Site Planning, Starting out and over-thinking?

[stgagnon]

Hi Folks,
I'm kinda new here.

We live on 6.8 acres, just about all cleared. About 2 acres of that is lawn/house/driveway. Our lot was once part of a large dairy farm that was split up into 8 lots about 15 years ago. The 100 year old barn on our lot was torn down. The owner wasn't able to get permitting to build homes on the other lots (Thanks Be!!) and now those lots are part of a land trust, and owned and worked by a dairy farmer down the road. He grows corn and hay on these lots. He grows hay on the 4+ acres that we don't use as lawn.

That's a lot of back story for my question.

After living here 7 years, we are finally getting around to turning our place into a little farm of our own. We just got some chicks a couple of days ago and they will be housed in a little coop right near the house, at least for now.

Actually, I forgot. We do already have a sporadically productive garden, 5 apple trees, 7 blueberry bushes, 3 pear trees, raspberries, blackberries, and asparagus. Planning to put in 4 more apple trees this weekend. These are all on the "lawn" part of the lot.

Next spring we plan to put up a barn and fences, and then I want to get some goats, pigs and turkeys. Probably (hopefully?) not all in one year. And someday honeybees.

I've always loved horses, and had them as a youth. I'd like to keep the option open to have a couple again for me and my two boys to enjoy. But these days I see the impracticality of that more than I did before so this is not an immediate goal.

I have ruminated for years about where everything will go; in fact I think I have ruminated too much, such that 7 years have gone by and nothing has been done (actually, there are other reasons that we haven't started).. but the big thing, I think, is not knowing WHERE to start.

So this month we are starting with chickens. And we have started calling our place a FARM with a name: Blue House Farm. These are good steps for our minds, to keep us focused on what we are doing.

Wow, even more back-story. Here's the big Q, regarding SITE PLANNING.

Does anyone have advice about what to focus on as we plan the location, design, and size of our barn, and the locations of different paddocks pens and runs? The barn won't be too near the house, so we'll need to dig or drill a well somewhere nearby, I think. I think that would be better than running a water line from the house. A conduit is already in place to run electricity up there; I don't see any way around that, unless putting a solar panel at the barn would be cheaper. (?could it be? And, could a well pump be run off a PV panel?)

One thing that we do have that remains from the old farm is a big round pen. The sides are made with stacked boards/rails so that you can't see into the pen. I'm thinking that will come in handy for something, but I haven't really identified what, specifically.

I fear building the wrong size this or that.. And we probably will. So that is a given. But knowing that (and not worrying about it).. what are the primary features that I should focus on?

Please tell me what you would do to start this, step one.

Thanks for reading. Obviously I don't have a lot of folks to talk to about this yet, otherwise I might not be so long-winded.

Peace,
Suzanne

[Alice In TX/MO]

Any barn you build will be too small after you start storing things in it!

Any garden will be too big when it's in full production, and too small after the winter has set in and you run out of canned veggies.

The goats will be too much of a handful on the days they get out and run down the road, and not enough when the milk supply falls off in the fall.

Go ahead and make the mistakes! We all have!

[Farmerwilly2]

Run the water line, unless it's cheaper to drill the well. Build the barn, unless the pen is big enough to serve your needs. Put the barn on the left side, unless putting it on the right side would be better. Get all of the animals, unless you don't have enough grass to keep them all. Have fun and enjoy all of it.

[Jenn]

Look up permaculture and keep the barn as close to the house as is feasible.

[Up North]

The most important aspect to building a barn is to build it versatile. Make it adaptable to a multitude of uses. This means doorways and ceiling heights that can accomodate driving your truck, car, skidsteer or tractor with a frontend loader into the building. Over the years, your interests and enterprises may evolve and change. There is nothing worse than a building that is built to a specific purpose and is virtually unusable for other applications.
If you have(or will have) hay-eating animals, at some point in time you may wish to purchase hay for winter feeding. These days that means large package hay bales like big round bales or 8 foot long big square bales. Also, leave room around the building so that large trucks/ livestock trailers can get to the barn and turn around and exit easily.
Plan for snow removal. If barn is too far from house and/or the road, this will be expensive and time consuming to plow snow to maintain access to barn in winter. And leave areas to push the snow off around the barn.
Start by drawing up blueprints for your barn. Try to imagine every possible use you *might* even think about using it for in the next 75 years!
Then start sketching rough drafts, playing with ideas. Then refine as you go until you have barn plans on paper.
Then put in water and/or electric lines as you decide. Then floor material as you choose. Then build barn.
It will all come together. If you want ideas, get a catalogue from a pole barn builder like Morton, etc., and look at their building packages and floorplans. Might provide some ideas you had not yet thought of.
Good Luck.

[stgagnon]

Thanks for your insights, and your levity about the whole thing. I will study permaculture through this winter and work out a plan. I will not fear the inevitable mistakes. But I will try not to let them be huge mistakes.

I just googled permaculture.. Fascinating!! Uh-oh. Now how am I going to do my work today?

Please keep those thoughts ideas and $0.02 coming!!

Peace and Gratitude,
S.

[Phantomfyre]

Another vote for keeping the barn as close to the house as you can. How far do you want to walk in the winter? Will also cut the cost of running water and electric to it.

And yes, plan for the future. Decide up-front what your horsekeeping style (if you go for the horses) will be. Personally, I don't care to stall my horses, preferring to give them 24/7 access to a run-in shed instead. In really bad weather or if I have a sick/injured horse, I can partition the run-in and close them in as needed. That's my preference. YMMV. But my point is, if you're not going to use stalls, don't waste money and space building them. If you plan to do any training of those horses, you'll be glad to have that round pen.

It's good to think things through, but you've gotta act or those thoughts will never come to fruition. After 7 years of ruminating, you've gotta have a gut feeling (ha, ha) about what's best. Follow it! Go, girl, go!

[FreeRanger]

Somewhere I read a study about how much time was wasted by having to walk back and forth to a barn farther from the house. They recommended all farm buildings as close to the house as possible. I think it was an County Extension Office publication.

Anyway, here is something I did right in the construction of my pole barn. Designed the building so you can drive a full load of hay in one end, unload on either side inside the building and then drive out the other end. This means I have a 12 foot wide by 14 foot high slider door on the hay field side. On the driveway/street side, I have a 12x12 overhead garage door. The slider door is inexpensive and taller, so basket wagon can be overloaded with kicker bales and still get thru the door (barely). The empty wagon just barely fits out the 12x12 garage door. From the street side everyone thinks I have a tight secure building, while I really can leave the slider door open for ventilation or livestock access if needed.

If rain is fast approaching, I can park two or three loaded hay wagons in the barn. Then unload them during the night or next day.

I try to keep livestock on one side and implements on the other. I built a hay loft above the livestock side. I built my barn to be a five stall horse barn but I don't intend to ever own horses. The family that lives here after me will most likely not homestead with sheep/pigs/poultry. I'm too close to town and the property is worth too much now to attract someone who would get their hands dirty...

[DamnearaFarm]

What we did with the barn:

First barn had outlets over each stall, good for fans or heat lamps. Walls between stalls were old tractor trailer doors, 3/4 ply sandwiched between sheet metal. Noone ever even dented it, much less kicked through. The top of these walls were salvaged chain link. The horses could see each other but couldn't get to each other. This coupled with the open tops helped with ventilation. Doors were half doors with a latch at bottom and top. Top doors were dutch, great for ventilation- bottom doors were on sliders with u bolts to secure in bad weather.

What I am changing on the new barn: wider aisles, corral panels to build the stalls, that way they can be reconfigured at will and can also be taken down and the stalls dragged with the wee tractor. Fiberglass panels in the roof, drawing natural light. Perhaps one every three metal panels?

One thing I cannot stress enough, pay attention to where you site the barn. Feel how the wind blows, watch how the rain water flows. Old houses were sited to take advantage of the property- shade, wind direction and water flow.why shouldn't the barn. Also, use slab wood and sawmill as much as possible. You can double line a stall with it, side the barn, built feeders and saddle racks... And slab wood is usually free or darn near close to it. Hope this helps.

[Up North]

Another suggestion: Research the newer Hoop Barns being built." Coverall" is a reputable company with a good product. Hoop Barns are reasonbly priced, very versatile, and can be put up quickly.
They're not for everyone, granted, but they may be a good fit for you!

[kabri]

Since our barn will be upwind from the house in the summer, DH wants it as far away from the house as is reasonable. That means at least 150'. Don't know if that's "far" from the house or not, but it's as far as we can go without encroaching on stream buffers.