Looking to bounce ideas off you guys

I know many families that make a living on 5-10 acres and have green houses/ hoop houses. They sell 3 to 4 20 foot trailer loads of plants, vegetables a week mid April thru last week of October. They buy rice , coffee, flour, sugar and some spices but little else.

They buy weanling pigs to feed on garden waist and keep a milk goat or two along with a flock of chickens. Most of those families keep a team of Haflingers or a horse to work the fields and drive a wagon/ buggy with. In Mid Missouri they can by using every inch make a living , feed themselves and feed their animals.

I do not think you have enough water in Texas to do that. You can improve the pasture but I still think you will have to buy in hay and feed if you want to keep your horses.


I would keep enjoying your horses, make the garden/greenhouse/ hoop houses bigger , get the chicken coop built/ re-enforced then get chickens and some pigs to feed garden craps to. Try and raise 2-3 pigs a year along with your chickens/ eggs and goats for milk and meat,

__________________
Health Care is vital to all of us some of the time but Public Health is vital to all of us all of the time. C. Everett Koop US Surgean General 1981-1989.

It's been a few years and I really don't remember how old she was. She definitely had not reached her full growth at the time she kidded.

Check with the Big Bend State Park. They are really wanting to get rid of Aoudad since they compete with the native mule deer. I don't know if they will let you hunt in the park, especially since they have recently reintroduced desert bighorn sheep, but they can likely point you in the direction of a landowner that might let you hunt there cheaply or for free. Unfortunately the land that I have in south county won't do you any good for hunting aoudad or I'd give you permission to hunt there.

That was in a different part of Texas. Texas is huge. I now live on the opposite side of the state in what is known as the piney woods. The OP is in SW Texas in the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert. The OP is in a better position to grow things where they are than where I used to live 90 miles south of there, but it is still arid.

Jb09, could you send me the link by message maybe? That does sound like it would be a good listen.

Raymond, yeah, Texas is definitely a challenge when it comes to water. Paul talks about when he lived back East, they never had to water the garden. That concept is foreign to me, always having lived in the southwest.

Unfortunately, pigs are prohibited in our neighborhood, which is sad because I love eating pork. Well, not really prohibited, because there was (apparently) an issue when the restrictions got filed, so we could if we really wanted to, but we would get on some neighbors' major, major blacklists.

That's another difference between modern homesteading and the olden days. You have to be so much more careful with people. :P

Of course we could always search out somebody else living elsewhere in town who was able to have pigs, and do a joint effort or a swap. Maybe trade them goat meat for pork. Or help butchering in trade for meat. I know they have pigs at the college here, so I would imagine at least a few people here might have them.

I believe someone told me that the college butchers some of their animals and sells the meat to the public. Seems like it is at a more reasonable price than the grocery store there. Heck anything is more reasonably priced than the grocery store in Alpine.

I think there is no better rain catcher than a pond. Pump out of it if you need to but dig it deep enough for storage. I would keep horses on as small a piece as possible and buy feed if it is important to you tohave them. As has been said a horse has his head down all the time and will eat as long as food is available. Pasture your stock, pen and feed your horses.

That is so true. :P They do have a meat store thing. I haven't been there yet, but have heard good reports. I saw some advertising and it was pretty reasonable.

They do indeed!!!