Planning the New Farm

When I first created my little backyard farm the planning process was simple.  I only needed garden space and planning for it consisted of finding the area of the backyard that received the most sunlight.

As the little farm expanded to include chickens, that too was easy, the best location was along the back fence beneath the trees where it wasn't suitable for the garden.   Even adding the goat yard was just a matter of enclosing the gravely area we had been using for parking vehicles.

Now, with the new farm, I am reminded of the child who has so many toys they don't know which to play with first.

Instead of having an area measured in square feet, I am faced with deciding what to do with 18 acres.
The other 17 acres are woodland so they don't factor in with this plan.

SMALL PASTURE ... HOUSE AND GARDEN..... BIG PASTURE

I have started by getting a satellite image of the farm from GoogleMaps.  Since I am focusing on the cleared land, I have not included the woodland acres here.

This image is adjusted to indicate West - North (top) - East - South (bottom).  The entire area is flooded with sunlight all day.

The animals will be kept along the divide of the west small pasture and the house/garden section.
By keeping the livestock nearer the house it will be easier to protect them from predators.  The small pasture will be divided by temporary fencing for keeping the goats and chickens in controlled areas.  After a week in one section, the fencing will be moved to the next area, and the previous area will be left to recover.

While we have only two goats and two chicken tractors, at this time, this schedule should work well.  As the herd and flocks increase in numbers grazing periods will need to be adjusted.



A small, spring fed pond is located at the tree line at the southern tip of the small pasture.  This will be increased to about 1 acre in area into the open pasture.





The Livestock Plan:

Currently we have two Nubian does, 20 chickens and two ducks.

The new plan for 2017 will be to breed the goats, and perhaps purchase a buck or two for breeding.

Meat chickens and breeding turkeys (heirloom bronze turkeys) for CSA.

2 pigs for meat and breeding.

1 or 2 beef steer

The Big Pasture

The plan right now is to "lease" the big pasture for barter rather than cash.  In exchange for using the

land the lessee will disc/grade/plow etc the small pasture and the house/garden areas; as well as provide us with a portion of the harvest, i.e.  If hay, then we would receive enough bales of hay to feed our livestock through the winter.  If corn, we would receive  a "rows" of corn for personal use.
Any crops grown on the property must be non GMO and there must be no chemicals used.  As an organic farm, these methods are imperative.   We already have 3 interested farmers.

The House/Garden area

The house and the immediate area around it will be landscaped over time.

There will be a small barn constructed mid-way between the house and the old barn in the woods.
This barn will store hay, feed, equipment.  The livestock will have their own housing in nearby fenced yards.

In the area between the house/garden and big pasture we will construct two cabins, one for Nick and one for myself to be used for whatever we wish.  A man-cave for him and a sewing/craft room for me.

GARDEN

This is where we are piling up brush and
scraps from around the farm for disposal.

The middle pasture which is located toward the back and east sides of the House/Garden area.

An orchard:  heirloom APPLES, PEACHES, PEARS, APRICOTS, GRAPES

Small Fruit:   blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, elderberries

Vegetables:   tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, rutabagas, peas, green/yellow beans, dried beans, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, celery, spinach, lettuce, beets, pumpkin, winter squash, summer squash, sweet potatoes.

Herbs:  rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, chives, dill, mustard, lavender, etc.

Flowers:  wild mixes, assorted bulbs and annuals, roses, lilac, hydrangeas, crepe myrtle, magnolia, etc.


So far there have been, perhaps, a dozen pencil sketches of ideas for laying out the farm, and I am rather certain there will be another dozen yet to be created.  I spend at least an hour each day scouring the internet for ideas and reading about how to make the best use of our land.

Looking forward to the move.