INTRODUCTION
Homestead Roots Newsletter - 6/27/2024

We are into the depths of summer and doing our best to make the most of it. We've had a few days without rain this week which has been a welcome relief with some of the muddy areas on the farm. Over this past weekend we were able to sneak away from the homestead and enjoy an overnight with some friends up north. It was a wonderful time with lots of play for the kids and adults and some good adult time chatting as well. We've found we can do 1 night away pretty easily... I have details below on how we make it work!

HOMESTEAD UPDATE
Saved The Skid Steer, Animal Update

I am sure you were dying to know. Yes the skid steer has been rescued.🙂 Thankfully the drier weather made it doable for me to get up the hill and get the skidsteer back safe and sound. I did leave behind the mower, so the next step is to use a chain and drag that up the hill far enough so that I can hook up to it and get it back as well. Long term I would really like to smooth out the hill a bit making it easier to navigate. The hill isn't too steep but it has a bit of a lip to it that is hard to get past. If we can just smooth out the lip I think we will be good to go!

Now that we have the skid steer back we have some work to do with it! We want to burn a big pile of brush and we use the skid steer to help manage the fire. We also have some piles of logs from last years tree clearing that need to be relocated. Lastly we have more mowing to do with the new mower to get a few more areas cleaned up and looking good.

All of the animals are doing really well. The baby chicks and turkeys continue to grow and will be moving outdoors soon. Ducks are happy and continuing to lay eggs. Our two does and 3 kids are getting out to pasture once per day for some fresh grass. We also bought a few hay bales recently to help supplement them. Pigs are good and growing nicely, I am still not happy with my hub system as the pigs continue to use it as a bathroom (they aren't supposed to do that) and it is still pretty wet in there. All in all the system is working well, just a few tweaks to work out. I just ordered our meat bird feed and those birds will arrive in about a month.

KEEPING ANIMALS
Leaving the Homestead

One of the downsides of farming and homesteading is the challenges presented with leaving the farm. Specifically with livestock long trips away from the homestead can be really hard. On the flip side of that coin many homesteaders like to be at home (count us in that camp). We like to be home, on our property, in our own beds, eating our own food. So going away isn't a huge priority. However, there are times where you need to get away and it is good to have a plan when that happens.

The best way to do this is with a farm sitter. We typically find family friends or young people to farm sit for us. Depending on the complexity of your homestead this could be a pretty intense job. For us it is relatively simple on our homestead. Things do get a little more complex if we add in the market garden, which we have a few times. Having someone harvest and stock our farmstand can be a bit more labor intensive, but for the right person it isn't too bad. As for livestock care most of the work is done in the morning and the evening with letting animals out, feeding animals and milking animals in the morning and then collecting eggs, and putting animals away at night.

We've built parts of our homestead with farm sitters in mind. This is partially due to past experiences. We once had a poor farm sitter get caught trying to wrangle our pigs and reset their electric net fencing in the dark, poor thing. Thankfully the pigs were in a boundary fence as well, we preplanned enough to give her some insurance. It wasn't ideal and we felt bad for the poor girl trying to manage it all. We now have systems in place to help with that. The pigs hub and spoke system was created so people wouldn't have to go into the pen with the pigs to feed them. You are able to feed the pigs from the outside, and the pigs are safe and secure in their fenced in area. All the other animals have similarly well thought out systems to make caring for them easier. This is good for us and good for anyone who has to manage them. For dairy animals this sort of thing is what makes a kid or calf share smart. When you go away you don't have to milk the animals to keep them healthy, their baby will be able to take the excess and you can pick back up milking when you return.

My wife does an excellent job of providing very thorough instructions as well. We will almost always have the sitter come out to walk through the morning and evening chores with us. We do pay our farm sitters well, though we have also had couples ask if they could do it for free just for the experience.

All in all, it is smart to plan your homestead in a thoughtful way so that if needed you can get away. It makes life better for you as well!