Tyler Szymanski

A compost setup is one of my first goals when getting there. That will give me a good 18 month headstart on the greenhouse. I'm thinking about doing something larger, maybe build a bay towards the back of the property

Maybe I can put the coop a bit away from the corner, and do two side by side runs, or even 3. The cost wouldn't be too bad, as the interior dividers could be cheap material as it wouldn't be impacted by predators.

I just purchased a property that has a small fenced side field. 0.359 acre. In the middle of that field is my drain field, so I can't do much of digging, tractor work, heavy livestock, etc. Great place for chickens. I plan on doing enough chickens for 2 dozen eggs a week, along with 3 or 4 ducks just because I like the duck eggs. The chicken run HAS to be full fenced like these hens are doing hard time. The nearness to a local salmon spawning river means that the birds of prey population is extremely high. My parents tried free ranging and lost three juvies in about 90 seconds just up the road from me.

With this nice sized little pasture, should I do a single long run for the birds? maybe 10 feet wide and 100 feet long, with the coop conveniently located next to the back yard? Or should I try and position my coop towards the middle somewhere, and have the run partitioned off so I can control their rotation?

I have plenty of land that isn't super useful for much else there, so it would be nice to go way big on the run so they can forage a bunch more. That said, I still have to pay for and build this thing, and any part that is covered will have to be able to handle a snow load. Look forward to any thoughts.

Lots of interest lately, YAY.

How far are you from Salmon? I've got my own place I will starting up just outside of town up there. Be nice to start meeting some regional partners to work with. I would like to get to the point to see if we can't find some beneficial trades between the homesteads. Let me know! tylszymanski@gmail.com

Tyler

Yes, water source and distribution will be the first big plan. I have a good well in place, but I want to convert the pump to solar. I have heavy irrigation for 6 months of the year, light livestock for 2 months, but I would be on well water for the greenhouse the rest of the cold months. Might be worth looking into a cistern or something I can use to collect some of that irrigation to water plants year round.

I like the idea of getting some of the longer growing species started to save time. I have smallish grow tend and light that I used to grow a garden indoors during the pandemic, might be a good use as a nursery.

I think that is part of the reason I want to take my time. I just don't know enough about the land. I know the previous owner took out all trees in favor of pasture, but it looks like extremely healthy and fertile soil.

So it's been a rough one, but I'm making some changes. Decided last week I was leaving Southern Arizona and I wanted to go back to Idaho (born in southern Idaho) and find a place up North to homestead. Found one, did a virtual walk-through last night, and my offer was accepted this morning. 4.5 acres, water rights for flood irrigation, a 1200 sqft 2bedroom home, and two massive "garages", that are so big I'm calling them workshops.

My rough plan to get this going:
1) Spend the first year half sitting on my behind. Do the small stuff like fix the fence and what not, but otherwise wait and watch. I want to determine sun paths, and flood areas. Where it gets muddy and where the wind is bad etc. If possible, I would like to plant trees. I'm willing to give up some pasture areas for a more natural environment.
2) Year 2 I want to dig and place a geothermal greenhouse. I understand the concepts and the science, but have not done greenhouse growing previously. should be a riot.

Any big recommendations that homesteaders wished they had got going right off the bat? I'm 40, M, and reasonably decent shape, so I feel like I have plenty of years left to take a crack at this.