Took the plunge and bought a place

Oh Tiempo knew exactly what you meant. She, like the rest of us, just hope you stick around here long enough for us to see how that works out for you! Get a prenep this time.

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Living Large Down on the Farm.

Congrats on your place.
If it turns out your not that happy w/it betcha it will only go up in value, you can sell if you find something you like more, down the road.
Good luck!

Patty

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Johnsons Nursery in Ellijay would be a good resource for what trees would do well for you.

Cows are grazers and love grass. Sheep love forbs. Your pasture should be a mix of forbs and grass. Go easy on the corn. We call it crack. Nutritionally, oats are a better choice. For pastured animals, you can use grain as a treat or bribe. IMO you ruin the meat with a diet of grain. I am in Michigan and did not have a barn for the sheep and donkeys. Sometimes I wished to have a building to make shearing easier, but that would be for my convenience. As long as sheep have shade in the summer and a wind break in the winter, they are fine. You want an area that is high in the spring when everything is a puddle. Your cows and sheep should not be standing in mud it’s bad for their hooves.

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Nothing is as strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength - St. Francis de Sales

I am curious why you don't just build a platform for your solar array facing the proper direction instead of moving the house?

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"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." C S Lewis

I've been away a couple of days and haven't checked this forum.

I'm familiar with the area from going through there on way to south GA for a farm show at Moultrie in the fall. Recommend it.

Sounds like you are near hwy 72. That is the route I often take from SC.

Having been through there I can tell you that the land will need lime.

Snow is not common there or further North where I am. Ice storms are common, we had one within the last 2 weeks.

A few years ago the area you are in had a severe drouth. My area did also. Corn usually does not do especially well in the area without irrigation. The past couple of years have been fairly wet and corn has done well.

Re: oats as mentioned above. I thought oats did not work well for hogs, maybe if they are ground up. At any rate, oats or wheat has to be harvested with a combine. Corn can be picked by hand and fed to hog on the cob. Probably less food value that way.

Let us know how well the dealings with the power company work out, I'm curious.

Out hwy 72 a couple of miles or so from the lake there is a farm equipment dealer/auction company. It may be interesting to check itout.

Oh, re cows and calves. The cows have to be bred to have more calves. Not sure how you would work getting them to a bull. My parent made a living with a very small dairy. for much of the time wew did not have a bull. I remember my father leading a cow
on foot a couple of miles to an umcle who had a bull when the cow was in heat. (We trained the cows from birth to be led since we also hitched them out on grass outside the pasture as was common for people with one or two cows 60 years ago.)

COWS