Ray Cecil

Shannon Lawson wrote: I saw your post when researching permiculture in Kentucky.  I live in Nashville, but grew up in Taylorsville and I am beginning to start plans to work on the land I grew up on an established a Pirmaculture situation. I'm interested in getting together with you when the opportunity arises .

Hey shannon. We left Taylorsville in January. Stay in touch.

Well....sorry for such a slow reply. Weve done a lot since I started this thread.

We sold our place in Spencer county. We bought 30 acres this January 2021 elsewhere. Bigger house, more land, 2 ponds, more barns, and a killer view of a valley.

Currently doing some home projects and basically starting all over.

Then, starting on a silvopasture lambing and cattle operation.

Well, we are 3 months in. A lot has changed, snow and ice storms, and now the nice spring weather is trying to break through the clouds.

We had a forestry mulcher out to clear the top of the property. He did a good job.

So far so good. Just trying to knock out 1 project at a time.

Ray

This is a great area. Sort of a not well know area for homesteading. I hope it stays a secret.

Some close ups of the glass they left.

Started digging through boxes in the barn. Here is some of the glass....

Joshua Rimmer wrote:Sounds like a great find! Happy to have another Kentuckian on here. I know that kind of land well, spent many months tramping all over Ft Know, both during basic training and AIT, and later hunting and National Guard training. Great job finding something with at least a little flat area!

Joshua, lots of knobs and plateaus around here. All the prime agricultural land to the west of fort knox is horded. I dont plan to have acres and acres of crops, nor dozens of head of cattle. Im just creating and maintaining a wildlife preserve, and doing a little permaculture to eat on.

We both work full time for now. But once this place is paid off, things will change and we will go full homesteaders.

John Young wrote:Ray,

Beautiful photo, nice place you got there. I am glad you hear you are having less worry, that is always good. Your plans seem very reasonable, one suggestion I would have is to make sure your deep well has a sufficiently sized and functioning bladder tank. Well pumps kicking on and off because the bladder tank is way to small or has failed can cause pumps to fail or break of debris that constantly clogs filters.

John, thanks for the tip. It does have a large pressure tank. Not sure how many gallons, but judging by the size of a 55 gallon drum, id say its at least 55 gallons.

Okay, so we've been here a little over a week now.

Things ive discovered:
1. Hot water heater was built in 1987 and is kettling, which means it has significant deposits of lime and needs to just be replaced.

2. Chicken Hawks everywhere. We have a good run setup against birds of prey, but if any foxes, weasels or minks get brave during the daytime, they are at risk.

3. Its so quiet out here, I can hear ringing in my ears.

4. The deer move into the yard between 7:45-8:15am every morning.

5. Previous owners never wiped down a wall, or cleaned the kitchen. Major project under way in there to restore floors, replace appliances and clean up the cabinets.

6. A mouse chewed the water line going to the dish washer, and they had the valve turned off. I didnt see the mouse chew, turned the valve on and thought all was good. Came back the next morning to find the cabinet soaked.wish they had mentioned that at closing!

7. Previous owner was a Ford employee and never threw away any mail, magazines, or medical bills. Ive found unopened mail from their previous address back to 1983.

8. Treasure trove of t-posts laying all over the property.

9. They loved to collect glass bottles, cups, mugs, china and hurricane lamps. Ive got a pretty good collection going and im not 1/2 way through the barn yet. Ive got several dozen vintage Sterling 1 quart beer bottles and a few vintage PBR 1 quart bottle with labels still in great shape.

10. Our cats have figured out theyd rather be i side cats now. For some reason, they dont want to go outside.

11. The basement will be a perfect root cellar.

12. Still havent met any neighbors. Weve seen a couple going on a walk, and one woman on a walk. I have made friends at the ACE hardware in the next town.

13. We found a red salamander in the downstairs toilet! Cute little turd burgler. Holly wasnt too happy about that.

14. Groceries arent too far, but they are a 25 minute drive. So, planning an entire 1 or 2 weeks ahead is a must.

15. Im not worried about politics, safety, or whats going on in the world out here. We are back off the road, armed, and staying out of thi gs we cant control. Weight lifted.

John C Daley wrote:Does the whole district have high speed Internet, or did the previous own install it somehow?

Most of this area has fiber. Brandenburg Telephone Company. Located in Meade county KY. Im out in Breckenridge County, but they service this area. Its a lot of cows and corn out west of Fort Knox.