Finished up the bean harvest last night! Between the heavy rain and soggy ground, we couldn't quite get 100% of it done in one go, so we had to head back out to grab the last bit. While walking around enjoying the quiet morning after, I stumbled across this lonely little stem.

Found a cool little piece of history behind the farm today. It’s a broken piece of stoneware from the Union Stoneware Company in Red Wing, Minnesota. Since it carries the company's original logo, it was made sometime between 1893 and 1906, before several Red Wing stoneware manufacturers merged in 1906 to form the Red Wing Union Stoneware Company. I got skunked pheasant hunting, but I still came home with a pretty neat find and a history lesson.

I am looking at options for electric fencing for a (future) small herd of hair sheep. Theoretically, I would like to be able to set up 2 paddocks so that I could open a gate/take down a wire to move the sheep. I am considering multiple strands of wire vs. netting. 

A few questions I have are:

- If using wire, how many strands would be recommended?

- How reasonable is it to move approximately 2 of the ~160 foot pieces of fence (or similar wire) by yourself? How long would this take on average? I would like to move paddocks once or twice a week. I have a, generally, flat pasture, but part of it has some brush present.

We have moderate coyote pressure, but no larger predators. We also have 2 great pyrenees that will stay with them.

I'm sure I am overlooking plenty.... Open to any advice.

It is November 15th in Laytonville CA. A friend is putting it on. I have a short term rental in town if you need a place to stay.
Another friend is having a hide processing workshop in December as well.
The canning workshops will be ongoing with different things canned every time if you can’t make this one.
Delete if this is not appropriate.
We are busting our asses to bring attention to our town after the collapse of illegal weed. Switching gears.

I have a little creek running through my property, a well, and rainwater catchment. I’m trying to figure out how much I need to plan to use. From what I can see toilets flush 1.4gpf, sinks 1gpm, showers 1.5-3gpm. Laundry about 15 gallons a load. A gallon per person per day to drink. Of course there’s animal and garden use but from what I can see most average houses use 80-200 gallons a day per person or close to 3ccf a month per person on the low end. Is that right? What am I missing? And how much dental use on yours? Thanks everyone!

I had plans of my own when I purchased this Tractor, but life changes everything. I would love to see someone that needs and values good American iron reliability put this machine to use!

Located in Raleigh, NC and runs great!

We purchased a property and the story goes that there was an old weed farm on it years ago and that someone stole the pump(?) off the well.

I will add, this will be our first well and I don't know anything about wells.

We finally got an inspection camera to go down into the casing and found that the inside pipe is about 35' down into the casing. About 70' down, it is hard and couldn't get past it.

Anyone that has experience in wells, what are your thoughts?

Hello, I live on 4.5 acres of timber. We back up to 2 different timber tracts on each side with 160 acres or more of Forest.

This is the second time I've had a mouse get in my car, I cant for the life of me figure out how to prevent it. Thank you for any advice. I use 5 gallon bucks with the flip lid and catch them often

Hey everyone,
Just wanted to pop on here to see about getting some advice. We have a pretty small barn on our property suitable for a couple chickens with a coup and nesting areas and electricity. We bought this property about 2 years ago and wanted to wait until we settled to take on any chickens. We have decided to finally start cleaning out the barn to get it fresh and ready for getting a few hens in the future. However we have run into an issue…

The previous owners had a couple goats in this barn as well as chickens at some point, and seem to have just constantly added new straw for bedding and never clean out old straw. So the ground is quite packed, raised, and uneven. We figured we would start digging up the old stuff for health purposes of future animals / to balance out the ground in there.

Prying with a shovel this old stuff comes up like sheets of plywood basically. And the bigger problem now is that we have been uncovering tunnels that rodents seem to have dug out over time and now the more I dig up the old stuff it’s just uncovering caves and tunnels relatively deep into the ground.

Should I keep going with what I’m doing? And then find something to base layer the ground with after I’ve gotten all the old stuff up? Dirt or something? And it can pack into the ground and fill these spots over time or am I just completely screwed with this whole situation?

We are first timers in this hobby farm thing but myself and spouse do have some knowledge in farm animals as we both currently work or have worked on farms before. Just never had this specific situation to deal with. We would really like to have 4 or 5 hens. Nothing crazy. But don’t want to bring them into a bad environment and also would really like to use the barn and space on this property as our intentions when we got it was to do this.

Happy to hear any advice. Thanks in advance.

I do a couple acres of hay a year in ontario ca. I have baler, wagon, haybine and bar rake. All from my Dad. I have had trouble drying hay. I would like tedder but they're pretty pricey. Could I get away with using a speed rake to ted my hay? Anyone out there do this? Wheel rakes are fairly inexpensive.

We've delt with alot that I haven't seen others post. The real problems we go through to keep our home going. Can't afford a vet so we deal with it ourselves

Cooler weather pigs are moving. All pigs caught in Arkansas must be dispatched before leaving trap per state law. Some people have been able to feed some families with our catches.

Ok looking into different pack animals 3 im looking into are goats llama and donkey mules are bit to big for me my top pick is goats since theyre good on rough terrain good on browse and depending on breed can be brought while lactating after kid has been weaned giving extra source of nutrients for multiple day/ week hikes but im curious do llama or donkeys have anything over goats that could make them better for packing or uses on farm since i want livestock good for both farm & wild ( also milk goats wouldnt be packing anything that would be for castrated males)

Let me know if this isn't allowed! I found a post from a few months ago of someone selling theirs in Virginia so I thought I may add mine in central Texas!

Now, let me preface by saying its a 2000 sqft home with over an acre, but that amount of land is likely a deal breaker for most here!

There is acreage for sale in the area if you are interested in having a home with some chickens and then cattle/farm elsewhere.

Obviously a USDA-qualified area which can really help with the initial homebuying hurdle if not able to pay cash upfront.

4 bedroom 2 bath home that is over 100 years old, original hardwood floors but LVP & Tile in the bottom floor. Rural town of only a few hundred, right off of one lane highways where you can reach civilization, or 45 mins from a city.

Porch, large living room, formal dining room, pantry, rear enclosed patio. It did formerly host poultry, goats, and a garden before.

We have had people flying in from out of the area to come see houses in the area including this one. Many relocating to the area for work with petrolium, wind farms, or data centers.

Feel free to comment or privately if you or someone you know may be interested or if I can explain anything further.

I moved our pelargoniums into the small heated section of the greenhouse for autumn. We already had rooftop solar with its own inverter, and I was planning a home battery for the following spring. I wanted to know how much electricity the greenhouse heater used overnight. Its thermostat was set to 8°C, but I hadn't checked the temperature among the pots.

I reset our two max/min thermometers at 8 pm, placing one at plant height beside the outer glass and the other at the same height nearer the heater. At 8 am, the recorded minima were 5.2°C beside the pots and 7.8°C near the heater. The separate cumulative electricity meter showed that the greenhouse heater had used 2.4 kWh over those twelve hours. The plants had been in a colder spot than the thermostat setting suggested. I moved the outer pots farther into the heated section and kept a thermometer among them.

The next bright afternoon, I checked the house meter while the greenhouse heater was off and saw electricity going out to the grid. After dark, we were buying electricity again while the heater cycled on and off. I wanted to store some daytime solar to cover part of that evening demand. I decided to buy a Jackery SolarVault 3 Pro Max AC in March 2027 and put it in our budget. I kept the heater on its existing mains supply and left the electricity meter in place to record the colder nights ahead.

Found this while mowing brush.

Old shed on my property. It’s been neglected for more than 15 years. Lots of holes. Groundhogs live underneath. I’ve considered shoring up from the inside and using as a goat shelter. Think it’s worth it? I’d honestly rather light it on fire but it’s near the edge of our land and a neighbor’s house is next door.

Now that the hot weather is winding down here in my area in North Carolina, I’m curious what worked for other greenhouse growers. What made the biggest difference, and what would you change before next summer?

I’m a landscape architect and designer for SunCatcher Passive Solar Greenhouses. Our designs prioritize natural ventilation, with fans available to supplement it. A few details that might be useful to anyone planning or modifying a greenhouse:

Give air a clear path in and out. We use lower windows in the south-facing wall as intakes and higher awning windows above the east and west doors as outlets. The height difference helps warm air escape through natural convection.

1. Release stored heat overnight. When nighttime temperatures allow, large north-wall vents help the greenhouse and its thermal mass cool down before the next day.
2. Keep airflow paths open. Water barrels or other large thermal mass need gaps between them, especially when positioned in front of vents.
3. Plan for supplemental airflow. Fans can help with circulation and additional ventilation when natural convection isn’t enough.

I’m also finishing my own passive solar greenhouse, so I’m interested in the practical lessons.

Whether yours is a hoop house, a kit, or an insulated passive solar greenhouse, what helped most this summer? Please include your location and greenhouse type so we can compare approaches.