Hobby Farm Families?

[Swamp_Yankee]

To see someone Homesteading in NJ is a good sign that there still are places of bygone days. 

When will you make a Reality Show out of it keep posting as this story evolves it is a Ray of sunshine amongst all the negative stuff we see in NJ.  

When is the Open Housewarming AKA Work Party 

I am on The Historial Commission in my township and see places such as yours disappear all too often, Is there any Historical Values connected to this Homestead. Geoge Washington did not have to have slept there.  Age qualifies. Have any Idea of its beginning ?? 

 

It's little bit of a stretch to call what we're doing "homesteading."  We both work outside the home, and though we plan to raise some animals, chickens for eggs, hunt on the property, grow a big garden, etc...we'll still get most of our food from Shop Rite   I'm still learning about the history.  My entire property was once part of my neighbor's.  He has some historical surveys which show how large the farm was at one time before it was subdivided off over the years.  He still has about 110 acres and his house dates to the early 1800s.  As far as tax records go my year built is listed at 1895, but my neighbor has surveys that indicate it was a barn long before that.  

 

Beautiful place. What town are you in and what is Hobby Farms all about?

 

Bethlehem Township.  A "hobby farm" is when you raise animals basically just for fun and/or your own use.  My neighbor on the north side farms about 120 acres of hay-he's a real farmer as in he makes his living off of it.  We will be getting chickens this spring partially so that we have fresh eggs every day, to teach our girls about responsibility and the value of work, and how to have a little fun at it at the same time.  Once they prove themselves with chickens they can move onto bigger animals.  I'm getting lobbied hard for a horse but they're going to have crawl before they can walk...  We don't have a lot of property, but with no real close neighbors on any side we can pretty much do what we want back here.  

Edited January 18, 2018 by Swamp_Yankee

[DBuck]

It's little bit of a stretch to call what we're doing "homesteading."  We both work outside the home, and though we plan to raise some animals, chickens for eggs, hunt on the property, grow a big garden, etc...we'll still get most of our food from Shop Rite   I'm still learning about the history.  My entire property was once part of my neighbor's.  He has some historical surveys which show how large the farm was at one time before it was subdivided off over the years.  He still has about 110 acres and his house dates to the early 1800s.  As far as tax records go my year built is listed at 1895, but my neighbor has surveys that indicate it was a barn long before that.  

 

 

Bethlehem Township.  A "hobby farm" is when you raise animals basically just for fun and/or your own use.  My neighbor on the north side farms about 120 acres of hay-he's a real farmer as in he makes his living off of it.  We will be getting chickens this spring partially so that we have fresh eggs every day, to teach our girls about responsibility and the value of work, and how to have a little fun at it at the same time.  Once they prove themselves with chickens they can move onto bigger animals.  I'm getting lobbied hard for a horse but they're going to have crawl before they can walk...  We don't have a lot of property, but with no real close neighbors on any side we can pretty much do what we want back here.  

Nice ... I grew up in Hampton, know of a few of the farms in that area, Bartnett's, Milos, Brook's and Buntings. Good luck in your endeavors

[Swamp_Yankee]

Speaking of hobby farms, after a fair amount of research we've pretty much settled on a design promoted and popularized by Dr. Prince T. Woods in the 1920s.  The Woods Fresh Air Poultry House drew on Woods' research of historic designs that worked well in the harsh Mid-Atlantic and New England winters as well as the brutal humid summers of the Colonial states.  In other words, Dr. Woods took the time to observe, study, analyze, and disseminate what I would call good old fashioned "Yankee Ingenuity"    The Woods Coop uses strategic placement of the open end to the south, protected end to the north, and stack venting through the roof to provide passive solar heating in the winter with protection from harsh weather, passive cooling in the summer, and good ventilation year round.  The Woods Coop is also a good choice for chickens that will spend most of their day in the coop rather than free ranging or in an enclosed run.  Since both of us work outside the home, neither is a very good option for us.  Even with a well enclosed run (basically a chicken yard that is fenced on all sides and the top) determined predators will eventually find their way if left unsupervised for long enough.  

 

Our plan right now is to basically keep the chickens confined on weekdays until my wife and daughters get home from work and school and to let them free range until dusk at which point they'll be secured in the coop until the following afternoon.  On weekends they'll free range all day as long as someone is home.  Free ranging is as good for us as it is for the chickens since ticks and grubs are a favorite snack.  Luckily for us we have a 16' x 32' concrete and block foundation to work with that was once the base of a sheep barn.  The sheep barn was torn down long ago but the foundation is in good shape and very solid.  There are also two 15 amp circuits running to it which will make adding lighting and a heated waterer easy.  There is no need to heat a Woods Coop or even insulate it as the basic design has proven itself for 150 years or more from the hottest and most humid Georgia and South Carolina summers to the coldest winters of far interior Maine.  Looking forward to getting started once the spring thaw begins.  For those who are interested Dr. Woods' "Modern Fresh-Air Poultry Houses" it is available online:

 

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924003138272;view=1up;seq=7

 

Here's a good example of a well built and attractive Woods Coop:

 

[Live to Hunt]

Cool place swamp yankee