Barn, Chicken Coop, Jug Pens & House Painting - 2019 on Havencroft Farm

A couple years ago I adopted the practice of picking a motivational phrase for the coming new year. I can't remember where I heard that idea, or if I just thought of it. My phrase for 2019 has been Focus & Finish, a much needed reminder for my creative, energetic, blonde Gemini self. There is just so much to do out there and so many opportunities and ... I can start 9 million projects, and accomplish a few. Focus & Finish has been very useful.

When I look at 2019 from the perspective of what happened this year, instead of looking at what is still left on my to-do list, I am amazed. 2019 is a year when we made family connections and our family added new people to this world. Its a year when I found practices, people, and things that I didn't know I needed, and they revolutionized my life. It's a year worth chronicling.

These will be in several blog posts, and things listed are not in order of importance -

2019 Around Havencroft Farm

Barn - I had forgotten how much I love having a barn to keep my animals safe, dry and warm. It's a place to store feed safely, keep all the tools in one place and milk the goats in comfort. It's nice to have a barn again.

During installation, before we added more gravel at the base and brought
the animals in.

In November of 2018 we had a barn installed. Over this year we've filled it in and filled it up. It's actually a 17 by 32 foot carport, with 7 foot ceilings and a 10 by 17 foot tool room at the back. We've used and loved our mobile hoop shelters for decades, and we still have them for the sheep half of the farm, but now the goats have a tight, dry, permanent shelter. That means we have to clean it out, instead of just moving the hoop shelter, but we have friends who use the deep bedding as mulch on their gardens. They came and helped clean last spring. We'll see if the barn cleaning party grows this coming spring.

The new barn is approved by the alpine dairy goat flock.

We were able to store 83 bales of hay in the barn, instead of outside under tarps. Sweet! It is my milking barn, grain room and garden tool storage. We like it so much we want to get one for the sheep side of the farm, perhaps in 2 or 3 more years. It was an expensive purchase, but should last for decades, and one that makes me happy every time I step out the back door.

Jug pens - Something in shepherding that I've always said was unnecessary with our wonderful Jacob sheep, but that I have learned to love this last year, and a product of having the barn are jug pens.

Kachina and her lambs Ophelia & Olympia in the jug pen
in the new barn during the near constant rain of the winter and spring of 2019.

These are small pens built inside the barn. Ours are 5-foot by 5-foot, for ewes or does who are about to lamb or kid. This allows the mother a clean dry place to have her babies, a quiet time to bond with them, and it gives the babies a start in a safe environment. In 40 years of shepherding, I did not use them. 

We had safe spaces for ewes having trouble, sometimes it was the farmhouse kitchen, but for the most part, they weren't needed. Instinct leads ewes to find a safe place to lamb, the other sheep in the flock give them space, and most lambs are up and about on their own with just their mother's cleaning. But, during lambing season (February and March for us at Havencroft Farm) we rotate checking the ewes every two hours. This way we can help any ewes having birthing troubles and find any babies who are struggling. We leave many of our ewes out to lamb as they please. But now, we have two jug pens in the barn, and we rotated sheep through them for the 2019 lambing season. All the first-time mothers went into a pen, then we didn't have to search the pasture for them. Any ewe who had trouble in the past went in. The littlest lambs went in with their moms during big storms. We had no bottle babies in 2019, perhaps due to the jug pens. That is a huge labor saver.

Painting the House - Have you ever read John Grisham's "A Painted House"? I love that book. Squirrel...

Havencroft Farm, September 20, 2019

I live in the rural Ozarks. I grew up as an Army brat, moved for the first time at nine-days-old, and even as an adult, I moved a lot. I love the Ozarks, the land, the water, the people, and our homestead. I live here by choice. 

When we first looked at this house, it was many colors on the outside. When she couldn't sell it, the former owner painted it white on the outside the summer of 2009. I don't think it was good quality paint, so by the summer of 2019, it looked really shabby. 

We've wanted to paint it, and fix a lot of the structural necessities for years, but with Shawn working two jobs, Lena full time in the broom shop, and me working 45-55 hours a week, plus the farm and the weaving business, and now school, it was obvious we weren't going to get it done. But the Spring rains of 2019 had exacerbated some wall rot on the west side. So, we took out a loan from the bank of Mom & Dad and hired a contractor. Picking paint was fun. We went with a slate green for the body, and a tan to match the rock walls for the trim. I like it a lot. And the homestead looks so much more groomed and cared for, just having the house painted. When I look through old photos of this place, I'm amazed by all the improvements we've made in our decade here. It's still got a ways to go, but, Focus & Finish.

Chicken coop - I've had chickens most of my adult life. They eat bugs, they turn the soil in the goat barn, and they lay eggs. They just fit in my life. My chickens have lived in falling down sheds, up in the top of a pine tree for the night & just loose during the day, a nice home made chicken coop with an elaborate big run, the top of the pig barn, and a cattle panel covered with a tarp. They did fine in all these accommodations. But I like to keep them safe. So I wanted a strong, solid, tight chicken coop. 

And we don't have the time or direction to build one. Talent we have, and we can all build what ever we put our minds to, but we each have other directions our time. Spending about 6 months researching and looking at coops, we finally decided on one. It took a while to get in touch with the builders, and a 6-hour evening drive to Clarksville to make the arrangements to purchase it and have it delivered. I spent hours figuring out drainage, sun, shade, access and the best place to put the coop. The couple delivering it came from Conway. It is 10' by 14' and weighs over a ton. They delivered it on a truck and had a little tractor that just lifted the coop and put it right where I wanted it. Our babies chicks were moved out of their little pen in the barn and into the coop. We clean the coop out every Sunday and re-bed it with waste hay from the goat barn. There is no way eggs will ever pay for the cost of that chicken house, but it was so worth it in ease of care, aesthetics, and peace of mind. 

That's all for today. Further recap of 2019, the year of Finish & Focus to come.

Do it!

So many thoughts for today. Hard, physical labor, like building a barn, is a good time to let your brain go wander. Sometimes it takes a while for it to find its way back, though!

We got a lot further on the barn today than this photo shows, but my camera decided that it was much more fun to eat batteries than to take pictures.

One of the trails my brain followed as I was hauling panels was the "You're living my dream" comment that we get from so many people. That part of what this blog is for, so that you can enjoy our foolishness vicariously. However, don't just limit yourself to reading about it, get out and do some of it!

I don't mean jump out of the mainstream with both feet, like we seem to be doing, but just take a little time now and then to physically touch the stuff of your dreams.

Several people have told me that is not an option for them. One person recently e-mailed that she is disabled and lives in an apartment in New York City. She is one of the reasons that I am being more diligent in writing these updates. But, even in that situation, there is container gardening. Most of the extension services have wonderful information on how to grow herbs and vegetables in pots in your house.

If you can get out in your community, look for a local CSA or Community Supported Agriculture farm. These are local farms where you can join in and purchase a membership. You get to work on the farm and receive a share of the produce. Each farm is different. If you don't find a farm in your zip code at the link above, try a Google search for a CSA in your area.

If you have a weekend or longer bit of time that you would like to spend exploring the reality of your dreams, check out World wide opportunities on organic farms. Again, each farm is different, so look over their directory and find one that seems to fit what you are interested in learning.

Get to know your local farmers. You can find them through your local extension office, by going to the farmer's market or by doing a web search for farms in your zip code. Many farms are too busy to have people visit, but some farmers may welcome the offer of help with fence mending or ditch cleaning.

One resource for hooking up with local farmers who would welcome your help is Slow Food, USA. This group focuses on community farming and food sources.

I know there are many other resources out there, these are just a few that I know. Hopefully they will give you some ideas so that you can go from dreaming to - Do it!

Modern convenience

First off, friends and family - if you recognize yourself in a story, a post or a conversation, please don't be offended. If you have questions about what I wrote, send me an e-mail and I will try to explain what I said!

Last fall, we were visiting Shawn's folks. I was helping Sherri clean up after dinner and we were having a nice chat. "What's your favorite modern convenience?" she asked.

I really didn't have to think too long.
While some parts of indoor plumbing still seem wrong to me - I love having hot running water in the house.
Showers - those indoor warm waterfalls - are pure bliss.
Being able to wash the dishes in a sink, with hot water right there, not heated on the fire - what joy!

So, why, when I know hot running water is one of my favorite things in the whole world am I choosing to live a lifestyle where it is a rare treat? Why are we trying to build a farm and homestead on 32 acres of beautiful raw land? Why is the house the last thing I want to build?

In part, because I don't want to become blase' about the simple joys in life. In part because I treasure the very foundations of life - nature, relationships and responsibility. In part because I am always pushing to find my boundaries and stretch my limits.

Maybe none of this is making any sense because after barn building all day - I really want a shower!


Our neighbors in Arkansas are so wonderful. The owner of the local saw mill is letting us haul his slab pile away, just for cleaning it up. We've hauled 3 loads in the horse trailer, probably two more will finish the pile. I think there is enough good wood there to build what will become our goat barn, but it is going to be our moving into barn.

Can't you just see the barn!

It took us more than an hour to square up the layout and mark the post holes - we seem to be great at parallelograms! We spent the rest of the afternoon digging post holes. Shawn did most of the digging. I could get them down about a foot and a half and that was it.

Tomorrow, after shipping orders and finishing our business work - we will cut and set the poles and get roof framed up. Hopefully, we'll get the other two loads of slab hauled. And, as a break, I wanted to go clean up the trash that people have thrown from their cars near the farm driveway, it is really bugging me.

Shawn says I have very funny ideas about "breaks", almost as funny as my "days off". Those are the days that I take to do my heavy production weaving. While they are important for the business, they really are days off for me, because I can focus on something I love and leave the world behind.

Well, that's enough mental pogo stick riding for tonight.

What is your favorite modern convenience?