The ITCH that has a name -- JACKIE

Well part of my homesteading efforts are to raise vegetables and fruits.  I have probably tried this for the past 2 years even before getting into the homesteading scene.  Well, I may have harvested one green pepper in all of my efforts.

Last year I done really good and got someone to plow and till an area in my backyard.  I knew I had succeeded......I even used the fertilizer that my paw paw uses.  Right when I had sprouts in the air, I had a problem with several goats dying.  Remember, I wasn't even a rookie then!  I thought  I had a poisonous plant and I could have, but really I didn't know how to take care of them and was killing them one by one.  to resolve what I thought was a poisonous plant problem, I moved them into my backyard in a new fence.  ( have had several since then).  Naturally I built the fence around the successful garden where the goats enjoyed corn, cabbage, and onions. 

This year, since I am now the rookie homesteader, I have decided to conquerer the garden.  I started by builing a raised garden bed.  Therefore I had to haul several loads of rich dirt in the blistering heat.  I had shorts, flip flops, and was ringing wet in sweat.  Weeds were everywhere and I was just moving them out of my way....remember I was in the mountains.

Guess what.....LOOK WHAT HAPPENED....

Yes!!! poison ivy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!













When I started breaking out everywhere....my feet, behind my ears, wrists, arms, legs, etc.  I was mentioning it to my mom (Jackie).  She never said anything but that I should put medicine on it.  I was complaining to my uncle who went with my mom to pick out the dirt for me to haul and then gave me directions.  He said that he knew there was a patch of poison over top of that dirt and that he told my mom to warn me.  Mom instantly speaks out (oooppppsss) I forgot to tell him!  NOW WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD SEND SOMEONE IN A POISON PATCH TO GET DIRT!!!!!!

My sweet homesteading friend Serena

I know I have been talking a lot about someone named Serena (my partner in crime).  I love her really I do.  She can make any endeavor fun.  She is not as dedicated to the homesteading as I am and often gripes at chores, but she will help me.  I wanted to wait until I got a picture the shows who she really is before I introduced her.  It only seems fitting that I introduce the Livestock and now her.  There will be blogs of short stories of her in the future.

A Trip Around The Farm

I thought that many of you would like to see just what animals I am talking about considering that I just started the site.  I will expand this summer as I always do, but the only problem I have is getting Serena to haul my animals back from swap meets and Antique trips.  LOL.  She drives a Lincoln, so no animals.

However last year when we went to Lucasville OH I bought a goat whom Lyndsey named Elvis back in a cage in the back of my mom's chevy trailblazer. lol.  Now let me point out that it did not use the bathroom not once the entire trip because when we got him home, his cage was super clean.  However Lyndsey and Carrie started gagging saying they smelled goat poo and pee.  Well I didn't but I figure giving a goat that he was back there going to town.  We rolled the windows down a little then mom started smelling it cutting a fit saying this was my last haul.  Let me point out I did it again this year. lol  This year we hauled chickens.  Serena offered to buy a little cage for hers, but mom said they are chickens...we will put them in one cage.  Well they crowed all the way home Cock- a  - doodle - do.  Let me tell you inside a car that is loud with one after another because we were all sitting quietly when one would squal out we would jump.  Also they did mess everywhere and it stunk.  When we got home we realized they had fought and plucked all the feathers out of Serena and Lyndsey's chicken's head.  ROFLOL.

So that is a little side as to how my animals got here.




Current pride of farm.  Buck mini nubian.






Black Bantams...love the roo



Red Star Bantams





Doe looking much better



The babies.

Bantam recovering from cyote attack

Ducks lol

Love seeing this site walking around

2 Heads are not always better - The fence story....

I want to say that I began dabbling into livestock about 2-3 year ago.  My dear friend Serena McGuire got 2 little pygmy goats and to say the least I was hooked.  Partly because I never let her outdo me even if she really could :).

Nothing would do until I went to KY (the same place) and got me 2.  My mom and I ran the fence the next day and her words to me were "They are not magic, they can't get out"   Now remember there are 2 ft.  holes in the bottom of our fence where it is going over the  mountain.  As always I took her word....and in the 100 degree heat we finished my "goat pasture".  I put them in and within an hour they were out and we were all running throwing big rocks in the gaps.

From there until this past weekend we have been re-stringing and moving fence every single weekend trying to keep them in and not in my neighbors wood shed or on my vehicle.  It was nothing for me to wake up to a porch full of goat poo.  Everytime I would call the same people:  Mom, Dad, and Serena.  Serena would say not nice things to me and remind me how she is tired of working at my house every weekend on a goat fence.  I would tell Mom and Dad how to fix it and Mom would scream at me saying I was crazy they were just goats and they couldn't get out.  GUESS WHAT - They got out. 

From that Serena and Rich created the same type of fence accross the road and wouldn't you know.   NO problems.  So she was quick to laugh at my never ending battle.  Remember most would have given up.  NOT ME!  We kept buying supplies and I kept telling them what kind would really work.

A year ago I decided to also do chickens.  Serena copied me here.  They kept flying out even with their wings cut and then my neighbors dog killed like 20 along with cyotes who killed another 20.  Everyone laughing on the porch about me.  Saying I had a goat and chicken grave on my hill, which is true, but that is because at that time I wasn't following the advice of Lucas Farms (http://www.lucasfarmwv.com/) 

Then finally I went up on a Saturday to tell them that I had lost 3 more animals the night before.  My uncle Mike made the suggestion of sinking landscape tembers with cement and running fence along that.  My dad added that we should put 2X4's along the top and bottom so that nothing could break through.  This sounded familiar to me.  Why....because I had been screaming this since the beginning.  So here is the result.  I love it.  Most of all, everything is safe and cannot escape with the assurance of nothing is coming in.  I could have built a condo with the money I have in it along with change lent from mom and dad.

Now bragging Serena has been waking up to ducks and goats out of her cage.  I would treat her like she did me and laugh.  I will be there to help and support until it is fixed.  (wink wink...I am laughing now.)

Welcome

I have tried to fight the urge of blogging again.  Once, it took up a lot of my time because I easily become obssessed with this.  I love typing my thoughts and opinions and now I have developed 2 loves that I love to talk about.  One is Antiques and the other is Homesteading.  Naturally, my family comes first so you will hear about them here too.

I am not sure if what I do can even be classified as farming but I am giving it my best shot.  My wife is such a tropper considering she is the most modern person you will meet and now she is eating fresh eggs and using homemade laundry detergent LOL.  She also supports me with my "work days" and trips to feed stores.  My mom and dad are superb.  I cannot type in words what they do for me.  They help me build fences and provide monetary support that is very much appreciated.  I think deep down they see how much I love fooling with the animals, so they give with griping LOL.

My homesteading friends Serena and Richard help me a lot also.  I give her a hard time but she adds great humor to all my projects.  Last but certainly not least is Tinia.  (http://www.lucasfarmwv.com/)  (http://www.thevegetarianhomesteader.com/)  This woman is my goto with all questions.  She is super smart and I follow her with animal adivce like I follow Jesus with my soul ROFLOL.

Recently and currently we have goats, chickens, and ducks.  it wouldn't take much for me to add a llama LOL but I would be in heaven if I could get a mini jersey heffer.  I would love it, but I woudl have to make room for her to pasture.  I am not sure my parents are up to that.   Plus they would have to buy her LOL...heck I would take anything.

I will have another blog with a "farm tour" .   For my friends that hate farming, I will have plenty of blogs with deep thoughts too so check back. LOL

Justin