I sit here thinking about all the things that appeal to me regarding homesteading. Is there anything we can't do? No, not really...but does that mean I should do it all? (As far as I can see yes.. :) ....but my husband tends to slow things down a bit!) I want chickens and turkeys for meat..and eggs of course, and while were at it, why not do some for our family? Definitly goats...more practical for our farm size, great milk. Guess what? I can do my own butter, cheese and yogourt...save money on dairy. My garden this year will last until next year, I freeze and can, or find some other wonderful use for our harvest. I start my seeds myself, and the new house we built doesnt have great direct sunlight, so I'm hoping for a light table. Our horse would love a barn, we have to fence in more area though first. I think you get my point, we want it all, right now!! We have our own business, so my husband works from home. We have 4 young children, whom we homeschool. Needless to say-life is already busy! This year, we have finally *although somewhat sadly) decided that the garden - enough to suffice for a year, will be our focal point. I would love to hear how others took this, one step at a time. We live in Eastern Ontario, and look forward to any advice.

God bless you, Aimee Gosse.

-- Aimee Gosse (aimeegosse@hotmail.com), March 05, 2002

Answers

Hmmmmm....depends on your lifestyle. We have had all kinds of animals in the past....none now. I do have a 2 acre garden and half acre orchard, though. With animals you have to be there for them at least twice a day. You can't take off on a spur of the moment camping trip, let alone a vacation. Since you have a home business, maybe you are already tied down. For me, one of the best things about unschooling was to take off on adventures on a moment's notice.

Remember....you have to milk twice a day, clean out stalls, feed and butcher. If that still sounds like fun to you....I say go for it!! ;-)

-- Wendy Martin (wsm311@aol.com), March 05, 2002.

Aimee, you are doing great! Can you sneak in a few hens? They don't take up much room, and your family would love the eggs. Best wishes!

-- cowgirlone in OK (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), March 05, 2002.

I grew up here on this farm and we did it all back then ~ huge garden, chickens for meat and eggs, milk cow, butchering (a steer, 75 or 100 chickens, a hog, several sheep and deer, turkeys for holidays) and canning/freezing everything we could, making butter, jellies and jams, etc. ~ EVERYTHING! We only went to the grocery store once every two or three months for TP, flour, etc. It was GREAT! I hope to get back to doing that one day, but not just yet. I don't want to be overwhelmed ~ I learned my lesson about that already...

When I moved back home, I decided I'd have a friend plow up the old garden plot and I'd plant it. Yeah, right ~ I'd forgotten that the garden of my youth was worked by three experienced adults, three children and a tractor! You can guess what happened. I'd gotten cows, as well, before I really thought about it ~ sold the last one after getting tired of chasing it back in through the 75 year old fences.

I started over with a 12x20 garden plot, six chickens and a pasture ornament horse. Then I met DH. Three years later the garden's 30'x40' bigger with another 20'x30' getting added this summer. I'll be getting 100 more chickens in a couple months ~ after I've taken a couple years to learn about them all over again and "raccoon-proof" the coop. We also have a couple pygmy goats now. The fences were re- built, but a horrible flood took them out last fall (see pics here ~ it was something!), so we'll wait on the Dexter cows 'til the fences get re-re-built!

I'd suggest you do the same ~ take some time to learn how to handle that garden, then make it bigger. Chickens aren't all that hard (when you compare them with cows!), so get a few! Learn all you can, and when you've got a pretty good handle on that, get the goats. You'll be glad you took it slow. Good luck!!!

-- Wingnut (wingnut@moment.net), March 05, 2002.

Aimee, I agree with the others. We are fairly new to all of this also, but I think it could be very easy to try to do too much at once & get overwhelmed. Heck, with the 3 chickens, 4 ducks, 1 goose, 6 rabbits, 2 horses, & 5 goats (8 w/new kids) that we have, along with 9 cats, 4 dogs (10 counting the pups), & 1 very 13 year old child, it tends to be chaotic at times. (Like during our recent "kid" birthing experiences - I've delivered babies many times as a nurse in a hospital labor & delivery - but I had never delivered goats b4)We are going to focus mainly on our garden & increasing pasture areas this year and plan on using $ from selling our "kids" to increase our goat herd for next year. Hope everything goes smoothly for you!

-- Stormy in SC (tstorm@prtcnet.com), March 05, 2002.

Hello Aimee, The first thing I would do if I was you would be to get all your fences and buildings ready. I do not suggest getting all those animals at once, but would do it gradually over a couple of years.

They are expensive initially and they require food year round. If you do not have your own hay, corn, etc., you will have to produce it or buy it.

Unless you have experience with each type of animals, you will have to learn a lot all at once. This could jepordize the animals and your pursebook. That is why I suggest taking only a few types at a time.

Making butter, cheese, etc., plus milking twice a day, plus feeding and watering, plus taking care of the sick ones,is a full time responsiblilty and will take its toll if you are not properly prepared.

I hope this helps,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), March 05, 2002.

I've tried to do it all, but I ran out of energy! Seriously, there is only so much that you can do in a day. :-) What I had to do was make priorities, decide what I really, really wanted the most, and work on that. Making life goals, goals of where you'd like to be a year from now, five years from now, really helps too. Then write down the steps you need to take to arrive at the goals. It's fun to look at the goal lists from years past, you will find that your goals and priorities change.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 05, 2002.

ok, First from the practical me. GO SLOW! Animals are all different and usually take different feeds and definately can make you a prizoner if you don't have someone you can count on to take over so you can get away sometimes. Now for the real me. If you can afford to experiment go for it! We did. We got Chickens, geese, ginnies, rabbits, goats, a donkey and finally two alpacas. I am glad we did it but now we only have the ones that we can leave for a couple of days and know they will be alright. We always have lots of offers to care for the animals but we have learned that so far none can be counted on. Wildlife got all the ginnies in spite of everything we did to protect them. We sold the geese. Too many eggs that we couldn't use or give away. We had to be there to lock them up every night to keep them safe. We sold the rabbits. Too much work! But.. I am glad that we had them all. We enjoyed them most of the time. You gotta do what is right for you. So HAVE FUN!

-- Corky Wolf (corkywolf@hotmail.net), March 05, 2002.

Could I suggest that you build a simple chicken tractor? See the book of the same name. This is a movable coop with chickens. You move the coop every couple of weeks, letting the birds dig up all the weeds, fertilize the ground, and do your work for you. Simply move the chicken tractor to the next plot, and dig and plant the chicken prepared one.

The other thing that pays off time wise is to prepare an area for fruit trees. If no time this year, let the chickens do so, then plant with clover or other green manure. Trees need a few years to produce, so getting in even 2 or 3 is a big time saver.

-- seraphima (seraphima@ak.net), March 05, 2002.

Hi Aimee- I would try to sneak in a couple of hens for eggs, forgo on the goats( I love them but have found the learning curve steep, and they take a lot of time esp during milking season) I would consider getting a pig especially if you could pen areas you want for future garden areas or tree stumps dug out, they don't take much time in feeding and daily care.

-- Terri in NS (terri@tallships.ca), March 06, 2002.

I want it all! Slowly! I've been dreaming, and planning my homestead for about 6 years now. What I want, and I can take care of. I'll be full time on the farm, my fiance will be full time off the farm, and handle the finances and paperwork (he is in college to become an accountant). A pair of Clydesdale horses, 3 Angora rabbits, 3 NZ White rabbits, a Holstien cow, 3 Nubian goats, 3 Angora Goats, 2 Duroc piggies, 10 White Palm Turkeys, and 3 Ramboiulliet Sheep. An orchard, a berry patch, a vineyard, a small-growing-to-huge-as-I-get- practical-experience garden, (Starting size, around 30 ft sq. Ending size, prolly an acre.), and hay, wheat, oat, soybean, and mangel fields to feed my animals. I will have one fellow helping me in the Harvest season these first couple of times, but that's all. I'm gonna get the animals 2 or three species a year. I've had rabbits and goats before, so they'll prolly be first. But that's the way I'm gonna go. Thoughts anyone?

-- Connie B (MykellSilver@aol.com), March 09, 2002.