Building a Hobby Farm- from woods to eggs

[MacLawn]

Tony, wow, that looks great! And, I know your boys are creating good memories. I am right on the SC border, about 30 miles from McCormick, on GA side of Savannah river. Soil is same I think. I am now VERY serious about one of those Yanmar tillers. Just have to make sure it will work behind my Deere 2210. I know it will handle up to a 48" tiller, beyond that, don't know. My place is mostly woods, with 4 acres clear cut 6 years ago, and it is a mess. I have cleared a small garden spot on my south-facing sloping land. Still has about 10 pine stumps to avoid in garden.

Have you found any arrow heads, etc.? I like looking for those, and your boys might too. But, I am not very good at locating them. A small creek is behind my place, bordering neighbor's land, and I have found a few there. Nephew has 15 acres, with about 2 acres bordering the creek - he found an bottle dated 1845 on the bottom of it. Got a little side-tracked there, but thought of artifacts when I saw the tilled land.

You are making very good progress!

 

[easygo]

Tony,
It sure does look really good. With the mild climate you have there you should be able to get a LOT of good veggies from that garden for a good part of the year. I think gardening is somewhat adictive. Each year I want to grow more varieties just to try. And then they taste soooo goood and I have to do more the year after. I feel kind of envious looking at the pictures. You are working the garden soil in January . I put the garden "in bed" in late October and will not even see the dirt until March or April. I have been spending a lot of time on the tractor too but I'm plowing snow and hauling firewood.
Easygo
Ps. It's going to be warm here too. We might hit 40 this week. I do love the winters tho.

 

[charlz]

His advice was to not bother with a soil test this year, as I'm late to do much composting anyway.

Might be too late to start your own compost piles (I'd build them and start putting stuff in them anyway.... waiting for the first grass clippings of the year) but if you can get some cheap locally it is never too late to add it to the soil. Depending on your soil it make take a year or two to get it really productive.

Do you have water down there? How are you going to irrigate the garden?

Charles

 

[3RRL]

Great posts Tony!
Those pictures are priceless...

 

[elkun1]

Tony, what a pretty place. I would think you'd be able to plant some stuff in the not to distant future. Not sure how thick the tree are to shade the plants but by fall you'll have that figured out.
The kids are gonna have a ball with the garden and the chickens to fuss with. As far as goats, all i can say is never again. But it's something everyone should have an experience with.
The boys are gonna remember these years the rest of their lives. Plus if you can really get them interested in gardening it's a darn good way to make some money. My youngest is 16 and he make's enough at our local farmer's market between selling veggies and playin fiddle to buy a season pass at our local ski hill, Bridger Bowl. along with all the necessities, ski's clothes, beeper etc.
they shure do grow up fast. Won't be long and you'll be watching them do all the tractor work. take care and keep us updated on the garden. we don't get to plant a seed till may around here. Ron

 

[tony123]

Maclawn, I see you on the map now. Looks like your likely 2.5hours from us here in TR. Practically neighbors.

I don't know what horsepower you have at the PTO? I've got 20hp@PTO, and it wasn't overworked with 53" of tilling, but it was working!

We've only had this property for a year now, so we haven't done much exploring on it. We haven't found any artifacts ourselves, but the guy down the street has. His grandmother used to own the whole street (probably a few hundred acres). He said that as a young boy he covered every nook and cranny of this land. He said that our 3 acres was a favorite spot for finding stuff. We'll keep our eyes open.

 

[tony123]

easygo, we don't usually get such a nice day in January ourselves, so it was a treat. The link I gave for the Clemson Extension Service has a chart with planting dates. Some of the cool weather things go in the ground in early March I think.

 

[tony123]

Charles, good point on the compost. I need to run out and get a load of some good compost. I do expect the soil to take a few years to be productive.

For water, I've run a 3/4" line from the house out to a yet to be installed yard hydrant. From the yard hydrant I will run soaker hoses for the garden.

 

[tony123]

Ron, I am somewhat concerned about a few of the trees. I'm going to study the sun pattern this year and may take down what is necessary.
I hope the kids stay interested enough that it becomes a way for them to make some spending money. Sounds like yours makes more than just pocket change! If they sell vegetables and eggs, they should always have a few bucks and won't have to come to daddy for handouts. I'll be covering the expenses, but they won't realize that for awhile, and I think it will instill some good work ethic. Hope so.

 

[tony123]

I think its been difficult for everyone to get the overall perspective of our property, so I'm attaching an aerial photo.

I marked our house and proposed barn in red.
The fruit tree orchard is in light purple.
The upper pad vegetable garden is in yellow.
And the lower pasture is in green.
The dark green designates wooded area.

Hope this helps everyone to get their bearings.