OUTDOOR CHECKLIST OF FARM THINGS TO DO



SO......now that the Farm is REALLY here, and tangible and

we're about to have the keys (whoo hoo!)

it's time to start putting together our dream property punch list.

There are two phases of course:

The house and what we want to do there.  

And then there is the property and what we want to do to it to mold it into our dream.  

Here is the property list, in no particular order:

• Vegetable garden, raised beds, with fencing surround
• Herb garden, within easy reach of kitchen
• Annual/Perennial flower cutting garden
• Misc fruit trees
• Pecan trees
• Berry patch
• Beehive(s)
• Workshop building
• Pond
• General landscaping
• Outdoor soaking/cooling tub
• Outdoor dining area
• Party tree
• Potting area
• Storage shed
• Adobe bread oven (2nd Man's only request)

I am sure I'm forgetting many things, but this is more than enough to keep me busy on the property for quite a while to come.  And that's what I'll share with you all, every step of the way.   Hang on, it's going to be an awesome ride!!



On the Fence.....a White Picket Fence

Well, Mortgage Broker tells me I should hear from the Title Company ANY day now.  Of course, I'm sure they'll tell me, "yeah, everything is fine, your closing is set for two weeks from now", and then I'll go crazy!  I'd rather get a call from them and have them say "yeah, everything is fine, your closing is set for tomorrow morning!" 

So, instead of continually worrying about it, let's chat about something fun.  Fences!

Picket fence around an herb garden

Picket fence in a front yard

Like these kinds of fences!

I really like the look, it is old school "americana" and that's sort of what style we are going for out there. We've tossed around the idea of more rustic type of fence and that could still win out in the end.  But for now, since the house is an old farmhouse, we just want to make it all look like it's connected.  The property is big enough to have them all over, but that might be overkill.  I'd like one just out the steps by the back door, or at least near the kitchen off the front porch, to grow herbs in.  Something close by, so that 2nd Man can just step outside and gather some fresh herbs for dinner.  Or lunch.  Or breakfast.  You get the picture.  We've got herbs in the city now, they are in clay pots and they do well, but the clay pot keeps them constrained and they never grow to their full potential. 

The second type of fenced garden I'd like to have, is a cutting garden, a place to gather fresh flowers.  Nothing like growing your own.  Have you priced cut flowers in the store?  They can get pricey.  And there is truly nothing prettier than a multitude of colors cascading down, over, and around, a white fence.  I've found a lot of great ideas for that I'll share in future postings. 

Then of course we'll need a veggie garden.  It will be big enough that it will have to be located away from the house (so it doesn't have to take up the entire front yard) and we think we've identified the perfect spot.  6-8 hours of sun, wide open space, nice and flat, doesn't flood when it rains, it will be nice.  I intend on doing raised beds in the garden.  Raised bed gardening is wonderful fun and makes life so much easier for the average gardener.  I'll be posting a lot in the future on this topic (or two) as well. 

Before I wander too far off topic, let's get back to fencing (no not the sport!).  You might wonder why we have to fence the garden?  Well, when living in the country, you have all sorts of creatures roaming around, both day and night.  Stray cats, neighbor's dogs, rabbits, squirrels, opossums, even a coyote or two (or so I've heard).  I realize to keep everything out, we might need a completely covered garden, but then you just move into the land of tacky, ha.  I think a nice picket fence will deter most creatures.  I may change that as time goes by, and freak out the first time something comes in and eats our produce, we'll just have to see what happens, or should I say, "WHO" happens.....



Beautiful picket fence vegetable garden

Another garden, more freestyle than I'd like but still white fence and pretty!

Here are two more pictures of almost exactly what I imagined in my head.  The top one is most like what we want, and they both even look to be about the same size as we'd like to have.  Notice they put chicken wire on the inside of the fence in the first picture?  I would assume that's to keep out the smaller creatures who might slip between the pickets.  Just love the whole look of this, even the arbor style entrance.

The green grass around the outside is a nice contrast to the white of the fence.  I'm not sure I'll be able to make the area around where we want to put ours that green, but trying is half the fun, right?   

So that's a glimpse, hopefully, into the future....now come on Title Company, you're killing us here!

So What Kind of Farm Land Did We Find?

You might ask.......where is the land?  Well, it's a long story that I will try to shorten.  We have been casually looking, on and off, for about 7 years.  We've looked in Chappell Hill, Burton, Brenham (yep home of THIS well known place and if you don't know about it, I'm sorry!).  These are all areas NW of Houston.

We hadn't really thought about West of Houston, but one of the reasons we've been so enamored of the country is because of some of our best friends in the world, that we couldn't consider to be more family even if they were family, have lived out there for years and years.  "Ma" as we shall call her, had a beautiful old farmhouse that she lovingly fixed up and saved from some mis-informed yuppies (this was the late 80's after all).  Suffice it to say, they had already begun their 'renovation' by ripping out an old wooden pantry to put in an all mirrored and glass shelved monstrosity, complete with fluorescent lights .  Anyway, she bought the house from them, put her touch on it and made it into a great home on about 5 acres in the country. 

After deciding that it was a bit too much house, she found a small frame house in Houston that was slated for demolition, ironically, not far from where we live now, and had it moved out there.  She plopped it down the road from her big house, onto a family member's property and tucked it way in the back of about 10 acres.  And there she has lived for the last 15 years.

Fast forward to today and she and the family want to sell part of the land, and her house, so that she can move to someplace even smaller and easier to manage.  So the first thing she asked was if we would be interested in her house along with the land.  Originally we had thought about buying just the land, and someday building a home.  Now we might just have the chance for a home that we can use as our base of operations to work on the land and turn it into our dream property.

So that's what we have, and in another post, I will share details of the property, what it looks like, what features it has, etc.

We can't wait to call it our own!

So You Want to Live on a Farm? Do Your Homework First!

So how exactly does one "plan" for a potential farm and/or farm living? 


My first piece of advice is to read...and then read some more, and finally, read even more!  There is a lot of truth to that age old saying that "Knowledge is Power."   Start reading and gathering info and building your own library of information.

There are so many places and ways to get information.  First, of course there is always the internet, just go to Google (or your favorite search engine) and put your search term in the box and you'll get a zillion entries. Ok, maybe not a zillion but a whole heck of a lot.  More than you might have wanted find!  I know that sometimes it can seem like information overload when you are online doing research. 

Don't get me wrong, I've gotten a LOT of information off the 'net.  I always recommend printing the ones you really love or find valuable so you don't have to try to find them later.  I know you can bookmark them of course, but I've gone back a year later and often find the bookmark link has changed and I can't find the info I wanted.  So I print out the ones I want to keep and have at my fingertipes, and I have even been keeping them in binders, but more on that later.

So if it seems overwhelming, you can always do it the old fashioned way and read a book.  This may seem like a no brainer, but honestly, I rediscovered my local library about a year ago and I LOVE it!  Come on, admit it, how many of us haven't been in a library since we had to do that report on Abraham Lincoln back in 8th grade?  I'll admit I hadn't been in a library in years, decades perhaps.  Then, one fine day I found myself in one, while 2nd Man was there for a meeting, I looked for the gardening book section (which conveniently is almost always near the food and cooking section!) and I could almost see the light shining down and hear the chorus singing.  Row after row of free books!  For the taking!  (and of course returning in 2 weeks).  A great resource.  And it's also a great way to 'try out a book' and then if you like it, head off to your local bookstore or Amazon and get your own copy.

If, like me, you are lucky enough to live near a used book store, here in Houston we have a great one called Half Price Books , that is another great source of books.  Again, they usually have a gardening or lifestyle section (what is it about them always being near the cookbooks?) and you can usually get some great deals. 

Lastly there is always eBay or its sister company Half.com . 

My point is, there is a lot of information out there.  It can seem overwhelming but sometimes you just have to dive right in and enjoy.  A good thing about books is that you can get very specific and look for a bunch of info on one topic in one book, for example, raising chickens, or square foot gardening.  Just one book that extensively covers a topic can give you a wealth of valuable information. 

Once you start collecting information (I've been collecting books and papers and articles for years), set aside a small bookshelf so it's all in place.  Or course be prepared, it can fill up quick!  I know from firsthand experience!  In future posts, I will list some of my favorite books, the ones that have helped me with planning.

In my next post, I'll cover some of the magazines I subscribe to, and or read on a regular basis.

Now, go get that library card, fire up that computer, or drive to your local bookstore and start reading!!

    

City or Country?

                         

This kind of living?    OR................

                         

                                   ............................This kind of living?

OK, granted, we won't get the rolling hills and mountains in this part of Texas, but you get the point.  Don't get me wrong, we love having access to the stuff in the first photo, but we want to LIVE like the second photo.

I think we've found a great compromise between the two with the location we have found.  But more on that later!

AND A LITTLE MORE

So, a little more info.  We currently live in a historic area of Houston know as The Heights.  Lots of old frame houses, Victorians, Bungalows, Cottages.  Lots of people fixing them up, some doing a good job, some not so good, some left the same and some torn down and obliterated only to be replaced by hideously inappropriate "McMansions".  You know the kind:  Three stories, lot side to side, blocking out the sun for the small homes on each side, and almost front of lot to back of lot, then they leave a flower bed up front and call it a "low maintenance yard". 

We've been fortunate.  We bought a small bungalow back in the late '90s'.  Wait a second, was that REALLY last century and is it REALLY almost 2011?  Where are my jetpacks and robots?  Oh wait, they are here and here, but I digress.  Anyway, we've been fortunate, great neighbors on both sides (even though one is a recent construction, and big, it still looks pretty much like it's always been there or at least belongs there).  In fact, our whole little 'corner of the world' is just like that.  Nothing new and obnoxious on our part of the street.

So why do we want to move?  We have a great little restored bungalow, and we live in the shadow of the country's 4th largest city, near everything fun and cool.  Well, first things first, we aren't moving full time YET.  That's still a few years down the road.  It's been a pretty much lifelong goal of mine to own land that I can live off of, veggies, fruits, herbs, flowers, and I think I've brought 2nd Man into the fold as well.  Mention growing their own food to a cook and they get all googly eyed at the possibilities. 

So for now, it will be a work in progress, clearing, building, planting, experimenting, seeing what works, what doesn't, and what lives and what doesn't.  Through trial and error we hope to create the classic, small, American farm. 

Speaking of, could stuff like this be in our genetics?  My grandparents, step grandparents, great grandparents and numerous Aunts / Uncles etc through the years have all been farmers or gardeners to some degree.  I was born in the big city, moved around growing up from one major city to another all around the country before settling in Houston some 30 years ago.  But it seems the older I get, the more longing I have to get back to my 'roots', pun intended. 

So my question is, does anyone else, even if they have always grown up/lived/worked in the city, long for a more rural lifestyle?  Is it in our DNA?  Do you have family that did it and now you wished you could?  Or is it just a longing to get away from the hectic lives we often lead these days and move toward something simpler and more rewarding? 

Even if you don't share this desire, I hope you'll join us on our journey!  The more the merrier! 

Thanks again for visiting!

WELCOME! SO WHAT IS THIS JOURNEY ALL ABOUT?

Two Men?  Well, I am known as 1st Man.  The other one of us is known as 2nd Man, though I doubt he'll ever be posting on here.  He's too busy doing other computer stuff.  And cooking.  But more on that later.

A Little Farm?  This blog is intended to document our journey from urban city dwellers, to part time weekend land owners to future full time farm living....someday down the road of course.

I hope to share not only the nerves, the first baby steps, maybe even some missteps, but also the the good things and the fun things and the happy things...the whole learning curve...all while sharing with you a dream come true.

Along the way, there will be decorating tips and advice, maybe even questions to ask you, the readers.  We'll also cover food, cooking, gardening, crafting, and just about anything else that might come up.

Thanks and enjoy!