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In January I was offered my wife's friend's farm for the balance of her mortgage. My wife is a Crazy Horse Lady and the place has barns, land, and a riding ring. I relented, as the deal was too good to pass up, and I was looking forward to having an excuse to collect rusty shitbox vehicles on cinder blocks without repercussions. Hopefully this thread will serve as the record of my endeavors when I inevitably die of hoof to skull or crushed under a tractor. We have 4 acres in very rural Connecticut. The house was built in 1850 and has had some renovations since, but desperately needs some more. The two barns have been impeccably kept updated and need little to no work. We have fantastic pasture land, but the smaller turnout paddocks are horribly neglected and are pretty much just mud pits. There's a sad greenhouse and neglected garden area as well as a bit of planting land that was last farmed during the Clinton administration. The previous owner was, as most people would know her, an insane horse woman. She kept the barns pristine but I doubt she even cooked herself a meal or even mowed the lawn. Here's the big barn.  2 full-sized horse stalls, tack area, attached garage (likely originally for a carriage) and a workshop.  Here's the workshop, last cleaned of clutter several owners ago. The previous owner to the last lady left the house, sold it for pennies, and disappeared. He left half completed projects and clutter everywhere. There's some neat stuff mixed (dat bench vise) in but most of it is scrap.  Here's the two stalls.  And here's the turnout area the stalls empty into. A dismal mud pit. If anyone has any experience recovering a part of land that's in this kind of shape I'd love to hear any advice you have.  This is the smaller barn, what we call the Pony Barn. It's got 2 small stalls, to be determined what type of livestock we're housing in there, and a 3rd stall that has been converted into a chicken coop. We have 12 6-week old female chickens at the moment housed in the coop with some heating as it's been pretty cold at night here in CT.  Here's a clumsy shot of the inside of the stall turned coop.  Outside of the pony barn we have a sand ring for my wife's riding that desperately needs to be dragged. At least the PO dug a decent drainage ditch on one side.  Other than that there's a sorry excuse for a greenhouse near the house and some pasture behind it.   There's an absolute insane amount of work to be done. I wake up every morning and question my sanity. In just the next couple of weeks I have to plant veggies, clean up the gardens and greenhouse, get the broken rusty F-150 going so I can stop paying someone to deliver hay, clear brush and debris and burn it, get lighting into the big barn which had the electrical stripped out of it before I moved in, get nesting boxes ready for the chickens who will start laying in another month, repair my sorry excuse for a lawn tractor and rig something up to drag the sand ring, I should be getting my shitbox Bronco running as well so I can move it around the yard. I'm probably forgetting so much more. I also have two puppies, rabbits, chickens, and the two horses with more livestock to come. Oh and I have to get the place ready for a whole shitload of goons to descend on it for the New England AI event in August. I hope to keep this updated as long as people are interested. Noise Complaint fucked around with this message at 01:34 on Apr 11, 2016 |
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Apr 11, 2016 01:29
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So that was a fun morning. Found a guy passed out drunk in the big barn, asleep on an old couch under a bunch of saddle pads. Turns out the guy rolled his car a few miles down the road in the early hours of the morning, walked his way to my place, let himself into the barn and passed out. The resident State Trooper threw on some clothes and made his way down to my place to pick him up because we don't have a police department. Great way to start a morning. Time to consider some security options.
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Apr 11, 2016 14:03
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Dang, the new Stardew Valley update looks intense.
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Apr 11, 2016 16:46
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Connecticut has a pop. density of 636/sq mile and you can drive across the entire state in 2.5 hrs. How could anywhere there be very rural? I'm not trying to be a smartass, I'm just trying to figure what you consider rural.
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Apr 11, 2016 19:31
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Brennanite posted:Connecticut has a pop. density of 636/sq mile and you can drive across the entire state in 2.5 hrs. How could anywhere there be very rural? I'm not trying to be a smartass, I'm just trying to figure what you consider rural. I'm coming from a southern New England perspective, so I should definitely clarify. The town I live in is "farm" rural vs undeveloped rural. While I do have neighbors, the bulk of the town is small to medium sized family-owned farms. The vast majority of the routes in town are still dirt roads and there's little to no non-agricultural industry. I'd say it qualifies as very rural (for Connecticut) but not remote. I'm about a 20 minute drive from the nearest Dunkin' Donuts. That might as well be in Timbuktu as far as New England is concerned. Hah.
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Apr 11, 2016 19:53
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Noise Complaint posted:I'm coming from a southern New England perspective, so I should definitely clarify. The town I live in is "farm" rural vs undeveloped rural. While I do have neighbors, the bulk of the town is small to medium sized family-owned farms. The vast majority of the routes in town are still dirt roads and there's little to no non-agricultural industry. I'd say it qualifies as very rural (for Connecticut) but not remote. I'm about a 20 minute drive from the nearest Dunkin' Donuts. That might as well be in Timbuktu as far as New England is concerned. Hah. If he's in northern CT, near the Berkshires, that's pretty drat rural for New England.
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Apr 11, 2016 20:58
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Brennanite posted:Connecticut has a pop. density of 636/sq mile and you can drive across the entire state in 2.5 hrs. How could anywhere there be very rural? I'm not trying to be a smartass, I'm just trying to figure what you consider rural. That density isnt an average for every mile, though. There are cities that skew this quite high.
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Apr 11, 2016 21:05
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More animals. I'm not surprised. There's two goats that are potentially on the way as well. For now, have some adorable babby ducklings that were foisted upon us tonight.
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Apr 12, 2016 03:30
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Noise Complaint posted:I'm coming from a southern New England perspective, so I should definitely clarify. The town I live in is "farm" rural vs undeveloped rural. While I do have neighbors, the bulk of the town is small to medium sized family-owned farms. The vast majority of the routes in town are still dirt roads and there's little to no non-agricultural industry. I'd say it qualifies as very rural (for Connecticut) but not remote. I'm about a 20 minute drive from the nearest Dunkin' Donuts. That might as well be in Timbuktu as far as New England is concerned. Hah. Okay, I get that. That actually sounds like a nice place to live--close to amenities but with a country feel. My grandparents live out on an old farm in the middle of nowhere. It's pretty and peaceful, but having to drive 30 minutes just to get to a grocery store in the nearest small town is a real pain (especially in the winter).
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Apr 12, 2016 16:23
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I started cleaning out the small barn, which at one point was used to house goats. The stalls were filled with old manure and moldy hay. The barn is on a secondary electric account with it's own feed from the pole. The PO had wired it up with nice caged light fixtures and a modern panel. It looks to me like a decent job but I'm not an electrician so feel free to correct me if it's poo poo.  I'm glad that the protected fixtures are already in place, I've seen way too many bare light bulbs in barns.  The big barn has evidence of being wired at some point for power, as there's empty junction boxes, light fixtures, and some outlets, however all of the conduit has been stripped out. It seems there used to be a line running in the air between the small and large barn ages ago. There's two large ceramic insulators attached to the outside of the small barn. ideally I'd like to rent a trencher and run power underground to the large barn by next winter. Right now I have to use an extension cord to run heated buckets and a submersed heater in the outdoor water trough when it's below freezing. The small barn has this awful "garage door" that opens inwards for the big opening, lifted by a dinosaur of a hand crank, pulley and a rope. It's incredibly obnoxious to crank that bitch up and down and relatively hazardous to your fingers. I have no idea how I'm going to go about replacing this just yet.  Anyway, here's a sneak preview of two potential newcomers to the farm. Goats!  
Noise Complaint fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Apr 12, 2016 |
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Apr 12, 2016 16:35
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Noise Complaint posted:It looks to me like a decent job but I'm not an electrician so feel free to correct me if it's poo poo. The proof will be inside of that panel, but noting I'm seeing would lead me to believe it's anything other than squared away. If you want to be really nit-pickey the switch plates are probably wrong. That type is only supposed to be used on a finished wall, not from an exposed box (you're supposed to have metal covers that don't extend beyond the box so nothing can get caught on them and break the cover). But maybe it's fine....I can't really see them that well in the pic.
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Apr 12, 2016 17:48
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Do you have any plans to buy a tractor? They can be a big expense, but the amount of work you can get done with even a small one totally makes it worth it. I have a 4 acre lot with no animals and use my little 17hp kubota all the time.
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Apr 13, 2016 12:15
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Jeff Gerber posted:Do you have any plans to buy a tractor? They can be a big expense, but the amount of work you can get done with even a small one totally makes it worth it. I have a 4 acre lot with no animals and use my little 17hp kubota all the time. Yes, I desperately need a decent tractor, at the very least for dragging the sand ring with a harrow. I've had my eye on Craigslist for a few weeks and I'm hoping to be able to get one before summer. Right now I have a 15 hp Craftsman garden tractor that does alright but I need something bigger. My wife and I were actually planning on going to look at an old Soviet tractor this weekend a neighbor is selling. What could go wrong? 
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Apr 13, 2016 14:02
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Noise Complaint posted:My wife and I were actually planning on going to look at an old Soviet tractor this weekend a neighbor is selling. What could go wrong? Nothing that can't be fixed with vodka, a hammer and some bailing wire. Sounds perfect.
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Apr 13, 2016 14:16
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Motronic posted:Nothing that can't be fixed with vodka, a hammer and some bailing wire. Sounds perfect. Is there a Russian equivalent to JB weld? Or is baling wire the Russian equivalent to JB weld?
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Apr 13, 2016 17:03
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Jeff Gerber posted:Is there a Russian equivalent to JB weld? Or is baling wire the Russian equivalent to JB weld? Douse baling wire with vodka and light on fire - voila, JB weld.
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Apr 13, 2016 17:08
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Siochain posted:Douse baling wire with vodka and light on fire - voila, JB weld. Exactly. I didn't call out a need for a lighter as you should be chain smoking non-filter cigarettes any time you are working on it.
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Apr 13, 2016 18:06
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Every time I see the title I imagine you marrying a centaur and posting a thread about all the design elements required for a house to comfortably accommodate that body shape. That'd actually be an interesting thread. Same for public bathroom design in starports.
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Apr 13, 2016 18:23
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Motronic posted:Exactly. I didn't call out a need for a lighter as you should be chain smoking non-filter cigarettes any time you are working on it. Its why I didn't mention it either 
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Apr 13, 2016 19:31
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Those are some nice goats. Pygmy goats are fun too as are fainting goats! I'd get a huge pot bellied pig to round things out. For that mudpit, find a saw mill that you can get a dumptruck full of shavings from
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Apr 14, 2016 23:45
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I also am involved with a horse woman but thankfully we don't have the resources to make this a reality or I'd be in the same boat as you, OP! Can't wait to see what comes of the tractor hunt, and the ducklings are super cute!
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Apr 17, 2016 23:49
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I require more duckling pics, sir. They will be big and ornery by the time I get to see them in person
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Apr 18, 2016 04:27
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Terrible Robot posted:ornery They shouldn't be that bad. Geese are the real assholes of waterfowl.
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Apr 18, 2016 08:51
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Motronic posted:They shouldn't be that bad. Geese are the real assholes of waterfowl. gently caress. Geese. My grandmother, bless her heart, got all our eggs when I was growing up from a neighbor up the road who kept a dozen hens, and two of the most ill-tempered geese I will ever meet. I didn't even get out of the car, because they'd go apeshit attacking their reflection in the moon hubcaps on her mid-60's Olds.
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Apr 18, 2016 12:08
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Did not get to the tractor search this weekend as we celebrated a bit too much for my birthday on Saturday night. Hah. I did, however, get to spend a lot of time with the animals and work on the yard a little bit. This weekend was Sam's first time off leash at home, he's still under a year, but I've been working with him quite a bit and it's truly awesome to be able to give him the run of the farm. He was my buddy all weekend while I was working outside.  Here he is being a bro while my wife lunges Lilly, our mare. This is after I took down a dead pine tree and cut it up into poles with the chainsaw so my wife could use them for whatever it is horse people use poles on the ground for.  The chickens are coming along nicely. They've been spending a lot of time in their run clucking about and pulling up grubs and worms. They go absolutely ape-poo poo when they see my wife or me coming as they know we bring them food. They've also attached this to the dog and want to swarm poor Sam. He tries to sniff their butts.  I managed to get quite a bit of seed started in the greenhouse as well after cleaning out years of vines and growth and poo poo in there. I've got the usual staples, tomatoes, pepper, lettuce, herbs, broccoli, as well as various hot peppers, tomatillos, etc.  Found this little guy and his siblings in the greenhouse while I was cleaning it out.  I carefully relocated them and their nest to the outside. If you find a wild cottontail nest and you absolutely must relocate it, do so within sight, in a safe location. Touching the babies does not scare the mother off, that's an old wives' tale. If you don't see the mother, that's fine, as she visits rarely to deter predators. I also used this opportunity to prime the well for the outdoor faucets and clear the air out of the lines. Money shot!  This faucet is for irrigation next to the land that was previously planted (and of course, neglected! Horses are one hell of a drug!)  If I don't wind up with a tractor and some implements soon I'm going to have to turn this over the old fashioned way, or the comedy option, pull the Bronco onto it and do donuts until it's good to go. I did manage to finally clear the leaves out of the majority of the garden and revealed quite a few pretty rock lined beds where there used to only be a foot of decaying plant matter. This one even has some sort of plants coming up from bulbs!  I also patched up some of the terrible fencing and put up some rope gates so I could let the horses out in the pasture to give the smaller turn out areas a break.  That's all I was able to really get done over the weekend. On top of partying a bit too much on Saturday, turns out my wife, my parents and the in-laws all pitched in to get me a PS4 which sucked up more time than I would have liked. This coming weekend I should be able to do quite a bit more and I'm seriously looking forward to it, especially if the awesome weather holds out. I almost forgot a duckling update! They had a bath last night to let them run around in the water a bit. Here's a video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITXFOzOFcng Oh and Ellie update, still a little jerk. 
Noise Complaint fucked around with this message at 15:51 on Apr 19, 2016 |
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Apr 19, 2016 15:48
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Need to plow a field? Go with Jonathan Swift's idea: In another Apartment I was highly pleased with a Projector, who had found a device of plowing the Ground with Hogs, to save the Charges of Plows, Cattle, and Labour. The Method is this: In an Acre of Ground you bury at six Inches Distance, and eight deep, a quantity of Acorns, Dates, Chestnuts, and other Masts or Vegetables whereof these Animals are fondest; then you drive six Hundred or more of them into the Field, where in a few Days they will root up the whole Ground in search of their Food, and make it fit for sowing, at the same time manuring it with their Dung. It is true, upon Experiment they found the Charge and Trouble very great, and they had little or no Crop. However, it is not doubted that this Invention may be capable of great Improvement.
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Apr 19, 2016 17:48
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Pigsfeet on Rye posted:Need to plow a field? Go with Jonathan Swift's idea: This is great, I'd never read this quote before. Using livestock to work land actually works pretty drat well. If I had more time I'd put up some electric fencing tape and have the horses chew the land up, or build a movable enclosure for the chickens and let them turn the soil over.
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Apr 19, 2016 19:00
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Hello, fellow spouse of a Crazy Horse Lady. Before we met, I had a small house on 1 acre, and plans for a large shop. Now, we have 9 acres in rural SC, 2 thoroughbreds, 5 goats, chickens, and house pets. This place was a foreclosure and we bought it directly from Fannie Mae. I am fortunate that it also has a large shop (40x60 commercial metal building), but I have spent the last two years replacing/adding fence (1700' and counting), and God knows what else. So the shop holds my things until such time that I complete all the Crazy Horse Lady's projects. I did manage to scrape together the funds to buy a compact tractor last year, and it has been unendingly handy.
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Apr 21, 2016 04:21
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Noise Complaint posted:This is great, I'd never read this quote before. Goats and a portable electric fence works quite well. I have four nubian kids and they're mowing down a pen's worth of weeds a week. If you wanna get real fancy run some pigs afterwards to till up all the roots. I'm super jealous of your barn and greenhouse. I've been converting part of an 18 dog kennel into a makeshift barn and it works but it's not ideal.
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Apr 21, 2016 18:21
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Cool thread! Regarding the earlier discussion of fix it's... my Pop-Pop who was a real, poor, farmer during the 30's and 40's always said before duct tape was invented they could fix anything on the farm with "bail wire and binder twine"
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Apr 22, 2016 02:43
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So we still don't have a tractor and the sand ring was starting to become hazardous for my wife to ride on. I did get the beat up old lawnmower going, however. My solution was to flip a pallet upside down, weigh it down with bricks, and drag it with the mower to smooth out the ring. Worked great! I let the wife do the honors.   
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Apr 23, 2016 15:32
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Looks good for a quick flattening, necessity truly is the mother of invention
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Apr 23, 2016 16:03
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Another good thing for a finish drag is a length of chain length fence attached to a fence post. You totally don't need anything more than a lawn tractor for that, and probably don't actually WANT to use a larger tractor unless it also has turf tires on it.
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Apr 23, 2016 22:09
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The chain link drag is also good at spreading out manure in the pasture, if free range chickens aren't your thing.
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Apr 24, 2016 01:33
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I'm glad you've made a thread. Your property is pretty awesome. Now stop doing farm stuff so you can do farm truck stuff.
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Apr 24, 2016 03:01
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Seat Safety Switch posted:I'm glad you've made a thread. Your property is pretty awesome. Farm truck stuff coming soon. Including a 5.4 swap in the beater F-150, and getting the Bronco into shape again. Don't you worry. I'll have some stump pullin' videos of the Bronco very soon. So the mower deck is all hosed on the lawnmower, I put it back together but it only made it a few feet before self destructing again. I needed to buy some time and trim the grass so my yard didn't look like complete poo poo. My solution? Nature's finest mowers.  Seriously, look at that job. That area looks fantastic, it was overgrown as gently caress this morning. I also spent an insane amount of time removing debris and leaves from the garden area. It looks almost respectable now, I just have to plant it!  This includes the years of leaf and debris build up on the side of the house.  and also the rest of the garden beds  I also shoveled out the little water feature and pulled out the accumulated liners, 3 of the loving things. I tossed the sticks in the "BBQ pit" to burn later. I'll probably build a smoker on this spot, honestly. I've always wanted one. 
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Apr 24, 2016 20:42
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Did you ever get the mudpit turnout addressed? I may have some insight, as I've spent the last year addressing drainage issues at the farm I work at. It's crazy what a little ditch-digging and sand does to transform muddy areas into dry ones. Our pole barn used to get a small creek running through it every time it rained. Now it's snug and dry during even the hardest rains.
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Apr 25, 2016 01:33
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Careful, I'm sure you know this because your wife is a horse lady and all, but if you take a horse from a winter diet straight to new spring grass, they can founder and be lame forever. I'm sure you wouldn't move the horses without her permission, but I wanted to mention it on the very remote chance that you would, and didn't already know about that danger. Foundering is dumb and horses are built really stupidly in certain ways. Whoever invented the term "healthy as a horse" was a goddamn idiot.
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Apr 25, 2016 02:20
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If the idiom were accurate, it would mean "accident prone". I'm sure you all see the gory pictures that make the rounds every time someone's pony finds a new and exciting way to injure itself.
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Apr 25, 2016 02:32
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I am reminded of this Ruddha post and the ones that followed;Ruddha posted:I don't know about anyone else, but I know for a fact that horses are stupider than poo poo and WILL kill themselves if you don't take an absurd amount of precautions and adorn them in the right silly accessories so that they don't scare themselves and fall over dead, and even then at best you can reduce the chances that they will do that, but they're still absolutely going to. Women who are obsessed with horses are just as bad as ones who are obsessed with anything else, but it may be dumber because it's a placeholder for animalistic male sexuality; however, in reality, it doesn't hold up because dominant male sexual energy is incompatible with horse personality and tendencies because, again, they're absolutely going to kill themselves by accident, whereas studs and straight power tops are highly unlikely to catch their reflection in a mirror then break their leg and get eaten by a mountain lioness Horses, man
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Apr 25, 2016 04:51
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