2 part-time homesteaders trying to leave the earth a little better than we found it
The day after we got the keys to the farmhouse, we bought a riding lawnmower with a 48″ deck. Buying that lawnmower somehow made me feel equipped, capable, and prepared for anything. Of the tedious and repetitive tasks on the homestead, mowing the grass is probably my favorite. One evening after work I was finishing … Continue reading The other side of the coin: celebrating 10 years
When I was a teaching assistant in grad school, I found that success was made up of a series of small failures. The program director liked to encourage these missteps as just part of the learning curve. Couldn’t understand a word of Roland Barthes? Congratulations, you’re in the learning curve. Spent all night grading student … Continue reading Farm Dogs and the Learning Curve
There’s no way to ease into this, so I’ll just dive right in. On Saturday, I noticed that one of our new piglets was pooping spaghetti. Now I’ll back up. We got our first two American Guinea Hogs via Craigslist, because of course we did. When I emailed the seller, she responded quickly and said … Continue reading When homesteading sucks
When we made an offer on the farm, we had the option of “babysitting” two beef cows and a geriatric haired dairy sheep until the beef are ready to slaughter in June (fate of sheep unknown). The former owner of our property broached this subject with me when I was at the house for the septic inspection, … Continue reading Because I like bacon more
When we decided to buy the farm, we vowed that we’d jointly blog about the adventure and the property’s transformation. We’ve now been here for 2 weeks, and it’s been a flurry of nonstop action. When we moved in, the grass hadn’t been mowed in weeks, and the formerly loved landscaping surrounding the house and … Continue reading Settling in: Zone 1
It seems that we have bought a farm on 7 acres of pasture, with a slightly ramshackle craftsman house, two barns in questionable repair, a creek, a flock of chickens, two temporary cows, and a sheep. But I don’t even want to go there yet, first of all because it’s only 97% certain that this farm … Continue reading We bought the farm.
Bellfern Homestead 