Our family of four is on a journey to scale up our small acreage to a full-time, profitable ranch.
Three years ago we purchased a 6 acre farm, intent on growing our own produce and protein. The acreage came with a large garden patch, a pasture and some cross fencing and outbuildings. More than suitable for our humble aspirations at the time. We started small, purchasing one steer and 40 chickens in our first year. The garden was a large 35 by 85 foot patch, which we slowly divided into long, slightly raised beds. Our first summer brought with it the butchering of our steer, done at home, with the kids. We also learned about chickens, how to house and feed them and how to butcher them. Some lucky ladies we also saved for laying purposes
Three years in, we are now raising 5 heifers and one steer for slaughter. We have 13 chickens for egg production. Last summer we raised and butchered 50 chickens for our family. The garden has expanded, with the addition of a greenhouse last summer, greatly increasing our production capacity.
Our farming adventure so far has brought with it the desire to grow, both in knowledge and scope. It is our intention to build on our experiences so far and turn our self sustaining acreage into a family cattle ranching operation.
We invite you to take a journey with us as we discover more about ranching; from purchasing cattle, to breeding and marketing, land purchasing, best heard health practices and feed . We will also cover gardening, raising chickens and general farm life.
This is our five year plan to enter the business and succeed at cattle ranching. Let the fun (and hard work!) begin.
Happy Farming!