Small Farms

While many homes are being lost to foreclosure, the same can be said of many rural farms.  However, there are more homesteads that stand ignored, sometimes for decades, before they are discovered by someone looking for a new home.  When these farms are left to mother nature, they can quickly become wastelands.  The work that it will take to make these “fixer-uppers” livable again can seem insurmountable (think about that movie- Under the Tuscan Sun- and the renovations!).

One particular story was featured on the website, Hobby Farms .  One couple reclaimed an old farm stead that had previously been used to raise hogs.  What they faced was acres of decimated land, falling down buildings and garbage everywhere.  The after photos are really something though, and I encourage you to view them here:  Hogs to Heaven.

Personally, my husband and I are in the process of reclaiming our farm, which is about 160 years old.  It has been abandoned at various times throughout the past 50 years, primarily because it needs quite a bit of work, and it is really hard to heat in the winter (think sub-zero temps here in NY).  We’re willing to work at it, a little at a time when the budget allows.

If you have a farm story to share, please enter it below.  Any words of encouragement, or even a funny story will be appreciated!

Farm cats are just about as American as apple pie.  It is rare to come across a farm that doesn’t have at least a few of these animals.  They serve a purpose as well- keeping the rodent population in check and they can also take a few ounces of milk off your hands if you’re offering any!

Over the years we’ve had dozens of cats cross our paths here at our farm in New York.  They’ve either been born on neighboring farms and migrated to our homes, been dropped off by people assuming an indoor cat will do just fine out in the country or collected on purpose- they were hand selected at a shelter.

I thought I’d share a few of my cat photos with my readers; feel free to send me a link to your cat photos as well!

Rosebud, our latest Siamese acquisition

Abby Normal - likes to dig tunnels in the snow and climb the sides of the barn

Angel -very quiet and affectionate and an extremely good mouser

One-eyed Mickey - lost the sight in his left eye because his naughty mama clawed him

Lumpy - just exists to be held, and yes, he is pretty lumpy and plump

Tripod came to us injured- after a trip to the vet he recovered, though missing one paw.  Read about his adventure here - An Exclusive Interview With Tripod the Cat.

Cappuccino - brother of Mickey

I have several other cats that didn’t show up for the photo shoot- Bingo (sister of Angel), Skippy John Jones (Sister of Lumpy) and Byron (a.k.a. Notches, named because of all of the notches in his ears).

I’m just giving myself a little pat on the back for actually completing 100 blog posts on small farming (and they said it couldn’t be done).  In honor of this momentous occasion (cue the drum roll), I wanted to share some pictures and information about my experience with farming.

I live in upstate New York with my hubby, two kids and a wide assortment of animals.  My husband loves raising chickens and the kids do too - as long as the roosters aren’t in the picture- they seem to love pecking the kids legs, which isn’t much fun.

I’ve raised many animals including pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, cows and horses.  I can’t say I have any personal favorites, though there were a few very personable goats and one horse in particular who had Houdini-like qualities.  As a teen I won numerous county awards in 4-H and FFA and still ponder why I didn’t become a Cooperative Extension Agent.

We have several hundred acres, of which about 75 percent is forested.  The other 25 percent is used for crops, mainly hay, oats and corn.  That is about all that will grow here.  Our soil consists of a thin layer of topsoil, soil, clay and lots of bedrock, which is about one to two feet below the surface.  For that reason, not much else will grow here since it is difficult to establish a good root system for most plants.  Even if the plants can survive the rocks, temps dip to 15-30 below zero during most winters.

That is about the scope of things here.  Wish it was more exciting, but we do have a lot of fun and personally, I’m glad I don’t live in the city anymore.  I missed having large animals and that just isn’t possible when you live in a townhouse!

Henny Penny

Chick Hicks

Clover - my favorite crop

Some views of our farm during the fall:

I’ll be the first person to tell you that working with PVC pipe is a breeze.  It can be used for lots of projects- not just water pipe.  We use PVC pipe in our milk house and haven’t had too much trouble with it over the past few years, until yesterday.  With sub-zero temps drifting through New York, it didn’t take long for the pipes to freeze and then burst overnight… and this is with a portable heater installed in the milk room.  So much for global warming, folks!  We could use a little warming around here.

Luckily, it is easy to replace PVC pipe and joints- a far cry from the days of trying to create a good seal when connecting copper pipes by soldering.  Hopefully, this cold spell will pass by soon and I can rest easy at night, not worrying whether the pipes are going to burst again.

I guess it was true what the Farmer’s Almanac (see my post, Farmer’s Almanac Forecast 2009 ) wrote about this winter- for us, it is supposed to be a pretty hard January and February.

Winter on the farm can be great fun yet full of unexpected adventures as well.  Some of these adventures are fun while others can be downright treacherous.

While we always have cold and wet winters, one in particular comes to memory.  The Blizzard of 1978.  This particular winter started out as normal for our area of the country.  Cold, blustery and just a hint of snow.  That would soon change, and put many farmers in a predicament that would last for weeks.

On February 5, 1978 the snow storm began.  Over a three-day period we received over four feet of snow.  Because of the blowing snow and 5-inch per hour snowfalls, the snow plows couldn’t keep up with it.  As soon as the plows would come through, the snow fall would continue and the wind would create huge drifts in the road.  It seemed like it would never stop.  What blanketed our area in 3 days turned into a two-week clean up, especially in the higher regions where our family resided.  Our water froze, and stayed frozen after the power went out.  This happened to all of the farmers in our small town.  While some who lived near the highway were dug out sooner than others, our dirt road was one of the last to be cleared.

While we waited to be rescued, we made due with the few groceries we had and resorted to using our fire place to keep the house warm.  To take care of the animals we went out to our well, hacked a hole in the ice and pulled the water out in buckets.  This was rather time consuming, especially if you’ve ever tried to water thirsty cows and horses this way.  All of our neighbors did the same thing, spending most of their days trying to keep the animals hydrated.

The real fun in this story was after the work was done.  Since we live in a mountainous area, sledding and skiing was a popular past time.  My brother and I spent hours sliding down the hills and over snow covered roads, without care of any vehicles inhibiting our paths.  We built numerous snow people and dug tunnels all over the front yard.  To add to the joy, there was no school for about a week and a half after the storm.

We haven’t had a storm like that for decades, and I hope we don’t any time soon.  The idea of pulling water out of the well and heating water over a fire isn’t really my cup of tea.  I’m just not as young and adventurous as I used to be, though my kids would probably give it a go.

Hopefully, wherever you are this Christmas day, you’ll be warm and in good spirits.  Have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

~~Charlotte