Our farm start up - Year 1, Spring!

I thought I would share some of the events that brought us to where we are now.

 I still don't know exactly where we are headed with this little farm. When you put your plans in God's hands you never know where you are headed, but its quite the adventure! When we bought this place I would not have imagined our farm plans would include Pigs and Veggies. Our farming experience lies mainly in dairy, horses, hay and I just somehow pictured we would continue along that path.

We bought this little 40 acre property in the spring of 2012.
We moved in with our little family (Matt, Me and little Farm girl), my Quarter horse Tex (who moved up to Prince George with us), Charlie (a project horse and company for Tex), Quinny (my little sheepdog) and Thomas (a barn kitty we had accumulated). We were so excited to watch all our farming dreams become a reality.
Our very first goals we set were: to not collect too many animals that will not earn their keep and to slowly acquire enough various machinery to make and sell hay.

The first year was a wonderful adventure and a bit of a learning experience!

Almost right off the bat we responded to an ad for some old haying equipment.
We went to see it with high hopes. The lady said some was good and worth some money, and other pieces we could just take.  We got there and found a field area with about a dozen different machines tangled into the grass. We had decided to have a look and see what she wanted for some of the machines we could use, and take any free ones she didn’t want around. When it came time to talk prices I just listened. She said she wanted about $1200. I kind of wondered which machine she was referring too and then she said, $1200 for everything in the field. I waited to see what Matt would say, as he is a notorious lover of good deals. I was shocked when he said “How about $1500 for the lot?” And then, “I would feel better with $2000 for everything.”
And that is how we made our first farm purchase and became the proud owners of a whole parade of haying equipment.
It took more than a week of trips back and forth, and some neighbourly help to get the whole lot home. After just the second trip home Matt looked over the equipment we had brought over and thought it was already worth more than $2000. Even paying more than she wanted he said he still felt like he was stealing.

 This is a 320 Massey Ferguson Disk

A plow

 A New Holland Rake

 A Massey Furguson Rake

 A Hesston Mower Conditioner

 We got 3 Massey Furguson 124 Balers. A good one, a parts one and a scrap one. I am not sure which one this is.

Everything was in serious disrepair, but that was part of the adventure! Matt evaluated everything, ordered parts and put it all aside as a winter project.

Shortly after bringing home the machinery we leaped in with both feet and brought home our first piglets. There was certainly lots to learn, but hands on experience is sometimes the best way. Despite our plans to not get attached, the pigs charmed us very quickly with their zest for life, endearing personalities and unquenchable curiosity. We tucked them in a nursery stall in the barn while we prepared the former bull pen on the property into a hotlined pig pen.

Bringing home our first pigs

And then without losing farming momentum, we welcomed the very best house warming gift we will ever receive!

Matt's parents surprised us with a tractor! Getting it home was a whole adventure in itself!
We imagined in the first few years we might be able to find a small old tractor for farm work, but we never imagined this awesome machine! From farm work to snow removal, we have been so thankful for it on many occasions!

My favourite part though, was having my first project horse! I enjoyed every minute of the journey from having an uncatchable sassy critter to a tenative, easily confused riding partner. I spent hours and hours teaching him to come to me, enjoy my touch and respond to beginning riding cues. The thrill of climbing on for the first time was something I won't forget!

That first spring was quite the whirlwind. There was so much great excitement seeing our farm starting to come together, but also lots of feeling overwhelmed. We discovered lots of challenges that come with buying an older house and farm, including leaky roofs, leaning buildings, fields with more weeds than grasses and things falling down faster than we could build them up! We were certainly up for the challenge, and I guess we still are!