Curious to know what it’s like to start a farm when you don’t know the first thing about farming? Ever wondered what it’s like to milk a goat? Want to know if pigs can swim?
In order to start our farm, we had to learn it all: how to build fences and shelters, what to feed—and not feed—livestock, how to plant pastures…you name it, we didn’t know the first thing about it when we started out. Our property came with a chicken coop and a handful of chickens. We added fences, shelters, cows, pigs, sheep, and goats. We made rain barrel waterers and dug a small hand-pump well. We divided pastures to rotate the grazing animals. We even built raised shelters for the pigs in our flood-prone woodlot and climbing structures for our adventurous goats.
We’ve had many adventures along the way: runaway cows, curious goats, and swimming pigs, for starters. If you’re curious to know more about what it’s like to build a farm from scratch, read on.
