What will I not do the first year? So far my postings are self admitting quite ambitions but even I who wants to do everything has to draw the line somewhere, at least for the first year or so! So without further ado!
In the livestock category I decided to forgo sheep. Basically it came down to a choice for me between goats and sheep. I went with goats over sheep for various reasons, I like the goats ability to eat the shrubbery and brush in the wooded areas and not have to depend on the pasture for them. The pasture is already going to be used with the cattle, pigs and chickens and I was a little nervous about over doing it especially with giving the land time to rest between grazing (at least 30 days). I also valued the goats milking ability over that of the sheep's wool. Honestly I have no idea of how to sheer a sheep nor what to do with the wool when I was done! Sheep are also much more vulnerable to parasites then goats not to mention easier pray for predators.
With poultry I decided to forgo turkey's. With raising dual purpose chickens (eggs, meat insect control), guinea hens (meat and tick control), geese (holiday meat and weed control) and a couple ducks (meat, eggs and insect control) there just was not a niche for the turkeys. Turkeys would be on pasture like the chickens but would probably require a second mobile poultry house. While the chickens and the guinea hens will be able to share the chicken coop I did not want to find additional winter housing for the turkeys in the Minnesota winters as well. After becoming established I may decide to look at turkeys again but not for the first year or so.
The next idea that came to mind was that of a year round green house. For northern Minnesota that will just not be feasible for my budget. Solar alone is not enough to keep a green house from freezing in that environment and all through there was some pretty good plans using geothermal to keep the the inside warm enough to produce year round it just does not fit into my budget for such a limited return. I will however likely use a hoop house to at least extend the growing season and get an early start on the garden due to Minnesota's short growing season. I may also at some time create a green house in a lean-to fashion off of the barn when I build it but again that is a couple years in the future. Still like the idea, just not feasible at this time.
On another note we finally put the house in Corpus Christi up for sale, we are hoping when it is all said and done to have $50k in our pockets when it is done to put towards the house that is next to our property in Mn. Will be so much more economically feasible if we do not have to build the house from scratch up there. We have been told they (the owners of the house) want to sell it this summer, if so we hope to be ready!
As always let me know your thoughts!
In the livestock category I decided to forgo sheep. Basically it came down to a choice for me between goats and sheep. I went with goats over sheep for various reasons, I like the goats ability to eat the shrubbery and brush in the wooded areas and not have to depend on the pasture for them. The pasture is already going to be used with the cattle, pigs and chickens and I was a little nervous about over doing it especially with giving the land time to rest between grazing (at least 30 days). I also valued the goats milking ability over that of the sheep's wool. Honestly I have no idea of how to sheer a sheep nor what to do with the wool when I was done! Sheep are also much more vulnerable to parasites then goats not to mention easier pray for predators.
With poultry I decided to forgo turkey's. With raising dual purpose chickens (eggs, meat insect control), guinea hens (meat and tick control), geese (holiday meat and weed control) and a couple ducks (meat, eggs and insect control) there just was not a niche for the turkeys. Turkeys would be on pasture like the chickens but would probably require a second mobile poultry house. While the chickens and the guinea hens will be able to share the chicken coop I did not want to find additional winter housing for the turkeys in the Minnesota winters as well. After becoming established I may decide to look at turkeys again but not for the first year or so.
The next idea that came to mind was that of a year round green house. For northern Minnesota that will just not be feasible for my budget. Solar alone is not enough to keep a green house from freezing in that environment and all through there was some pretty good plans using geothermal to keep the the inside warm enough to produce year round it just does not fit into my budget for such a limited return. I will however likely use a hoop house to at least extend the growing season and get an early start on the garden due to Minnesota's short growing season. I may also at some time create a green house in a lean-to fashion off of the barn when I build it but again that is a couple years in the future. Still like the idea, just not feasible at this time.
On another note we finally put the house in Corpus Christi up for sale, we are hoping when it is all said and done to have $50k in our pockets when it is done to put towards the house that is next to our property in Mn. Will be so much more economically feasible if we do not have to build the house from scratch up there. We have been told they (the owners of the house) want to sell it this summer, if so we hope to be ready!
As always let me know your thoughts!
Comments
Post a Comment