At 1:22 there's a bee on her shoulder. I thought that was super cute! Then I noticed that her shirt is all flowers! That explains the confused bee!!! Lol! Thanks so much for sharing your homestead with us!!!
wow so many small homesteaders say 5 acres is just small enough and they usually plan to upgrade land within a few years. Seeing your 2.5 acre homestead with so much variety is awesome!! I was looking for larger places but I think I will try 2-3 acres for our next home. We have rabbits and chickens right now. Can't wait to get more land!
You can do a LOT on a small property. I saw a PBS show that featured a homestead on a backyard lot in Pasadena (which is basically L.A.). It was awesome. One thing I might caution you about is the cows. With our 4/5 depending on the year we usually go through 2-3 big round bales of hay a month from Oct through March. So 12-18 bales. We get our hay from my mom for free. If not, we would have to buy it, and at $45-$60 a bale (depending on the year, drought years hay is scarce and price goes up) that could quickly overwhelm our budget. You could keep one milk cow and breed her to a beef. Then you get meat and milk with less hay cost. You could also keep goats or sheep, which also can provide meat and milk and because of their size eat less. And sheep usually have twins and triplets, so you can keep one and sell one or something like that. Just throwing out some options for you! I hope this helps. :)
We are looking at some 2.5AC properties so this video is SO ENCOURAGING! We want to do a cow-calf setup with a mini dexter or mini jersey for milk & beef. And rabbits/chickens, & pigs. I don’t think sheep..... but who knows 🙄🤣
Very impressive farm. We live in Southwest Missouri on 1.95 acres that we bought in December 2019. Last year we planted 180 tomato plants (I don't plan on doing that again!), plus cucumbers, zucchini, yellow straight neck squash, Illinois squash, bell peppers, jalapenos, watermelon, green beans and onions. I'm excited to follow you on your journey again this year.
180 tomato plants! You must have been canning for weeks!! Unless you sold them. I’m tripling my garden this year by adding a whole new plot. Cant wait!!
You really can. The whole property is 28 acres. We lease 2.5 from my mom. She does give us free hay that isn’t from the 2.5, but everything we actively produce is on our small part.
I’m considering buying a 2 acre farm. I currently have a half acre and it isn’t enough. I was hoping to get 5 acres but now that I see yours I’m thinking 2 may be enough.
We did, let me find the link for you. We got it off Amazon, but what you should know is that it can only pull from about 30 feet, so if your water level is below that, you'll need a different model. We have static water at about 13 feet, so it's nice for us. amzn.to/3u3qDHI
Great video. Im building my 4.25 acre homestead of in northern Ireland. I'll be getting started this spring with my veg garden and chicken. Thanks for sharing
Lorella you and Chris have learned so much in the years that you have been in Missouri. I am so proud of you. My hat is off. Since I have been watching since the beginning I can say that. So much work to do on our spread in Canada. Cannot wait for all of this virus nonsense to be over so that I can reschedual my trip to China. God Bless Joe
Thanks, Joe! We really have come so far since our days in the city. I was thinking of you this week, as I watched blister beetles destroy my brassicas. I thought “Joe told me I need row cover! three years ago. I guess now is the time to invest the money.” I’m so glad you’re still watching and encouraging.
I love it, Lorella! You guys are making it happen! I would love to have room to raise our own steer (a milk cow wouldn't hurt my feelings either! ;) ). Keep up the great work and God bless you!
Thanks! I’m quite pleased with where we are on our journey. At one point I thought I wanted milk goats, but I still work off farm, so I don’t want to commit to daily milking.
Very nice video. I had.a little chuckle when you sat next to the bee hive wearing a floral print blouse. You totally confused one poor bee. Everything is coming along nicely. I will catch up o your past videos.
When we moved from Idaho to Arkansas to years ago, the FIRST thing we did (even before totally unpacking) was to plant 9 fruit trees. Now we have 23 fruit trees and 13 Fig trees.
Good video. We are relocating to Indiana an old farm house on 2.5 acres. Has a barn and some fencing for paddocks. I don't know if I could do all that you have but nice to see what is possible.
The tour was interesting. We're moving on to 2.3 acres and it both seemed huge after little tiny city lots and small compared to so many of these other homesteaders. We're thinking goats, not beef because so far we don't have a ton of grass here in our part of Southern Utah, so all your grass looks amazing.
Yeah. If we didn't have free hay from my mom's pastures, it would be a different story. I haven't ever had goat meat, so not sure how it compares to beef, but I had never had rabbit before moving here, either, and I love it. It did feel so big compared to our small city lot, but tiny compared to surrounding farms, so I get it!
This gives me hope! We just bought 5 acres. We have 3 does right now but i really want a milk cow probably a small breed but everyone says we need more land. We gave good pasture on 4 acres so I think we should with rotation be able to have one.
We do have to feed hay all winter. My mom has a 12 acre hay field and gives us free hay, if not, the hay cost would be about $500 a year. With 4 acres, you should be able to do one cow + calf, but not more than that without bringing in hay.
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm we plan on hay for the winter. We have hard cold winters so we planned for it. We get a pretty good deal on hay from a friend. We dont plan on doing more then cow and her calf.
It all looks great, Lorella. What an improvement on your garden! You have reason to be proud, it looks awesome! 😃 We were going to get some bottle calves. But one of the jobs my guys did refused to pay for work done. If they don't get paid, I don't get paid. They have since been paid for other jobs, but unfortunately those bottle calves were no longer available. Maybe next time.
We have 6 small paddocks of about 1/4 acre each. (That is part of the 2.5 acres) We rotational graze on these paddocks as long as there is grass. My mom has a 10 acre pasture that adjoins our 2.5, and she gives us free hay from that pasture in winter. Without that, we would have to buy hay.
G'day from South Australia! We met on Farmstead smiths Live. I wanted to come over watch and sub. Awesome intro and contracts on what you have done- its hard work lol :)
Thank you for easing my worry about bees; it is the last third animal we want for our homestead. We are a family of five. We decided to leave city life to become sustainable by buying over 2 acres of land in our state next week. We wanted to add bees because we will be growing our garden to help yield more crops with a raised garden with less space.
The paddocks are roughly 1/3 acre. We try to put the cows on each one for at least a week, preferably a week and a half. When there are more calves with the cows, it takes them fewer days to eat it down. we have about 5 sections that we move them through, so it is 5-7 weeks before they return to that section, and hopefully, in a normal year with plenty of rain, the grass has grown high enough to feed them again. There are people out there who know much more than I do, and will give the calculations of how much space and time you need per pound of weight of your live animals. You can search for "rotational grazing", "intensive rotational grazing", and "mob grazing". They are all variations on the same principles. It's also good for your soil. We put our chicken tractors in the paddock as the cows move to the next one, and the chickens help eat the bugs from the cow manure and spread it around the paddock. I hope this was helpful! We do have to feed our cows hay in winter, and we get hay from my mom's hay pasture, so that is one way we keep our expenses down.
Love it. We have been gardening for a few years and now will try a few dual purpose chickens. Been following Joel Salatin, Rhodes, living traditions, a bunch of others,…hope to see you at homesteaders of America conference in va this October…driving from Pittsburgh 😃🌈🤙
Could you point me to a video of you explaining the logistics behind the cows? I thought that 2.5 acres would barely be enough for one cow but you have like 6. I'd be interested to see what the thinking is behind that
I can give you a explanation, more quickly than I can find a video about it. We rotate them through small sections, allowing the grass to grow up in between. We also fertilize with our own homemade fertilizer, and the chickens go through the paddocks to help with healthy pasture. But the biggest reason we are able to do this is because my mom (our 2.5 acres is on her farm) has a hay pasture of 12 acres and supplies us with free hay for winter. If we had to purchase hay over winter, we would keep fewer cows for sure. We also don't always have this many, as we raise them and sell or butcher them. Like this winter we will only have three, two moms and a small calf. so the number varies from season to season.
You sure can! Start where you are with one small changes, like a garden or raising rabbits for meat, or getting a beehive. Small changes one at a time lead to a bigger and better life!
I use to have 3 acres & loved everything about it, I raised rabbits to sell & that I spent 15 years doing, But ended up losing everything in the housing market crash of 08 & haven't been able to get another piece of land since. Now we're in our mid 60's & 70's & JUST NOW GETTING on our feet & if everything goes right we hope to have enough $ & energy to find us some land like we had @ 1 time but I doubt it.
That housing market was tough on a lot of people. You know, you can probably do much of what you did, but on a smaller scale, even in the city you could do a garden and rabbits. I think getting systems in place to make your work easier is what I would be looking for. Start small and build up.
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm Right now staying put for the next 5 years is what I'm looking at & where I am I don't have the land to do a whole lot & @ our age we've lost the land of opportunities.
Question about the hand pump for the well; Did you dig another well or just install the well pump over your existing well. We have a well too and if it's that easy, we can add a hand pump sooner.
We installed it in our exiting well. This pump cost about $75 (plus pipe, fittings, glue, etc.), we were able to use it because our static water level is 13 feet. This pump is only rated to pull from about 25 feet or shallower. If your water level is lower than that, there are other types of hand pumps that will work, but they cost several hundred dollars. It's till worth it IMO, but it is a consideration. Chris watched several videos and read reviews before deciding which way for us to go. Good Luck!
Wow, just ran into your channel through Liz. I love what you are doing unfortunately I live farther north in the PNW. This shorter season is really limiting. However I do have a question. How did you figure out how to sell your eggs? I love chickens and have had them before. Last flock, the coyotes got them. The electric portable sheep fencing we were using fell down. :( Do you have to deal with them? Thanks for your thoughts?
I'm so glad you hopped over from Liz's channel. I adore her. My brother lives not far from Seattle, so I know exactly what you are talking about. If you want to sell eggs, you'll need to check your states cottage food laws. In Missouri, you can sell eggs direct from farm to customer with no license, so that is what we do. (We also float test all our eggs unless a customer prefers to get unwashed eggs, then we highly suggest they float test them before eating.) I looked at the store for the prices of eggs and also checked fb and craigslist to set my price. Then I started asking around if anyone was interested in getting eggs every week. It took a little while to build up my customer base, but now I usually have a wait list to add customers, or I simply put it on fb when I have an opening and it fills up pretty quickly.
What don’t you like about the chicken tractor? I’m truly curios, not being defensive. We have it and our A frame chicken house side by side for winter, and the chickens prefer the tractor. As 3/4 or them go in it for the night while only a few go in the A frame.
You're doing great! Are you guys still working regular jobs too? We're in northwest Arkansas, still in a suburban area, but we have a half acre - doing what we can here! 🌳🌱🌳🌱😁
We do work! My husband has a full time job, and I own my own business and am off farm approximate 30+ hours a week. We add one new type of animal or venture each year, so it’s been slow going, but that makes it manageable. We get really good at one thing before moving on to the next. You can do a lot on a half acre! What have you got so far?
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm We typically plant a lot of tomatoes and chiles for summer. We've got 2 apple trees, 2 pear trees, a peach tree and a pomegranate tree. In the greenhouse, we've got 3 owari mandarin trees, a lemon tree, and attempting to keep a carambola (Star fruit) and tamarillo trees alive. 🙏🏼 We've also got some blueberry, blackberry and raspberry. This year we're adding another pomegranate, a cherry tree, an almond tree, pineapple guava, honey berry, goji berry, goumi berry, paw paws, an Italian plum and an apricot. We're going to try a lot of new summer crops too. 😁 My wife and I both work, and we have 3 little ones, so we're doing our best with the time we have. We've considered chickens, but not sure yet.
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm Thank you! Yes, we've been thinking about both of those options. We used to eat rabbit when I was growing up in San Antonio, TX. I'm not really sure what we would do better with...We do eat a lot of eggs, but I've seen a lot of homesteaders say that raising chickens for eggs is not cost effective...still researching. Maybe we'll come see your farm someday, since you're so close!
We don’t eat a lot of eggs, but eggs are one of our main products we sell on the farm. Right now I’ve got about 60 free range hens and sell about 18-20 dozen a week @$3/dz. which is the most I can get for my farm saturated area. It’s enough to pay for their own feed, and the other animal feed, with the exception of the pigs. Which are ... pigs ... when it comes to eating. It was a slow market to get into, but I now have a full customer base. We call eggs the gateway farm product. Because once we get someone hooked on our eggs, they also want to buy our honey, veg, and meat products. :) Visiting is an option. When the time comes, look us up on fb “Plan Bee Orchard and Farm” and send us a message so we can make arrangements.
They are about 1/4 acre paddocks. What helps is that we get free hay from my mom, she has hay fields. If we had to buy hay over winter it would cost much more. But we graze from April through Oct/Nov (depending on weather) without feeding hay, by rotating through the small sections.
So fun to find you & your channel via Liz Zorab's channel! 🥳 I'm in Long Beach, California and want my family & I to get the heck outta here & up to Washington state to do just what you're doing! For now it's Urban Gardening 🤷♀️ I also found your Insta page and look forward to following!😊 I'm over @the.joy.of.dirt on Instagram 👩🌾 PS...❤ your homestead & the tour!
Well hello to a fellow SoCal gal. We came from the Norwalk/Downey area. I wish I had started an urban garden or urban homestead while we were still there; I would be much farther in my journey now, if I had. But we can't go back, so I look forward. :) Best of luck!
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm Happy Friday! Wow...we were practically neighbors! I'm hoping to parlay all this urban homesteading experience into a more rural spot like yours one day 🙏
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm I totally get it! That's why we're looking at the potential move to Washington state because that's where my parents are and they are getting older and need more help...it's like we're living parallel lives 😂
Ive just found you with the help from Liz Z channel. Byther Farm and find you so enjoyable to watch. Im just starting out in a few months time a new adventure on a small holding in Cornwall UK 🇬🇧. My land is only 3.6 acres. And only a small part of it turned over to growing veg. ( 0.13of an acres) i hope to be opening a summer camp site for a handful of tents. Im not planning to raise meat to eat but do have chickens for eggs that will move with me. Also hoping to have a few ducks, a couple of pet pigs, have a hive just need some Bees, maybe 3 alpacas for walking with. What are the posts you have towards the end of your video in your veg garden pls.
Sounds like you have fantastic plans for your property. I can't wait to hear how it all turns out. Let me watch the video and see what posts you are speaking of...
OK, those are fence posts, and a "cattle panel" between them to use as a trellis for peas and other veg. It's what I was sitting in front of in Liz's video. I don't think you have cattle panels in the UK. I'm not sure what the equivalent would be there.
I found your channel by watching Living Traditions. We only have 2 acres in the southeast Missouri bootheel area & are just beginning to homestead. Actually, we're in the process of building a house on it & are currently still living in town. I was thinking since we don't have much land that we wouldn't be able to have cows, so we were looking at getting a couple dairy goats instead. I thought about Nubian does & breeding them with a meat goat buck since we could also grow the kids out for meat. Still doing research though. We were wanting to try to cut down on feed costs for our chickens we already have & the goats, pigs, & rabbits we want to get when we finally get to move onto our property. I'm thinking if we have cows it would cut down on land used for pasture &/or to grow food for the animals. I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.
You can do quite a bit on 2 acres. If you have cattle, they either need pasture or hay. Our 2.5 acres is on my mom’s farm, and she has 8 or 9 acres that is mowed for hay. She splits it with the people who come mow it. She gives us free hay- as much as we need. I would say you could probably have 1 dairy cow, in a small paddock, breed her to a beef and raise the baby for meat. (Like your goat plan) But you will most likely have to buy hay at least for fall and winter. I’ve seen pictures of old time homes - like in Europe- where they had a family cow, some other animals, a small orchard and garden, all on about an acre. So it can be done, but it depends on how much you want to spend feeding the animals. Have you eaten goat? I haven’t. 🤷🏼♀️ but I’ve had goat milk and enjoyed it.
I am wondering, as you talk about butchering the cows at a facility, As a family that hunts, what would be the difference for us to butcher the beef ourselves and save the expense? We do this anyway with any large game we harvest.
I do know families who butcher their own beef. It is doable. You need a way to hoist a thousand pound animal, some people use a tractor. For us the expense of the butcher is minimal, compared with the cost of grocery store beef, and we don’t have the knowledge or the equipment to do it properly.
Wait. You have that many cows on 2.5 acers? Do you use other land to raise them on? I was always under the impression you needed more than that for just one cow.
We rotate through several small paddocks, and we feed hay over winter. We live where (typically) we get 45 inches of rain per year, so rotating then through our 6 paddocks gives each of them two weeks to grow back up before they are back in it for 2-3 days. My moms hay pasture usually gets 3 cuttings a year. This year, however, is a drought year and we have already started feeding them hay. We also only got two cuttings, and the hay pasture isn’t going to get enough for a third so we will probably let them graze the hay pasture this year. Which we usually don’t.
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm please reply to Erica Gates. How big are each paddock you have? How many times do you rotate them? Will appreciate your answer. Thank you
Did you "dig" that well yourself? (the two of you?) ... I want to do that for my future farm but I am sure the height of the water table is the issue ... and also the health of the water (human level).
We did not hand dig the well. We hired a company, and there is an electric pump in the well to supply the house. We added the hand pump as a back up should we ever lose power for an extended period of time.
I'm thinking about doing bee keeping for a sustainable project. Is it true the honey being harvested are warm/hot to a degree? So does that mean the hive itself is warm? Thanks! Oh I forgot, the beef cattles. Since you have 2.5 acres, I heard its 1.5 acre per cattle, how is it possible you have more than 2 there? Is it just a myth? Growing sustainably to sustain the cattle how'd you do it with 2.5 acres? Or maybe 1 acre?
I’ve never noticed the hive (or frames or honey) being warm to the touch, but it is warm enough for the honey to stay liquid. We do rotational grazing during Spring and Summer, which allows you to have more cows on less acreage. In winter we feed hay, which we get free from my mom. If we had to buy hay, we would have fewer cattle for sure.
We rotate them through small pastures in the green season and feed them hay in winter. My mom gives us free hay from her pasture. If we had to buy in hay, we would probably have fewer cows.
100% you can! You can keep goats in a city backyard if your city allows it. They don’t need much space at all, especially if you get a smaller breed. You will need to buy hay and feed for them, they don’t really graze pasture like cows do. They prefer weeds and brush and things like that,the lower limbs of trees things about their head height.
We have a very small herd with two mama cows, and the number of calves changed from year to year, but never more than five total. During the summer and fall we rotational graze them in five small paddocks. But what really makes it cost effective for us is that my mom has a hay pasture and gives us free hay over winter. If we had to buy in hay it would cost us between $1,200-$2,000 a year. (Around here hay costs $60-$100 a big round bale depending on whether it’s a year of plenty or drought)
Great question. Our 2.5 acres are leased on my mom’s farm. She has a hay pasture and gives us hay for free. We rotate the cows through 6 small paddocks from March through October and feed hay Nov-Feb. We use grain sparingly, usually only in the 6-8 weeks leading up to butchering, or calf grower feed if we have a “bottle baby” that doesn’t have a mama feeding it. If we had to buy hay we would probably keep fewer cattle.
We have small paddocks and we rotational graze on our 2.5 acres throughout the Spring and Summer. My mom has a hay pasture, and supplies us with free hay for the winter months, we go through about 12-15 big round bales a year. That would be a big expense if she wasn't so generous. We have sent one steer to butcher, so right now we have two mama cows and two heifers. We are at about our max of what our land can handle, and will sell or butcher as we need to, and as our cows have more calves.
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm thanks for your answer, it helped me... im struggleing those times with hay expences and dry land during summer times... im wishing you the best
It’s really expensive unfortunately: two hives of 3 to four boxes each, plus frames and foundation, feeders, smoker, hive tool, veil at least (I don’t wear a full suit, just a veil to protect my face), then you have to buy bees. You’re looking at $500 ish. However if you manage your bees well, you’ll recoup a lot of the cost by selling honey starting the second year.
I haven’t watched the video in a while, but I’m going to assume it’s the extractor. You cut the caps off the honeycomb, put it inside, and when you spin it, the centrifugal force pulls the honey out of the honey comb.
@@chicoringler Once the grass starts growing in Spring we rotate them through about 6 small sections on our 2.5 acres. Each section will feed them for about 3-4 days, so they only are in one section about once in 3 weeks. In winter, we feed them hay. My mom has a hay pasture (adjoining our property that we lease from her) and supplies us with free hay. We also feed them a little grain from time to time, mostly to make sure they come when we call them. If we didn't get free hay from my mom, that would be our biggest expense as hay can range anywhere from $75-$95 for a big round bale and we go through about a bale a week.
You want to take a guess at how many animals are killed to keep vegetable and fruit crops from failing? Come on now don't be shy! Get off that moral high horse and take a gander at it!
At 1:22 there's a bee on her shoulder. I thought that was super cute! Then I noticed that her shirt is all flowers! That explains the confused bee!!! Lol! Thanks so much for sharing your homestead with us!!!
I didn’t notice until I was editing!
wow so many small homesteaders say 5 acres is just small enough and they usually plan to upgrade land within a few years. Seeing your 2.5 acre homestead with so much variety is awesome!! I was looking for larger places but I think I will try 2-3 acres for our next home. We have rabbits and chickens right now. Can't wait to get more land!
You can do a LOT on a small property. I saw a PBS show that featured a homestead on a backyard lot in Pasadena (which is basically L.A.). It was awesome. One thing I might caution you about is the cows. With our 4/5 depending on the year we usually go through 2-3 big round bales of hay a month from Oct through March. So 12-18 bales. We get our hay from my mom for free. If not, we would have to buy it, and at $45-$60 a bale (depending on the year, drought years hay is scarce and price goes up) that could quickly overwhelm our budget.
You could keep one milk cow and breed her to a beef. Then you get meat and milk with less hay cost.
You could also keep goats or sheep, which also can provide meat and milk and because of their size eat less. And sheep usually have twins and triplets, so you can keep one and sell one or something like that.
Just throwing out some options for you! I hope this helps. :)
We are looking at some 2.5AC properties so this video is SO ENCOURAGING! We want to do a cow-calf setup with a mini dexter or mini jersey for milk & beef. And rabbits/chickens, & pigs. I don’t think sheep..... but who knows 🙄🤣
Do it!
I’m snapping up a 3 acre plot and planning for the goats, chickens and rabbits right away.
The hand pump is great. That's how it was done 100 years ago, and you can even have a pump like that inside at the kitchen sink.
Great job.
~Sterling~
Thanks Sterling! One day we would like to add solar and some other of grid options, but it’s a start.
Lol the bee on her shirt : "Yo these flowers aint real! >:("
right???
Very impressive farm. We live in Southwest Missouri on 1.95 acres that we bought in December 2019. Last year we planted 180 tomato plants (I don't plan on doing that again!), plus cucumbers, zucchini, yellow straight neck squash, Illinois squash, bell peppers, jalapenos, watermelon, green beans and onions. I'm excited to follow you on your journey again this year.
180 tomato plants! You must have been canning for weeks!! Unless you sold them. I’m tripling my garden this year by adding a whole new plot. Cant wait!!
Your place just looks beautiful. I have been watching your channel for years. Great job and you are inspiring.
You’ve been watching a long time! I appreciate you and your encouraging words.
Ten seconds into the video and I had to stop... hit the like button and subscribe. Best wishes from the U.K.! 👍
I'm so impressed by how much you can produce on just 2.5 acres!
You really can. The whole property is 28 acres. We lease 2.5 from my mom. She does give us free hay that isn’t from the 2.5, but everything we actively produce is on our small part.
I’m considering buying a 2 acre farm. I currently have a half acre and it isn’t enough. I was hoping to get 5 acres but now that I see yours I’m thinking 2 may be enough.
I think bees are amazing. Really. I admire them so much.
Me too!! 😍🐝
wow this is amazing!!!! great job! did you order a hand pump kit? if so can you tell me where! what a great idea.
We did, let me find the link for you. We got it off Amazon, but what you should know is that it can only pull from about 30 feet, so if your water level is below that, you'll need a different model. We have static water at about 13 feet, so it's nice for us.
amzn.to/3u3qDHI
Great video. Im building my 4.25 acre homestead of in northern Ireland. I'll be getting started this spring with my veg garden and chicken. Thanks for sharing
Lorella you and Chris have learned so much in the years that you have been in Missouri. I am so proud of you. My hat is off. Since I have been watching since the beginning I can say that. So much work to do on our spread in Canada. Cannot wait for all of this virus nonsense to be over so that I can reschedual my trip to China.
God Bless Joe
Thanks, Joe! We really have come so far since our days in the city. I was thinking of you this week, as I watched blister beetles destroy my brassicas. I thought “Joe told me I need row cover! three years ago. I guess now is the time to invest the money.” I’m so glad you’re still watching and encouraging.
Thanks for sharing this with me and everyone else who’s on here new subscriber
Thanks for subbing and commenting.
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm my pleasure my friend
I love it, Lorella! You guys are making it happen! I would love to have room to raise our own steer (a milk cow wouldn't hurt my feelings either! ;) ). Keep up the great work and God bless you!
Thanks! I’m quite pleased with where we are on our journey. At one point I thought I wanted milk goats, but I still work off farm, so I don’t want to commit to daily milking.
Very nice video. I had.a little chuckle when you sat next to the bee hive wearing a floral print blouse. You totally confused one poor bee. Everything is coming along nicely. I will catch up o your past videos.
I didn’t even notice that bed until I was editing! 😂🤦🏼♀️
When we moved from Idaho to Arkansas to years ago, the FIRST thing we did (even before totally unpacking) was to plant 9 fruit trees. Now we have 23 fruit trees and 13 Fig trees.
#1 Yeah!!! Absolutely love your videos. You are so full of knowledge, humor and understanding.
Well thanks so much. What a nice thing to say. 😊
Nice bee on your shoulder :) ... well done.
Haha! I wish I had noticed her while I was filming. 😀
It’s fun to watch you guys! Adventurous!
Thanks, we are having fun for sure!
Good video. We are relocating to Indiana an old farm house on 2.5 acres. Has a barn and some fencing for paddocks. I don't know if I could do all that you have but nice to see what is possible.
You can do a LOT on 2.5 acres! Best of luck.
Better late than never; I congratulate you for the good work. Watching from Kenya
awesome vid!
Thanks!
Love the garden. 😁
Thanks! I’ve put a lot of focus on the garden this year and I’m really pleased with it.
The tour was interesting. We're moving on to 2.3 acres and it both seemed huge after little tiny city lots and small compared to so many of these other homesteaders. We're thinking goats, not beef because so far we don't have a ton of grass here in our part of Southern Utah, so all your grass looks amazing.
Yeah. If we didn't have free hay from my mom's pastures, it would be a different story. I haven't ever had goat meat, so not sure how it compares to beef, but I had never had rabbit before moving here, either, and I love it.
It did feel so big compared to our small city lot, but tiny compared to surrounding farms, so I get it!
This gives me hope! We just bought 5 acres. We have 3 does right now but i really want a milk cow probably a small breed but everyone says we need more land. We gave good pasture on 4 acres so I think we should with rotation be able to have one.
We do have to feed hay all winter. My mom has a 12 acre hay field and gives us free hay, if not, the hay cost would be about $500 a year. With 4 acres, you should be able to do one cow + calf, but not more than that without bringing in hay.
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm we plan on hay for the winter. We have hard cold winters so we planned for it. We get a pretty good deal on hay from a friend. We dont plan on doing more then cow and her calf.
It all looks great, Lorella. What an improvement on your garden! You have reason to be proud, it looks awesome! 😃
We were going to get some bottle calves. But one of the jobs my guys did refused to pay for work done. If they don't get paid, I don't get paid. They have since been paid for other jobs, but unfortunately those bottle calves were no longer available. Maybe next time.
Aw man that’s a bummer. Someday though you’ll get them.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful homestead. We just bought two acres and we are so excited.
Oh I’m so excited for you! What’s your first project?
super great job.... everything looks wonderful. love the bee on your shirt too cute. pammie from chicago il
Thanks, Pam! (I feel weird calling you Pammie, it sounds so familiar, but if that’s what you prefer, I will) ☺️
Yes! The 🐝! 😂😂😂
I love the tour! Thank you for showing. I'm a little confused how you have so many cow pastures on only 2.5 acres?
We have 6 small paddocks of about 1/4 acre each. (That is part of the 2.5 acres) We rotational graze on these paddocks as long as there is grass.
My mom has a 10 acre pasture that adjoins our 2.5, and she gives us free hay from that pasture in winter. Without that, we would have to buy hay.
Wowww super nice looks great, keep up the Good work.
Mogul..
Thank you very much!
G'day from South Australia! We met on Farmstead smiths Live. I wanted to come over watch and sub. Awesome intro and contracts on what you have done- its hard work lol :)
I’m so glad you popped over to visit. :) it has been hard work, but so so worth it.
Great job and super inspiring!
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for easing my worry about bees; it is the last third animal we want for our homestead. We are a family of five. We decided to leave city life to become sustainable by buying over 2 acres of land in our state next week. We wanted to add bees because we will be growing our garden to help yield more crops with a raised garden with less space.
Wonderful!
Can you explain how you rotate the cows and how much space each paddock has? You've inspired me!
The paddocks are roughly 1/3 acre. We try to put the cows on each one for at least a week, preferably a week and a half. When there are more calves with the cows, it takes them fewer days to eat it down. we have about 5 sections that we move them through, so it is 5-7 weeks before they return to that section, and hopefully, in a normal year with plenty of rain, the grass has grown high enough to feed them again.
There are people out there who know much more than I do, and will give the calculations of how much space and time you need per pound of weight of your live animals.
You can search for "rotational grazing", "intensive rotational grazing", and "mob grazing". They are all variations on the same principles. It's also good for your soil.
We put our chicken tractors in the paddock as the cows move to the next one, and the chickens help eat the bugs from the cow manure and spread it around the paddock.
I hope this was helpful!
We do have to feed our cows hay in winter, and we get hay from my mom's hay pasture, so that is one way we keep our expenses down.
Just found you thru Liz! I am impressed by how level all the tops of the t-posts for your trellises are. Lol. Looking forward to your channel.
Thanks for coming by! Those level tops are 100% due to my husband's oversight. LOL
Great Homestead!
Thank you!!
Love it. We have been gardening for a few years and now will try a few dual purpose chickens. Been following Joel Salatin, Rhodes, living traditions, a bunch of others,…hope to see you at homesteaders of America conference in va this October…driving from Pittsburgh 😃🌈🤙
HOA is too far for me at this time. But I’m usually at the Baker Creek spring planting festival.
Could you point me to a video of you explaining the logistics behind the cows? I thought that 2.5 acres would barely be enough for one cow but you have like 6. I'd be interested to see what the thinking is behind that
I can give you a explanation, more quickly than I can find a video about it. We rotate them through small sections, allowing the grass to grow up in between. We also fertilize with our own homemade fertilizer, and the chickens go through the paddocks to help with healthy pasture. But the biggest reason we are able to do this is because my mom (our 2.5 acres is on her farm) has a hay pasture of 12 acres and supplies us with free hay for winter. If we had to purchase hay over winter, we would keep fewer cows for sure. We also don't always have this many, as we raise them and sell or butcher them. Like this winter we will only have three, two moms and a small calf. so the number varies from season to season.
I want to live this life sooooo bad
You sure can! Start where you are with one small changes, like a garden or raising rabbits for meat, or getting a beehive. Small changes one at a time lead to a bigger and better life!
I use to have 3 acres & loved everything about it, I raised rabbits to sell & that
I spent 15 years doing, But ended up losing everything in the housing market crash
of 08 & haven't been able to get another piece of land since. Now we're in our mid
60's & 70's & JUST NOW GETTING on our feet & if everything goes right we hope
to have enough $ & energy to find us some land like we had @ 1 time but I doubt it.
That housing market was tough on a lot of people.
You know, you can probably do much of what you did, but on a smaller scale, even in the city you could do a garden and rabbits. I think getting systems in place to make your work easier is what I would be looking for. Start small and build up.
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm Right now staying put for the next 5 years
is what I'm looking at & where I am I don't
have the land to do a whole lot & @ our
age we've lost the land of opportunities.
Question about the hand pump for the well; Did you dig another well or just install the well pump over your existing well. We have a well too and if it's that easy, we can add a hand pump sooner.
We installed it in our exiting well. This pump cost about $75 (plus pipe, fittings, glue, etc.), we were able to use it because our static water level is 13 feet. This pump is only rated to pull from about 25 feet or shallower. If your water level is lower than that, there are other types of hand pumps that will work, but they cost several hundred dollars. It's till worth it IMO, but it is a consideration. Chris watched several videos and read reviews before deciding which way for us to go. Good Luck!
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm Awesome! Thank you!
Wow, just ran into your channel through Liz. I love what you are doing unfortunately I live farther north in the PNW. This shorter season is really limiting. However I do have a question. How did you figure out how to sell your eggs? I love chickens and have had them before. Last flock, the coyotes got them. The electric portable sheep fencing we were using fell down. :( Do you have to deal with them? Thanks for your thoughts?
I'm so glad you hopped over from Liz's channel. I adore her. My brother lives not far from Seattle, so I know exactly what you are talking about. If you want to sell eggs, you'll need to check your states cottage food laws. In Missouri, you can sell eggs direct from farm to customer with no license, so that is what we do. (We also float test all our eggs unless a customer prefers to get unwashed eggs, then we highly suggest they float test them before eating.) I looked at the store for the prices of eggs and also checked fb and craigslist to set my price. Then I started asking around if anyone was interested in getting eggs every week. It took a little while to build up my customer base, but now I usually have a wait list to add customers, or I simply put it on fb when I have an opening and it fills up pretty quickly.
Well done. Im not a fan of your chicken tractor design but love the pigs, cows, orchard, n super veggie garden.
What don’t you like about the chicken tractor? I’m truly curios, not being defensive.
We have it and our A frame chicken house side by side for winter, and the chickens prefer the tractor. As 3/4 or them go in it for the night while only a few go in the A frame.
Amazing
Thank you!
You're doing great! Are you guys still working regular jobs too?
We're in northwest Arkansas, still in a suburban area, but we have a half acre - doing what we can here! 🌳🌱🌳🌱😁
We do work! My husband has a full time job, and I own my own business and am off farm approximate 30+ hours a week. We add one new type of animal or venture each year, so it’s been slow going, but that makes it manageable. We get really good at one thing before moving on to the next.
You can do a lot on a half acre! What have you got so far?
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm We typically plant a lot of tomatoes and chiles for summer. We've got 2 apple trees, 2 pear trees, a peach tree and a pomegranate tree. In the greenhouse, we've got 3 owari mandarin trees, a lemon tree, and attempting to keep a carambola (Star fruit) and tamarillo trees alive. 🙏🏼 We've also got some blueberry, blackberry and raspberry. This year we're adding another pomegranate, a cherry tree, an almond tree, pineapple guava, honey berry, goji berry, goumi berry, paw paws, an Italian plum and an apricot. We're going to try a lot of new summer crops too. 😁 My wife and I both work, and we have 3 little ones, so we're doing our best with the time we have. We've considered chickens, but not sure yet.
That is great! If you are wanting eggs, chickens are great, but for meat, I would consider rabbits. Less noise, less space, and easier to process!
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm Thank you! Yes, we've been thinking about both of those options. We used to eat rabbit when I was growing up in San Antonio, TX. I'm not really sure what we would do better with...We do eat a lot of eggs, but I've seen a lot of homesteaders say that raising chickens for eggs is not cost effective...still researching. Maybe we'll come see your farm someday, since you're so close!
We don’t eat a lot of eggs, but eggs are one of our main products we sell on the farm. Right now I’ve got about 60 free range hens and sell about 18-20 dozen a week @$3/dz. which is the most I can get for my farm saturated area. It’s enough to pay for their own feed, and the other animal feed, with the exception of the pigs. Which are ... pigs ... when it comes to eating. It was a slow market to get into, but I now have a full customer base. We call eggs the gateway farm product. Because once we get someone hooked on our eggs, they also want to buy our honey, veg, and meat products. :)
Visiting is an option. When the time comes, look us up on fb “Plan Bee Orchard and Farm” and send us a message so we can make arrangements.
How do you raise beef on 2 acres? WOW! That's amazing! How big are each of your pastures?
They are about 1/4 acre paddocks. What helps is that we get free hay from my mom, she has hay fields. If we had to buy hay over winter it would cost much more. But we graze from April through Oct/Nov (depending on weather) without feeding hay, by rotating through the small sections.
So fun to find you & your channel via Liz Zorab's channel! 🥳
I'm in Long Beach, California and want my family & I to get the heck outta here & up to Washington state to do just what you're doing! For now it's Urban Gardening 🤷♀️
I also found your Insta page and look forward to following!😊
I'm over @the.joy.of.dirt on Instagram 👩🌾
PS...❤ your homestead & the tour!
Well hello to a fellow SoCal gal. We came from the Norwalk/Downey area. I wish I had started an urban garden or urban homestead while we were still there; I would be much farther in my journey now, if I had. But we can't go back, so I look forward. :) Best of luck!
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm Happy Friday! Wow...we were practically neighbors! I'm hoping to parlay all this urban homesteading experience into a more rural spot like yours one day 🙏
@@thejoyofdirt1610 For me the decision was easier when my dad was diagnosed. We moved onto my parents' property to help them out.
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm I totally get it! That's why we're looking at the potential move to Washington state because that's where my parents are and they are getting older and need more help...it's like we're living parallel lives 😂
@@thejoyofdirt1610 We totally are!
Ive just found you with the help from Liz Z channel. Byther Farm and find you so enjoyable to watch.
Im just starting out in a few months time a new adventure on a small holding in Cornwall UK 🇬🇧. My land is only 3.6 acres. And only a small part of it turned over to growing veg. ( 0.13of an acres) i hope to be opening a summer camp site for a handful of tents. Im not planning to raise meat to eat but do have chickens for eggs that will move with me. Also hoping to have a few ducks, a couple of pet pigs, have a hive just need some Bees, maybe 3 alpacas for walking with.
What are the posts you have towards the end of your video in your veg garden pls.
Sounds like you have fantastic plans for your property. I can't wait to hear how it all turns out. Let me watch the video and see what posts you are speaking of...
OK, those are fence posts, and a "cattle panel" between them to use as a trellis for peas and other veg. It's what I was sitting in front of in Liz's video. I don't think you have cattle panels in the UK. I'm not sure what the equivalent would be there.
Butcher fee? All you need is a good cool morning and a few helping hands.
If you have the want to, sure, but for now I'd rather have a butcher do it.
I found your channel by watching Living Traditions. We only have 2 acres in the southeast Missouri bootheel area & are just beginning to homestead. Actually, we're in the process of building a house on it & are currently still living in town. I was thinking since we don't have much land that we wouldn't be able to have cows, so we were looking at getting a couple dairy goats instead. I thought about Nubian does & breeding them with a meat goat buck since we could also grow the kids out for meat. Still doing research though. We were wanting to try to cut down on feed costs for our chickens we already have & the goats, pigs, & rabbits we want to get when we finally get to move onto our property. I'm thinking if we have cows it would cut down on land used for pasture &/or to grow food for the animals. I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.
You can do quite a bit on 2 acres. If you have cattle, they either need pasture or hay. Our 2.5 acres is on my mom’s farm, and she has 8 or 9 acres that is mowed for hay. She splits it with the people who come mow it. She gives us free hay- as much as we need. I would say you could probably have 1 dairy cow, in a small paddock, breed her to a beef and raise the baby for meat. (Like your goat plan) But you will most likely have to buy hay at least for fall and winter. I’ve seen pictures of old time homes - like in Europe- where they had a family cow, some other animals, a small orchard and garden, all on about an acre. So it can be done, but it depends on how much you want to spend feeding the animals.
Have you eaten goat? I haven’t. 🤷🏼♀️ but I’ve had goat milk and enjoyed it.
I am wondering, as you talk about butchering the cows at a facility, As a family that hunts, what would be the difference for us to butcher the beef ourselves and save the expense? We do this anyway with any large game we harvest.
I do know families who butcher their own beef. It is doable. You need a way to hoist a thousand pound animal, some people use a tractor.
For us the expense of the butcher is minimal, compared with the cost of grocery store beef, and we don’t have the knowledge or the equipment to do it properly.
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm Thank you, I love your channel and videos.
Wait. You have that many cows on 2.5 acers? Do you use other land to raise them on? I was always under the impression you needed more than that for just one cow.
We rotate through several small paddocks, and we feed hay over winter. We live where (typically) we get 45 inches of rain per year, so rotating then through our 6 paddocks gives each of them two weeks to grow back up before they are back in it for 2-3 days. My moms hay pasture usually gets 3 cuttings a year. This year, however, is a drought year and we have already started feeding them hay. We also only got two cuttings, and the hay pasture isn’t going to get enough for a third so we will probably let them graze the hay pasture this year. Which we usually don’t.
But to answer your question rotational grazing makes a huge difference on how many acres per head you need.
Would you be able to explain the rotation plan? This is something we are considering doing!
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm please reply to Erica Gates. How big are each paddock you have? How many times do you rotate them? Will appreciate your answer. Thank you
@@EricaGates0623 and m.m Hossain, I'm going to have my husband reply. He'll have a better answer for you.
Did you "dig" that well yourself? (the two of you?) ... I want to do that for my future farm but I am sure the height of the water table is the issue ... and also the health of the water (human level).
We did not hand dig the well. We hired a company, and there is an electric pump in the well to supply the house. We added the hand pump as a back up should we ever lose power for an extended period of time.
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm So you connected to your existing well for the handpump
Yes.
I'm thinking about doing bee keeping for a sustainable project. Is it true the honey being harvested are warm/hot to a degree? So does that mean the hive itself is warm? Thanks!
Oh I forgot, the beef cattles. Since you have 2.5 acres, I heard its 1.5 acre per cattle, how is it possible you have more than 2 there? Is it just a myth? Growing sustainably to sustain the cattle how'd you do it with 2.5 acres? Or maybe 1 acre?
I’ve never noticed the hive (or frames or honey) being warm to the touch, but it is warm enough for the honey to stay liquid.
We do rotational grazing during Spring and Summer, which allows you to have more cows on less acreage. In winter we feed hay, which we get free from my mom. If we had to buy hay, we would have fewer cattle for sure.
How do you have so many cows on only 2.5 acres? I’m so confused. The grass looks so green too
We rotate them through small pastures in the green season and feed them hay in winter. My mom gives us free hay from her pasture. If we had to buy in hay, we would probably have fewer cows.
2.5 acres, enough space to do many things.
Yes, so much potential!
Can I keep goats on a farm of this size for milking? I read that you need an acre per cow which I wouldn't be able to do.
100% you can! You can keep goats in a city backyard if your city allows it. They don’t need much space at all, especially if you get a smaller breed. You will need to buy hay and feed for them, they don’t really graze pasture like cows do. They prefer weeds and brush and things like that,the lower limbs of trees things about their head height.
How are you doing that many cows on 2.5 acres!?? Make a video about please
We have a very small herd with two mama cows, and the number of calves changed from year to year, but never more than five total. During the summer and fall we rotational graze them in five small paddocks. But what really makes it cost effective for us is that my mom has a hay pasture and gives us free hay over winter. If we had to buy in hay it would cost us between $1,200-$2,000 a year. (Around here hay costs $60-$100 a big round bale depending on whether it’s a year of plenty or drought)
Also I’ll make a video this summer when the grass is high and we are rotating.
Everything in this video is on 2.5 acres? Seems like a lot of beef with everything else, how much feed/hay do you buy?
Great question. Our 2.5 acres are leased on my mom’s farm. She has a hay pasture and gives us hay for free. We rotate the cows through 6 small paddocks from March through October and feed hay Nov-Feb. We use grain sparingly, usually only in the 6-8 weeks leading up to butchering, or calf grower feed if we have a “bottle baby” that doesn’t have a mama feeding it. If we had to buy hay we would probably keep fewer cattle.
I see it
you have a big cattle herd, how is this possible with 2,5 acres... or do you have extra land for them?
We have small paddocks and we rotational graze on our 2.5 acres throughout the Spring and Summer. My mom has a hay pasture, and supplies us with free hay for the winter months, we go through about 12-15 big round bales a year. That would be a big expense if she wasn't so generous. We have sent one steer to butcher, so right now we have two mama cows and two heifers. We are at about our max of what our land can handle, and will sell or butcher as we need to, and as our cows have more calves.
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm thanks for your answer, it helped me... im struggleing those times with hay expences and dry land during summer times... im wishing you the best
How much is start up cost for bees?
It’s really expensive unfortunately:
two hives of 3 to four boxes each, plus frames and foundation, feeders, smoker, hive tool, veil at least (I don’t wear a full suit, just a veil to protect my face), then you have to buy bees. You’re looking at $500 ish. However if you manage your bees well, you’ll recoup a lot of the cost by selling honey starting the second year.
What is that spinning thing you werebusing with your honey?
I haven’t watched the video in a while, but I’m going to assume it’s the extractor. You cut the caps off the honeycomb, put it inside, and when you spin it, the centrifugal force pulls the honey out of the honey comb.
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm awesome. Thanks
what's the breed of your cows?
The mama cows are Charolais. They were bred to angus, so the calves are cross.
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm How do sustain your cows in the long run? What's your process?
@@chicoringler Once the grass starts growing in Spring we rotate them through about 6 small sections on our 2.5 acres. Each section will feed them for about 3-4 days, so they only are in one section about once in 3 weeks. In winter, we feed them hay. My mom has a hay pasture (adjoining our property that we lease from her) and supplies us with free hay. We also feed them a little grain from time to time, mostly to make sure they come when we call them. If we didn't get free hay from my mom, that would be our biggest expense as hay can range anywhere from $75-$95 for a big round bale and we go through about a bale a week.
@@LorellaPlanBeeOrchardandFarm amazing im so inspired to have my own small farm raised beef meat hehe..
How much land do you have
2.5 acres
Cruel ppl everything growing to sloughter
Are you a vegetarian?
I am sure he is. Cruel man! Pulls carrots by their tops, gouges the eyes out of potatoes. The inhumanity of it all!
You want to take a guess at how many animals are killed to keep vegetable and fruit crops from failing? Come on now don't be shy! Get off that moral high horse and take a gander at it!