by Ethan
on September 23, 2008
“I am going to use this web log as a journal of my journey into the world of farming. I hope that it can be a source of information for other people that have the same dream that I have (full-time farming). Since I do not have any immediate family that is currently involved in farming I am looking into the potential of alternative farming that does not take as much land as conventional Iowa row crop farming. Some of the ideas that I am researching are berries, cut flowers, pastured hogs, free range broiler chickens, organic eggs, sheep, and goats. I want to have a diverse group of farming endeavors in order to have things producing income at all times of the year. I am not looking for a hobby, rather I’m looking at farming as a full-time job.
That was the very first paragraph of the very first post I made on “The Beginning Farmer” blog two years ago today. Since then there are been 362 additional posts (including today’s) and for about the past year I have been committed to posting Monday through Saturday. Along with all those posts there have been hundreds of comments (I’m actually not sure exactly how many, but I know there are a lot). These comments have given me a lot to think about as you all have asked questions, shared your experiences, questioned my ideas or thoughts, and encouraged me countless times!”Even though I am two years further along, what I wrote in that very first paragraph still holds true for me. I continue to post six times a week because I want to chronicle this journey of ours and hopefully share some knowledge, experiences, and information with others that have similar desires as those of my family.
What really makes this blog great though is not me. I think this is a great blog because there are people all over the country and the world who share, debate, joke, and encourage all of the people who choose to read these words. In fact that is what makes communities great … people willing to share and encourage others with their own experiences.
If you have stuck around for a while and read many of these posts … thank you! If you have stumbled across the blog and have just been following a long for a little while … thank you! If you subscribe and find my ramblings in your e-mail inbox daily … thank you! And, if you have encouraged me and others through your experiences or lessons from the farm (this is a reminder for everyone to become involved in the commenting) … THANK YOU!
P.S. I’ve been saving that picture for a while waiting for the right time to really make fun of myself. Becca snapped that shot this past winter when we were trying to get a picture for the Epi-Log. I wasn’t quite ready when she took the picture!
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by Ethan
on September 22, 2008
Well, with our move to the farm just a few days away (still lots of work to do, but I don’t want to think about it at this moment) we are struggling with what to do for an internet solution. All along our plan has been to go with the local dial-up and their land-line plan and keep my cellphone that I have for work. But, recently I have by trying to look at other options such as satellite, a cellphone adapter, or a wireless internet service provider. And … I’m not having much luck figuring anything out!
Here is what I know. You can get Wild Blue or Hughesnet in the area I believe, but the reviews of those satellite companies are touch and go. The price on the satellite internet runs between $50 and $60 for the base plan (is the base plan even worth it?). I find some people that love them and plenty of others that absolutely hate them. Next is the cell adapter route. It appears that maybe the only cell providers available are Alltel or Verizon and those both run about $60 a month, but i’m not completely sure that we would be within their coverage area for the internet thing. Finally, a wireless internet service provider sounds like it would be a cool option, but I have only found one for my area (maybe) and they are something like $70 per month!
Which brings me back to dial-up. It will be the least expensive by far, but it may also be the slowest by far. Do any of you have any experiences, thoughts, or suggestions? We are open to anything right now.
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by Ethan
on September 20, 2008
No picture today … no farming research … no conventional farming debates … no story about our experience … none of the stuff that this blog regularly features. Today I just want to say one word:
PAINT
Yesterday morning I ran around town (and a neighboring town) to get all of the primer we needed and in the afternoon (until late evening) we started spraying primer throughout the entire house. When I left the farm the priming was done and the fans were blowing.
Once I made it home I ate a quick meal, changed into somewhat clean clothes (I was still dirty) and ran out to find ceiling paint and hopefully wall paint. We finally made it home around 11:00 PM with the ceiling paint, but the wall paint had to wait.
Whew … things are crazy on this final push, but we are enjoying it. If you are wondering what happened to the normal posts that I usually put up … they will be back when I have more than 2 minutes to type. For now, I’ll try and keep you updated on our continuing farm progress 🙂
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by Ethan
on September 19, 2008
I was out working on the tractor tonight (I had a chance to do that because we shot the texture today so I had a break while it is drying) and I noticed what pitiful shape my rear tires are in (front ones also I guess…). They are cracked, balding, and at the moment a little low on air. All of those things add up to very little traction and don’t give me much hope for pushing a little snow this winter. So, I think I have decided that I need to break down and buy new tires.
And as I approach the two year anniversary of this blog this is a subtle reminder of just how far we have come … My second post way back on September 28th, 2006 was about boots and my need for a new pair. Now almost two years later I’m still wearing the same boots I bought after that blog post, but I’m also looking at buying some stinking expensive tractor tires. Oh, and I thought that I should add that I didn’t receive any comments on that second post … of course I’m not exactly sure anyone ever read it either 🙂
That is just a taste of the progress we have had in two years. In the next few days as The Beginning Farmer reaches it’s two year anniversary I’m going to try and take a look back at how far we have come, but above all I want to thank all of you readers how have encouraged, enlightened, and taught me for quite a while now!
Now, I’m off to look for tires…
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by Ethan
on September 18, 2008
That was the tally today out at the farm. I guess I should be totally honest and tell you that we did get the mower up and going (at least it was when I left), but that big anthill sure did take it out of commission for a while as we dug at the clay goop stuck up in the rollers of this new Vermeer Disc Mower/Conditioner. Oh, and while we were digging up in there we were also covered with ants! Luckily they didn’t bite to bad, but they were kind of annoying.
Like I said I had to leave before it was finished because of youth group, but when I left our friend (doing the mowing/baling) had moved from the area where he clogged up and was trying to stick to the ridges on our place. If the anthill had been completely dry this big mower would have just blown it to bits, but after 7 inches of rain this past week that little (actually really big) anthill made of clay and mud was practically like concrete.
The good news is that we got some hay cut and should have bales next week … plus I believe we have all the drywall work done and are ready for a light orange peal texture! That really is the best news because we are something like 8 days away from our first night there.
Keep praying if you would like…
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by Ethan
on September 17, 2008
“His mother was a mudder … his father was a mudder.” At least Kramer (from Seinfeld) said something like that. In my case I’m not sure that either my father or mother were mudders … of course I’m talking about drywall mudding … but, today I spent the majority of my day mudding! I won’t say that I’m good at it or fast at it, but when I was done at least something was accomplished, and in the big scheme of things that is what matters most.
We are now one day away from finishing up the mudding and moving on to the texturing. The past couple of days we have received a shot in the arm from a church member who was a professional sheetrock guy (is there a title for that job) and he is just plain FAST with his mud and knife! But, we have also had TONS of others out helping get the job done and I think it is coming along very … VERY well.
But, do keep praying because we are getting closer to our Sept. 26th deadline every minute. And, because of that this is about all I have time for…
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by Ethan
on September 16, 2008
I think I am going to be limited in the amount of blogging that I can do for the next two weeks as we come down the homestretch of our big house building push. I really do help that you check out my wife’s blog for all sorts of updates because it is pretty amazing how things are coming together. But, even more amazing than how quickly it is coming together is the how people are coming together to get things done. If I was left to my own devices we would be no where close to done, but when the body of Christ jumped up and threw their help my way things really took off. September, 26th is the deadline … so, keep praying!
But, I will update you on a little farm news that I hope can take place this week. I have talked to a farmer from the church who will come and bale some hay for us on our land. He has a disc mower that will make easy work of all the shrubs and anthills that are growing up in our pastures that have been growing for around 14 years. If I was to go out there with my sickle mower haybine I think the only thing that would happen is my frustration. It would be clogging up so much that it would be unbearable.
The idea is that he will mow the hay, I will rake it, and then he will bale it up into (smaller) large round bales for me. Normally I would rather put up small squares, but with all that is going on now hay of any kind is all that matters!
I’ll keep you updated as things move along in the hay field and in the house!
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by Ethan
on September 15, 2008
First of all I am not really coming to a conclusion on this one, but I am asking the question. Now that I have that out of the way here is the question: Is Polyface Farm (and Joel Salatin) still the small family farm that was written about in You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise
and Mr. Salatin’s other books? I the September issue of “The Stockman Grassfarmer” Mr. Salatin writes about the abattoir that he along with a couple others recently purchased … for something like one million dollars. If you add to that the interns and employees now working at Polyface is it still the samething that he wrote about?
On one hand they still only sell locally and the additon of the employees free up Mr. Salatin and his son for speaking engagements to encourage and teach others. On the other hand it does have the appeance of getting pretty pig. Then of course I can see their great reasoning and business planning behind buying the abattoir that they use so they wouldn’t lose it, but it does seem like they are going against some of things he has written about (although there may not have been any other good option).
I guess I just wanted to throw the question out there because it was one of the first things that popped into my head when I read that Polyface had purchased this abattoir. I would love to hear what some of you think. Is it a good idea/following with the Polyface ideals to make such a large purchase? It is food for thought if nothing else…
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by Ethan
on September 13, 2008
As you may know I write a for the Epi-Log three times each week, but the blog isn’t the only thing that Epicurious.com has to offer. They also have a lot of great recipes, cooking tips, reviews, and news. Sometimes when I have a chance I like to browse through the recipes looking for something tasty. Yesterday I found a good looking recipe that I plan on trying out in the near future … especially with our pigs nearing finish weight!
Take the link to check out the recipe for the “Bacon-Wrapped Maple Pork Loin“. To me it looks like a perfect storm … pork … covered with more pork … and then you get to add in some maple syrup! Let me know if you have ever tried a similar recipe or what some of your favorite pork loin recipes are.
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by Ethan
on September 12, 2008
That has been the story this week! But, that is good news for us because it means that work is getting done … or at least that it should be getting done. I apologize for the lack of my normal posts this week. If you are looking for something along the lines of ordinary it is going to have to wait a little bit, but I will continue to share about the building and anything else we are doing when I get a chance.
Today’s milestone was that all the ceiling sheetrock is up. Actually, there is one closet to do yet, but I don’t count that because it isn’t nearly as difficult as those 12 foot sheets of 5/8ths rock! I am so thankful for all the great minds and muscles that are out there helping us. I’m not sure how far we will get by the time we need to move in, but I know for sure that we will be a lot closer than we would have been if it had just been left up to me.
I wouldn’t mind it if we got a break from the rain though … it makes the farm a muddy mess because we don’t have any grass around the house any more and I have someone that is supposed to cut and bale some grass hay on our place. There is always plenty to do, but we are enjoying it as much as possible.
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