trees. The Organic Apple Grower is a favourite book of mine too.
AH, and the farm house? Maybe I should post about this: my MA is in preservation technology…..we plan to have a well, small wind turbine electricity with propane generator back up, a wood burning furnace, and many other amenities to stay off the grid. I have a design for the home if we can’t find an old farm house…….
oh I could go on and on…..feel free to email me!
Wow, Mama P.!
That is exciting to hear! I would love to hear more about what you’re planning so I will try and email you later today.
I just ordered a book called Hobby Farm – hopefully it’s not the same as the useless subscription you had.
Evie
Totally in my dreams to have land and a small family farm. Totally starting small with the gardening right now. (Zoning prevents farm animals in the city we’re in on lots less than an acre anyway.)
I recommend Salatin’s books – he’s discussed some in The Omnivore’s Dilemma which I think I’ve told you about before. Anyway, visit his website at the least, Joel Salatin. (Of course, maybe not, he’s all about making it profitable, I guess it depends on what you want to do.)
I read some fun books, Readers Digest has a How to be self sufficient type book from the 60’s I snagged from my in-laws, and there was one at the library in the kids section called “The self sufficent life” or something like that and it was pretty cool.
Right there with you. 🙂
KMDUff,
I’m not opposed to making it profitable at all so I will check out the reading you suggested. The Reader’s Digest book sounds interesting as well so I’m going to see if I can get my hands on a copy of that, too. I LOVE reading books from different generations! I have cookbooks from the 50’s and from the early 1900’s and just find them so interesting.
It’s fascinating how many people seem to be dreaming of getting back to our roots, so to speak. I think that says a lot about where some Americans are in their lives, don’t you?
Definitely agree.
My first response is that it has to do with the total lack of roots I feel to any where in the country, being raised all over it. I don’t have anywhere I can call my natal home really, that I can go and feel at home. My DH was born/raised in the area his family was born/raised in and grew up in industrial farming. He has no desire to do that, but is at least slightly intrigued by the family farm thing, the beyond organic movement, and such.
Then there is the true question of where my food comes from, how it is raised & treated. 🙂
The readers digest book is called Back to basics and I checked the copyright and its 1982. Oh well, has old looking graphics to me. (Dates myself.) There is also their Complete Do it yourself manual that is pretty awesome.
Here are some links:
Self Sufficient Life
Back to Basics
Fabulous!! Thank you so much for these links and for the info on the Reader’s Digest book. I’m of to Amazon to see if I can find a copy.
You’re awesome. Thanks again for the info!
Evie
One of those goats has my name too! I’ve made the big time…not really but still.
You can read about my level of farming knowledge (despite being raised on a pseudo-farm) here – http://piscesgrrrl.blogspot.com/2007/10/harvest-time.html
But my real question – how did you “write” on the photo with the goats’ names?
🙂
Hey, Laura! Thanks for the link!
I used Photoshop Elements to write on the photo. There is a button that will allow you to add a text box. I think Paint in Windows will let you do the same thing.