We would like you to join our family in everyday farmstead activities in eastern NC. We will be doing some how to videos on equipment mechanics ,welding and fabrication. Please bear with us I'm good at fixing tractors and we're good farmers but we're not very good at making videos. Please be patient and continue watching while we learn. We promise they'll get better. Email: homesteadingthehardway@gmail.com
@@jeffhuntley2921 not much of anything is hog proof once they get five or six hundred pounds. I had a sow pull a 6 by 12 shelter up out of the ground just to have something to do . Best thing is never let them learn they can get out , a hot wire and a physical barrier and don't tempt them . We keep the boar and trim pigs out of sight of the sows and try not to drag around feeding up
Yes sir. MF 35 here. Gas engine. Built in 1962. $2,500. another $200 for front tires. So far I am using for bush hogging (used) and box blade (came with the tractor no charge). Watched your video on how to do maintenance on it. Thank you!
I couldn’t tell my sow was bred until about a month from farrowing then she got a wide belly on her and for the last week you could actually see the piglets moving in her belly. I have another sow that I thought was pregnant all summer she has a big low belly but still hasn’t farrowed. Both bred within a few days may 30 and June 2. Wondering what I can do to know if my second sow is bred or just fat. ?
Always good to see you my Dear friends I never met. I appreciate the time and kindness you have given to me..and prayers for God's continued blessings upon you both.
Thanks for all the info over the years! I’m on my 5th year and piglets are paying for themselves and feed for 10 cows for me this year. Lots of hard lessons
I was born and raised in Iowa, turning 46 this year. I don’t know of many farmers, even large scale, that don’t have a job off the farm. Same with ranchers. Everyone raises chickens and sells eggs it seems.
Best advice a person can get for starting a small farm is from the local farmers who have done it in their area or watch through some Homesteading the Hardway videos lol
Good to hear from you again. I had $86.00 in fertilizer this year, sold about $200.00 in muscadines and about $200.00 in okra, saved $32.00 feeding chickens my corn.
@HomesteadingtheHardWay I'm in the peedee area of SC, they sell good here and people go crazy over peas and butterbeans, over $40.00 a bushel. I can't give squash and zucchini away, sweet corn does good, I used to sell a dozen ears, shucked, for $7.00 I didn't have room this year, Iwas growing corn for seed, but next year I'm gonna sell shucked sweet corn for $8.00 per dozen. People love it shucked and you can cut any bad tips off, worms and tips go to laying hens and all those mineral rich shucks in compost pile.
I'm not a farmer or homesteader but have been watching this channel for 2-3 years. At 57 I realized I have a deep interest in farming and wish I had known it long ago.Not gonna do it,but I definitely appreciate this channel and recognize the honesty that Chris and wife share with all of us.Thank You
Great information.. not sure what I would label us Hobby farm, homestead or idiots lol. But we raise few cows, breed few pigs multiple gardens, high tunnel, chickens, rabbits. And don’t sell hardly anything, but we eat it all😀
Thanks, Chris. Appreciate your wisdom. Fixing and repairing is a lost skill anymore - even guys in their 40's and 50's can't fix a lawn mower, let alone run a torch or welder. They're losing money to equipment repairs.
Sorry to hear about your health. One thing that may make things a little easier on you in the future is a high tunnel. The NRCS has grants that help with it and mine was paid for completely. Now, I'm not a big fan of anything gov't related, but it is about the only way i've found to get back some of what i've paid them! Anyway, it's a more controlled environment and it cuts down quite a bit on labor. It may help you find a niche market for things, especially in the winter. A lot of your berry crops do well in them.
I made one of the youtube guys mad when I called his place a hobbie farm. He'd made his living as an architect, retired and was living the farm life. Spending money wasn't a problem for him, but it was easy to see he spent much more money than he had coming in farm wise.
Thanks for the mention bud. I have definitely had more failures than successes but you got to keep pushing. 2nd year for me on a fall crop failure 😂. Praying your health gets better. Pigs are doing great
@@SageandStoneHomestead about anywhere at least down here . One row Farmalls are 800.00 to 3500.00 depending on equipment and condition there's two MF 35s for sale on market place for 2800.00 I saw last night
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay I wish that was a possibility in KY but it's not. Nothing running well at least! We got a new LS tractor and brush Hog on loan. Thankfully the farm is paying for it.
I wanted to thank you and your wife because you are the only ones on youtube who are telling the truth about homesteading/small scale farming on youtube. Everyone else is just trying to film a tv show and think they are a farmer because they bought 5 acres and have a dozen chickens and a brand new tractor. You have provided so much practical wisdom for everyone wanting to farm I really appreciate you for doing this. There is no substitute for the wisdom that comes with experience.
Chris is speaking wisdom. Every little enterprise has to at least pay for itself. Chickens are pretty much a loss unless you sell chicks or hatching eggs. Trying to breed and raise cattle with less than 50 head at least is a losing proposition. I buy I calf every year and take 1 grown steer to the processor each year. I don't have the land to keep more than 2 or 3 cattle. Old tractors need to be maintained and worked on but they are really easy to work on. I have twice used my 1970's Massey Ferguson 150 to pull the 2022 model out of the highway after it stopped running. So new doesn't mean maintenance and trouble free.
Hope your health improves! Super important message for those new homesteaders. Avoid all debt you can. Buy used antique equipment for low cash. Ferguson 35/Ford N/AC B,C,WD/Farmall H,M,300 ... are all great tractors that fed the nation in their day and many common parts are still available. Buy the cheap used tractor and if you can't do repairs yourself, pay to get them done to have a reliable tractor, you'll be much farther ahead as the new tractors break down too! Plus you have payments every month even if it's snowing. Yeah, season has been bad up here way north of you too. Deer are roaming and anything good I had got mowed down, leaving me only bits of fertilizer for my troubles. Due to the solar sunspot cycle and earth's wandering poles/reduced magnetic field we will only get worse weather ahead. Potatoes and sweet sorghum have proven the most successful here this season.
Amen at 4:30 and great to hear from you again Chris ! Now I need to keep this quiet so don't tell anyone we bought a 1978 Allis- Chalmers Gleaner L2 combine last week with a 20 foot head to run soybeans with . Keep up the great work !
