Homestead | 3 Years on the Farm

3 Years on the Farm

It seems like forever ago that we signed on the dotted line and purchased our farm. It’s been a very busy first few years as we’ve tackled seemingly endless projects. This farm is feeling more and more like home with each passing season and I must admit that it is starting to look like we’d hoped.

This last year we had a fire lit underneath us once again (I’m noticing a pattern) as we anticipated the arrival of our first daughter. It seemed that ‘everything’ had to get done before I put everything on hold. We replaced fencing in the winter lots, built feed bunks, sided the barn (partially), did our landscaping, filled another dumpster and did a few minor indoor projects.

It was fun, it was exhausting but in the end we’re happy with what year 3 held for us. We anticipate year 4 will finally be a bit slower, but I think we’ve said that every year….

Renovations | Our Second Year at the Homestead

Celebrating our second year on the homestead

As I write this post I’m sitting in my kitchen, my computer is on the counter and the last two months of paperwork is finally getting tackled... We’re in the midst of refinishing our living room floors which went from a hopeful ‘easy’ project to a massive undertaking. The good news is we tend to find more humor in ‘realistic timelines’ being thrown out the window with every project we begin than we did two years ago. In a week things will be back to normal, at least in part.

This has been another year of learning new things, perfecting new things (when you have 20 acres of fence to put up you tend to have a lot of practice), and continuing to fall in love with home.

I’ve made the comment more than once since we closed two years ago that a “match would be easier” but each and every project that we complete the more comfortable and home-like this place starts to feel. I can’t say it’s been an easy couple years, we’ve had to live outside our comfort zone on a daily basis. Our well-kept home, nightly cooking and a driveway we could always escape are still things we miss about life before moving here. But, the ability to farm together, to work towards something together and to put our name on this place together is still worth it all.

So, as will likely become a yearly ritual, here are a few snapshots of projects from the past 12 months.

Our lower pastures

We completed our 20 acres of fencing and are now in our first grazing season!

The Hay Barn

We started constructing our hay barn in March. The roof is on and we’ll be trying to wrap it in siding before the summer ends. Matt is once again milling our siding and he figures it will be about 26 logs to complete the project.

Studio & Farm Store

This has been a ‘I can’t wait when’ kind of project. This spring we decided that with everything else going on we’d hire this project out. It’s come a long way and the drywall is going up this week!

Living Room Floors

When we pulled the carpet in the living room the day we moved in we found original douglas fir floors. They needed refinishing and we were excited to tackle that ‘small’ project. We decided that before baby we’d get the dusty projects done so these floors were finally on our priority list. It was more than a ‘small project’, more like two weeks of living in our kitchen and front porch, but we’re excited to have yet another home project checked off.

the next year

We’re anticipating things slowing down over the next year. We will have the hay barn to complete but other than that we plan on taking time off to enjoy living here now that the big projects are done!

Farm | Sheep Pasture Renovation Update

how our pasture renovation is coming along

This spring we did a lot of brush clearing and some frost seeding of desirable grazing grasses and legumes. Now in early June I’m happy with our results so far. Now I’m going to be using sheep to keep the weeds and brush managed over the course of the grazing season, they are great little mowers.

Check out how it looks in the video below.

Renovation | Our Farm Plans for 2019

Our farm plans for 2019

Better late than never, right?

As the queen of taking on too much in a year, it’s taken me some time to develop our plans in a ‘realistic’ and light-deadline kind of way.

BUT, I did want to share a few of the things we’ve decided made our priority list this year.

our hay and equipment barn

Last fall we installed all the posts for our new hay and equipment barn. I’m so excited to get started on this project. This winter we had hay tucked into every nook and cranny here and at a friend’s farm, so I’m excited that next season we will have all our hay stored here. Our equipment spent all last summer in the weather so it will be nice to have a place for that as well.

Livestock Barn Extension

I’ve already out-grown my original livestock barn. So we’ll be adding another bay for our sheep this year.

Water Line

Last season we set up our 18 acre pasture and this will be our first year grazing it! So we will be installing an above ground water line in order to adequately water our cattle while they graze.

Dry Lot

Our dry lot was thrown up two years ago, because we had to move our four steers to the farm ASAP. It needed grading last season and once that was complete we had too many things going on to finish the fencing. This season we’re hoping to finish the fencing and corrals in our dry lot to make handling and winter shelter easier on us and our livestock.

We are also hoping that we will be able to add a bunk feeder for our cattle and permanent feeders for the sheep. We will see how far we get with this. It is definitely lower on the list of must-do’s.

Clearing

This is the job that never ends, or so it sometimes seems. We still have quite a bit of clearing to do in our upper pastures before we can finish some interior fencing projects and seeding. While I already believe this is unlikely to happen, it always remains on the list.

Farm Store

We’re also be roughing in our farm store. It won’t be complete this year but we’re excited to get things more organized for you to visit us!

it’s going to be another busy year

We’re (or actually I’m) trying to set more realistic goals this year so that we can reduce the stress that often comes with such a hefty to-do list. We never expected fixing up this farm would be easy, but renovating the farm has sure been quite the project. While the annual changes have been huge and rewarding, it can sometimes feel like an over-whelming, never-ending project. We’ll get there in time and I’m trying to push myself to be patient.

I will of course be posting our progress and projects here throughout the season, so stay tuned!

Renovations | Greener Pastures

The lower pasture is done!

Did I really just get to say that?!

To give you a little background if you’re new to the party, this spring our farm was the recipient of EQUIP funding - a grant program through the USDA. The grant was for establishing pasture on our 18 acres of tillable land. It was such an incredible blessing to receive the funding to grow our operation several years before I'd even dreamed it possible. I owe a HUGE thank you to Marie who continues to help me navigate these pastures as we work to restore grazing to this land.

establishing pastures

In April I worked with our neighbor Allen, to prep the lower 18 acre field for seeding. Last season it was a corn field so there were a lot of debris that had to be mulched in order for the seed to have a good chance at establishing. 

After the field was prepped dad and I spent a morning spreading our 500 pounds of seed using a broadcast spreader mounted on Lil' Blue (my tractor). It went smoothly except for one bump and a few band-aids... sorry dad...

It couldn't have been a much better growing season, calm and frequent rainfalls speckled with days of sunshine. It was about a week and I started seeing baby alfalfa, and by the end of the season the field had good establishment on all but the sandy hillside.

fencing

Fencing this farm has been quite a project and the lower field was no exception. Old fence-lines that hadn’t been touched in decades needed to be cleared, old posts pulled and well worn wire that needed to be removed. Then it was back to planting posts, only 1/3 of which however are wood posts. I decided based on advice from Marie that we’d use composite posts for the wooded areas. That way when a tree comes down there is a slimmer chance of having the wire and post break, making mending much easier. I did leave a small property line with t-posts that were in good shape and straight so I’m hoping that stays nice for many years.

On the lower field I on a high tensile wire fence instead of the woven. It’s a cheaper fence to install and without the risk of highway I felt good about trying something different. Another perk is that the high tensile fence really disappears so our view is wide open. Since this field is most of our view from the farmhouse I wanted to make sure and keep things clean and open as much as possible.

I’m so pleased with how things turned out and I’m SO anxious to get cattle out here next season!

Renovations | Our Barnyard Renovation

Our barnyard renovation

shaping the land

One of the things Matt and I love about landscape architecture is how shaping the land defines space and accents unique topography. This summer we had an excavator in to shape a lot of land at the homestead and we're thrilled with the results. We achieved not only functional space but a unique space shaped by the topography of our valley. #landnerdalert

Last year we excavated for our small livestock barn and I thought that made a huge difference. That difference pails in comparison to the change we experienced this season. The excavation work this year not only made a level pad for our hay/machine barn, it also made a level lawn area that will be Matt's ball field next season. The ball field was very important to Matt since we don't have a level spot anywhere in this valley.

The excavation really changed the land and made our barnyard much more dynamic, it makes us landscape architecture major's very, very happy. Our land design, grading and drainage systems have created a unique space and an interesting barnyard, one that is uniquely ours. It really has me itching to help with more master-plans, perhaps helping more farms create unique and functional space in the future.

our plans for the barnyard

We decided to go with a pure clover lawn around our barns to not only minimize our mowing and help my favorite honey bees but to add to the farm aesthetic. I'm absolutely crazy about clover (I'm driving Matt crazy) after visiting White Oak Savanna, a new venue in Dodgeville, and alternative lawns that feed my designer mind with a balance of beauty and function. Originally we were looking at no-mow grasses but I'm much more excited about the clover. I'm also excited to see some green around the barn that isn't weeds!

Along the slope coming down to our livestock barn we plan on adding some grape vines since again, we hope to have less mowing and would love some added agriculture production in the valley. 

our barnyard/land design inspiration

Inspiration Images Via Pinterest | clover lawn , barn, vineyard

our dreams for the ball field

While the barn will be used for storage we are hoping to make the 'ball field' into a grand space that perhaps someday we'd use for gatherings. While I have my eye on an underutilized garage for our farm to table dinners, I'm starting to think about all the possibilities for a future venue space. The Hayfield's and McCoy's ball field could be a perfect location to hold a larger gathering. We'll just have to see where this little business takes us.

Renovations | Celebrating One Year at the Homestead!

we're celebrating one year

It's absolutely crazy to me how fast time flies; and when you're working hard it seems to go by even faster. Today we're celebrating one very busy, beautiful, challenging and exciting year here at the homestead. 

 we owe 1,000 thank you's

So many of our incredible friends and family have lent a hand this past year. From pulling out carpet and cleaning our house on closing day, to the seemingly endless post setting, we wouldn't be where we are today without the incredible sacrifice of our people.

So, I want to publically thank, my mom and dad, who spent nearly every moment working alongside us over the past year; you've been the best neighbors. Matt's parents, Rex and Becky for helping us paint over the awful yellow that first week and helping with electrical, plumbing, fencing and bringing us meals.

We also owe a huge thank you to the incredible people that volunteered their precious time to help us with our dream... Jarrett, Elise, Morgann, Kaleb, Erin, Joe, Ross, Danielle, Ricky, Grandpa, Sarah, Bethany, Tim, Jack, Jesse, Ricky and Phil.

We couldn't have done this without you lovely people!

we're reflecting on the progress

Though our to-do list is still long (and continually growing) we are so blessed to be living in this place. I find it incredibly rewarding to scroll through the pictures to see how far we've come and I hope you'll enjoy taking a peek at this last year's progress as much as I have. I must say scrolling through so many photos was almost as overwhelming as the amount of work we've done.

*while I had every intention to get nice before and after's, my desire to get my dirty hands on my camera was not... so I apologize for the blurry, nasty phone pictures*

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our farmhouse remodel

We pulled all the carpet out of the house the day we moved in, along with all the furniture that came with the house, there was literally dishes still in the cabinets. The previous owner had cats which make me a sobbing, red-faced, sneezing mess. We also both prefer the look and cleanliness of a hardwood floor, especially on a farm, so the carpet HAD to come out. Our living room remodel is underway and perhaps in the next year we can prioritize the house again and finish her out. We will be refinishing the original douglas fir floors and installing a blackened wood wall and new fireplace surround at some point along this journey. We also might have a chance to upgrade the college couch and buy our first living room furniture together.

When we pulled carpet upstairs we revealed some original pine floors that were of course painted, which was exactly what we were expecting. We knew we'd refinish them someday but someday became the day after closing when we realized how bad the master bedroom floor was peeling. Fast forward 40 hours and we were ready to finish the floors in the master bedroom and move our mattress off the living room floor. We decided to paint one of the back bedroom's floor instead of sanding it down for the sake of time and the bigger picture, it will become a bathroom in the coming years. The other bedroom we stripped, sanded and finished to match the master.

We still have trim to finish and some 'cozying' up to do but they're coming along beautifully.

We've had several demo days around the homestead, but I'd have to say I think demoing our basement was my favorite. When we first walked into this basement seven months prior to our closing the smell got my attention right away. I can see through the dirt, grim and chaos but man, that smell stuck with me. So, instead of a cosmetic upgrade we were demoing to completely redo the space and to take that nasty smell out.

After months of contemplating how to best use the space, gathering inspiration images and finalizing a plan for permits we were ambitious and ready to get our hands dirty. Let's just say we got our hands, face, clothes and every part of our house dirty in the process (there may still be residue of concrete dust in the closets and cabinetry throughout the house but I'm not ready to look)...

This was our first time doing, well, most of this type of work. We learned A LOT along the way and I think we can both say we were challenged far more on this project than almost anything we've come across in life to this point.

I'd love to say the space is done, but we're happy with the progress we've made. This winter we'll wrap up the mudroom and those last pesky details like hardware on the kitchen cabinets in the apartment.

While most of our time has been focused on the house and other homestead projects we have done a few personal 'yard' projects. This spring we planted a hedge of aronia to define our yard boundary. We're planning on a full 'orchard' and fruit field between the aronia and the lower red garage. We have BIG plans for the red garage and having it surrounded with an orchard fits our vision for the space. While our aronia hedge is 'floating' in the lawn right now we love that this space is becoming more than yard space.

We also removed a huge patch of raspberry and weeds in our front yard. Less mess when we arrive home is so rewarding and we're loving the little difference.

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homestead projects

While the house projects have come a long way, it's really the homestead that's made the biggest change.

Last fall we built our livestock barn, it's already getting tight and we're anticipating an addition next season (I have a problem with bringing too many animals home). 

Obviously one of our biggest projects here at the farm was clearing for pastures. While this  place was once a sheep farm with clear rolling hillsides, over the last 30 years it's become a tangled mess of invasive species. Fences are in, animals are grazing and we'll wait to finish up the clearing until the snow flies.

Excavation for next year's hay/machine barn is also complete! With the new barn excavation we got one of our two 'trout' ponds filled in and will be making it into a ball/game field

As you may remember we were selected for a USDA grant this past spring to help us seed and fence our 18 acre field. It's definitely greened up nicely (ignore my ragweed, I'm working on that ;)) and this fall we'll finish up the fences.

looking forward to the coming year

This coming year we're hoping to slow it down a bit. While we have several projects we'd like to do we're going to slow the deadlines for the sake of getting some rest and enjoying this beautiful valley. Things are finally workable so soon we'll be focused on getting things 'prettied' up, and I think we're both looking forward to that.

pin it!

Renovations | We're Ready for Lambs!

One week until lambing!

We're 1 week away from our first lambing season here at the farm. I can't believe it's almost here!

We've been working hard on our basement remodel, so hard that we've waited until the last minute to transition to necessary barn improvements for our growing flock. We spent a wonderful Saturday and Sunday in the barn and while it was a bit chillier than I would prefer it was nice to be working on our farm projects again.

On the project to-do list was building lambing jugs (small pens) for our ewes and their lambs to bond after birth. Our new families will spend 1-3 days in the jug to make sure mama and babies have a chance to bond so when they are let back out with the flerd (flock + herd) baby knows exactly how to find Mama and her milk.

The jug also allows us farmers to make sure that the new lambs are growing and getting the nutrition they need from mama. If for some reason the ewe cannot provide for the lamb it is easier for me to evaluate the need for bottle feeding if they aren't out roaming with the flerd.

I also spent some time at my sewing machine making lamb jackets. These jackets make me happier than a kid in a candy shop, they are so small and totally cute.

I'm so anxious to snuggle our new lambs and I can't wait for them to arrive. Our first due date is Easter so I'm praying for some lovely time celebrating The Lamb and hopefully adding a few lambs to our pasture!

Renovations | Settling In

Winter on the farm

There are so many blessings for a farmer, florist and designer this time of year. The biggest blessing is a slower season to catch up, reflect and prioritize a new season. After the snowfall a couple days ago I couldn't resist taking the time to get out with Banjo and breath a little. It felt good to actually soak in the beauty of this place that took my breath away on a snow covered January day a year ago. As I am starting to settle into this slower season I am sitting back today with my cup of coffee (hot coco + coffee + milk), to reflect on the last five months that we've called this valley home.

Since day one there has been project after project here at the homestead. The month of August we spent getting our home cleaned up and to a point I felt it was truly liveable. September, October and November were spent putting up our barn, moving livestock and bringing new livestock home. In December we started on our basement remodel where we are putting in a laundry, mudroom and a guest suite. As the finish line approaches on the basement reno I will be sure to share the final result with you.

While it is inspiring to sit back and look at all we've accomplished in these few short months I think both Matt and I are looking forward to a season of rest yet this winter. We have our eyes set on finishing our basement remodel by March 1 and then clearing our calendar of projects until April. It seems crazy to think that the last five months we've taken less than ten days away from a project, a stark difference to the last home we purchased together. We knew when we first visited this property that there were a laundry list of to-dos, but we are slowly learning that it's going to take time, and I am going to need to learn patience.

Life in this valley has been an adventure so far and I continue to appreciate the opportunities before us, 2018 is going to be an exciting year.

Renovations | Our NEW HOMESTEAD!

photos by Wild Mulberry Photography

So we did it, we closed on our homestead!

I am still in the ‘pinch me’ phase as I get to share this exciting business and personal news with you! We can’t wait to see where this journey takes us!

It has been a dream of ours since before we said ‘I do’ to start a homestead together. Long drives back from Iowa State chatting about each and every farmstead we passed... the barns, the house, the land, the gardens, we talked about it all. When we said ‘I do’ we had refined the vision of what we wanted for our lives. A simple piece of land to grow into, finding that middle of nowhere feeling,  to build a ‘home’ with our own hands, to someday raise a family in a simpler place and to settle in a place where we could point our rocking chairs towards the west; any Tim McGraw fans out there?!

It’s been a journey to get to this day... so here’s a little background...

We bought our first home on a quiet street in the town of Evansville just before we got married. We knew it wasn’t a  forever home, but we also didn’t realize how quickly our hearts would yearn for our ‘home’, the one we’ve dreaming of and talking about since our relationship budded on those long drives. The following spring we put up fences on my parent’s land and brought a couple calves home because I couldn’t wait any longer.... Hours and hours and blood, sweat and tears (literally) later we knew we still wanted to pursue this dream of raising meat. We knew someday we would have our own homestead and we would be starting this grueling and yet exciting process of building it all from scratch all over again.

We sold that little home in Evansville last fall to fully pursue this dream. Those two short years in our first house taught us a lot about us as a couple as we worked on projects to improve it and prompted us to take the leap of faith even though we didn’t know where we would be going.

After months of searching we started to feel a bit overwhelmed by the market and lack of options. We tried an nontraditional route and contacted a farmer directly about purchasing an abandoned farm but still didn’t come up with anything. Thankfully Matt, bless him, has a desire to look at everything that hits the market; I however am the filter queen. I wasn’t interested in finding ‘the perfect place’ only to find out it sits on 2 acres (enough for chickens, not cattle) or blows the budget out of the water.  When Matt saw our now homestead I immediately shot it down... our banker would laugh, what would we ever do with the multiple homes that came with this property, it just ‘wasn’t realistic’. However, God and Matt had a different idea…

Four months later, after Matt bringing up the property again and again (bless him) and realizing that my parent’s were interested in downsizing to one of the other homes on the property I was convinced we could make this property practical. We finally booked a showing and walked the property for the first time in the snow. We fell in love; this place felt like home. Tucked in a valley (hurray middle of nowhere feeling), with a white farmhouse and near our target spot of New Glarus; we couldn’t have asked for much more.

It was a very long process of finalizing details and I will save you the long story. The short story is it took us just shy of 6 months after visiting this property to finally get us to closing day.

photos from our first showing

We have HUGE plans for this place, it has been rather un-kept for a long time and needs our loving touch. The barn fell down and has since been buried and there is no fencing; so building a place for our cattle to call home is first priority. There is space for a studio and I already anticipate the first client meeting I get to have in the space. Flower gardens are on the horizon and I am anxious to use the blooms in my floral designs!

While there is quite the laundry list of ‘to-do’s’ we can’t wait to get started building our home together in this sweet little valley. This dream has carried the name of our businesses, now we are blessed to wake up here.. on the homestead.

We never got the cute 'family photo' on the front steps, perhaps later after we get the pile of old carpet off our front stoop!

FOLLOW US on Instagram @brit.homestead to keep up with what is happening! More relevant blog posts to come!