Goats

Review Of: Dirt to Soil

September 18, 2023 by Leigh Leave a Comment

As always, when I do a review, I am going to give you my honest opinion of every book, tool, and product that I do. Reviews do no good if they are not real. I recently reached out to a homesteading Facebook group in search of a couple books about building good, healthy soil. Man, did they deliver! The first book is Dirt to Soil by Gabe Brown.

If you are just starting in your homestead journey, I have the deal for you! In The Homestead Bundle you will receive our Hay Calculator, Profit Calculator, Digital and Printable Garden Journal, The Backyard Homestead eBook, the Simple Budget, Schedule F worksheet, and Herd Health Sheets. That’s a $55 value for $39.99!

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Why I Read It

I absolutely love all things soil and biology. We are also working with Georgia clay in our gardens which is causing a far amount of issues with it. The soil in our big garden is very compacted in the areas that we haven’t covered it. We’ve had a ton of issues with the soil this summer between soil and water run off, compaction, and stunted plants.

So my goal was to spend this winter learning as much as humanly possible about soil. My first question is why is my soil not great. The second was what can I do to fix it. So off I went in search of a book that could answer those questions but also the more technical questions about the biology of soil.

I already knew we had clay soil, but…

I didn’t realize that I could “fix” it so quickly! I thought it would take years and years to properly build up my soil. I had considered that we were going to have to bring in a lot of inputs to get the soil back to a place where it was healthy.

I already knew that we could use the animals to work with us to bring our 8.5 acres back to life. But I wasn’t sure how to do it exactly. I knew that we could rotate the pigs through areas to root the soil and break it up. Doing this would allow organic matter to get into the soil. We could also seed the areas that they had worked and pray that we could keep the chickens and goats out of the seeds.

But nothing we were doing actually worked. We really struggled to hone in on the finer points of building soil.

While the book doesn’t offer clear, concise, step by step instructions on HOW to build soil, Gabe DOES give his 5 soil principles as well as a very thorough recounting of what he did. He even goes in depth about how he has made his farm profitable. Giving a little bit more interest and insight on how to make a homestead or farm profitable.

Where To Purchase

I purchased my copy from Amazon because it’s what’s easiest for me. However, I found it at Barnes and Noble for close to the same price. Sadly, we don’t have bookstores that are local to us, so Amazon tends to be where I get the majority of my books.

How The Book Reads

I love the style of the writing in this book. It’s very conversational and Gabe walks through how he got started on his farm. As the book moves through, he not only tells you how he did it, but gives the basic foundation for what you can do.

There is an amazing compilation of science, experience, and options for you to try as well. But the foundation stays the same. Follow these principles, experiment, and watch your soil grow.

My Take Away’s From Dirt to Soil

There are 4 main points that I took away from Dirt to Soil, though they aren’t in any specific order.

Cover Crops

I knew the importance of cover crops, but couldn’t wrap my head around exactly how to do it. Do I plant things I can harvest? What if I still need that space? Which crops do I plant? Isn’t the soil still going to be bare in the winter when the plants die back? Won’t I have to remove the cover crops when I plant for spring/summer? Gabe answered most of these questions in his book.

Tillage Kills

There is a lot of satisfaction when tilling because you can see that beautiful soil (or clay in my case) break up and see the bed take shape. Except, I always struggled because I knew earthworms are GREAT for a garden, but I was rending them into pieces every time I tilled. So how do I create beds that don’t require tilling but keeps the soil healthy and beneficial critters happy? Simple answer? Stop tilling, start using cover crops, limited to no inputs.

Building Soil Is…. Easy?

I figured this out when I started using our animal bedding as compost. Within a few months of using the animal bedding, I noticed that had actual soil in my beds. Now, I had added top soil to my beds when we created the kitchen garden. But I found actual soil when I started planting for fall!

Use The Animals

We have been using the pigs and the chickens to work the soil and it’s been working pretty well. But one of the things we have been “struggling” with is that we let the goats and chickens free range. We had not truly been practicing rotational grazing. Sure, we rotated the chicken tractors through the gardens but we never really did much with them or the goats.

My Garden Process After Reading Dirt to Soil

My garden process now is actually quite simple: animal bedding to compost over time, a couple inches of compost or top soil, plants, then mulch. When the bed is done producing, we cut all the plants down and lay them to the side. If we are “done” with that bed for a season, we add a cover crop then put the plants we cut and put them over top as mulch.

Once the cover crop has been established, we let the goats go through and eat down an area. Then we put the pigs through, and finally the chickens. This process has been amazing because the goats cut down and tamp down the crop. The pigs tamp it down more, and eat closer to the ground. Finally, the chickens come through and peck through the poop and spread it. They also eat all the bugs and parasites. This has GREATLY dropped our need for dewormers.

The following season, when we are ready to plant, we chop and drop the cover crop. Usually, we will use the cover crop as mulching until it fully composts down.

This process has been working well for us and I’m excited to see what happens in this summer when we plant the big garden!

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The Real Homestead

September 17, 2023 by Leigh Leave a Comment

As the years have progressed, there has been a huge influx of people wanting to homestead. Which I am ALL FOR! I think it’s absolutely fantastic that we have people rushing out of the cities and onto land. Or turning their lawns into food, either for themselves or pollinators. I love the fact that we have people that are wanting to grow their own food, preserve it, and get away from the overprocessed life. But I’ve got a really big problem when I see the content that people are making and it’s these carefully curated posts or reels. It’s not a real homestead!

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Why Is It Not Real?

This blog post has been on my mind a lot over the last couple of months. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how to write it without sounding judgmental and nasty. While that is not my intent, I feel like I am seeing so many more posts about “I can’t do that because… insert reason here” and it absolutely breaks my heart. And I’ve had enough.

While I know it’s not great for my sleep habits, I scroll TikTok and Instagram at night. I have seen a ton of these carefully curated reels of homesteads and gardens. I see women and little girls in these prairie dresses picking vegetables from the gardens or collecting eggs. Men and little boys working a tractor or building a barn in perfectly crisp wranglers and a pearl snap button down shirts.

Or I see designer chicken coops with perfect eggs and chickens that don’t escape their run. A beautiful garden that has not a single pest, bruised leaf or dropped veggie. Perfectly cropped lawns with beautiful houses.

And I want to scream from the roof tops, IT’S NOT REAL!

Go check out my Instagram feed, I’ll wait.

What you see on my profile is the real stuff. Sure, I try not to get the trash pile from clearing the land or burn pit in the pictures because who wants to see my amazon addiction. But I will gladly tour my homestead and show you the REAL homestead. The one where the chickens have pooped on the deck and I’ve not had a chance to get it cleaned off.

Or the real homestead where Jared is building my greenhouse and there is paint EVERYWHERE. There are piles of scrap wood that needs to be close to the greenhouse for some reason or another.

The fallen trees that we won’t take care of in the summer but will work on in the fall or winter. The goat barn or hay shed that is absolutely not designer. It’s REAL!

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy those reels because it’s visually pleasing to watch. It’s amazing to dream. But if THAT reel is why you want to homestead, keep reading.

Why Does It Make Me Mad?

It absolutely infuriates me when I hear new homesteaders that are upset that they can’t start their garden because they think they have to have perfect garden beds. Or they give up hope because they saw a TikTok that showed an obviously manufactured chicken coop and run, and they don’t have enough money to buy one.

Content creators are taking the spirit of homesteading out of it and creating this world where people don’t want to try because they think they can’t afford to homestead the way they see on reels. Or they are making people believe that what they are showing is what homesteading is. And people give up before they even start. And that breaks my heart.

I could spit nails when I see someone say they just popped out to harvest a couple things from the garden in their white linen dress. They are making a from scratch meal with their fresh bread made from their sourdough starter.

Let me tell you this, that is not what homesteading looks like.

Not a single person would be caught dead wearing WHITE LINEN in their garden, at least not to harvest anything.

I can just imagine wearing a white linen dress, dodging the pigs that have found a mud pit on my way to the garden, dogs playing and the chicken poop on the walkways. While in there, I am having to hold my dress up so it doesn’t get caked with Georgia red clay and trying to harvest a couple of tomatoes, squash or melons. All while knowing I should have brought a basket (and I always forget one) because my dress doesn’t have POCKETS! It’s freaking hysterical! Mainly because I don’t even own a dress.

Let’s not mention that my fresh bread rarely looks Insta-worthy, though it’s pretty delicious. And my sourdough starter jar is NEVER clean. In fact, it’s usually caked in starter residue from it overflowing the jar.

But you know what my homestead is? It’s the place that I don’t have to pretend. And I am honored by that.

What Is A Real Homestead?

So if those reels are not entirely accurate, what is a real homestead?

It’s a spirit of self sustainability. A person or family that simply wants better, not just for themselves but for their food, animals, community and the earth. It makes you FEEL every time you step outside.

It’s a perfectly ripe tomato on a hot summer day.

It’s the cry from you and a brand new baby goat that you had to pull from momma.

It’s humanely butchering an animal that has been loved and taken care of from birth.

It’s watching your kids come to you, absolutely filthy, holding a frog, snake or lizard they found.

It’s sitting at the dinner table, talking about your day with those that share what you hold so dear.

It’s creating a legacy were you previously didn’t have one.

It’s slow dancing with your partner in the kitchen while dinner cooks on the stove.

It’s watching your sons learn how to be capable men.

It’s watching your daughters learn to be capable women.

It’s working with nature to bring forth the harvest.

It’s freezing nights in a barn with a momma who is scared.

It’s bringing animals into the house because they are hurt or sick.

It’s NOT asking why there is goat vomit on the ceiling, a duck in the bathtub, or a chicken perched on the shower rod.

It’s syringes by the sink and hay in your hair.

It’s flies in the house, poop on the deck, broken eggs and hearts.

It’s a tearful good bye to a beloved animal.

But most of all, it’s this soul soothing, living and breathing thing that brings us back to nature in a way that a weekly hike or walk through the park just can’t do. It’s something that no content creator can make you feel.

It’s a deep breath and a weight off your shoulders when you realize that more doesn’t equal better.

While I am not a country fan, like at all, because heavy metal is life in this house. I have to appreciate what Zack Bryan said in Fear and Fridays….

“I’ve learned that every waking moment is enough and еxcess never lеads to better things, it only piles and piles atop the things that are already abundantly in front of you like breathing and chasing and slow dancing and love making, fighting and laughing“–Zack Bryan (Fear and Fridays)

My Dearest Homesteader In The Making

I beg you not to look for your life on social media. It doesn’t matter if you are a homesteader or not. The internet is not honest. It’s brief snippets of life, whether real or created. But YOU are real, your dreams are real and you will create YOUR real homestead.

So buy that property, make it YOURS. Make mistakes and learn from it. Dig into the dirt, and feel. Feel every single possibility and make it YOURS.

“Save it with the blame game
I’ve heard it all before
Ain’t nothing holdin’ you down
‘Cept your own feet on the floor
So go on, roll your sleeves up
Put your hands down in the dirt
It’s alright to follow your heart
And take what you deserve” –Charles Wesley Godwin (Here In Eden)

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10 Things To Start Preparing For Winter

September 17, 2023 by Leigh 8 Comments

I know, I know! It’s only September. BUT you can never be too prepared, especially when you have lives depending on you. Here in north Georgia, it’s 90*+ and it feels like winter is forever away, but trust me when I tell you, it’s all down hill from here. The leaves are already starting to fall, albeit one at a time. The mornings are cooler and though it’s still hot, it’s not as unbearable. So I figured I would talk about the things we are doing now, to prepare for winter.

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Preparing For Winter Is Easy…When You Do It Early

First thing is first, go ahead and make a list of all the things you think you’ll need. Then check it against my list and maybe google some other blogs like Southern Dreams Homestead, The Homesteading RD or The Farmer’s Lamp to help give you a few more ideas. Below is simply part of my list that I think everyone could benefit from.

The List

Firewood!-Seriously, if you haven’t started sourcing, chopping or collecting firewood, stop everything and go do it right now. Like, now. If you haven’t been able to get around to it, make the time. You still have some time to get a few cords chopped and drying if you make it a priority. Also, check around with neighbors or even different market places. You may find that someone has a tree they need cut and hauled away. Easy firewood. You can find a small electric log splitter less than $300 or even a big gas powered one for less than $1,500

I’m going to throw candles in here too. A small tea light candle can heat a small room for several hours. It can even cook food when placed in terracotta pots. So maybe having a million of these little buggers around would be a good idea too.

Pantry Restock– I go through my canning inventory sheets and check it against my shelves in the basement. I restock our pantry/ food storage room quarterly. That means that I go through and find all the things we have used or are running low on and make a run to the store. This tends to be a big haul for us and has things like toilet paper, laundry detergent, etc. But you don’t want to find out in the middle of a snow storm that you’re out of toilet paper. If you don’t have a place to store it, check out Home Depot for wire shelves or check out my post on our shelves.

Canning– The entire month of September, I am canning the last bit of the summer garden and soups. I will put up about 300qts and 200pts of soup to prepare for winter. The way I see it, if the power goes out, I can still heat soup on my wood stove. If you haven’t already, check out The Canning Diva’s cookbook. She has a ton of amazing soups. This book is my holy grail for soup season.

Coffee– If you are a coffee drinker, go ahead and can several quarts of coffee. I know, it sounds crazy, but when our power went out last year, guess who didn’t have coffee? So yea, can a couple quarts. I waterbath can my quarts for 20 minutes. Now, I can just heat it in a pot on the stove. I’ve also got a great recipe for homemade creamer too.

Extra Blankets– We have a million blankets and every year, I am tempted to throw out half of them. BUT it’s nice having the ability to close off rooms, layer up, or even insulate freezers if necessary. Not to mention if livestock needs to come inside because it’s freezing or they are injured.

Finn had to come inside when he busted his shoulder.

Portable Battery Banks– We have a bunch of these guys around and they are really handy to have. When the power goes out and the boys last device is dead, this thing saves my sanity. Plus, we can hook it up to our kitchen radio and still have news updates and more.

Animal Feed– This isn’t just Fido’s dog food. If you have any kind of livestock, now is the time to make sure you are sourcing enough for winter. For us, that means finding enough hay to get through the winter. It also means sourcing grain, alfalfa pellets, and other miscellaneous food stuffs they need.

Animal Bedding– Don’t forget their bedding! While it doesn’t get super cold in Georgia, it does still get cold. And wet. So make sure that you’ve got some form of bedding for them. We use the deep litter method and pine shavings. The deep litter method really helps insulate them in winter and helps keep them off the cold ground. We also spread Diatomaceous Earth between layers to help keep down bugs. Again, it doesn’t get super cold here so winter Lice/Mite infestations happen. The great thing about it is we can use all that bedding as compost in the spring!

Emergency Medicines/ First Aid– This looks different from homestead to homestead, but having the ability to treat various illnesses or injuries is extremely important. I talked about the basics needed to care for goats but you also need to include yourself here. Sometimes band aids just aren’t going to cut it. You may need sutures, super glue, etc to close lacerations. Or when you’re animal suddenly develops pneumonia, having the ability to treat that without calling for a vet is a huge time and money saver.

Something to alleviate boredom– It’s true. The hustle and bustle of summer makes way for a slower winter. Maybe not 100% of the time, but more often than not, the weather keeps us inside. Extreme weather could keep us inside for days. I am a bookworm and have at least twenty books on standby waiting to be read. But my boys and Jared are not so lucky. We have games, puzzles, cards and more. They still refuse to let me read, but at least they have something to do.

Preparing For Winter

I hope this helps you start preparing for winter at least a little bit. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but it is a start. Only you know what you are going to need to get through the winter. And while this may be your first winter on a homestead, it’s not your first winter. So get a list going and start stocking up!

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Animals For New Homesteaders

August 28, 2023 by Leigh Leave a Comment

Welcome to the homestead family! It doesn’t matter if you are on less than an acre or have 200+, you are welcome here. At some point, you will want to get some animals for your homestead, whether that is a couple chickens, a cow or two, or maybe just a good farm dog, it doesn’t matter. I wanted to give you my picks for animals for new homesteaders and why.

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Setting Yourself Up For Success

Before we can get too far down the rabbit hole of what animals you should get, I think we need to first start with what your goals are for your homestead. If you go through my posts on this website, you will find that I am extremely goal oriented and tend to be pretty obsessive about it. I have good reason for it.

If you don’t know what a successful homestead looks like to you, you are going to spend years chasing your tail before you ever hit the first goal. When we start adding animals to our homestead, we are adding more financial strain to the budget. While a bag of feed here and there may not seem like a lot, it adds up really quick. Especially in winter. So be aware that what seems like not a big deal now, could end up being a big financial and emotional deal later.

Which Animals For New Homesteaders?

Now that we have cleared up the fact that you should WAIT before adding animals to your homestead, even though we all know you’re not going to. Let’s start looking at some different animals to bring to the homestead and their uses/ purposes. PS, this list is going to include some things that are not livestock, but bear with me you will see what I’m talking about in a minute.

I want to add a disclaimer here. You and your homestead are YOURS. I practice the your kitchen, your house, your land, your rules. These are my thoughts and feelings. You may not agree with what I am saying and that is absolutely ok. I am not saying you HAVE to get these animals or feel/think/do what I say. So please keep that in mind as you read through this blog post.

Dogs

To be clear and transparent, on a homestead, a small dog is usually a vulnerability because of predators, risk of injury from livestock, and costs associated with caring for a pet vs a working dog. It’s the reality. I’m not saying you can’t have a small dog, but you do need to be prepared for predation.

There is a difference when dealing with dogs on a homestead. You’ve got your farm dog, your working dog, and your livestock guardian dog (LGD). These are 3 completely different dogs and should be used accordingly.

All 4 of my dogs are farm dogs. Their job is to raise the alarm if a predator is close, keep the pigs off the porch, and to hang out with the family. Bear’s only job is to make me happy, which he does perfectly because he’s the best boy.

I believe that with enough training, any dog can be a farm dog. Yes, that is a blanket statement, but it is something I truly believe. Bear is a typical pound special that we rescued 9 years ago from the animal shelter in Texas. He was never, ever raised around livestock or allowed to roam off leash/out of a fence. But he has taken to farm life like he’s been living it forever. A lot of his patience and lack of drive to chase could be because he’s an old man but a lot of it is the work I have done with him over the last 9 years.

A working dog is going to be your active dogs that have a job, think heelers, shepherds, etc. These are dogs that you need to be aware of their breeding and genetics before bringing them onto your farm. If you have a heeler, there is a very good chance that they could hurt or kill your goats or chickens. This is were training is going to be the most important thing you could do for this dog. I would not recommend these dogs unless you have training on lock.

An LGD is a great addition to any farm that has smaller livestock. BUT, and it’s a big one, make sure you are getting an LGD from a working line, that is being trained with livestock, before bringing one to the homestead. While in search for an LGD for the farm, we found a TON of LGD’s that were not bred to or actively protecting animals. That is going to cause a problem for you. An LGD is going to be a whole post on it’s own because their training is so important that it won’t fit into a couple paragraphs.

Cats

If you are going to have livestock, you are going to have issues with rodents. Period. When you start bringing hay, feed, or installing pasture, you are going to start having a rodent problem. While I’m NOT saying get one despite being allergic to cats, I am saying that you need to weigh your allergy against having mouse droppings in your house.

There is a lot of opinions on how cats should work on a homestead. Some people say not to feed the cats because it will make them lazy. Others feed their cats. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer as long as the cat is fed (either by hunting or you) and healthy. I’m going to leave the rest of that alone.

Snakes

While I have a pet snake, I am not talking about that. I am talking about having several king or racer snakes that live on your property. I live in the south and a walk in the woods or through the garden can easily lead to an ER visit from a snake bite. A king snake will eat rattlers, moccasins, and copperheads while also keeping your rodent population down.

I totally understand that you may not want snakes on your property, but I would highly recommend having a few. We have several king snakes on the property and Frank is my favorite. He hangs out in the hay barn and keeps the rodents out of my hay. Frank lives here rent free until he doesn’t want to because he does such a good job keeping unwanted creatures out of my hay barn. But he will scare the crap out of you if you’re not expecting him.

If you don’t have a king snake on your property or you’re not sure, a good option is to contact your local exterminator or pest control person and see if they will bring one that they catch. Yes, this is a thing and most of the time it’s free.

Chickens And Ducks

Now for the livestock! Chickens are a great way to enter into the farm scene without having a TON of expense, depending on how you set them up. You can absolutely break the bank bringing these animals to the property, but you don’t have to. You can free range your chickens with a small coop and be done. You can throw a kiddie pool down for your ducks.

But be warned of 2 things: 1) chickens are the gateway animal and 2) they are easy targets for predators.

Before you know it, you will have 60 chickens and not really sure how it happened. You will also lose some to predators or sickness. Or in my case, they just wonder off. The ducks stick around better and don’t cause as much issues in the garden but they are messy creatures.

After having chickens and ducks for several years, I am only buying/ breeding ducks from here on out. We will raise meat chickens every year for the freezer, but I am not interested in chickens. The reason is that while ducks are messy, they don’t get in my garden unless it’s not secured. They don’t get on my decks and poop everywhere. They don’t get attacked by predators as often if ever. They produce eggs year round. They are freaking adorable with their quacks and cheese feet. Yea, those chickens got to go.

Other Fowl/ Poultry

I would highly recommend staying away from other feathered creatures until you have a lock on chickens or ducks. Quail would be the exception. Turkey’s are hard to raise. Emu’s are huge. Peacocks are weird. That being said, I would also have a plan for what exactly you are going to use other feathered beasts for. If you like the way they look, ok but if you are trying to set up a working farm? Try not to get a bunch of unprofitable creatures.

Rabbits

While we were researching, planning and learning, the plans were to use rabbits as a meat source…. That never happened. Not because they are cute and cuddly and would be hard to send to freezer camp but because we just don’t have a good place to put them. It gets HOT here in the south and most of the time rabbits don’t do amazing if they are not kept shaded with good air flow. Our options for their space was limited and we just couldn’t do it.

But rabbits can yield a LOT of meat very quickly and pretty cheap. A batch of meat chickens can run you about $1500+ in 8-16 weeks, after everything is all said and done. A trio of rabbits can crank out the same amount of meat for less money. Plus they are much quieter.

Pigs

Despite Bacon eating one of my brand new doeling from our favorite milk goat, pigs have to be one of my favorite animals on the homestead. They eliminate food waste, break up the soil, and taste delicious. They are truly one of the few multi-purpose animals, just by existing. But they have some draw backs.

Pigs are incredibly smart. Bacon and Delilah learned how to sit for their feed within a few days. They also learned how to break out of the electric fencing. So now we have porch pigs until they are big enough for butchering.

The work they do on the homestead has been invaluable for us. We got them after going to the HOA conference and listening to multiple speakers talk about using pigs to help break up the soil and heal the land. When we got home, we bough 2 American Guinea Hogs. Since then they have helped us reclaim a lot of areas that the goats cleared but left us with hard rocky soil. They have tilled the soil and we have the starts of some amazing pasture.

Goats/ Sheep

I added these two small ruminants together because they are pretty similar but also vastly different. Sheep are grazers and need to have mostly grasses to eat. Goats are browsers and need mostly woody plants to eat. If you have a ton of brush, get goats. If you have a ton of grass but not space, get sheep. Goats will do okay on pasture but they really prefer brush.

Goats are incredibly smart and require waterproof fencing unless you plan to free range them.

Sheep are not incredibly smart but will stay put for the most part. But beyond that, I can’t really talk about sheep because I don’t have any. But I can tell you all about goats.

Before we get too far into this, I have a great course on the basics of goat care. I call it Goat Crash Course: Goat 101. In this course, I explain things like types of shelter, types of feeds and hays, basic assessments and so much more! Check it out!

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If you are looking to increase self sufficiency I would suggest getting full size dairy does and a meat buck. The reason for this is because you can have high production, high butter fat milk produced by the dairy doe and the meaty body of a meat goat. While the babies will be mixed, you can easily fill your freezer with quality meat and milk with just a few goats.

Cows

I would LOVE to have a milk cow! I want one so badly but it just not in the cards for us right now. We have the land but not the grass. The pigs are working on it for us but it takes time to build established pastures. But cows are the ultimate machine when it comes to filling a freezer and you don’t need to worry about having a bull on stand by!

Your homestead cow operation would look something like this: milk breed cow + AI meat breed bull semen= meat in the freezer and 1-3 gallons of milk or more per day.

That extra milk can feed your chickens, pigs, dogs, cats, etc. It also freezes well once the cream has been skimmed off. That cream can make heavy whipping cream, butter, creamers, and so much more. Let’s not mention the cheeses, ice creams, sour creams, etc.

Yall, I want a cow!!!!

What Are Your Favorite Homestead Animals?

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Ways To Make Money As A New Homesteader

August 26, 2023 by Leigh Leave a Comment

When you are looking to start your homestead, you may be looking for ways to bring in an income. There are tons of ways to make money on a homestead that all depend on your abilities and skill sets. If you are unskilled at growing food, maybe setting up your entire homestead with that as the goal isn’t a great idea. That doesn’t mean that you can’t do it! But there are some things that you should consider before quitting your job and moving to the country. Below I am going to go over some considerations and ways to make money as a new homesteader

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Considerations For Making Money As A New Homesteader

Before you jump in to your homestead, buy the first animal, or drop a ton of money on seeds, you should take some time to figure everything out first. It would suck for you waste a ton of money on seed starts and hate gardening. Or realize there is very little profit in raising goats.

Profitability

This is literally the most important part of making money as a new homesteader. We all want to quit the rat race, but if there is no profit in what you are doing? Why are you doing it? I have a great profit calculator that I use when I am researching a new revenue source.

The reality is that money is what makes the world go around. Sure, you can get away with the minimum but at the end of the day, you need money to purchase land, animals, feed and so much more. Rarely, are you going to be able to trade for these items right out of the gate.

Sustainablity

This is another tag word that we are all to familiar with in the homesteading community, but I don’t think people look at it from the “other” side. When you are looking for a way to bring in an income, you have to look at the sustainability of that revenue. If you want to start content creation, you need to look at your ability to stay consistent.

You also want to look at whether this revenue source is something you can sustain. Burnout is real on the homestead and dealing with the constant demand of marketing, creation, etc are really hard to keep up with.

Your Skills

There is always the ability to learn new skills. But if you are looking to start a wood working business and you don’t even know how, you are going to struggle while getting your skills up to speed. Again, this isn’t to say that you can’t do it, but you need to really look at what skills you have and if they are marketable.

Another option is to find a way that allows to use the skills you already have while homesteading. This can look different for everyone but doing blood draws for animal testing can bring in a fair amount of money if you know how to do them.

Multiple Revenue Streams

Much like “regular” business or wealth building, you don’t want to limit yourself to one revenue or income stream. But when it comes to homesteading, the reason is a little different. The reality is that you are probably not going to make enough money to cover your all expenses by selling eggs.

As a homesteader, you need to understand that your income will be seasonal. You may get $100/mo selling eggs between March and October. You’ll make another $300/mo selling cut flowers from April to October. Maybe you’ll make another $1000 selling a couple goat kids in March and again October. But having multiple income streams are really important to leaving the rat race.

Your Local Market And Regulations

Depending on what you are looking to make, raise, grow or sell, you need to look into your local regulations to see if you can. Up until here recently it was illegal to sell raw milk (for human consumption) in the state of Georgia. If I wanted to sell raw milk, I had to sell it for animal consumption. If I wanted to sell bread at the local farmers market, I would have to get a cottage license.

But other things that you should look at is your local market for these items. Where I live, it doesn’t make a bit of sense to sell eggs because everyone at the local farmers market sells eggs. I would have to go closer to the city to sell at a farmers market that wasn’t completely saturated with egg sales.

Making Money As A New Homesteader

Now for the information you really want!

Sell Your Abundance

Anyone who has livestock understands chicken math and goat-a-plication. But there is a benefit to the extra livestock. You can sell it. We have a lot of chickens and ducks. This means that I can sell eggs, chicks or poults. I love goats and their milk is one of the few that I can tolerate. But to get milk, I have to breed my girls and this leads to babies. So we sell goat kids after they are weaned.

This goes for your garden as well. We all know that you planted WAY too many cherry tomato plants, or zucchini, you can sell your abundance to friends or family and even local grocers.

Consider what you are already growing, raising, breeding, etc and how you can sell the extra. It won’t bring in a lot of money in one shot, but it can bring a several hundred dollars a year and that could be an extra mortgage payment.

Content Creation

This a big one for homesteaders, especially the generations raised with the internet and social media. **Raises hand** Content creation is a great way to bring in an extra income at any point in your homestead journey. You don’t have to be a pro goat owner, gardener, canner, etc. In fact, a lot of people are dying to see the real thing. People want to see real life people, doing real life things.

The main thing with content creation is to be purposeful, and research the topics or areas you want to talk about. Again, this goes back to market research. You also need to look at your niche and what you can talk about for years and years.

Selling Your Craft

This is one that a lot of people struggle with and I am one of them. I struggle with Why would someone want what I made, it’s not that good. But the reality is that there are people out there that want to buy what you sell. You just have to find them.

I would love to get back into selling my candles, because I really enjoy making them.

Jared is building my greenhouse so I can sell my plant starts and house plants.

I am getting back into making tea diffusers.

These various products have the potential to bring in a lot of money and could allow me to stay home, which is the goal.

You could sell handmade pottery, quilts, stain glass, and so much more. The sky is the limit and with enough business, could keep you from a 9-5 with ease.

Meat Animals

If this is not something that interests you, keep scrolling. But raising meat animals can be extremely profitable if you can get your set up right and source the animals and feed well. Pasture pork, grass fed beef, and pastured chicken are all high value animals for people that want to eat meat but don’t want to get it from the grocery store.

If you already know how to butcher animals, look into what it would take to open a processing facility. Seriously, there are more and more people who want to raise animals but can’t process them themselves. I can tell you right now, there are not enough meat processors/ butchers to keep up with the demand.

Or, you could set up a business were you travel around showing people how to process their own animals. This can be incredibly lucrative.

Find Something You Do Well, and Make Sell it

At the end of the day, making money as a new homesteader doesn’t need to be hard. In fact, it can be quite easy IF you can figure out a way to make it sustainable, profitable, and work for you. There are a lot of ways to make money homesteading. The issue comes with the hard work, time needed, regulations/local markets, etc. But once you figure that out? You can spend your days hanging out wth your goats.

Can You Use Animal Bedding As Compost

August 18, 2023 by Leigh Leave a Comment

In short, the answer is yes! But the long answer is, of course, longer. The reality is animal bedding is great for compost, but the “wrong” types of compost or bedding is going to cause you a lot of issues and potential heartache. Some composts are too hot and must be aged. Other composts can be used cold. The same is true for bedding. Some bedding won’t compost as well as others. But I’m going to tell you about how we use animal bedding as compost.

Why Use Animal Bedding As Compost

The first reason to use animal bedding as compost is because it’s already on your property, you might as well use it, right? The second reason it is a great bulk material that is free. Third, your soil will get depleted of much needed nutrients the more that soil is used, compost helps bring those nutrients back to the soil. Finally, compost can improve the texture of your soil! Here in Georgia, we have red clay that struggles if nothing is added back to it.

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Use What You’ve Got

Why spend money on compost from the store or nursery when you can clean out your barn? I am a big fan of “reusing until it’s broke”. Those bags of bedding are $6-7/ each and I need at least 2 every time I put down new bedding in the barn. But if I can reuse that animal bedding as compost, I have used that $7 3 times. I used it for bedding, urine absorption, and then as compost.

I talked pretty in depth here about how to keep your livestock warm in winter and I talked about using the deep litter method. Every spring when we clean out our barn, we have a bunch of “wasted” bedding and some of it has already started composting. Every winter I go through about 25-30 bags of shavings. This really depends on the winter. If it’s cold and wet, we will get close to that 30 number. If it’s cool and dry? I don’t need very much bedding.

Now, before you run to your chicken coop to do the same thing, this is goat bedding. Goat poop is a cold manure. That means that I could take a handful of goat poop and put it straight on the roots of my plant and it wouldn’t hurt it. But hot manure, like chicken poop, will burn your plants if you don’t let it mature. I’ll go more in depth below. But I didn’t want you to think you could use whatever you wanted and not finish this blog post.

Bulk Materials

This year, after installing our kitchen garden beds, I needed to fill the beds. I knew that I was going to need a ton of compost and dirt. I also knew that I hadn’t cleaned out the barn yet. So I paid the boys to haul out load after load of the goat’s bedding. After 2 days of bringing the goat bedding up to the garden, I had 14 4x8ft beds just under half filled with compost. This allowed me to only have to buy 10 yards of top soil!

When you homestead and have livestock, you have a ton of waste that you have to do something with. The best thing you could do is to start a compost pile for all of it. And it doesn’t just have to be for animal bedding. You can use wasted hay, food scraps, grass clippings, wasted feed, leaves and branches.

Adding Nutrients To The Soil

If you have gardened for even a minute, or have had house plants, you know that over time the soil needs fresh nutrients. Compost is the best way for you to get those nutrients to the plants. The cool part about using animal bedding as compost is that you are giving the soil nutrients that it can use over time. Most fertilizers (even from organic sources) are quick-ish acting. Meaning that when you spray them, the plants will take up what it needs right then. The rest will sit there until the next rain or watering. Then all that fertilizer is gone.

But when you mix compost into your soil, your plants will be able to uptake nutrients as they are available or composted. For example, I said that we filled the beds with goat bedding and then added soil on top. As the animals bedding composted, the plant roots were able to uptake nutrients over time. I have a 15ft tomato plant in the kitchen garden right now with a ton of cherry tomatoes on it…. so it’s safe to say even the pickiest of feeders loves the mix.

Improving Soil Structure

In Georgia, we have the famous Georgia red clay. It will stain everything for days. Sometimes, it won’t come out of clothes. Parents around here know the struggle of kids playing in the mud. Those clothes are ruined now.

But like most clay, it’s very clumpy when wet, and hard to break up when it’s dry. This means that growing root veggies can be very hard. However, clay soils are great for holding moisture. Most gardeners in Georgia try to add as much organic matter into their soils as possible to help build structure in their soils.

Because we use pine shavings in our bedding, this gives great structure to the beds and reduces the chance of the soil being compacted. I filled all of the beds with compost and soil in April it is now mid August, and I am able to stick my hand into the soil with absolutely no issues. In my big garden, that we tilled and only added mulch to? You have to get a tool to help break the soil up.

What Animal Bedding To Use

I’ve touched on this a little bit above, but here is where the type of animal and bedding is very important. The “wrong” methods will damage your plants. Below we are going to talk about hot vs cold manure and best types of bedding to use.

Use The Manure You Have

If you want an in depth review of manures, check out this post. But I’m going to give you an overview and my own experiences. It doesn’t matter if you only have hot or cold manure, but it does matter how you use it. Hot manure is going to come from chickens and pigs. Cold manure is going to come from goats, rabbits, cows, etc.

But before you start jumping up and down and sling that pile of cow ~~sh…~~ manure in your garden, you need to let it mature first. This process goes by many different names; composting, maturing, seasoning, etc. But we don’t care about the name. We want to make sure that the manure is safe to use for your garden BEFORE we put it on your garden. This should actually be your go to response for ANYTHING that is going into your gardens. It is better to age it or test it prior to using it.

To make sure your manure is safe, you should compost it first. And when you are adding chicken manure to your garden, you should ALWAYS let it compost first. Notice I said should. Sometimes, you can’t, don’t want to, Jimmy Boy said he puts chicken poop straight on his maters…. The reality is that unless you are willing to risk your plants, it’s better to err on the side of caution. So I’m going to tell YOU to compost your manure before putting it on the garden.

But what I do is a little different. Yes, this is do what I say not do, because I know what my goats eat and know where their bedding comes from.

I take my goat’s bedding and side dress rows or plants.

Or I fill beds with goat bedding and top with soil.

I will also make a tea with chicken poop and water the ground about 6-10in from the plants.

You have to understand that no matter what manure you use, or where you source it from, you could have issues. There are tons of gardeners out there that are trying to figure out why their plants are dying, their seeds won’t sprout, etc. A lot of the time it’s the soil.

WHAT BEDDING TO USE FOR COMPOSTING

What types of bedding can you use? I have heard of people using pine shavings, pellets, or wood chips.

I use OMRI rated pine shavings, if I can find it. Otherwise, I use these pine shavings.

I have also used spent hay. It will sprout grass but it’s easily pulled or mulched over.

There is a pelleted version of pine bedding. But the entire purpose of it is to clump like cat litter for spot cleaning. So it’s probably not going to be a great option when it comes to bulking up soil. That’s not to say it won’t. But I’m not sure I would use it for that purpose. This is a bedding that I would absolutely compost first before putting into my garden.

If you have access to wood chips, this is actually pretty good bedding. Wood chips should be composted for a year or so before putting them into your garden anyways. So using them as bedding to soak up poop and pee and then letting them compost for a year? You’ve basically made aged manure mulch. And if you have access to free wood chips, you’ve just been given free bedding and mulch. Don’t quote me on this one because I can’t attest to the absorbency of the wood chips.

ABSOLUTELY USE ANIMAL BEDDING AS COMPOST

In closing, you should absolutely use animal bedding as compost. I have had amazing success with it. But there are a few things to keep in mind: type of bedding and type of manure. If it’s hot, let it compost in a separate pile before using. If it’s cold, test it first.

The best way to make sure that you don’t have any issues is to always let your animals bedding compost for a year or so before using. That way you can play it safe and not risk your plants.

What I Wish I Knew Before Starting A Homestead

July 10, 2023 by Leigh Leave a Comment

Oh, the things I wish I knew. “They” say that hindsight is 20/20 and they are absolutely right. There are so many challenges that we have faced over the years. If someone would have told me, before starting a homestead, that it would have been this hard? Well, I still would have done it….. and I probably wouldn’t have listened. But if I can help you avoid some pitfalls, I’m going to do it, even if I’m wasting my time.

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What I wish I would have known before starting a homestead

Set Goals, Make A Plan, And Stick To It

This seems to be the hardest thing for people to do. There is so much excitement in buying a piece of property and you have all these ideas of how you want to do things. Only to realize half way through a project that it’s not working or you don’t need it. But if you can spend some time thinking about all the things you want, how you’re going to accomplish it and putting it in play? You will be ahead of the game.

Paralysis By Analysis

This is the next part of the planning process and it happens to EVERYONE. Don’t get so caught up in making plans, that you don’t execute them. Yes, there are a million ways to do something. But don’t get so tangled up in the best way, that you don’t do anything. Sometimes jumping in with both feet is the best way to learn. Sure, it can be an expensive lesson. But imagine the pride that comes with learning how to build a coop, a garden bed, or canning? Imagine if you were to put aside the “best” way to do something and just did it? Those lessons are far more valuable than the loss of a couple dollars.

To give you an example, if we had waited to build our goat barn, they would have died that first winter. If we had waited until we knew exactly how to build it, proper plans, location, materials, etc, it wouldn’t have gotten done that first year. We would have had to bring them into the house when we got 4″ of snow and ice. Sure, it’s in a bad spot and doesn’t look pretty but my goats are happy.

Garden Before Livestock

This idea tends to be a forgotten thought on most influencer’s platform. Every single one of us know that you are going to get chickens before you have a way to feed them. Or goats before you have the best practices in hand. It’s just the way this lifestyle works. Sure, you’ll have a few people that will learn everything possible before taking the leap. But a lot of us don’t.

It’s easy to have the mindset of just going to the feed store for food. A bag of non gmo, corn or soy free feed is about $15 for a 50# bag by me. That doesn’t seem like a lot, right? But it is when you buy 6 bags (or more) of chicken feed, goat feed, pig feed, and alfalfa pellets per month …. Then you have to buy hay, supplements, and medications. The feed alone is $360+ a month.

OR you can learn how to grow their food.

Live There For A Season

So many times, new homesteaders want to get straight to work. While that is an amazing attitude to have, sometimes living in the space for a season will give you the best possible look at what is going to happen. For example, we waited a whole year before we put in gardens. Why? Because I didn’t want to waste a ton of time, money, resources, etc on putting a garden in, only to have it be in the wrong spot.

Another example is the goat barn. If we had waited a season before putting that in, we would have seen that the water runs right into the barn after a big storm. Now it’s a constant battle to keep them and their bedding dry.

If You Want It, Get It

Not everything needs to be so utilitarian that you can’t have pretty things. But you will realize very soon that utility and practicality are far more valuable than a pretty face. My gardens are a prime example of wanting something pretty vs totally utilitarian.

My kitchen garden has raised beds in rows, with arched trellises, decorations on the fence, and figurines tucked throughout. Yes, it is pretty and fussy. Yes, we sank over a thousand dollars into it. And by the time it’s finished, we will dump another couple thousand. But it is hands down my most favorite spot on the homestead. I’m in there for hours every single day I’m home. That means it gets weeded and watered regularly. The bugs get picked off more often. It’s better taken care of.

Before we get too far into this post, I wanted to give a suggestion about keeping a garden journal. A digital garden journal is a fantastic way to keep track of past, present and future gardens. Our Digital Garden Journal is a great way to keep up with everything without getting too overwhelmed.

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My big garden? I walk through it to check on things. I’ll weed occasionally. But I’m not hanging out in there. Why? Mainly, because there is just so much more work that needs to be done in there. Also, because my kitchen garden brings me indescribable joy.

Just Because It’s Cute, Doesn’t Mean You Need It

The flip side of idea above is: you don’t need to waste money on garden statues if it takes away from your seed budget. Just because you love llamas, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to get one. Unless you plan on selling fiber. But the point is that whatever it is you want, it needs to fit in with your budget, plan, and goals.

Before Starting A Homestead Define What Success Is

This is really hard for those that aren’t goal orientated or those who don’t really have a goal in mind. But for some of us, we want to have this successful homestead. But what does that actually look like? I ask myself a lot, “At what point will I consider this (whatever it is) done and a success?”

To give you an example, my gardens will be a success when they provide 75% of the food needs of the entire farm. This includes livestock and humans. My homestead will be successful then.

Infrastructure Is Not Build In A Day

So many times we want everything done right now. But it’s important to realize that unless you have a TON of capital, you won’t get all of your infrastructure built right now. Not only does it take time, your plans change! Initially, we didn’t want a greenhouse. Our spring/summer growing season is about 200 days and usually we can grow frost hardy crops straight through winter. In theory, we can grow year round. But we realized after the second failed attempt at starting seeds inside, we need a greenhouse. Blu loves to look out the windows and she doesn’t care if the seedlings are in her way. To protect our seeds, we need to get the away from the 110# fur missile.

Invest In Good Tools An Equipment

This is probably the most important thing you could possible do. Do not waste your money on tools or equipment that aren’t worth anything. I’ll be posting a garden guide (coming soon) of the tools that we have bought and love, and those that I wouldn’t waste your money on. But at the end of the day, spend the few more dollars for tools that work well and will last you a long time. A lot of influencers have a list a mile long of tools that are amazing, and tools that we will tell you to stay away from. Obviously, it’s biased, but walk into large purchases with your eyes wide open.

In that same category, don’t waste money on courses that you don’t need. YouTube, Instagram, and blogs like this one are all great resources of information that is FREE!

Before Starting A Homestead: Grace

The absolutely most important thing that you should keep in mind when starting a homestead, is grace. Grace for yourself when you screw up. Understanding when your spouse screws up. Joy when there is success. All of these things are so important. You won’t be successful every time, with everything. And that’s okay. It’s the best part of learning.

Goat Milking Machine: An Honest Review

March 24, 2023 by Leigh Leave a Comment

For the last couple of years, I have hand milked our goats. A machine seemed frivolous when our girls only give us about half gallon of milk at a time. It was about $175 that I felt wasn’t necessary to spend right then. But we have issues with consistency on our farm, which I will explain further down. This leads to goats not being milked out effectively or routinely. So I bought a goat milking machine and here’s what I think so far.

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Our Homestead Milkers

As of this writing, I have three girls in milk and by the end of the day I have about half to three quarters of a gallon of milk. Jade and Bailey are the stars this go around, while Bella is struggling to give me even a half cup. While that’s not a lot of milk, it is plenty for fresh drinking and bottling the twins below.

Human Error

There are a lot of reasons that we decided to go ahead and buy a machine. By the end of the milking, my hands are shot. I’ve got psoriatic arthritis in my right hand, specifically my ring and pinky fingers. While it doesn’t usually stop me from milking, it does hurt.

Jared and I work 24 hour shifts. I milk the morning of work and then Jared milks the evening and morning before he goes to work. Then I milk the evening I get home, the next morning and evening, then the next morning again. When I milk, I can usually pull about a quart each of both Bailey and Jade. Jared is lucky to get a pint combined.

The boys needing to milk. Sometimes we need the boys to milk. While this doesn’t happen a lot, it does happen. Since they don’t do it that often, the girls don’t like to sit for them. This creates a lot of stress for them because usually I have to go down there anyways and milk them to give them some relief.

Stress On The Girls

One of the biggest issues with the human error above, is that there is very little consistency. Well, there’s actually a lot of consistency, but it’s a long game. There is no daily consistency. Because of this, the girls just don’t let their milk down for Jared or the boys.

Here in just a few weeks, we are going to have another girl in the rotation for milking. This is going to add another round of milking that my hands may not tolerate or that Jared will have to try and milk.

We are looking to streamline the process in hopes that we are consistently getting a half gallon a day out of all the girls, regardless of who milks them.

The Goat Milking Machine Review

Now to the meat and potatoes. This is going to be an ongoing review because we are still very new to this machine and so are the girls.

First Impressions

Jade kicked once and Bailey didn’t care at all. The suction was a little difficult to get dialed in but did work pretty well. Both girls milked almost completely out within about 2 minutes. We did have to finish them off by hand, but there was maybe a quarter cup for each girl left in the teats.

Cleaning is a little bit of a hassle but not terrible. After talking to several goat owners, they suggested this method. Fill a bucket with warm, soapy water and used the machine to suck everything through. Then rinse the bucket, hoses and teat cups, and run warm water through everything. This worked pretty well and I would imagine that there is a need to pull everything apart once a week or milking, and do a thorough scrubbing. But we’ll see.

The milk was easy to get out and everything is clean now. For goats giving small amounts of milk, I don’t know that a goat milking machine would be worth it. If your hands aren’t arthritic, you only have one goat, they aren’t producing gallons a day, etc. Then hand milking may be a better option. But when you’ve got several girls to get through, or they produce a lot of milk? I think the machine is definitely a good investment. Especially with a smaller price tag like $175 ish dollars.

There is a learning curve to this machine and the little stickers on the hoses will come off, but if you can work around those things? I think it’s worth it.

Updating This Post

I will come back in a week, month, year, etc and keep doing updates because while reviews are awesome, I want to know about the longevity of something. So keep checking back!

Goat Milk Machine: 3 Month Update

Jared doesn’t like the milk machine. He says it takes too much time to get it put together, on the goat, and then strained and cleaned. I don’t disagree. The most time consuming process is the cleaning of the machine. It’s a little more worth the effort in the actual milking process because the milk machine will empty a goat about 95% of the way in about 2 minutes. But the amount of clean up work at the end? It’s not really a time saver.

Another problem that we have run into is the cleaning of the machine. No matter how often I scrub it, hang it to dry or even let it suck out most of the water, moisture still remains in the lines. This leads to mildew or mold in the lines. Despite ALL efforts to eliminate it, it’s still a problem. I have found it to be easier to rinse it well after use and then clean it before using it again. This means that it’s getting cleaned out about 4x a day. That’s a lot of effort for a couple of minutes of saved time on the stand.

6 Month Update

Well, the machine is collecting dust in the basement. The only thing used from that machine is the bucket. I’m glad that we bought the machine because now there is no doubt in my mind that it is a waste of time an money FOR US.

Time saving: there is literally not one second of time saved. In fact, it takes more time, energy, and effort to use the milking machine than just going out there and hand milking. Sure, it can milk out a goat in about 2 minutes. But the amount of time it takes us to get it cleaned is absolutely ridiculous.

Arthritis pain: The pain has shifted. Instead of pain while milking, the pain comes because I have to spend 20+ minutes cleaning the machine.

Clean Milk: This one I have to give to the machine. We do not pasteurize our milk, we filter it through a strainer and coffee filter to get the nasties out. But I noticed that when we used the machine, there was no hair, debris, etc in the milk. There was also the added bonus of when the girls kicked, they don’t shove their hoof in the milk. So that’s one point in the machines favor.

I won’t be doing any more updates to this post simply because we don’t use the machine anymore. I may end up trying a different machine but as it sits now, it’s easier for us to hand milk.

How To Build A Successful Homestead

March 18, 2023 by Leigh Leave a Comment

This is a loaded question that is personal, individual, and can only be answered by you, your family and your land’s capability. At the end of the day, every single homestead is going to look different. You may not want a lot of animals or you may not want huge gardens. You may have to work off farm or on a fixed income. There are so many variables to building a successful homestead. But here are my thoughts on how to build your successful on the homestead.

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What Is A Successful Homestead?

Before you start the first project, buy the first piece of land, or anything else, you need to determine what will make your homestead successful to YOU. Is it being 90% self reliant? Raising 100% of your own meat? Surviving or Thriving? It’s so important to have a definition of your success so you can measure your progress. And it’s okay if that definition changes or evolves. But if you cannot figure out the benchmark for your successful homestead, you won’t be successful.

Defining A Successful Homestead

If you already know what your successful homestead looks like, congratulations! You are ahead of the game by a LOT. I didn’t really understand that I needed to define what my vision of success looked like until I had been homesteading for a couple of years and realized that I was spinning in circles, getting a lot of things done, but nothing that was moving us towards “success”.

So Jared and I sat down and really thought about how would we define the success of our homestead. The question we needed to answer was, “What is THE thing, that when it’s done, we can say we were a success.”

For our homestead, we define success as growing 75% of our food and our animals food, that means meat, dairy, and produce for us. It also means fodder like corn, oats, BOSS, squash/pumpkins and other veggies. Success also means building as much of our infrastructure ourselves whenever possible. Finally, I will deem the homestead and this blog a success when it not only supports itself financially but also allows us to retire early.

Measuring Against Your Definition Of A Successful Homestead

Every single goal, project, expectation, or purchase needs to be measured against your definition of success. That doesn’t mean that you can’t do that project, set that goal, or make the purchase. But the KNOWING is the most important thing.

To give you an example, I want a greenhouse so badly. I want to grow coffee, citrus, and other heat loving plants that my zone gets too cold for. Towards the bottom of the blog post, I have listed out our definition of success, but one of the big ones is growing 75% of our food. Measuring the want of a greenhouse against growing 75% of our own food, the greenhouse would be a good purchase and project. If I build a greenhouse, we could start our garden plants in the greenhouse which would greatly improve their chances of surviving Blu. It would limit the amount of citrus and coffee we purchase from the store. Win.

Another example would be buying a milk cow right now. This would definitely help us with grow/ own 75% of our own food because we would save a ton of money on dairy products and potentially meat. But if we do it now, before we have solid pastures set up, we would not be working towards success because of the amount of hay we would have to purchase. Lose. BUT it’s something that can be done later.

So before you start doing things to or for your homestead, make sure it’s getting you closer to success instead of further away.

Setting Expectations For Success

A long time ago, I heard someone say that the #1 relationship killer was unmet expectations. I thought it was a crock, because everyone knows it’s communication, right? But when he explained it further it makes total sense. Let’s say you expect your spouse to always do the dishes, but you never said “this is your chore” and they never agreed. They can’t meet your expectation. Or if you have told your spouse a million times that you can’t stand roses. But they get you roses all the time, you have the expectation that they will not buy you roses because you don’t like them. That expectation is not met. Overtime it causes immense frustration and anger that ultimately can kill a relationship.

It’s the same for homesteading. If your expectation is to have all of your infrastructure in place within one year, and it doesn’t happen, you’re going to be upset. If you keep failing to meet your expectations, you could hit burnout and give up.

Unrealistic Expectations

One of the things that every single homesteader is guilty of is setting unrealistic expectations. We think that we have to have everything done, RIGHT NOW! The reality is that unless you have the capital to buy a farm that is already where you want it, it’s going to take years of work and a ton of capital to get you where you want to be. And if you don’t have a ton of capital, it’ll take even longer.

It’s saying I’m going to buy a cow with absolutely ZERO grass to raise them on. Or I’m going to heat only with the trees harvested from my land and there isn’t a single tree on your property. Or my favorite, I’m going to grow 100% of my yearly food needs in an unproven garden with no experience.

These unrealistic expectations will not be met. Sure, you can get a cow, but you will be buying TONS of hay. You can’t heat with only wood from your farm if you have zero trees on your land. And trust me when I say, you won’t grow a year’s worth of food in an unproven garden if you have zero experience.

Realistic Expectations For A Successful Homestead

Setting your expectations for a successful homestead should be in line with your definition of success. For example, if you’re definition of success is for the homestead to feed you and your animals, maybe don’t get animals before the garden. Which ALL of us do, no matter how many times we say we won’t.

Your expectations should be worked into your goals. There is a huge difference between a goal and an expectation. A goal is something you are striving for, while an expectation is something you expect to happen. If your goal is to grow 75% of you and your animals feed, the expectation is that you are going to put in a garden.

Having a realistic expectation of what you are able to do, the capital available to do those things and a clear set of goals will set you up on the path to a successful homestead.

Your Land’s Capability

I feel like this is very important when it comes to homesteading, that you really look at what your land is capable of. I mentioned that if you have an expectation to heat with only wood harvested from your own land, but you have zero trees on your property, that is unrealistic. But I wanted to take it one step further because I don’t think new homesteaders truly understand what they are getting into.

If your land is steep hills, mountains, etc, it is not necessarily capable of supporting a cow. If your land is mostly trees, you are going to have to do some major work to get a garden in. I want everyone to homestead in SOME capacity where you are right now. But at the same time, you have to be realistic in what you can and can’t do base on what your land can do.

Neighbors may not want to listen to your goats scream all day. Local ordinances may not allow more than so many chickens. Before you start defining your successful homestead, you have to be aware of what land you are buying and what it can actually do for you.

Our Successful Homestead Plan

For Jared and I to feel like we have been successful in building our homestead, it has to have 3 key points:

The homestead grows 75% of the food for us and our animals.
We build, create, or source from our property as much as we possibly can.
Our homestead (and blog) would be considered a success if it can fully support itself and allows us to retire early.

Let’s break this down

75% Of All Food

This is a big expectation because it’s a lot of food. But I don’t expect that overnight or even in one year. We learned a lot in our first garden and we’ve learned even more since. But we have realized that we have to grow slowly so that we don’t end up packing too much work on ourselves. Since we both work fulltime, we have to be aware of how much we can actually do. This is where that homestead flexibility comes in.

We also have a ton of trees on our land. Which is great for heating the house, but sucks when it comes to sunlight and garden space. This year we installed a kitchen garden in this weird lawn space in between our driveways. It’s a lot of space and a great place to have veggie plants, flowers, herbs, and lettuces. We can even put in our potatoes, carrots, garlic and onions. But I forgot that in the summer, there are a ton of trees that block the sun. This isn’t a big deal because those trees need to come down anyways. But our garden may not thrive because of them.

Our gardens are a process and that’s okay. 75% of our food doesn’t need all be done right now.

Being Self Reliant

Jared and I are both city kids and we don’t have anyone teaching us how to do these things. Because of that, it’s really important to both of us that we learn how to do stuff for ourselves. I didn’t know how to make bread before I started this journey. Now, I can make sourdough!

Jared had never felled trees before coming to the homestead. Now? He’s really good at it. He didn’t know how to sharpen a chainsaw. Now, he does.

Leaving behind a legacy is really important to me. I’m not going to get my great grandmother or grandmothers cast iron pans. I didn’t get cooking skills from my mom, grandmother, great grandmother. Jared and I didn’t learn how to butcher animals or put in gardens from our family. And that’s okay because that’s not the life they lived. But because this is so important to us, we are also teaching our kids how to do these things. We are teaching them how to repair toilets, install light fixtures, build chicken tractors without plans, put in gardens, sharpen chainsaws, and so much more.

That’s a legacy I am proud to leave behind.

Financial Freedom

I started this blog and our homestead with one single end goal: Retire early. That’s it. We are putting in the work now, while we are young, so that we can have systems in place for retirement. When the homestead produces 75% of our food, that puts approximately $900/mo back in our pockets. When it produces 75% of our animals food? That’s $600/mo!

While this blog is not currently making a lot of money, the reality is that it is getting to the point of being self reliant. Thanks to you guys!

Walking into retirement with virtually zero bills or debt allows us to not worry so much about a crashing economy. Knowing that we can garden and sell the produce or sell goat kids? That brings more options to the table than praying my 401k and social security will still be there.

Building Your Successful Homestead

At the end of the day, your homestead is not going to look like anyone else’s. You’ve got your own hopes, dreams, capabilities, resources, and needs. But if you can define what a successful homestead looks like to you, and then start setting expectations and goals for it, you will get there so much faster.

How To Raise Goat Bottle Babies

March 6, 2023 by Leigh Leave a Comment

If you are purchasing a bottle baby, have a momma who rejected a kid, or are planning to sell a bottle baby, there are some things you should know and be prepared for. Bottle babies are not for the faint of heart, there is a lot of involvement with them. You become their momma and in turn you end up with a creature that is so attached to you, it’s almost like your own kid. But to raise goat bottle babies, there are a few things you should know.

Buy Now

First, let me preface this with: I am not a vet. I am simply a goat farmer that has done a ton of research and “experimented” on my herd. There has been a lot of trial and error…. a lot of error. This information is from my vet and from my experience, as well as the experience of other goat farmers. I encourage you to speak with a vet or find a goat mentor local to you.

Why You Have Bottle Babies

If you bought bottle babies from a reputable breeder, there should be nothing “wrong” with them. This should be the easiest bottle baby you have. But unfortunately, there are a fair amount of situations where you may end up with a bottle baby that are not ideal.

Momma Rejected Or Died

While it’s a very sad situation, when momma doesn’t want to or can’t take care of her babies, you may have to pull the baby from her. Or on the other side of the spectrum momma has died and you now have babies to raise.

It’s Just Too Cold Outside

Sometimes, you have to make the decision to bottle a baby based on weather. Which is weird, I know. This late winter/ early spring has been extremely rainy. We are having weeks of rain with a day or two of sun. That means that our barn and pastures are a muddy mess. Not a great environment to raise babies in. We are also in this weird weather pattern of cool/cold nights and 75* days. Because of that, we had to bring Bailey inside after she kidded because it was just so dang cold and wet. We seriously considered raising one of her kids inside just to give her some relief and to ensure that she could care for the other two better.

Momma Had Too Many

Bailey gave us triplets this last season. If this had happened to almost any other goat, we probably would have been okay. But Bailey has tiny udders and doesn’t produce a ton of milk. We had to supplement with milk we had put up. If your doe birthed quads, quints, or sextuplets? Be ready to bottle raise some of them.

A First Time Freshener

Another reason you may have to raise goat bottle babies is because momma is a first time freshener and doesn’t have a clue what she is doing. Jade is struggling a little bit with her kids because she is really unsure how to handle them. She’s away from her sister for the first time and these things are smashing their face into her udders for milk. We had to catch/pull and then clean the babies because she was totally unprepared. This is all totally fine and normal, but you do need to be prepared.

How To Raise Goat Bottle Babies

Now to the meat and potatoes of this post. Raising goat bottle babies is probably no different than sheep and maybe cows. But I don’t have those creatures so I can really only speak about goats.

Dam Raised or True Bottle Baby

The first thing you have to decide is whether you are going to pull the baby from momma completely or supplement feedings. Our goal is to keep kids with mommas for as long as possible. With Bailey, we “let” her be momma and we just supplemented. We started with 3x a day feedings and then dropped to one “big” bottle at night. If we had taken one of her babies to raise inside, it would have been a true bottle baby.

Bottles

There are some people that think the red teat nipple is the way to go. Others think a cheap baby bottle will work. Personally, I think fed is best, so do what you’ve got to do to get that baby to eat. We have the red teat nipples and our goats just don’t like them. We use cheap baby bottles and they work fantastic. If you are purchasing a bottle baby from a breeder, that breeder should be able to tell you exactly what bottle they are using and you can purchase that.

Replacer vs Whole Cows Milk

Whole cows milk is the replacement of choice for goat kids. Period. Actually, the replacement of choice would be goats milk. But if you can’t get that, cows milk is the best. There is a ton of research out there on the milk replacers vs whole cows milk but at the end of the day, cows milk is easier for your goat kid to digest. Whole cow milk is an animal milk but milk replacer is usually a bunch of different additives that may be too hard for your kid to digest and use.

How Much To Feed

There is a TON of information about how much to feed your bottle baby and how often. But first you have to start with a weight. The ratio is about 1#= 2.5oz. So if your goat kid weighs about 5# you would feed approximately 12.5oz per day.

Also the age of your kid factors into how many times per day to feed it. A kid that is just born and is 3# would get 7.5oz of colostrum over 12 bottles.

Week 1: 6 Bottles

Week 2- 4: 4 Bottles

Week 5-8: 3 Bottles

Week 9-10: 2 Bottles

Week 11-12: 1 Bottle (start weaning)

****Weaning would be giving 1 bottle per day with less and less milk. I usually start reducing the bottles by 3oz and see how the kid does****

For example: Your goat kid is 3 weeks old and weighs 8# you would feed approximately 20oz over 4 bottles. Each bottle would contain 5oz.

Over Feeding vs Underfeeding

Goat kids will absolutely over eat if you let them. Momma’s have this instinct that tells them when the kid is done eating. But if you are momma, you may think that your kiddo is starving. They’re not. Trust me. If you are using the formula above and they are gaining weight steadily, they are just fine. The biggest thing to watch for after a feeding is done, their belly should feel full-ish. It shouldn’t feel hard and it shouldn’t be sunken in. My suggestion is this: feed like the formula says for the first couple of days and feel their stomach. If it’s hard or rounded? back off the milk just an ounce or so. If it’s sunken or they aren’t gaining weight? Up it an ounce or so.

Temperatures: Milk and Kid

When it comes to goats of all ages, temperature is probably the most important thing you can master. If your goat is too cold or too hot, bad things can happen. Kids are no different and in fact it’s probably more important. When kids get too cold, they cannot digest the milk. If they can’t digest the milk? It will rot in their stomach. So make sure you are checking their temps before feeding. Before feeding, their temps should be between 101-103. If they are not warm enough, bring them inside to get warm and then feed them when they are at least 101*.

When it comes to milk, the temperature should be 103*. This is about the temperature that momma’s milk would be. Too cold and the kid could become hypothermic (cold). Too hot and the kid could scald their mouths. We check on the inside of our wrists, if it’s warm to hot (not burning) it’s the right temp. If it burns us? It will burn them.

Pro-Tips and Hacks To Raise Goat Bottle Babies

Transitioning

If you are getting your bottle baby from a breeder, the kid should already be on either milk replacer or whole cow milk. If they aren’t, that breeder should send goat milk home with you to transition. When I sell our bottle babies, we send goat milk with them to start transitioning if we haven’t already transitioned them to whole cows milk. When we sold Bailey’s triplets, we were not anticipating selling them that quickly. But we sent a gallon of goat milk with the buyer. Then we dropped off another gallon and a half gallon because we wanted to make sure the transition was as smooth as possible.

Preparing For A Bottle Baby…. Just In Case

After our does kid, and depending on how many she gave us, we bring a pint mason jar with us every time we go outside. When we get singles, we milk out the colostrum of ONE teat over the next 24hrs. We do this so we have back up colostrum and a couple of times it has saved our babies. If we have twins or trips? We still bring out that jar and a bottle just in case one of the babies isn’t nursing great. Sometimes we do it at night to ensure that the kids go to bed with a full belly. But being prepared is key.

Enjoy It

Much like raising human children, raising bottle babies flies by. Next thing you know, they are jumping off the roof of your car… the goat kid not the human one. Unless you have a Jaxson, then it may be the house and not the car. Regardless, it is such a cool experience. That kid will become a pocket pet for you and watching them get so excited to see you is pretty cool too. Not to mention when you are feeding them and that little tail is going a million miles a minute? Ridiculously cute. And while it’s a TON of work, it’s so worth it.