Our recycled barn as it looks today.
Thanks for stopping by our site and our little farm.
If you have any questions about our site or our farm, or we can be of any help – feel free to email us at thefarm@owgarden.com
Jim and Mary
thefarm@owgarden.com
Hi! My name is Anne and I found your blog through the Barn Hop. We, too, just passed the one year anniversary of being chicken owners! We live on a small farm in rural PA with Amish neighbors and a pond and a few horses and goats and, of course, CHICKENS!
On my “farm” tab on my blog I wrote the following to explain to folks that while we may live on a small farm, we are by no means farmers:
The Farm
A REAL farmer would chuckle to hear me call what we have a farm.
I do not get up at 4 to milk the cows. Chiefly because we have no cows.
I do not muck out stalls before sun-up. Stalls require a certain work ethic which I do not seem to possess.
I produce nothing that we sell. Because I’m too lazy to run this like a business.
So why do I consider our little patch of dirt a farm?
Because I usually have dirt under my fingernails and mud on my jeans.
Because the critters outnumber the humans by about 5 to 1.
Because we eat eggs from our chickens.
Most importantly, because it smells like a farm.
What do we have on our farm?
Horses. Cuz they’re pretty.
Goats. Because they eat weeds that nobody wants to weed-whack.
Rabbits. They’re soft.
Chickens. For the eggs.
Farm dog. To keep all of the above safe and sound.
All other animals are house pets and are essentially shiftless good-for-nothin’ moochers. But we kind of love them, so… yeah.
Look forward to following along on your blog!
Thank you so much for visiting our blog! It sounds like you have a great farm!! I tried to look up your blog – but the link doesn’t seem to be working. Can you let me know what it is and we would love to follow – it sounds like we have many similarities in our “farms”
Jim and Mary
Reading your story about “your farm” put a smile on my face.
Sure! It’s Life on the Funny Farm, at: http://annesfunnyfarm.blogspot.com.
As I children were growing up, we lived on a 20 acre farm in KY. We had chickens, cattle, horses, pigs, goats, ducks and a 2 acre garden. They would help us from seedling to processing foods. They hunted their dinners as well as processed them. It was some of the best “family” time we ever had!! We laughed and played while they learned. Our youngest son just moved to MI where he is in the process of planting his own garden. Our kids with whom we live with have raised gardens in the city. It does not matter the size of the garden. It teaches us so many things about life It makes my heart smile every time I see someone else enjoying the “finer” things in life.
sry…..thats suppose to read “As my children were growing up”…guess I should have proof read it before posting lol
Donita,
Thanks for stopping by! It’s so great to hear stories about how others look back on their childhood fondly – even when it included a little “farm” work. And your so right, there is nothing better than enjoying those types of “finer” things in life!
Jim and Mary
I live in Wisconsin on 15acres in a farmhouse dating back to the mid-1800′s and have several outbuildings, including granary, log horse barn, bee house, and hay barn. I have reclaimed bricks from a local mill that was taken down several years ago. We had used some for a sidewalk, but, they crumbled after the first frost. I want to biuld a patio using these, but, don’t know how to prep the ground to prevent the bricks from crumbling again. Any suggestions?
Hi Lisa – your place sounds absolutely beautiful! We are glad to have you here at our blog. My first question on the brick question would be – were they used inside the mill or outside?
Thanks,
Jim
They were the structure of the building. When I saw the building coming down and the dump truck hauling all those beautiful bricks to a landfill, I couldn’t help myself–I had to ask if they would bring a load to my property just 5 minutes away. It cost me a case of beer. Yes, that’s Wisconsin-style.
That is a great story! I love the case of beer – that’s a great way to barter! I know there are some bricks that are not fired for use outdoors -so that is why i asked. I wouldn’t think that would be the case with those since they were used in the structure. We have always used a good base – (about 3 to 5″ of crushed limestone screenings) – and compacted it well – and the bricks have always seemed to do well. I will ask an old friend of mine who was a mason and see what he says.
Terrific! Thanks so much.
Jim and Mary,
I finally took time to read more about YOUR story and it almost mirrors what I want MY story to be. However, you are much further into the process of making it happen, whereas I am at the point that I think I should give up the dream. I would appreciate talking to you more to bounce some ideas off of you, and mostly to gain some inspiration once again, ( if I’m not too far gone).
My biggest challenge is that I am single and trying to maintain a property on one income has been very difficult. Additionally, I am self-employed as a Realtor and the market decline nearly ruined me last year.
My Wisconsin property has so, so many possibilities. The now-Greek Revival style house dates back to 1856, and the German immigrant who settled here built all the outbuildings from wood that he and future family members harvested from this land. All the buildings need some work and there is enough lumber laying around that a person could probably build another complete structure if they wanted to. I have a summer kitchen, bee house, granary, log horse barn, machine shed, pig house, and hay barn. (I’m the one with the reclaimed bricks from the local mill).
The 15 acres consists of rolling farmland, a small apple orchard, pasture, and as many songbirds as a person could imagine. (There was much more acreage with the home originally.)
I would appreciate any tips from you or other readers that would help me know if I should try to hold on or move on to something more manageable for me.
Thanks for taking the time to listen!
Sincerely,
Lisa
Don’t get discouraged…there have been so many times we have been beaten down, exhausted, and thinking we will never see the light at the end of the tunnel – and I’m sure there will be more for us just like it – but I will take 100 of those feelings for that incredible feeling when something turns out good! Never ever give up – And yes, you are more than welcome to talk to us any time – shoot us an email with your phone number and we will gladly give you a call. jcompetti@owgarden.com
Who was your supplier for your grapevines?
I was wondering what the approximate size was of your “Canning Pantry Cupboard” from your Feb. post? We’d like to build one of a similar size, thanks for the idea!
Hi Nancy – Our pantry is about 32 deep and 30″ wide. It is just a shade over 5′ tall. We just laid out some of our quart jars in advance so that i could make sure i could fit them evenly across the shelves. The shelves are supported by 2 x 4 framing underneath to hold the weight. Good luck and send us pictures when you build!
Hi Jim and Mary, I just found your blog through Wardeh’s “Simple Lives Thursday”. I enjoyed your story so much. My husband and I have lived on our farm all of our married lives. We raised our kids in the garden and yes they thought it was cruel and unusual punishment until dinner! Now most of our 7 kids grow some type of garden or come home during the summer to help us can. They take most of the goodies home with them. We raise our own beef, eggs, and will soon be milking again. I enjoy making cheese and can’t wait to try my hand at it again. We also have goats, turkeys, and livestock guard dogs to help take care of everyone. Our kids love to receive meat for Christmas, so whether beef, pork, chicken, turkey, or whatever…the gift is enjoyed by their whole family for a long time past Christmas. That outdoor kitchen is a dream of mine. I’ll have to share these pics with the hubby. Hugs and blessings from our farm to yours.
Regina
Thanks so much for stopping by our blog! It sounds like you have all kinds of great animals on your farm! Good luck on your outdoor kitchen!!! You will love having one!
I was hoping to get some tips and great ideas for my 3 acre lot that has been neglected since we bought it 15 years ago Somehow it showed up in Facebook and now my adult kids are making fun of my dream and vision. Help!
Chris – We take some kidding from our kids and family sometimes too
All in all – We have never really worried about what anybody thinks and have just stayed with the dream to create a place for us to enjoy. As we have progressed – I think everyone starts to understand (even the kids 
) how committed we are to it and how much we enjoy it, and they too see the results of all of the time we put into it. The one thing we have always followed is to never make it “work” – and to have fun with it. Good luck on your 3 acres!!!
I am a serious novice in the farming world, but I love to garden (even though the only thing I really grow well are carnivorous plants, go fig lol), but I got into caning in high school when I took a cooking class so I wouldn’t be eating TV dinners when I got out on my own, I got the basics of cooking from my parents & they filled in allot of the gaps. But I am an inventor & I specialize in assistive technologies, & I am working on some garden assitive technologies as well. My wife loves my canned foods, I am wanting to expand my canning knowlege.
I couldn’t exactly call our 4 acres of land anything close to a farm but we are surrounded by farmland full of sheep and cows so we kinds feel as though we’re living the rural life lol.
We now have 13 hens – 7 of which were recent rescues – and there is nothing like fresh eggs, I could never go back to the pale ones sold in supermarkets.
We do alot of vegetable gardening here and grow as much as the climate here will allow – tender crops and fruit trees are grown within the protection of a polytunnel.
We also have dogs – Great Dane, GSD, ShihTzu & terrier and my husband and daughters have various birds of prey.
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog especially projects you’ve made from scrap wood and pallets – my home and garden are full of my own projects using scrap wood and it’s an amazing feeling to know you’ve produced something that cost you next to nothing. Amazing what skills you aquire when you have a bit of space to enthuse you isn’t it lol.
Definitely looking forward to visiting you regularly.
Linda
http://thetenaciousgardener.blogspot.co.uk/
Hi Jim and Mary! I am very interested in beginning some laying hens this spring. I’m trying to build a coop that is not terribly expensive and love yours and especially love that your buildings are from reclaimed products. Do you happen to have the plans you’d be willing to sell? Also, what color/brand stain have you used on your buildings? They are beautiful! Thank you! Amber
Amber, I totally agree with you. I’ve just spent a cup of coffee looking for plans to the coop. I would definitely buy them if they were available.
Wendy – We never thought about putting our chicken coop plans up on the site – but we certainly could do that.
Thank you so mush for sharing…. I hope you have a wondrrful day..:)
Sheila
Thank you Sheila- You as well!!
Hi, my name is Karrie, and I was reading your blog on 6 things to do to eliminate weeds. I saw what you said about tilling, but I just recently moved into a house where the people didn’t take care of the garden area, and is covered with goatheads and sand burrs. I was planning to cover it with sheep manure and then till it. I was then planning to plant my garden and put lots of straw around the plants to help keep kill the weeds. I have never had a garden, because I have never had a place for one. I need help. Please!
Thanks
Hi Karrie – glad you stopped by the blog and it sounds like you have some great plans for your new garden! One thing that may really help you is a 4 part series we did on raised row gardening that goes through all of the stages of planting and creating a garden. I really like the raised row approach because it keeps the “work area” confined to manageable spaces. The manure is a great idea as is the straw! If you feel you have to till to get the area started -it is the one time I think gardeners can do it to start – what i would do is till as soon as you can and create raised rows from the soil – then follow with a quick green manure crop of annual rye in the planting areas. That will help crowd out new weeds a little. Heavy mulch between the rows will also help to control them this year as well. This fall – I would concentrate on collecting as many leaves as you can and put a heavy mulch of them on your walking rows, and another cover crop on the growing ones. I realize I just said a lot in a short time, but just thinking how I might approach it. The link to the garden series is at the end of this comment and please feel free to email us if you have any questions as you go along. Good luck and happy growing – it has to be exciting starting your first garden!!! Jim http://oldworldgardenfarms.com/raised-row-gardening/
It doesn’t look like you live on the farm. If not, how far is it from you house? We purchased a farm a couple of years ago, that is within 25 minute drive of our house. The intention is to farm it (we are maple sugaring again this weekend), until we can afford to build a house and live on it. Unfortunately, with a young family, it has not always been easy to give it the care and attention it needs.
How do you manage – assuming that you don’t live on the ‘farm’?
when you speak of “straw,” do you mean “wheat” straw or “pine” straw???
HI ABOUT GROWING TOMATOES CAN THEY BE GROW IN LARGE FLOWER POTS ,THANKS VICKY
Just wanted you to know that I posted about no-till gardening today and referred folks to your blog as a resource. You can find it here: http://mymaplehillfarm.blogspot.com/2013/05/i-can-dig-it-not.html
Thanks so much for all of your wonderful ideas!
daisy