Just bought the farm!!!

[CLC]

I just bought 25 acres and I really love this place!! At first my daughter and her husband were going to move here but they have changed their mind, so now I live here alone! I do have Rheumatoid Arthritis but I am determined!!! I desperately need a game plan!!! I paid cash for farm and new 4 wheel drive toyota fj but what should I do first- goats, chickens, orchard, fruit trees, I need a lot but I choose to buy without going in debt - I am debt free now! Any advice would be appreciated! The firearms and ammo is covered - and coyotes are an issue! Thanks for any advice!!!

[Wingshooter]

Awesome. Congrats!

What type of terrain... hills, fields? Do you have a tractor?


Edit: coyote hunts are fun! Edited January 9, 2015 by Batman

[CLC]

No tractor, no lawn mower but beautiful views of the sunrise!!, lower pasture has dry creek bed and about 6 acres are woods. The pond is dried up but I have parrots so we are happy with our 6 pecan trees and 4 walnut trees. Soft hill on most of land - steep drive down to liwer pasture - thinking a gun range!

[hipower]

Welcome. And my congratulations on getting to where you are in terms of no debt and a nice place to live. Never having had a large place, I don't feel qualified to advise you much.

[CLC]

I have never had land - this is a first for me too


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[CLC]

This sunrise stole my heart!


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[Lowpower]

Beautiful! 

 

Here in Western TN 15 acres buys you the right to claim your taxes as agricultural land which comes with a wonderful tax break whether you plant on 

it or not. For example, my S-in-L lives on 4 acres and the fellow across the street has 18 acres. They both pay the same property taxes. 

[MrsMonkeyMan2500]

Congrats! My husband and I just did the same thing! Debt free and country living. We only bought 3 acres for now but we're on a mountain and by a river.

Our land came with a "goat barn" but I am thinking it would make a great home for "half asses". Trying to talk my husband into that is gonna be the issue! I might have to just settle for more dogs!

The man who lived there before us has an area where he had a large garden. So I am going to give that a shot this year. I'm going to attempt large flower beds as well. Keep us posted on how you do!

[Monkeyman2500]

Congratulations CLC, it looks absolutely beautiful. I can't wait for our first sunrise/sunset at our new house next week!

[DixieDawg]

A tractor and bush hog are a must if you don't want your pastures over grown. Cows are easy keepers and great mowers if you don't over graze. A farm is a lot of work if you want to really get into it but if all you want is a hobby farm the mini-cows, mini-horses and mini-mules are a lot of fun

-Dusty-

[ArmyBrat61]

Ah a fellow Beak Freak! Nice looking Green Wing baby....did you hand raise it? My wife and I bought our place here in east Tn with the expectation of subsistence gardening....is your acreage fenced? Goats go a long way in keeping the yard mowed but I really suggest you get a riding mower or the biggest tractor you can safely handle. There is a whole lotta work headed your way and you can't beat a good tractor to help you through it. Please post pics of your feathered babies...I used to raised them in Florida and I sure do miss them....on a side note...do no keep chickens/ducks/geese anywhere near the parrots. Be sure to keep your hands sanitized anytime you work around poultry as there are diseases/viruses that can be transmitted through you to the parrots and wipe out your flock. Good luck!

[RED333]

I will 2nd the "do not mix" your birds.

We have 30 chickens, built 2 tractors and a coop with a run.

The run is fenced in with a cover to keep out the hawks and such,

The cold weather is the worst to prep for.

Congrats on your new home stead.

[gary_boom]

You need a big dog.

[CLC]

I got my Greenwing straight out of the nest at 2 weeks! I have been hand feeding for different breeders for 20 years!! Love my parrots!!!
I am fenced everywhere but the road area , about 6 acres woods and the rest is pasture. Hay was bailed and taken away by a neighbor. I am attempting to pull the dead fallen trees out with my FJ so the will not fall on grandkids. Then cut them up for outside fires or indoor fireplace.
I want a big garden , lots of goats, chickens, alpaca, a pig or two! Lol!!!
I want the pond to hold water- have no clue how to do that!
But I do have RA - I do good - I always have issues with it but an occasional fall is really hard on me.


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[peejman]

I got my Greenwing straight out of the nest at 2 weeks! I have been hand feeding for different breeders for 20 years!! Love my parrots!!!
I am fenced everywhere but the road area , about 6 acres woods and the rest is pasture. Hay was bailed and taken away by a neighbor. I am attempting to pull the dead fallen trees out with my FJ so the will not fall on grandkids. Then cut them up for outside fires or indoor fireplace.
I want a big garden , lots of goats, chickens, alpaca, a pig or two! Lol!!!
I want the pond to hold water- have no clue how to do that!
But I do have RA - I do good - I always have issues with it but an occasional fall is really hard on me.


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Congrats!  That is indeed a beautiful sunset. 

 

Start slow, one thing at a time.  It'll take several years to get to where you want to be. 

 

I'd start with a garden.  While a tractor isn't compulsory, it sure would make things a lot easier.  I don't know how big the trees are that you're pulling with the FJ, but I'd be real careful about not killing the transmission... they're not make for that kind of work (but a tractor is  ;) ). 

 

You'll likely need to call a pond expert to see what the story is there.  Fixing a leaky pond can be a lot of work. 

[R_Bert]

You might.... want to lease the pastures & garden space (retain access for some planting, and a cow or two).  Let someone else pay you to do all the heavy work.  Any adjacent farms?

[raildog]

You might.... want to lease the pastures & garden space (retain access for some planting, and a cow or two). Let someone else pay you to do all the heavy work. Any adjacent farms?

Good point if you can find some one who has cows or horses and lease the pastor land or sell the hay to someone if you have more than 15 acres you can apply for the green belt that will help on taxes the coyotes if you can't take care of them im shure some of us will be glad to help out congratulations on your new place and good luck be careful when you are out in the woods with those trees a lot of my family are loggers and i have been to a couple of funerals for guys who got killed in the log woods Edited January 9, 2015 by raildog

[E4 No More]

Welp, I'm jealous! :P

[Mark A]

Well congrats. We aren't living on ours yet but hopefully will be in about 3 years.

 

Chickens will work your garden area pretty well pre-planting. You can run ducks if you want the same fertilization of chickens without all the damage and the eggs are very tasty. Ducks are easier to herd as well...

 

A subcompact tractor would be pretty helpful. A lot of them will have a front end loader and a mid mount mower (think slightly larger than a normal riding lawn mower). You can save for a few years and get one a few years old for pretty decent pricing.

 

 

 

The best thing I like about our land is going outside, standing really still and listening to the sound of... nothing...

 

Mark

[runco]

You asked for advice, I recommend a strong work hand man!  What better place to find one, but here at TGO.  Congrats, and good luck.  Maybe some of the single gents here will coming knocking.  Just make sure they have strong hands.  ;)

[CLC]

I am not afraid of many things but men are a little bit scary to me - I have been single for 28 years - never dated- besides a man might want to take control of my guns!!! Lol!!!!


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[runco]

I am not afraid of many things but men are a little bit scary to me - I have been single for 28 years - never dated- besides a man might want to take control of my guns!!! Lol!!!!


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That is funny.  I was just kidding, but there are some good folk on here. 

[Moped]

I think you need a small tractor with a mower.  You need to figure out what you want to do.  I suggest laying out a garden.  You can go with raised beds if you don't get a tractor right off.  Gardening is a lot easier than it looks and it's something you can get a lot of satisfaction from in short amount of time!  Just think of the veggies you will be harvesting come the late spring and summer! 

 

Next you need to decide on some stock. Cows and chickens come easily to mind, but something else that comes to mind is goats.  More and more people are getting into raising goats.  Apparently, there is pretty good money in it too! 

 

A good place to start would be your local UT Agriculture Extension Agent. There is one in just about every county in the state and they are a great resource for you and really help you out a lot!  Here is a link.  https://extension.tennessee.edu/Pages/ANR-CED.aspx

 

Also, I don't know much about feeding parrots, but I suspect they eat millet and such. I bet you can easily raise alot of the stuff that they eat, right there on your farm.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Moped

[CLC]

My parrots eat almost everything people do - no chocolate, avocados, Apple seeds but they love veggies!!! And I think I will go with goats - I cannot drink cow milk or eat cow cheese. I want as close to off grid as I can go - I want a well that does not need electricity and solar to run my swim spa ( guess that ruins the image of off grid- lol) I hope to have fish in the pond and lots of fruit trees. I really would love to raise bees but not sure I would be able to! I love to shoot but I'm afraid it will scare my animals too much but I'm craving a range!! Lots of plans !!! If anyone digs wells or turns up gardens near Sweetwater - let me know!!!


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[ArmyBrat61]

"The best thing I like about our land is going outside, standing really still and listening to the sound of... nothing..."


Amen to that brother!