Building a Hobby Farm- from woods to eggs

[oldhippy]

After looking up snakes on the internet I think that what I have are rat snakes. They are larger than the king snakes. I guess I will have to look closer when turning over stuff as I may have bad shakes about. big dan

[barneyrb]

SAY IT AIN'T SO!!!!! We haven't heard the last of the farm have we?

[scgargoyle]

He still owes us- haven't seen the first egg yet....

[tony123]

Back from the Farm! Hello to everyone. Sorry for the disappearing act, but I've been neck deep in finishing my basement the last few months. Try as I may, I just can't get the tractor in there! Besides, if you've got the option to get out of this heat wave, you do.

Not much happening really. The chickens are doing well, and continue to grow. The veggies are doing fine as well. I've got some updated photos from the garden.

Here's the corn. It seems to be a little slower than most of the "real" farmers around here.



This is Okra in the back, and Eggplant in the front.





And this is the Pumpkin crop that's just coming in. Boy, it germinated and had leaves in about 3 days!



Our first Cantaloupe!



And here's the boy's picking the first of the squash.





And a little basket we picked for dinner tonight.

[tony123]

Big Dan, I've tried the valve you're talking about. That didn't effect anything. I still haven't given it a real close look though.

barney and SC, you haven't heard the last. I'll use this thread at least until we start getting eggs, and maybe years until the place looks like a farm! Thanks for staying on board.

[Happyman]

tony123...any problem with the deer eating your crops or the fox in the hen house?

[tony123]

Happyman, I saw a deer track a year ago when we were building, but not a single sign of one since. There are several houses under construction nearby, and I think the deer have found quieter places.

I also have a lab that roams the area. That may be the real reason. From the looks of your avitar, maybe you can tell me.

[Happyman]

I have 60 acres, with 20 pasture and 40 forest. A 1/2 acre pond and a few streams are on the property as well. Since I deer hunt with my son on our property I have a corn feeder in the woods and a clover plot in a back pasture for the deer to feed on. So you could say that I have a pretty good size deer population. The turkey are abundant as well. And even though they have all that food available, they still seem to feed on my grapes, asparagus, apple trees and other bushes.
Oh well, it's still a good trade-off for being able to have an annual supply of wonderful venison. With the cost of beef today, I have a good thing going with my deer .

[tony123]

Happyman, I'll trade my veggie crop for a freezer of venison!

Got another snake this weekend! geez. This time its a hognose. This one was solid black. Most internet photos show them in a patterned skin, but do comment that they can be solid black. It clearly had the turned up nose, which I don't think is confusing with anything else?

Our Yorkie is proving to be a big help around here. He alerts us to snakes very well. The lab, on the other hand, was very cautious. I bet he's had an experience out in the woods at some point.




And look at the ground in this photo! It's our largest of about 6 watermelon.



That's about all there is to report. The chicken tractor has finally made its way down to the back yard, so my wife is happy about that!

[tony123]

How do! Another update from the farm, whether you need it or not.

When we first moved up here from Florida, we thought the summers were wonderful. After 9 years, I'm acclimated. It does not feel "wonderful" any more. I'm really not doing much of anything outside these days. The benefits of a "hobby" farm is that you really don't have to do much if you don't feel like it.

Been keeping the garden growing and grow it does. Here's a few more photos.

Here's everyone sampling the first few cantalope. They tasted great, and will be a big hit with family and friends. Looks like we'll end up with about 8-10 of them.


Here we are picking the first watermelon. Got another 10 of these!





Towing it back to the house!




Any help on what is causing this to the watermelon? It's gotten about 3 of them.



And all the corn is coming out about half cooked. I'm assuming this is due to poor polination with such a small crop. They sure the heck taste good though.




Got a few Pumpkin coming along now.



All in all, it's been extremely easy to care for everything and we're definetely pleased with production. My wife wants to do the whole lower pasture in corn next summer. Would be about 40'x90' of corn. Sounds like a good way to work the tractor to me!

Tractor is doing well. Wrestling with a hydraulic control problem.

Tractor projects will pick up again when cooler weather comes along. I want to tackle the rest of the fencing project this fall, as well as spot seeding for the lawn.