Well I mentioned earlier that I am a planner. Without a good concrete plan I feel scattered and lost. So today I took a lot of time to be realistic with my limits and my expectations. Below is my master plan. How close I will be able to stick to this plan isn’t clear, but I will try my best unless I find a better way. So the first step is to read up on how to raise the animals. I want to be as prepared as I can be to prevent my animals from suffering from my ignorance. Most animals raise their young near spring-time, so that gives me time to clean up and remodel the barn.
The first thing I want to get done is the greenhouse. I will need to get it built and compost purchased and in place before things get to cold. My watering method for winter is not yet decided. I may just try to carry water in the beginning. I will need some type of heat. Looking at a small solar panel kit for the heat. It should not take much to heat the house. I would like to grow lettuce, tomatoes, chard and herbs to start. I also would like to have the vegetable beds in place for spring. They will go in the back yard. Not to much involved, except some very heavy lifting & elbow grease.
As for the barn, there will need to be a cistern installed for water-including guttering to get the rain from the barn roof into the cistern tank. Solar power is the plan for the energy source. I will need a water pump to move the water from the cistern to the barn. The chicken coop area needs a lot of work. The hog pen needs a lot of work. I intend to fence areas off outside the barn for both the pigs and the chickens to be outside as much as they like. They will have to be in some type of enclosure to prevent coyotes, varmints, owls and hawks from carrying them off. The feed room will require the most work. It needs a wall and a floor.
Now the plan is to have all this in place by March, 2013. Insert maddening laugh here. Muahahahaha!
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