Prologue

As I wrote in the September post, our journey to the land started and is progressing slowly. This post is another interim update as we near the end of a Gregorian calendar year and look to enter 2022.

I had left you with a partial structure and the garage was beginning to be framed.

What ensues is the updates in the last few months.

Garage is almost done

We were able to get the garage framed, roofed and spray foamed for insulation, with some electric and plumbing. We await garage doors and to get our RV following that so I can move in and start the land work.

The well house was moved in from outside and we are working to keep most of the insides warm as temps start to dip below 0F.
In addition, the roof for the whole house was in with windows being installed.

Approach and driveways

We had help from excavators to start grading the approach to the barn and garage and make it driveable with both our trucks and cars.

The grading took longer as we need the clearance for trucks and RV to make the turn to come in and out.

Studying in time

While the barn and garage area and grading were all happening, I needed to start to learn about the local soil, what I will be doing with our garden and orchards, as well as our livestock.

I ended up doing few farm tours to see various practices of growing in this rocky clay Ozark soil. One of the visit was to a no-till garden that had much success.

I also learnt about large green houses and setups to make it more economical, amount of work involved per family member and the outputs.

Found a legend of a sheep herder in his late 70s who has been shearing and raising sheep since he was 10. He showed me how to pick good rams.

Followed by how to check on ewes when lambing and separating them during delivery, so the lambs do not get mixed up with wrong moms, including early care for the first few days.

And once, old enough to tag so we can keep records.

My bride also has been busy weaving and becoming part of a guild here in the Ozarks. She wove her first table piece and it was exquisite for a first piece.

Barn is being built

As I pen this post, our barn structure has gone up and due to rain and a cold spell, we are waiting on metal for the roof.

Our landscape view is changing a bit with our garage and barn being raised.

I will provide another update when some of the structures are complete and I move in on the land few days a week to start working it.

We continue to thank Almighty for His blessings as we continue to make progress through weather delays, supply chain issues and worker shortage.

Until next time….Godspeed