The Work Continues

I don't have much time to write today, but for those of you are that are interested I thought I would share some of the things that we are wrapping up in the house this week. Finishing these projects is all part of our beginning farmer journey as we try to carve our farm out of this wide open piece of land (it feels especially wide open this week with the high winds we have had). Although I'm beginning to think that a sod house like some of the early Iowa settlers built the first year on their land might have been a bit less stressful (when it came to the finish work).

Anyways here is what we are finishing up (with the help of family of course):

• Tile is going up around the bathtub ... this will be a huge improvement over the shower curtains we had surrounding the tub.
• A ceiling and walls have gone up in the mudroom and there is even paint on the ceiling now!
• The trim for the mudroom is mostly painted.
• The outside lights are up and working.
• And, the thing I'm most proud of is that there is now a three switch, an outside light switch, and two working outlets in the mudroom. The picture above shows the connection I had to make to get everything working. I'm not sure if it is now the pro's would do it, but it works and I got all those wires jammed in the box ... I'm happy!

The loan rate is now locked in (pretty good timing) and I would say that the projects should begin wrapping up soon. Of course there is still plenty to do outside around the house (front porch, insulation around the concrete slab, concrete at the mudroom door, and the storm shelter), but once the inside is close to finished I will feel a little weight fall off of the shoulders.

Double Duty

"Peter Arnold wants his concrete to do double duty." That is the tag line of this months cover story in "Graze" magazine (it also happens to be my first issue). Anyways, Mr. Arnold's concrete in this case is dealing with his milking parlor and other things that you tries to utilize as often as possible. Basically he didn't want to put up a great structure that only had one use ... it had to be more that just one thing. Which got me thinking...

What all do I want to do with a building that I put up on this farm, and more importantly how much can I cram under one roof (realizing that not everything should or could go in there). So, what I did was come up with a list of what I would like a building to be. I would love to hear your thoughts or additions to my list.

1. Hay Storage: This is probably the number one priority because if I'm going to make small squares I'm going to need a place to keep them out of the weather.
2. Deep Bedding Feeding: I have described and discussed this a lot and after my last round, with the help of you all, I came to the realization that doing that in a back lean-to wasn't going to work. So, now I'm thinking of adding a third 16x24 bay for the winter cattle feeding area. That should allow me to get the tractor in because it would have 12 foot side walls.
3. Equipment Storage: Not all of my equipment needs to live inside all of the time, but it would be nice to have a place where I can park the tractor, baler, and a whatever else out of the weather. Plus, there is something to be said for having a place to work on equipment.
4. Livestock Stall: There are plenty of good reasons to have a stall in a shed where you can put an animal if need be. Some place out of the weather and relatively warm would be nice.
5. Feed Storage: I haven't really decided how this one would play out yet, but there is a need for storage of pig feed and chicken feed (and may more) on the farm. Having a dedicated place would be a good thing.

There you go ... just a few of my ideas. What can you add to the list?

Working on Our Building Plan

I don't know if you can tell or not, but when it comes to making a decision I usually take a long time and mull things over A LOT! That is what is going on with our shed/barn'ish building plans at the moment. I figure you only get one chance to put up a big building (I'm not really into tearing things down) so I better make sure that we have the right placement, the right design, the right price, and of course the right idea. So, here is what I'm thinking ... I would love to hear your thoughts on the plan.

• Right now we are looking at building a 24' x 32' building with clear span trusses and 12' side walls. The building would have walls on three sides and be open across the front to the South with two 16' bays. I am also going to ask the building how much it would cost to add another 16' bay making it 24' x 48', but money is an issue so we will have to see.
• Off of the back of the building I would like to add a 16' lean-to that will continue the pitch of the roof. This should give us about a 7' or 8' side wall on the lean-to and this area would ideally become a winter feeding area for our cattle. We would be able to throw down hay from the main area and feed the cattle in deep bedding much like Joel Salatin writes about and does. The lean-to would also mean that all of the main area could be used for storage.
• One of the questions we are facing is how much we are going to hire done and how much we are going to do ourselves. As of now we are planning with the same builder who put up the building for our house because we are comfortable with him and pleased with his work, but we aren't sure how much to have him do. Initially we were going to have him frame up the building and put on the roof. That would mean that we would add the lean-to and the steel for it and the sides. The thing we need to figure out is how easy it would be to add the lean-to after the building roof is done.
• Another question that I have been thinking about is what all we are going to add to the interior or around the shed. What I mean is that I would like to run electricity out there so we can plug in our fencers there and also have lights. It would also be great to have a water hydrant out there for watering livestock, and I have even been thinking about installing a freeze proof cattle water thing (something like this one).

So, there are some of the plans. There are more things that are bouncing around in my head, but I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Either things from experience or ideas that pop into your mind.

Can We Revisit the Barn/Shed Thing...

Okay, I realize that I spent two days already discussing this, but I have to admit that it is what has been consuming much of my farm thought lately. Each day as I'm out doing chores and uncovering things under tarps all over the farm I am reminded of how nice it would be to have a place of storage for some small square bales, pig feed, the tractor, tools, and so much more. In fact I'm also reminded of how nice it would be when I'm in the house also because right before we started building we decided to add a room and that room ate into the storage area.

So, earlier I mentioned what the buildings were that I was considering (check the link to refresh yourself) and then after that I talked about location (again, take the link). I think that I have settled on spot number three for our location because it is good proximity to the house, the garden, the water hydrant/line, and the electrical box. Also, it is a relatively flat area with a nice flat area behind it that would be a good place to have the cattle when the rest of the farm is fairly wet.

What I can't figure out is what kind of building to build and how big to make it. The building above is what the "carport" style barn would look like and it does have its pluses. First of all I could get a 34x26x12 building for just over $6,000 and it would be installed fairly quickly. Also, this building would have three bays with all of them being 12 feet wide. That would be nice for running equipment in, and I could then live the middle bay for hay which I could stack up to the highest point of the building. I guess the down side is that it is basically a carport...

On the other had for that same amount of money I could only build a pole building with steel siding about half that size. That would mean that I would also out grow it more quickly. On the plus side I feel like it could be a bit more sturdy and it may be better if I wanted to do some additions on my own.

Lastly, I have heard the idea of a hoop building thrown around. I don't really know much about these or their costs and would love to hear some thoughts. If you have any more opinions I would love to hear them ... if not, well now you know what is going through the mind of a beginning farmer!

What to Do ... What to Do ...

For a little while now we have been debating shelters. Of course there is still plenty of work to do with our own house, but we are also beginning to think about some sort of barn or shed. With that in mind I have been doing a bit of research about what is out there and what prices may be. Basically we have come up with three options (building our own from materials on the farm is a fourth option, but not feasible this year). Option number one is to have another post frame building built. Option two is to have a three-bay barn built that is made from the same materials that you see the steel carports made from. And, option three is to just build a carport.

I think it is fairly obvious that the post-frame building would be the most substantial. But, that also means that it would be the most expensive. If we were to go this route we wouldn't be able to get as many square feet under roof for the amount of money we are able to spend this year, but it might be better for us in the long run. Our design for a post frame building would just be a plain three-sided shed open to the south. We could use it for hay, equipment, and to run animals in if there is one that needs some attention.

The second option is a three-bay carport barn. This is basically a free-standing building anchored to the ground with mobile home anchors that twist in. These buildings are built from 16 gauge steel for the frame and 29 gauge steel for the siding and roof (this is the same as our house). The building we are looking at would have a 14 foot wide bay in the middle flanked by 10 foot bays on either side. Also, the wall height in the middle bay would be 12 foot high. For about 6,000 dollars we could get 1,000 feet or so under roof.

Finally, we could go basic and just have a carport put up (something like 18x21). Of course this wouldn't be able to hold very much, but it would go up quickly (the same as the barn) and not cost quite as much. If we went this route then we would probably need to build something next summer. Of course we could always use this somewhere else because it would be portable I think.

So, what do you think? Go with option one that will give us a smaller building, but it will probably be pretty sound. Do option number two that will give us room to grow into and take away the need to build right away next year (I'm not sure about the durability of this ... it could be great). Or, just do the third option and go with the carport. I would love to hear your thoughts.