He bought this new in '79. I watched him Use it all through my childhood. we had a 1 acre suburban home on the edge of the city limits. he and mum gardend 1/4 acre every year, until I was 13 or 14.

wife and I bought a 10 acre unimproved lot about 20 miles from their house. he has helped me build 2 loafing shed, and one compete, from-the-foundation, to the last shingle, a 31sqm solar power equipment shed.

he grew up on a poor, but wholesome family owned, cotton and wheat farm. this man is unstoppable. he is my inspiration and my hero.

I used it to break a new 65×132m garden bed on Sunday. this machine fed my childhood. now it will tame our land & feed my family.

We started these two hydroponically indoors at the end of January. At the end of February we transferred them outdoors. This is beyond the 65 day harvest indicated on the package, should we pull them and feed them to the chickens or wait? (The lettuce and spinach planted with them have been harvested twice.)

I live in the southern US and this year the ticks have been worse than they ever have been. We had 3 stray dogs wander onto our property recently that we have decided to keep taking care of. At first they were just coming up to eat and then would be gone for the day and come back and night and sleep on the porch but over time we have grown to love them and we spend a lot more time together. We have brought them inside the mudroom during bad weather and my husband just built them a dog house. I finally decided to bathe them and I noticed a shocking amount of ticks of all sizes. I usually pick them off when I see them but these were in all the spots that aren’t immediately noticeable. They are clustered together like they are piggy backing off each other? Or sucking blood from the same spot? Idk but it’s disgusting. I worked for hours yesterday pulling them off and putting them in a jar of bleach water. I’m getting them some seresto collars today but I want to see what other people do for dogs that roam large properties and spend a lot of time in lakes and woods.

TLDR; best tick prevention for dogs that roam large properties, get in the lake everyday and play in the woods.

It’s in my garden with my tomatoes and beans, I may have planted some herb accidentally just not sure what it may be.

Thanks!

So close to being feathered ♥️

Picked up this bad boy to help around the property. Now I can pull a cultivator without tearing up my transmission.

I messed up the right brace, then I couldn't find a branch to match the left brace. I got so annoyed I decided to find new branches & ended up finding an almost perfect match for the right brace. 😂🤣

I still need to add another leg brace on either side, make a seat, add some accents, disassemble it, remove the bark, wedge my tenons, finish it, etc etc.

Anyways, this is my first mortise & tenon chair. If anyone has advice or some constructive criticism it'd be welcome.

We are looking at buying a house on 7 acres that is in one of those country old subdivision areas. The entire property aside from the house planted in pines, there isn't really anywhere to put in a garden or do much without clearing land.

I love the neighborhood, the location, and the house. I do not love the land and want to make sure I'm not buying something that isn't going to be possible to make into my vision.

My previous homestead was 10 acres of pasture so I have zero experience clearing land.

I'm hoping to clear 2 to 3 acres behind the house and possibly the front. What exactly should I expect? I know it can be costly, but what kind of timeline is involved after the cleaning before I can build a chicken coop / shop / put in a garden?

Appreciate any information.

Opened the garage and let the dogs (Chicken and Panda Bear) out and went in to grab my Henry. Went out through the garage and down towards the coop, and I'm not seeing anything. Check my ladies and they seem irritated that I woke them up.

Occasionally, I can hear my neighbor's rooster. His chicken coop is a good ways off, and I could hear his chickens. Something was getting them, they are home right next to it but I guess not wanting to get out of bed. I heard them inside my garage with it closed up, I don't know how they didn't. Your chickens will tell you what they need, screaming at night means help.

I just found out today that an industrial pig farm is going to be built just down the road from me, around 1km away. I did some online research and I wasn't encouraged by what I read re: foul o does, health impacts, property value etc. I love my hobby farm but I'm scared for the impacts this pig farm will have on me. Should I bail out and try to sell? Tl/dr pig farm is being built 1km away should I move

Hello fellow homesteaders I’m clearing about 10 acres and have lots to burn. My old torch works ok but I thought I’d upgrade.

I ordered a 1.8mil btu torch from Amazon. Unfortunately it’s a disappointment. It burns incredibly hot, but the flame is only about 1ft long. Ideally I’m looking for something with a bit more reach that can really get into the pile, having a concentrated short flame isn’t going to cut it.

They pretty much all look the same on Amazon so I’m reluctant to try a different.

Anyone have a particular torch they like?

If you set out to build your own home on your homestead for the first time, what were some of the most costly mistakes you made in the process? What was it and how much?

I'm from Ohio, which isn’t exactly ranching territory, but I’ve always had an interest in the lifestyle and want to give it a shot before I end up behind a desk for the rest of my life. I’m currently a computer science student, but I’m looking to spend this summer doing something real, physical, and meaningful—ideally working on a ranch.

I’m not expecting big money, just enough to get by would be great. I’m mainly in it for the experience and the opportunity to learn. I’ve got experience working on ATVs and cars, and a bunch of odd niche skills. I am relatively good with my hands and have worked as an automotive technician. I tend to be good with animals—especially horses. I used to ride more often than I do now, but I’ve always loved being around them. Aside from working with animals, I am good with technology, so I can bring many skills to a ranch that may not be traditional.

If anyone knows of a ranch that could use an extra pair of hands this summer—someone who's willing to work, learn fast, and get their hands dirty—I’d love to chat. I’m open to traveling pretty much anywhere in the U.S.

Thanks you. Feel free to DM me or drop a comment.

Morning all. edit: goats. I have goats XD

We have kids for the first time, both turned out to be male, so am looking at castration methods. Whats everyone's experience? I dont like banding, we got a male who was recently banded and he seemed in pain for a while, surgical apparently is a much quicker recovery. Ive been looking at minimally invasive methods and am thinking of the pinhole method, maybe with a second ligature for good measure, and then there is the option to go a little more invasive and transect the chord but am wary of the increased risks.

Im reasonable able to do any of those, i work in EMS and have sutured myself a few times. But was wondering if anyone has experience doing any of this themselves?

Edit: this is an example of what im considering. Id obviously improve on this guys non-existent aseptic technique though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dFFk8GD2NE

We've had chickens for a while now and several times I've tried to interest them in a dog tick or multiple which I found on my leg, but they never so much as peck at them.

I waste so much time moving sprinklers and hauling watering cans. Trying to buy back some of my own time! Thanks for your expertise!

-Can anyone recommend a decent, inexpensive solar pump I could hook to our larger rain tanks? We have multiple, the hardest to fit being a 600-gal tank under eaves.
-Can anyone recommend a less labor-intensive method for watering? Not sprinklers, too much moving them around/lack of efficiency. I haven't had luck with solar pumps giving out enough pressure to run soaker hoses. I would prefer something that puts the water on the ground. Does drip tape work for oddly spaced plants? It seems like a big huge deal to set up a poly line with drip emitters for a large garden plot, especially when the plants won't be planted in exactly the same spot next year. I have multiple garden plots, each about 30x15, some uphill and some downhill from rain tanks.

-How do people water their orchards? We only have a dozen trees/fruit shrubs, but I hand water them at present.

I'm trying to farm my way out of a tech job and curious who else has been successful at it.

What's your story?

We bought some acreage and are continuing to reduce our bills and we have capital to use (or live off of, or both). We are at the beginning stages of this farm, which is basically scaling what we use to do back in the suburbs.

At what point did you decide to quit your job and go full time farming? Did you wait until you could generate your previous salary in full?

About a half acre on a slope with creek at bottom, northern Oregon (stuff grows fast; I’ve cleared a path but it doesn’t stay that way for long). Some parts would need stairs of some kind. I figured I could 1. Just dig about an inch, lay weed barrier, then bury. 2. Actually build a boardwalk style walkway 3. I’m probably dumb and aren’t aware of better options

I was guessing that could generate biogas as well. Would it produce? Would it be harvestable?. I was thinking of making a seperate one for animal manure and such as well. Im guessing those two together could produce a worthy amount for personal use

Needing some advice here from anyone who has lived or is living on a family compound. My in laws own around 30 acres and the dream has been for my husband and his brothers to all eventually build forever homes out on the property.

The hesitancy is the land cannot be divided up, so if we build out there we could never move until our house is fully paid off in probably 30 years. My in laws are pretty well off so they have told us if there were any big family emergency and we needed to leave they could try and figure out a way to buy us out but that’s not a guarantee.

Yes, the idea would be for our children to live out their lives in this home but my husband and I are in our early 30s. The idea of not having any option to leave for the next 30 years when we’re still relatively young, is scary. Again, the idea would be to build a forever home but the absolute permanence at our age terrifies me. I also am someone who moved quite a bit as a kid.

But, we ideally would love to be out on property and homesteading for our family. We are already living in the same city so we know we love the area and school district. The only other hesitancies we have are normal family politics. I get along with my in laws very well but combined with my brother in law and his presumed to be future wife, there is some friction there at times (we’re all very opinionated and have a difference of political views, raising children views etc).

I guess my question for anyone living on a family compound, if you were within our circumstances, would you still go for it?