I've been in the St Louis area for most of my life. My plan was 40 acres and a yurt. My wife had different ideas. I got 20 acres and a house.
I've been here about five years. I was traveling during the the first half which made it hard to get anything done.
The barn burned to the ground while i was on the road.
Our well is around 450' which makes it hard to use without electricity. There is a stone lined well near the bottom of the property that may work in a pinch if i cleaned it out.
I've been working on projects without a consolidated plan. It's starting to come together. My chicken coop doubles as a wildlife feeding station most years but I'm working on it.
I have an unheated greenhouse that gives me a bit of a head start in the spring and runs later into the fall..
I built a hexyurt the first year for the goats, i'm thinking about giving that another go with the lessons learned.
I bought a starplate building system, i'm in the process of placing it now. We've been building with cedar logs and an alaskan chainsaw mill attachment. I'd like to dig a root cellar someday,
This year i tried the 'straw bale' gardening method. I had a friend with moldy round bales. I planted straight into them with mixed results. Mulching the garden with six inches of hay worked well. Not a weed in it and the tomatos loved the moisture.
I have a warm weather (outdoor) aquaponics setup. I used solar panel to power the pump and sized it for the aerator but havent' hooked up the inverter yet. The catfish didn't fare well this year, so i have some really expensive goldfish, .20 cents at the fish store, but around 20 when you figure my inputs.
I have some help now and again, it'd be good to have some ideas from someone else with a similar mindset.
I have a day job that keeps getting in the way. I'm working on projects that require less daily input.
