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**Welcome Wagon:  Hi from N. Texas  |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 16 2006 : 12:02:20 PM
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My name is Bluewrenn and I am in the process of locating some land in NE Texas, so that I can move out of the city. I'm planning an off-the-grid homestead with solar power, cisterns for capturing rainwater, and a small operation that will be as self-sufficent as I can make it. While I will most likely have some sort of a greenhouse operation (maybe organic veggies, herbs, native plants or heirloom seeds,) I would also like to experiment with farm birds, bee hives, goats and sheep.
So far, I am enjoying my visits to Mary Janes Farm... |
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2006 : 2:09:17 PM
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Welcome Erin. I am sure that you will find a lot of information here to help you as you make this transition in your life. There are some very wonderful and smart women here who are always willing to help! I love the plans for your future farm!!
Karin |
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verbina
True Blue Farmgirl
231 Posts
randi
n.j
USA
231 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2006 : 3:05:49 PM
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| welcome erin, you will like it here.can you tell me a little about your part of texas? we will be downsizieg in a few more years and it is pretty much up in the air where we will go. again welcome. randi from jersey |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2006 : 3:25:02 PM
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Welcome Erin (my youngest daughter's name too!) What a wonderful plan you have. It will sure be fun to hear all about things as they happen. I bet you will really like it here alot...it will be fun to get to know you!
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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Buttercup
True Blue Farmgirl
1433 Posts
Talitha
Vermont
USA
1433 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2006 : 7:31:59 PM
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Erin,
Welcome!! We are so glad to have you here. I love the plans you have and look forward to hearing about them as they come true. I am, as I say, learning toward my farm so I am not on my dream farm yet but I have learned so much here. There are many here who know a lot and are always willing to share and help! I hope you love it as much as I have! I will see you "around"! 
Hugz Til Then!
"If we could maintain the wonder of childhood and at the same time grasp the wisdom of age, what wonder,what wisdom,what life would be ours" |
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cmandle
True Blue Farmgirl
846 Posts
Catherine
Minneapolis
MN
846 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2006 : 7:37:58 PM
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Welcome Erin! You will have a lot of fun 'round here!
Catherine |
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lovejanet
True Blue Farmgirl
97 Posts
Janet
La Canada
California
USA
97 Posts |
Posted - Jul 17 2006 : 5:47:44 PM
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Congrats on making your move to what sounds like a nice place, let us know once you have made your move. Oh, and send some pictures.
love, janet
http://www.lovejanet.typepad.com/ |
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frannie
True Blue Farmgirl
2246 Posts
fran
bonham
texas
USA
2246 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2006 : 4:41:20 PM
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hi erin and welcome to the farm girl site.
i love this site and really learn alot from all these wonderful farmgirls!
i am so excited that you are looking in the n texas area. i feel pretty isolated up here.
i am located 70 miles north of dallas, and i have been on my farm for 10 years.
please let me know what you are looking for and i will keep my eyes peeled for some kind of spot for you.
also when you get settled maybe we can join up and start a chapter. i tried but so far im the only one in my chapter, its been pretty slow.
fran |
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Kelly43
True Blue Farmgirl
349 Posts
NJ
USA
349 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2006 : 8:20:52 PM
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Welcome Bluewrenn! I wish you the best of luck for what you're looking for and look forward to hearing of the progress. I have always wanted the off the grid lifestyle so maybe I can live through you for now. Eventually I plan to get there. I grew some heirloom tomatoes this year and hope to save some seeds for next year, is that something I can do? Anyway, glad to have you around!!
Kelly |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2006 : 3:23:10 PM
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Right now Texas is HOT - 108 degrees yesterday. It's pretty dry in N. Texas, not as humid as Houston or places like New Orleans or Memphis, so the heat sounds worse that it is. I have noticed that in Texas, we mostly stay in the AC during the summer... no naturally cooled buildings here. It may be different outside the city. Finding land that has water shallower than 1500 feet has been really hard and most of the ponds and "lakes" are really just rainwater that has been collected in shallow depressions in the ground.
Dallas is a fairly cosmopolitan area - lots of diversity and lots of transplants from the Northeast. Don't take offense, but everyone north of Texas is considered a Yankee, except for maybe Oklahomans (Okies). It has the usual big city problems - too much traffic, too many apartments, too much polution, too much concrete and blacktop, not enough trees/grass/lakes...etc... but we do have 24 hour groceries. (Not like back home...)
I'm originally from extremely rural Virginia and was surprised to see how many trees Texas has - my friends were convinced that Texas was flat with just cacti and sagebrush, but it's really pretty in parts of East and NE Texas. (I haven't seen the entire state yet, so I can't comment on other parts of Texas...)
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2006 : 3:31:00 PM
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To Fran in Bonham - We have been looking up in your county A LOT and really want to move there, or just south of Fannin. Bonham is such a great little town and we love that area. Yes, let's get together once I have finally found a spot.
We are looking for 30+ acres with water for a well and soil that is good enough to grow some fruit or pecan trees and gardens. A stock tank is a plus but we can build our own, as long as there is some water available. (That's been the main issue in Fannin... water.)
I'm definitely having an orchard but we don't want to be tied to the water company unless we absolutely have to be, especially if we do the nursery biz. We are hoping to go solar powered, so the land can be away from the electric lines and secluded - definitely what hubby wants - and we'd prefer not to settle in a flood zone.
One of the plots we looked at is going to be in the center of a proposed lake near Ladonia sometime in the next 20 years - we'd rather not settle there, if you know what I mean... LOL |
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connio
True Blue Farmgirl
535 Posts
connie
springtown
texas
USA
535 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2006 : 3:43:56 PM
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Hey Farm Girls!!!
Welcome Erin
I am another North Texas farm girl. I work in Fort Worth but live in Springtown which is 80 miles NW of Dallas and 45 miles west of Fort Worth. I live in Parker County on the Wise County border. I love it here. I have a tiny farm (with an old house, a small barn and a medium size pole barn that still needs to be sided )that has 6.5 acres. I mow hay on about 3 acres. I have been out here almost 3 years after living and working in Dallas for 23 years. I have a 10 year plan to do some exciting things, but it is going slowly due to $$$$. My next project is additional fencing. You might think about Parker or Wise County; land is cheap and if you get an ag exemption, taxes are extremely low. I pay $509 annually. Hard to believe.
FRAN I really, really do want to be in your chapter; I just can't drive to Bonham until it cools off because my car has no ac. I am very excited about this and would love to see your goats. Erin, if you will drive to Bonham where Fran lives, I will be happy to go with you. Perhaps Dawnn and Lacy will also join us. They are also North Texas farm girls. Dawnn is in the process of moving right now and is under a lot of pressure, but that won't last forever.
Erin, you might also be interested in a DFW permaculture group that has just formed. Has quite a few folks interested in living off-grid.
Will look forward to hearing from all of you.
Connie
Texas Farm Girl
cozycottage |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2006 : 9:20:05 PM
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I found out about the DFW permaculture group through the freecycle/recycle group for Dallas... just haven't had a chance to attend meetings yet. Last I heard, they were experimenting with solar ovens and had a solar oven cook off which sounded like lots of fun.
What sort of things are all you N. TX farmgirls interested in? I would really love to learn more about alpacas but I know I can't even dream about affording them, so that's out, but I would love to hook up with someone who has experience raising llamas, sheep and/or goats, or someone who has beehives. I also would LOVE to have some ducks, wild turkeys and geese as well.
I think it would be really helpful to talk about local issues with them before I jump headfirst into ownership - for example, I know we Texans have some unique problems with intense heat & drought that many folks outside our area might not have to face. |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2006 : 9:28:59 PM
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I guess I should add here that while I'm not a novice at farming, we had mostly horses, chickens for eggs and a goat or two as a companion animal only. Raising animals for meat or dairy, or even for wool, is new to me.
The solar power/off the grid issue is one that my father was always interested in and we girls had (at times) a heavy "Mother Earth News" kind of upbringing. But we never actually went off-grid. We did have a well though which often went dry.
I grew up on a farm with only wood heat so I am very familiar with woodstoves and all that is associated with them, and also with hanging laundry outside, and canning and all that. I was the primary cook in our household from age 8 so I'm pretty familiar with cooking almost anything grown on a farm - except maybe making cheese and/or yogurt.
It's mostly the homebuilding skills and the whole 'green" house homestead design that will be my first challenges, and later on the orchards and livestock.
Isn't it funny how as a teen we can't wait to get "away" from the farm - now we can't wait to go back...
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frannie
True Blue Farmgirl
2246 Posts
fran
bonham
texas
USA
2246 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2006 : 08:31:41 AM
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erin,
this is so exciting! i love the whole journey of finding the farm.
i have been in this area, fannin co. since 1989 and on the farm for 10 years.
we are north of bonham, close to ravenna.
we have 16 acreas a small house, (which used to be a poker parlor and 2 shot gun houses that we hope to restore for a agribusiness)
we have angora goats, aracuana chickens a pyrenes and assorted cats.
my dream was to have an organic truck farm and also be off the grid, but there have been many interruptions, aging parents, real jobs, beloved grandchildren....and now we are aging parents! but we love the farm and there has been some interest from the next genenration and i have hope that all will work out.
anywho, i hope you do end up in this neck of the woods.
i know that there can be some problems in fannin co with water, but in the north part we have sandy soil, and there are no problems up here with water. the closer to the river you get the higher the water table.
a great source for water info is miller water wells. he has been drilling here for about 30 years and he can tell you everything about water in this area. in the ector area, for example, my dh had a place where the water was at 160 feet.
my dh works at the va, but has recently started work as a real estate agent, his name is "country" and he says call here at the house and he will talk with yall about anything related to your search for a farm. i will email you with our phone number.
i dont know where you have looked in the county, but i think the whole county is beautiful, but as farms go i like the area north of honey grove and up by monkstown and telephone.
i have never heard any problems with water in those areas.
anyway if you want to chat or email, just farmgirl to farmgirl we will be more than happy to help out even if yall dont go through country to buy a place.
your plans sound wonderful and i think we would be so lucky if yall ended up in our area.
fran |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2006 : 9:18:24 PM
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Oh goodie - I'm excited to talk to someone from Fannin. we've been mostly looking with help from Lola at Frontier Realty but at this point, we're open to any help we can get.
Looking for land has been fun but I tend to either like a parcel right off the bat or not. And the emotional ups and downs have been killing me - we find something we like and there's bedrock and no water shallower than 1800 feet. Or the land is going to be used for a new proposed lake. Or the land surrounding the plot is destined for a rural subdivision with heavy restrictions. Or we find out that it's too close to the river and in a flood zone during the rainy season.
It's been tough and I'm SO READY for the searching part to be over.
Now for some goat questions...
How do your angoras do with the hot weather? Don't they have a lot of problems with this 100 degree weather? I'd love to have fiber goats but was worried that they would need air conditioning in the barn. (just kidding, but you know what I mean...)
Most of what we have been seeing in N. Texas are Boer, along with the ever popular miniature goats for pets/zoos. Hardly any angoras and not that many dairy goats either. I'd be interested in talking to folks that have been successful with something other than just a meat goat.
Oh, and I have a friend who offered to teach me how to make goat cheese today! I'm so excited. I'd hadn't really considered dairy goats - I love goat and mutton and was originally planning to get goats for meat for the family but now I'm not so sure.
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Edited by - Bluewrenn on Jul 20 2006 10:03:09 PM |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2006 : 9:28:01 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Kelly43
I grew some heirloom tomatoes this year and hope to save some seeds for next year, is that something I can do?
Sure, although I will be honest and say that I have no idea yet how to save the seeds myself. I'm planning on finding out, but for me here in the city, it's been easier to just buy new plants each year. I do have some though that made it almost all the way through winter - mine are potted and I bring them inside during freezes.
And I haven't spent a lot of time on my garden this year. Once I get out of the city and hubby gets his greenhouses built, he'll teach me all about seed saving and heirlooms, and I'm planning a REAL garden. With more than just some tomatoes and herbs.
I do know with some plants you have to be careful about cross pollunation between types of tomatoes but I just haven't delved too deeply into that yet.
I did try a Mr. Stripey tomato this year... |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2006 : 9:30:24 PM
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I keep forgetting to post it, but I have just started a blog about the whole search for the farmland and later it will have pictures of the housebuilding, news about our progress, etc..
http://toomyvara.livejournal.com/ |
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knittingmomma
True Blue Farmgirl
106 Posts
Tonya
Vermont
106 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2006 : 03:49:04 AM
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Welcome!
Looking forward to learning and sharing your progress through your blog and here at Mary Janes!
Warm wishes,
Tonya - Simple Living Mom of 5
Natural Earth Farm - A Village Homestead making handcrafted goods of natural fibers - http://www.naturalearthfarm.com |
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Kelly43
True Blue Farmgirl
349 Posts
NJ
USA
349 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2006 : 04:40:18 AM
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Thanks for the info. Maybe you and I can learn together. There is an article in an old hobby farms mag. about saving seeds but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Didn't know about the cross pollination problem so will have to learn about that too. I put in Greman Striped and Eva Purple this year (as plants). The eva purple have gotten some yellow leaves but it doesn't seem to be spreading. They both have green tomatoes on them now. I know your frustration with finding a farm. Water is not the problem here, price is. I live in a county in NJ where there are farms to be had if you are a multi-millionare. We are fortunate enough to be managing a good sized farm for someone else but it's not quite the same. Hope the heat lets up for you soon.
Kel |
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frannie
True Blue Farmgirl
2246 Posts
fran
bonham
texas
USA
2246 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2006 : 07:46:28 AM
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a little note about the goat!
i love my goats and love talking about them. they do get hot here in north texas and wehave to shear them 2 xs a year. also we have to give them pedicures! or manicures, anyway we have to tend to their hooves because we dont have rockky ground.
i love my goats and would love one day to have at least one dairy goat for the milk but right now our life is pretty overloaded.
i feel like the work with the goats is pretty minimal for the pleasure they bring. they are herd animals, and pretty smart and they really keep the brush and poison ivy down, and they have the reputation for keeping back snakes. and i believe it is true.i find them to be quite friendly and curious, but not obnoxious as i sometime hear they are.
well, you asked what we do, so here goes a little bit about our interest.
when i purchased the farm i was a full time occupational therapist but i had a heartattack and have since retired from the world of work. i am now a fulltime stay at home wife, homemaker and omie(grandma). ive never been happier or busier.
i do miss my work with the elderly, but the workplace had been changing so much and it was more about accounts receivable instead of healing and i was feeling more and more out of sinc so i guess it was time to move on.
so then i had all the time to pursue my dreams, but poor health and decreased funds.
the solution came from my friends, they started supplying me withsalvage supplies.
a friend from plano gave me books of beautiful designer fabrics and i started creating snall items with those, pincushions, journals,and my signature piece"the domestic goddess apron".
anyway my interest are antiquing, scrap crafts, quilting, weaving, spinning , junk crafting, you know where you find an object and mosaic it or faux paint it or just salvage it in some way.
my dh continues to work at the va but he is a photographer and we both love bluegrass music so occasionally we will get asked to perform here and we get to sing and play music, but mostly its just pickin on the porch. my dh has supplimented our income since my illness with photography jobs,weddings, family reunions, and now apartime real estate job.(that reminds me, i need to give him a big hug tonite)
our big project here at the farm is 2 shotgun houses that we have moved in to restore so we can rent them on the weekends so people can share in the farm experience.
i really love, erin all your ideas about your farm and hope soon you will be up here in our neighborhood. i love the idea of being off the grid, but have never been able to figure that one out. but i would love to tell the utility companies to kiss my grid.>>>oops sorry that was a little political.anywho, keep us posted on your journey, i am enjoying it so much and hope and pray yall will soon find your farm. we need folks like you up here in our neck of the woods.
fran |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2006 : 9:26:54 PM
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Hey Farmgirls - cross your fingers for me... We found our property!!!
Now to make sure someone else hasn't already bought it... (That's happened to us more than once already.)
It's a bit more than we had planned to spend but it's also a bit more land - 46.6 acres (Yes!!!).
It's not in Fannin County, but actually in the opposite direction in Hill County near Hillsboro.
For a more detailed description of the property, go to my homesteading blog!
My Homesteading Journal
http://toomyvara.livejournal.com
My craft journal
http://bluewrenn.livejournal.com |
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frannie
True Blue Farmgirl
2246 Posts
fran
bonham
texas
USA
2246 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2006 : 07:06:10 AM
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erin,
our loss will be hill counties gain. i had so hoped to have you as a neighbor, but this place sounds wonderful and i hope you get some good news on it. i will keep my fingers crossed for you guys. keep us posted.
fran |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2006 : 07:55:24 AM
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welcome Erin!hope all goes well with the land buying.
~Seize the Day! Live, Love, Laugh~ |
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santa_gertrudis_gal
True Blue Farmgirl
198 Posts
Kim
Groesbeck
Texas
USA
198 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2006 : 08:40:29 AM
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Hi Erin,
I've been so swamped and busy. I've wanted to welcome you to the site. I also am from Texas. I found Mary Jane's farm site due to looking for the Junk Market Style Magazine site. I'm relatively new, too. You will love it here! It is so much fun to find other women with a love for all things related to Agriculture and the lifestyle of farming/ranching.
Earlier this year my DH and I were like ya'll, looking for a piece of property. We were like you, bound by price, location, and how we wanted to finance the property. In late February we found a place in Groesbeck, more expensive then what we wanted to pay, 176 acres (we have 276 acres) more then we were looking for, but fell in love with it. The search lasted three years.
So now we have two homes. One in Angleton (south of Houston) and in Groesbeck. Our plans are different then yours and your husbands, but we are beginning to slowly watch them come true. We will be going solar powered and eventually drill a well (at the moment we are on Community Water System). You are looking to be off grid, we are looking at putting our system into the grid to sell power back to our electric coop. Everything we are doing is to either stablize our retirement income or increase it. My husband has always dreamed of reitiring at 55 and we are in site of that goal or will only be a couple of years off.
Hope you'll search out my posts and find out more about what I love when it comes to Agriculture and Wildlife.
I'm truly excited you have found a piece of land you love, and look forward to seeing your dreams come true.
Kim
Heaven is a day at the ranch with my Santa Gertrudis! |
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**Welcome Wagon: Hi from N. Texas |
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Hi from N. Texas
