Tag: moving

Autumn Dawn Endeavors > moving

Pigs (Zone 2, 4)

Posted on by AutumnDawn

Pigs need access to fresh water, minerals and lots of feed. Our Tamworths ate six pounds of feed daily per head. They also appreciate a shelter to get out of the rain and will build wallows to cool off in. They are strong intelligent beasts that will test the strength of your builds at every opportunity. Do not skimp on infrastructure with full-size pigs.

I am of two minds with pigs as far as zoning goes. I want my breeders close so they appreciate human interaction, are easy to care for through the winter, and can be put to work converting food waste into bacon seeds. Feeder pigs would be ideal to manage through a woodlot as they’d excel at keeping briars and other understory growth under control. Perhaps paired with goats, the woodlot would stay a pleasant place to walk. They can also forage a lot of their feed needs there, depending on the size of the woodlot and any mast drop.

We are currently considering downsizing to a smaller breed of pig. We are not raising them commercially, a smaller breed would reduce feed costs, would stretch pasture further, and would be easier to handle and fence. I would also recommend having milk and egg overproduction to help with feed costs.

Permaculture Zoning

Posted on by AutumnDawn

Permaculture design uses the tool of zoning to reduce labor and increase efficiency of our time, effort, and money inputs. At this moment, I am planning in which zones I believe our infrastructure will need to live to be convenient and save money. Once we have a property, we can start drawing out zone maps and make sure that outputs and inputs compliment each other. This will be a living document and updated as things progress. (Last update: 01/10/22)

Zone #Basic Parameters: Time (T) = frequency (f) x duration (d)
0Nexus of human activity, typically a dwelling
1As close to 0 as possible, T is characterized by high f and d
2The next distance out, T is characterized by moderate f and d
3Distance from 0 is a major factor, though T input can vary. E.g.: high f but low d
4 Distance from 0 may be a major factor. E.g.: very low f but high d
5A wild zone where human intervention is ideally zero. T input varies widely.
Reference for table: https://www.permaculturenews.org/2015/12/11/permaculture-zones-of-use-a-primer/
  • Zone 0: The family dwelling/s.
    • Input
      • Water
      • Food
      • Electricity
      • Stuff
      • Climate control
    • Output
      • Rain catchment
      • Grey water
      • Manure
      • Food scraps
      • Shredded Paper
      • Cardboard
      • Garbage
  • Zone 1: Deck, porch, kitchen garden, pathways to other areas, barn, greenhouse, cold frames, potting shed, root cellar, worm farm, rain barrels, firewood storage, workshops and sheds, in-ground garden
    • Input
      • Water
      • Electricity
      • Sunshine
      • Rain
      • Planting
      • Maintenance
      • Fertility
    • Output
      • Herbs
      • Rain catchment
      • Grill space
      • Leisure
      • Storage
      • Fertility
  • Zone 2: Perennials, long term annuals, compost bins, beehives, ponds, poultry housing, farrowing area, ram base alpha, goat milking area
    • Input
      • Water
      • Feed
      • Minerals
      • Bedding
    • Output
      • Rain catchment
      • Eggs
      • Milk
      • Meat
      • Manure
  • Zone 3: Orchard, management intensive grazing, animal tractors, dams for irrigation and animal water
    • Input
      • Fertility
      • Maintenance on fence and structures
      • Planting
      • Pruning
      • Daily Rotation
      • Water
      • Occasional Mowing
    • Output
      • Fruit
      • Nuts
      • Meat
      • Milk
      • Pasture
  • Zone 4: Managed woodlot
    • Input
      • Planting
      • Pruning
    • Output
      • Wood
      • Fuel
      • Forage
      • Bedding
  • Zone 5: Wild zones we simply enjoy.
    • Input
      • Watch for diseases
    • Output
      • Beauty

Sheep (Zone 2 – 3)

Posted on by AutumnDawn
Hair sheep require no shearing

We have learned much about sheep and ruminants in general these last few years. They need fresh water, minerals, and careful pasture management. They appreciate shade and shelter from rain and wind but if you have trees they can get under, it will suffice.

Unless your sheep are very tame, you will want a handling system to be able to get your hands on them. This can be as simple as some cattle panels and quick links and luring them inside with alfalfa pellets. We’ve used this on our sheep and had eight inside at one time for the vet to do a blood draw. For the next farm, I want a proper handling system for sorting skittish sheep and being able to hold them and goats for general care and maintenance tasks.

Our current favorite breed of sheep are the St. Croix. They are a hair sheep rather than a wool sheep and require no shearing. They simply shed their winter coat in the spring. They have been bred over generations without worming medications and have no need of such if their pasture is rotated properly. As they are not a wool breed, they do not need grain to maintain their health and feeding them grain only makes them grow hooves faster. Without grain, we don’t need to worry about trimming hooves as much.

We have learned much about fencing and the next farm will benefit from that knowledge. We will have high-tensile electric fence around the perimeter, poly wire and temporary posts for paddock divisions. We will also have a solid woven fence area for the rams to keep them separate from the ewes in the off-season.

The next farm will have a great deal more acreage and the sheep will need more protection than what they have here. We will be getting livestock guardian dogs to live with the ewes 24/7. The Ram base will likely be close to the barn.

Ducks (Zone 2)

Posted on by AutumnDawn
Rubber-free Duckie

Much like the chickens, they’ll need fresh water, food, and shelter from the climate but they are much more tolerant of wet weather than chickens. They absolutely need access to water deep enough to dunk their heads in to keep their nostrils clear. Ducks can be trained to a house but may need motivated to head to bed in the evening, unlike chickens who will put themselves to bed if not impeded. Muscovies like to roost, but they don’t need one in their house.

You will need water access for your ducks and planning to water plants in the area when you have to dump a dirty pool or water container will help capture the rich nitrogen that your ducks leave behind. Try to locate your pools near trees, gardens, or shrubbery that need water. Whatever containers you use, if you have chickens, make sure that it’s not so deep that a chicken can’t hop out. Chickens can drown themselves in a five gallon bucket.

You don’t really need to tractor ducks to get them where you want them. Just plop a kiddie pool in the area and toss a few treats in the water and they will hunt in the area.

The duck hens have created duck nests in various inconvenient places, but were easy to find. One in the bottom of the chicken coop, one under a bush, and the last in a tote stored under our rabbit cages. We shall see who manages to hatch anything out. Our ducks are seasonal layers so winter will be less of an issue.

Chickens (Zone 2 – 3)

Posted on by AutumnDawn
Hunt and Peck

When thinking about chickens in a permaculture setting, you’re thinking about all the ins and outs in their life cycle. As a livestock animal, their care needs are fairly simple. They need fresh water, food, security from predators, and shelter from the climate. If they are allowed to eat anything but crumble, they’ll need grit for their crops to grind up their food.

They appreciate a dust bath but if you don’t provide that, they’ll construct one of their own. They may construct dust baths in addition, regardless of what you provide. Toss in some diatomaceous earth in to reduce parasite problems.

If you are raising chickens for eggs, and you don’t appreciate a daily egg hunt, you’ll want to provide some nest boxes with bedding that is convenient for you to check. If you want said eggs to hatch, you’ll want a rooster and the nests with a pathway to the ground for the chicks to exit without injury.

If your climate is hot, they’ll like shade and access to food and water without having to cross into the sun. If your climate is cold, they’ll need a draft-free place to sleep to protect them from wind, yet ventilated to reduce respiratory infections and frostbite.

You’ll want to locate an egg-layer coop close to your home (zone 1) as you will be visiting them often to check for eggs in the winter to prevent frozen eggs. Having electricity available to warm a water pan will save you from needing to haul water as often.

You will also want a method to deal with soiled bedding and manure. A moving coop is one solution to keep their droppings from building up in one area and is good for fertilizing pasture and gardens that are currently dormant. Deep bedding is another, but you will have to clean it out and move it to a place to compost. Chicken manure is considered “hot” and needs time and carbon to become good fertilizer. That said, as a single collection point, it is an easy way to add nitrogen to your compost pile. Make sure they are located close together.

A note about meat chickens: Meat chicken care is very similar to egg layers, however there are aspects you can skip if you don’t hatch your own, and only raise them seasonally.

We plan to raise some meat chickens in a chicken tractor (probably zone 2) and rotate them in the pasture with a electronet fence to let them forage for bugs and grass. We’ll buy enough chicks in the spring to cover our needs for the year and harvest them before winter to save on labor.

Site-planning Unseen

Site-planning Unseen

Posted on by AutumnDawn

As my itch to move grows more intense, I’ll be writing out my thoughts and ideas on how the farm will be designed. Obviously, these plans will change to fit the property once we know what we’re dealing with, but in the meantime it will serve to organize our priorities and maybe help someone else out there following the same path. Click the title to read more.

Things to Build When We Get There

Posted on by AutumnDawn

Road access: This is number one for the fact that if we can’t move materials onto the property, we’ll never be able to inhabit it.

Barn: I make this number two because it will be needed to house any building materials, feed, and equipment for the farm. It may also provide temporary shelter to the humans and livestock.

Fence: I’d like the livestock to stay in, and the wild critters to stay out.

Underground PVC Lines/Cisterns: All underground work needs to be done before building unless we can find a cheap line boring machine to rent.

Community Building: Main leisure and living structure. May provide temporary shelter while residence structures are built.

Resident structures: Where everyone calls home and sleeps.

Water Catchment: As roofing is put up, we build water catchment to help with watering animals, gardens, and ourselves.

Greywater Systems: Water can have more than one life.

Humanure System: Disposing of waste in a non-polluting way.

Landscape Design: Decisions on any terraforming to make the best use of the land.

Greenhouse: Let’s grow food without bugs.

Hydro/Aquaponics: Maybe even without dirt.

Kitchen: James and I want a proper kitchen with room for canning, dehydrating, and freeze drying, and some business options. May or may not be on-site depending on legalities.

Root Cellar: Place to store food and take shelter during tornadoes.

Power Generation: Reduce our dependency on the grid and reduce our costs as well.

Order of Operations

Posted on by AutumnDawn

This post is a living document and will be altered as new information comes to light.

Buying a place to build a homestead is a mentally monumental task. As a student of permaculture, I am using my training to avoid Type I errors and, hopefully, design a homestead that is fun and efficient to live in. Here I attempt to prioritize our property needs.

  • Internet Access
  • Acreage
  • Gentle slopes
  • Road Access
  • Shelter (materials, animals, people)
  • Water
  • Sewage
  • Electricity
  • Heating/Cooling
  • Fence
  • Pond/s
  • Streams
  • Pasture
  • Forest
  • South-east facing

Internet

Internet access is an absolute must. My husband works in the IT field and in order to do his job, he must be able to dial in at a moment’s notice. The children and I also enjoy connectivity for socializing, learning, and leisure.

Acreage

We have outgrown our five acres in Ohio and wish to expand our operation to include more and different kinds of ruminants. We would like to have twenty-ish acres to work with. More AU/Acre=good.

Gentle Slopes

My design ideas all work better with some gentle inclines/declines in the landscape. Flat land would work, but I’m a bit leery of flooding. Steep land could work but it would have to be limited. I don’t want to need a 4×4 to get onto the land. There are designs in mind that would need public access to at least part of the land.

Road Access

We would like to get onto our land without crossing someone else’s land. Being able to build a two-lane driveway at the road would be a major plus. Having space to put a small parking lot would be ideal.

Shelter

We will be needing shelter of some sort quickly but we can add it ourselves if necessary. A barn for building supplies and livestock shelter would be a good start. We have an RV we can stay in until living quarters are available.

Water

I can haul water if we need to. I intend to place water catchment up as soon as is practical. From what I have read, Tennessee tends to have a high water table so a well might be an option depending on the mineral content. Municipal water, if available, will help us get on the land faster but will be relegated to a luxury at this point.

Sewage

If there’s a septic on the land, awesome. If not, the RV black tanks will be useful in the short term until we can build our composting and grey water systems.

Electricity

Again, if it exists and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to hook up, great for the short term. We have intention to install alternative power systems as soon as practical. We already have a generator to use while we set it up.

Heating/Cooling

Tennessee has less of the cold and more of the warm than Ohio. My preference is to build a geothermal system for both needs and augment heating with a rocket stove/mass in occupancy zones. Augmented cooling may be fans and portable or window AC units. Super-insulation will be key to maintaining comfort.

Fence

Fencing is a no-brainer. If it exists already, that’d be amazing. If not, I’ve got some experience putting it up and can probably knock that out quickly once the property lines have been cleared.

Pond/s

One or more ponds would be ideal for watering livestock and irrigation of the pastures. This is a giant plus if they already exist but they will be built if not.

Streams

If water runs through the property and the deed comes with water rights, this would be pretty darn cool and useful for building a ram pump to push water uphill and maybe a hydro-electric turbine. Cool, but not a deal-breaker.

Pasture

Pasture is something we really need but are willing to develop over time. We already own sheep and they will need a place to graze when we move but a stash of hay will help.

Forest

We want trees on the property. Not ALL trees, but enough to make some silvo-pasture and a place to raise some happy pigs. Being able to produce some of our own building lumber and heat our home with our own firewood would be darned useful.

South-east Facing

This would be the ideal facing for plant-growing sunshine without getting cooked by the western sun in the summer.

Daydreaming the Possibilities

Posted on by AutumnDawn

Now that we’ve made the decision to move, we’re in a hurry up and wait limbo. As we wait for the stars to align between job prospects and available land, I choose to be mentally constructive and start planning if/then scenarios, priority lists for the properties, moving timeline, structures we will need, and pouring through building code to keep the theft department at bay.

Today’s thoughts were on: How big of a barn do we think we will need?

Photo by Antonio DiCaterina on Unsplash

After pouring through multiple websites featuring barn designers, tractor specs, garage specs, shop suggestions, etc., I think we’ve boiled the process down to a manageable theory. And that’s all it can be at this point is a theory, but having one will let my brain relax and work on something else.

Here’s how the theory goes. Height is probably the easiest number. We desire a utility size tractor to work our farm. It will be powerful enough to run the implements we’ll need on a regular basis. That mean we will need a nine foot door to get into the barn. A 10×10 is a standard size door and that will probably give us a twelve-foot ceiling though we may need to go taller to be able to use the tractor to stack pallets inside on racks. We may also want a second story for a hayloft so the final height is still TBD. But!… we do have a minimum to start with. =)

I tend to think of my storage needs in terms of “Will this fill a whole bay of a garage?” It’s something I can easily visualize and I have numbers to work with, thanks to internet surfing. A standard two-car garage is about 24×30, leaving room to open doors and work around the vehicles. Want to have a shop too? 30×40.

Thinking about what we need the barn for helps us figure out how many “bay spaces” we might need. Currently, I can easily store all the animal feed sacks, minerals, fencing supplies, and tools in one bay. The woodworking equipment would fit onto one bay, but sometimes needs the flex space of a second bay for long pieces and assembly. Perhaps, the second bay might also hold wood scraps and dimension lumber for other projects. A bay for vehicle maintenance and tools. Storage for the tractor implements may possibly be on pallet racks. Temporary shelter for livestock should the need arise or storage for the livestock shelters not in use…

You can see why this is a puzzle that is taking me a while to figure out. Discerning what is necessary in the main barn and what can be relegated to another outbuilding is a confounding factor.

One thing I definitely want for the barn is to be the place that any large shipments are taken to and put in for storage. I want that easy accessibility of being able to unload with a tractor and put it away quickly in any weather.

If you all have any suggestions or think I missed anything important, feel free to contact me here or on MeWe.

Homestead Update

Posted on by AutumnDawn
I was driving the school bus.

It’s been a little while since I posted an update. I was juggling two jobs, then was in a head-on collision and have been recovering from that. I’m down to one job now and aside from some residual soreness, I’m feeling much better. James and I visited Tennessee and met some of the Self-Reliance community there and that event has cemented a big decision for us.

We want to move to Tennessee.

Some of our reasoning is political. The recent stupidity with Ohio’s governor and his Mandate Decrees have put a bad taste in our mouths. That aside, Tennessee has a longer growing season which will make feeding the family and livestock an easier and much less expensive endeavor. Also, the community there was amazing and we’d like to be part of that for the long haul.

James is currently looking for his next career jump and now is the time to jump if there ever was one. This homestead in Ohio has been a great place to learn and live, but we are ready for more. Stay tuned!