Boggybottom Farm Notes
If you think of a "farm" as a place where people grow food and raise some animals, then Boggybottom is a "farm". If you think a
"farm" is a place with live stock, tractors, more than 10 acres of land, and hired hands, then Boggybottom is a "homestead".
I think of it as a farm. Our farm. A humble retirement paradise where there's always stuff to do, and the rocking chair gathers
dust.
"farm" is a place with live stock, tractors, more than 10 acres of land, and hired hands, then Boggybottom is a "homestead".
I think of it as a farm. Our farm. A humble retirement paradise where there's always stuff to do, and the rocking chair gathers
dust.
View from our front yard
Jan on "Poppin' John (click on the
image to see an enlarged version)
image to see an enlarged version)
Our first garden in a patch of ground we cleared
with "Poppin John". (spring of 1994)
with "Poppin John". (spring of 1994)
I dreamed of creating my own homestead back when I was a senior at a suburban high school in Jacksonville, Florida. I envisioned growing
my own food and building my own house in the country. A place where I could engage in all manner of artistic pursuits and agricultural
experiments away from the stress of city living. The dream was always with me, through the years in the military, a first marriage, a couple of
years of the single life and 17 years of a second marriage. My wife, Jan, being a city girl, didn't really share this dream, but went along with
me for the adventure of it. It was a slow motion adventure, but the time span was made bearable by the realization that life is what happens
while you're trying to reach your goals
It took me 23 years to get together enough money for a down payment and find the piece of land that met our criteria; 1. Located within
commuting distance of the place where we earned our living, 2. It had to "feel" right when I stood on it, and 3. The price had to be what a
working firefighter could afford.
Criteria number 2 is kind of hard to explain, so I won't try.
In the spring of 1994, we found land meeting the criterion at $1500 per acre. We signed the papers, paid the money and began to work on
this raw, logged off,10 acres in a county famous for having mostly dirt roads. We first built a well house, bought an ancient John Deer tractor,
cleared a garden patch, strung electric fence around 2 acres and bought seven goats to begin clearing the underbrush.
The land had been logged a few years before and was covered with 8 foot tall oaks, maples, pines, and brush tangled in wild grape vine and
blackberry briars. There was no electricity or well, or facilities of any type. Rough, sloped land that was mostly a watershed feeding a small
over-grown creek that formed the north property line.
my own food and building my own house in the country. A place where I could engage in all manner of artistic pursuits and agricultural
experiments away from the stress of city living. The dream was always with me, through the years in the military, a first marriage, a couple of
years of the single life and 17 years of a second marriage. My wife, Jan, being a city girl, didn't really share this dream, but went along with
me for the adventure of it. It was a slow motion adventure, but the time span was made bearable by the realization that life is what happens
while you're trying to reach your goals
It took me 23 years to get together enough money for a down payment and find the piece of land that met our criteria; 1. Located within
commuting distance of the place where we earned our living, 2. It had to "feel" right when I stood on it, and 3. The price had to be what a
working firefighter could afford.
Criteria number 2 is kind of hard to explain, so I won't try.
In the spring of 1994, we found land meeting the criterion at $1500 per acre. We signed the papers, paid the money and began to work on
this raw, logged off,10 acres in a county famous for having mostly dirt roads. We first built a well house, bought an ancient John Deer tractor,
cleared a garden patch, strung electric fence around 2 acres and bought seven goats to begin clearing the underbrush.
The land had been logged a few years before and was covered with 8 foot tall oaks, maples, pines, and brush tangled in wild grape vine and
blackberry briars. There was no electricity or well, or facilities of any type. Rough, sloped land that was mostly a watershed feeding a small
over-grown creek that formed the north property line.
Jan with the land clearing crew.
Goats are great for clearing land without heavy equipment, but they only eat the leaves and weeds and grasses. The stems and small
tree trunks must be cleared with a bush hog or other brush cutter.
The main advantage that goats have is they allow you to see the contours of the terrain that is otherwise concealed by the biomass. They
do this without destruction of the natural lay of the land. This allows you to create a practical land use plan, and the goats will control future
brush growth as well as fertilize the land with their droppings.
Since we lived and worked 28 miles from the land, we had to visit to provide fresh feed a couple of times a week, (to remain healthy goats
require grain to supplement their forage). These regular trips were sometimes inconvenient, but they served to maintain our contact with the
land and grow our emotional commitment to it.
tree trunks must be cleared with a bush hog or other brush cutter.
The main advantage that goats have is they allow you to see the contours of the terrain that is otherwise concealed by the biomass. They
do this without destruction of the natural lay of the land. This allows you to create a practical land use plan, and the goats will control future
brush growth as well as fertilize the land with their droppings.
Since we lived and worked 28 miles from the land, we had to visit to provide fresh feed a couple of times a week, (to remain healthy goats
require grain to supplement their forage). These regular trips were sometimes inconvenient, but they served to maintain our contact with the
land and grow our emotional commitment to it.
After about a year someone asked me to adopt a goat they had
raised as a pet because it had grown, but was still playful. The
problem was that their children couldn't run across their yard without
their pet goat chasing them and butting them down.
This particular goat was a handsome, young billy with a stiff, stand-up
mane down its back, The mane reminded me of a "Mohawk" hair cut,
and it soon became the reason we wound up having to sell our goats
at auction.
Within an hour of his arrival at Boggybottom, I watched Mohawk walk
over to the electric fence that had contained the other goats for a
year, stick his head through the fence, lift the wire with his mane, and
hold it up while the other goats walked under it to freedom.
Bummer! Having your goats wandering around eating your
neighbors' gardens isn't cool. We had to do something immediately.
Due to the pressures of career and other great excuses, we didn't
have time, (or money) to string new fence, so we decided the goats
needed to go to auction ASAP.
Rounding up goats on 2 acres and persuading them to get into a
trailer was an adventure worth remembering.
raised as a pet because it had grown, but was still playful. The
problem was that their children couldn't run across their yard without
their pet goat chasing them and butting them down.
This particular goat was a handsome, young billy with a stiff, stand-up
mane down its back, The mane reminded me of a "Mohawk" hair cut,
and it soon became the reason we wound up having to sell our goats
at auction.
Within an hour of his arrival at Boggybottom, I watched Mohawk walk
over to the electric fence that had contained the other goats for a
year, stick his head through the fence, lift the wire with his mane, and
hold it up while the other goats walked under it to freedom.
Bummer! Having your goats wandering around eating your
neighbors' gardens isn't cool. We had to do something immediately.
Due to the pressures of career and other great excuses, we didn't
have time, (or money) to string new fence, so we decided the goats
needed to go to auction ASAP.
Rounding up goats on 2 acres and persuading them to get into a
trailer was an adventure worth remembering.
The big guy with the horns we called "Mike". He had only 2
interests in life. One of them was eating. All that stuff they
say about billy goats? It's true.
interests in life. One of them was eating. All that stuff they
say about billy goats? It's true.
Back when we first went to pick up the goats from their former owner, they were in a fenced area about 20 feet wide by 75 feet long. It took 3
people, (Jan and I and the former owner) about 30 minutes to catch the 7 goats and load them onto the trailer. The billy pictured above (Mike)
was the last to be caught, and when I finally got him cornered, I grabbed his horns and swung my leg over him and rode him like a bicycle up
the loading ramp and onto the trailer. He never forgave me for that.
So, when a year later we need to round the goats up in a 2 acre area we were forced to use goat psychology and trickery. The nannies we
tempted into the trailer with calf starter sweet grain. That worked with all but one nanny, who resisted all efforts.
In Mike's case, the lure of a female goat in estrus tied in the trailer was required to get him in the trailer long enough for us to slam the tail gate
by by pulling a 50 foot long rope.
It was getting late and the sun was going down so the nanny that we weren't able to coax into the trailer we left behind to try to get another day.
She apparently didn't like to be alone so she left the property and found 2 goats down the road where she jumped the fence and joined them in
their pin.
people, (Jan and I and the former owner) about 30 minutes to catch the 7 goats and load them onto the trailer. The billy pictured above (Mike)
was the last to be caught, and when I finally got him cornered, I grabbed his horns and swung my leg over him and rode him like a bicycle up
the loading ramp and onto the trailer. He never forgave me for that.
So, when a year later we need to round the goats up in a 2 acre area we were forced to use goat psychology and trickery. The nannies we
tempted into the trailer with calf starter sweet grain. That worked with all but one nanny, who resisted all efforts.
In Mike's case, the lure of a female goat in estrus tied in the trailer was required to get him in the trailer long enough for us to slam the tail gate
by by pulling a 50 foot long rope.
It was getting late and the sun was going down so the nanny that we weren't able to coax into the trailer we left behind to try to get another day.
She apparently didn't like to be alone so she left the property and found 2 goats down the road where she jumped the fence and joined them in
their pin.