North Carolina

[starlingdaly]

Good Morning!  It's finals week here, and soon I will be free (somewhat) for the summer!  WooHoo!

As far as goals...also providing as much of our food as possible.  We raise our own chicken, quail, rabbit, lamb and beef.  We have pears, apples, persimmons, mulberries, figs, blackberries, raspberries, grapes, kiwi, pecans and hazelnuts for permanent plantings, and I'll be adding to that this year.  Also raise a good sized garden,although there are only two of us these days. We don't try to raise grain crops,however.  On the other hand, we don't eat much of that.  I wouldn't mind getting a grinder and finding a source for wheat berries, though.   Another goal is to sell enough surplus to basically cover all our food costs, plus some for labor, and make our food free.  We get closer every year.  The pasture raised beef helps a lot!

We have recently filed and turned Hollow Oak Farm into Hollow Oak Farm, LLC.  We are working on turning a hobby into a business.  I narrowed down chicken breeds and will be working on breeding for SOP on all of them.  That reminds me...dutchbunny, if I had to choose, I'd go with Orpingtons.  I'd have every color possible, but it would be Orps.

Enjoy your day!

How do I buy food from you!

 

[dutchbunny83]

That's awesome Meg!!!

I wish you tons of success. Lamb is my favorite thing to eat EVER. Oh I so need a farm!

 

[MissMurder]

I'm grew up in New Jersey all my life, up until 5 years ago when we decided to move down here. We had some friends that moved down here about 2 years earlier than us, and when we came down to visit, we realized how much cheaper it is to live and that having a family was actually a possibility. I don't have much land right now, we're currently renting with a pretty big backyard. I don't plan on Roosters at the moment, as I don't want to annoy the neighbors, but maybe in the future if we get some bigger property.

 

[MissMurder]

Good Morning! It's finals week here, and soon I will be free (somewhat) for the summer! WooHoo!

As far as goals...also providing as much of our food as possible. We raise our own chicken, quail, rabbit, lamb and beef. We have pears, apples, persimmons, mulberries, figs, blackberries, raspberries, grapes, kiwi, pecans and hazelnuts for permanent plantings, and I'll be adding to that this year. Also raise a good sized garden,although there are only two of us these days. We don't try to raise grain crops,however. On the other hand, we don't eat much of that. I wouldn't mind getting a grinder and finding a source for wheat berries, though. Another goal is to sell enough surplus to basically cover all our food costs, plus some for labor, and make our food free. We get closer every year. The pasture raised beef helps a lot!

We have recently filed and turned Hollow Oak Farm into Hollow Oak Farm, LLC. We are working on turning a hobby into a business. I narrowed down chicken breeds and will be working on breeding for SOP on all of them. That reminds me...dutchbunny, if I had to choose, I'd go with Orpingtons. I'd have every color possible, but it would be Orps.

Enjoy your day!

It's finals week for me too! Took the first one last night and I'm glad it's over, LOL. Only 2 more until I would consider myself "sane" until the fall. What are you studying? I currently have my certificate and diploma in Medical Office Administration, and in December, I will finish with my Associates. I also have a home business...I make candles! It's a lot of fun, and if the lights ever go out, we'll be OK, LOL.

It's funny. A few of my friends and I are always talking about how we should just find property off the grid and be self-sufficient. I swear, with the amount of talent and knowledge among us, we'd be fine. My comment was always: "Well, I can cook, make candles, sew, am an amateur photographer, love animals, and I can run a business. My fiance is a tattoo artist so we'll always have an art culture, my brother and one of our friends is an engineer and my brother also has experience with plumbing and construction. My best friend is an IT guy, another is a teacher and her husband is super smart and talented all around and grows amazing veggies. Another is a welder and yet another is a stock broker and his wife is a financial advisor. We also have two nurses and some military men. I'll stop listing stuff, but I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. The problem is everyone agrees that doing that would be nice, but they don't really take me seriously. This year I decided where there is a will, there is a way and I'm going to start small and start learning. It can't hurt, right? I mean, my dad and his brothers grew up on a farm, so it must be somewhere in my genes. Or at least I hope, LOL

 

[StarMeKritten]

Don't forget, it's Election Day today! Get out there and vote!

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

Quote:
LOL....that would depend on exactly what you wanted! Some things, like the beef, are well spaced out. We just sold out, and will get more calves this fall. We opted not to raise beef this year, but to put some goats out to clear the fences and remove cow parasites. (Dead end host) Rabbits are easier, but would be sold live. I'll also do some limited grow-out for other people, like a batch of Cornish X. But again, you'd have to pick those up alive at this point. I haven't found a slaughterhouse that will do them reasonably, and I can't do them at my house and sell them (limitations!) But pm me with what you are interested in, and I'll let you know!

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

I teach at UNC-P...biology.

We've got an array of talents, too. Hubby is a darn good carpenter and amateur gunsmith, and has degrees in business. My first degree was as a Vet Tech, and I also weld. (Used to run a business called The Iron Maiden!) And I sew, spin, knit, weave, quilt, etc. We both garden and such. We also thought about finding complementary people to get land adjacent to and form our own community. Each with their separate land, but all with skills we could share. But like you, just couldn't find anyone interested, so we got our own place. We've found like minded people here, though, and realized that we don't have to live next to each other to be good neighbors and share. Would be nice, and if I could live next to BHep and CoopScoopBoogie, and a bunch of others in here, I'd be in heaven. But I don't see any of us leaving what we started to start over. At least not yet!

 

[MissMurder]

Don't forget, it's Election Day today! Get out there and vote!

I did!

 

[BHep]

I teach at UNC-P...biology.

We've got an array of talents, too. Hubby is a darn good carpenter and amateur gunsmith, and has degrees in business. My first degree was as a Vet Tech, and I also weld. (Used to run a business called The Iron Maiden!) And I sew, spin, knit, weave, quilt, etc. We both garden and such. We also thought about finding complementary people to get land adjacent to and form our own community. Each with their separate land, but all with skills we could share. But like you, just couldn't find anyone interested, so we got our own place. We've found like minded people here, though, and realized that we don't have to live next to each other to be good neighbors and share. Would be nice, and if I could live next to BHep and CoopScoopBoogie, and a bunch of others in here, I'd be in heaven. But I don't see any of us leaving what we started to start over. At least not yet!

 

[dutchbunny83]

Egg sellers-- I am new to this, really trying to sell some eggs to offset feed costs.
Personally I have no problem eating eggs that are older as I know store eggs are pretty old.
I wash and refrigerate eggs I plan to sell immediately.
What are the oldest eggs you sell?
I plan to sell my freshest, but after how long do you consider them unsellable or no longer fresh?
I was thinking 2 weeks, but then thought I could be way off.
Thank you so much for your help, I really want to make this work