Money makes the Farm go 'round....

I'm having one of those days where I feel like no matter what I try, I'm hitting a wall. It just keeps coming back to money.

I want to work on my fireplace and out door oven. I have most of the supplies but what I don't have is the money to get the firebrick and the mortar and some portland.

I especially need to be working on fencing. I continue to work on cutting my own posts out of hedge. It is slow going as I am using a small pruning type saw. While I am making progress, the thing that cuts even slower then hedge is wet hedge, and it has been raining everyday recently. We found a small chain saw that Mac feels confident I won't kill myself with. Unfortunately, it costs money too. Even when I get the posts in, there is the debate on whether I should use woven wire, twisted wire or panels.... all of which cost money.

I really want to work on the hobbit house. I have everything I need there except, some fireplace trim, the door and once again, portland.

I was looking at some of the Olde English Babydoll Southdown Sheep and found a farm where I would like to reserve. Ewes are running at $500.-$525. So, need I say more.

I need to order my hazelnuts, my grape vine slips, my mushroom spawn........

I need to hire someone to come out and chip some dead elm.

I'm very close with projects that need finishing up in the house. If I could get several sheets of plywood and some wood flooring. *If* being the key word here.

So much just waiting for the hay to be cut and baled and sold. But it just keeps raining. Not only raining but the temperatures last night got down to 51o F. Too cold for the plants in the garden to set blossom I need to catch a break. Just four days of sun and no rain and we could really start to make the farm happen. A break.... just a small break.

Louie

The Search for the Perfect Farm

Everything that I try.....every idea I research.... every dream I chase, results in one thing... the perfect farm. A harmonious blend, an example of permaculture and animal husbandry that doesn't have to be wrenched from the ground, like traditional agriculture, but rather, gently nudged.

It can't be too labor intensive, because I am the labor force ( aka chief cook and bottle washer) It can't be too dependent on equipment. And for my own well-being it must also be as peaceful and joyful as it is productive.

I keep looking at livestock. I've been researching. I THINK I know what I want. I keep getting drawn in by Olde English Babydoll Southdown sheep. They are placid and they clump well when moving them to the point that you really don't need to even have a dog for them. They are the darlings of the vineyard owner as they do not eat the vines. Their wool is a far better grade then most sheeps' wool putting it into the same range as cashmere. They are easy lambers. They are small, which does not make them attractive to big producers, but it means that I should be able to grab them and tip them up on their butts when I need to.

Whatever I choose, it will have to fit in to this place.... this perfect place. I have had people come for a visit and inevitably they stand in the drive. They turn and face the trees and feel the breeze on their faces and say, "This is so nice here." I think that is my true commodity... that feeling of peace that pervades this land.

I suppose I don't have to search for the perfect farm. I just have to keep this one perfect.

Louie