• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Carla Burke
  • Nancy Reading
  • r ranson
  • John F Dean
  • Pearl Sutton
  • paul wheaton
stewards:
  • Jay Angler
  • Anne Miller
  • Nicole Alderman
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
gardeners:
  • Maieshe Ljin
  • Benjamin Dinkel
  • Jeremy VanGelder

Our little farm...

 
Posts: 83
Location: Amador County, California
23
goat monies duck forest garden foraging trees rabbit chicken cooking pig wood heat
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
We had snow this week! No rain since May and straight into winter!
95205081-8779-4C84-A5B2-0E810CB759BA.jpeg
raising turkeys
raising turkeys
508E64CD-7B2D-4A79-9909-816C5EFDD295.jpeg
first snow
first snow
4AC68047-FAA1-41D2-B4E4-A9B1CCCB2167.jpeg
snow at the farm
snow at the farm
 
Jeff Campbell
Posts: 83
Location: Amador County, California
23
goat monies duck forest garden foraging trees rabbit chicken cooking pig wood heat
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
We’ve been working on a new sow barn. Winter is coming!
41C55A44-C715-412A-B4E2-865B4FCDBF22.jpeg
[Thumbnail for 41C55A44-C715-412A-B4E2-865B4FCDBF22.jpeg]
 
Jeff Campbell
Posts: 83
Location: Amador County, California
23
goat monies duck forest garden foraging trees rabbit chicken cooking pig wood heat
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I haven't posted in such a long time! We are still at it! Here are some numbers. In 2020 we raised 90 red wattle hogs butchered them and sold them direct to customers at farmers markets in Northern California. We are raising our own piglets from our breeding stock that we've been selectively breeding for 6 years. The pigs are trained to electric fences when they are young and ranged under oak trees. We ferment corn and sprout grains that we source locally from a small community of farmers. We keep about 200 laying hens that free range the farm. We also have ducks, turkeys, Nigerian Dwarf goats, meat rabbits and large worm bins. We take in appx 1000 yards of tree waste from the forest a year in the form of wood chips and brush that we compost and add to all of our KNF pens. We sourced about 3 tons of biochar from Pacific Biochar last year that we use just about everywhere on the farm. I could go on and on...
 
steward and tree herder
Posts: 9800
Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland. Nearly 70 inches rain a year
4677
4
transportation dog forest garden foraging trees books food preservation woodworking wood heat rocket stoves ungarbage
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I enjoyed reading your thread and am amazed by how much you do!  I'm glad you had a good year last year, I wondered how you had got on, with Covid making life difficult.
Your pigs are gorgeous, like giant Kune Kune pigs!
 
author & steward
Posts: 5464
Location: Southeastern U.S. - Zone 7b
3166
5
goat cat forest garden foraging food preservation fiber arts medical herbs writing solar wood heat homestead
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
So nice to have you back, Jeff. I hope you have time to share some updated photos!
 
Jeff Campbell
Posts: 83
Location: Amador County, California
23
goat monies duck forest garden foraging trees rabbit chicken cooking pig wood heat
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
These pictures are from Spring 2020...
9F248AAC-5625-408F-AF93-0037CB652D45.jpeg
[Thumbnail for 9F248AAC-5625-408F-AF93-0037CB652D45.jpeg]
BD5D50F6-DEBB-4386-AB01-8582178F5CFE.jpeg
[Thumbnail for BD5D50F6-DEBB-4386-AB01-8582178F5CFE.jpeg]
A9385A96-F702-4614-BDBB-3E818CB86F68.jpeg
[Thumbnail for A9385A96-F702-4614-BDBB-3E818CB86F68.jpeg]
F0EB6D9C-BF1E-4E72-A2E4-A50E21691977.jpeg
[Thumbnail for F0EB6D9C-BF1E-4E72-A2E4-A50E21691977.jpeg]
6E7879CF-2366-4999-BDA2-FB9012305B45.jpeg
[Thumbnail for 6E7879CF-2366-4999-BDA2-FB9012305B45.jpeg]
8416EB52-9732-4509-A67E-AB259BD3BC47.jpeg
[Thumbnail for 8416EB52-9732-4509-A67E-AB259BD3BC47.jpeg]
743E81FC-1197-4AD0-B4DB-EC4E92A31EAA.jpeg
[Thumbnail for 743E81FC-1197-4AD0-B4DB-EC4E92A31EAA.jpeg]
A9B593AC-DDCB-4433-B743-84E33EA4CFFC.jpeg
[Thumbnail for A9B593AC-DDCB-4433-B743-84E33EA4CFFC.jpeg]
 
gardener
Posts: 1871
Location: Japan, zone 9a/b, annual rainfall 2550mm, avg temp 1.5-32 C
938
2
kids home care trees cooking bike woodworking ungarbage
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Jeff Campbell wrote: I haven't posted in such a long time! We are still at it! Here are some numbers. In 2020 we raised 90 red wattle hogs butchered them and sold them direct to customers at farmers markets in Northern California. We are raising our own piglets from our breeding stock that we've been selectively breeding for 6 years. The pigs are trained to electric fences when they are young and ranged under oak trees. We ferment corn and sprout grains that we source locally from a small community of farmers. We keep about 200 laying hens that free range the farm. We also have ducks, turkeys, Nigerian Dwarf goats, meat rabbits and large worm bins. We take in appx 1000 yards of tree waste from the forest a year in the form of wood chips and brush that we compost and add to all of our KNF pens. We sourced about 3 tons of biochar from Pacific Biochar last year that we use just about everywhere on the farm. I could go on and on...



I want to let you know why I gave you an apple! A lot of pictured posts get apples, but sometimes succinct explanations are worth a 100 pictures! Thanks and good work. Keep up the biodiverse work!
 
Jeff Campbell
Posts: 83
Location: Amador County, California
23
goat monies duck forest garden foraging trees rabbit chicken cooking pig wood heat
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Thank you, Lew. We have so many things that are intertwined and going on at the same time. Pictures alone definitely don't tell the whole story.  
 
Jeff Campbell
Posts: 83
Location: Amador County, California
23
goat monies duck forest garden foraging trees rabbit chicken cooking pig wood heat
  • Likes 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
 So, we did a thing. We have been working with the USDA for the last year trying to get a Farm Ownership Loan. Well, we meet our realtor to pick up the keys at three o'clock today. We found fifty acres of mature oak trees on a south facing slope. It is raw land, the only thing it has on it is a 20 gpm water well. It's off grid. We have paved road access that is at 2800' elevation, the back of the property drops to about 2300'.  It borders BLM land on two sides. One slope faces Southeast with views of the Stockton valley, one faces Southwest with views of Sacramento. It has two intermittent creeks, and a spring. We are one hour and fifteen minutes from our farmers markets and most of our delivery customers. The plan is to add some interns and a full time worker, create a new market garden and expand our sounder of hogs. We have twenty five pregnant sows now, and have about ten more to breed. I will post a lot more on here, as we go.
IMG_0500.jpg
[Thumbnail for IMG_0500.jpg]
IMG_0466.jpg
[Thumbnail for IMG_0466.jpg]
IMG_0479.jpg
[Thumbnail for IMG_0479.jpg]
IMG_0499.jpg
[Thumbnail for IMG_0499.jpg]
IMG_0495.jpg
[Thumbnail for IMG_0495.jpg]
IMG_0458.jpg
[Thumbnail for IMG_0458.jpg]
 
L. Johnson
gardener
Posts: 1871
Location: Japan, zone 9a/b, annual rainfall 2550mm, avg temp 1.5-32 C
938
2
kids home care trees cooking bike woodworking ungarbage
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Your land is beautiful
 
Anything worth doing well is worth doing poorly first. Just look at this tiny ad:
Learn Permaculture through a little hard work
https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic