Jenna - You are so sweet to ask. I do enjoy reading your blogs and books, they keep me going when my boots spring a leak. I am also glad others are blogging on their travails, many of them/us inspired by your courageous plow-ahead git-er-dun even if it ain't purty, attitude.
Like you, I am a bit of a plugger. Nothing fancy, just quietly freaking my middle class suburban family out by chucking the HOA lifestyle to live in the country on 5 acres that are unrestricted. (Like your 'right to farm' areas.) I am trying a little of this and a little of that seeing what works and what was only a good idea on paper.
Dollar, our horse, is a retired racehorse that I can ride, but isn't so good with kids. I don't really have the acreage to have more horses, and the kids have not expressed 'horsey' tendancies so the horse is simply decorative for now. He has a good attitude so I feel confident I could teach him to drive should the need arise and he be required to "pull his weight."
I have goats and sheep, may stick with both, may not. With goats, I am not sure the milk is worth the destruction they leave in their wake, though they are good learning animals for the kids to start milking and showing. Goats are sturdy and quite interactive, but won't break your leg if they kick you.
Sheep I enjoy, but they are not as interactive as the goats, and I am not a spinner (yet). I sheared part of my first sheep and may rethink THAT little idea. I only managed to get half her back done, and she was nicked all over like a 12 year old who borrowed Dad's razor to shave her legs without telling Mom. We got in a tussle and she hiked herself up and sent the clippers flying, breaking the teeth. The guys at the Blade Repair place just looked at me with sad faces.
We have a cow. A Jersey named Daisy. She is supposed to calve this Summer and the plan is to let her raise 2-3 dairy calves and only have to milk once a day. I'll let you know how that works out for us. :-)
However, chickens are a go! I have processed 2 batches of meaties and while I loathe their smell, the carcass is TOTALLY worth their freakishness in life. We have laying hens, too and happily I have several 'customers' that I keep out of the grocery store egg aisle. Chickens are easy to raise and smart enough to sleep inside the barn. Turkeys, not so much, the coyotes can have 'em. Ducks have been prolific, and are a riot to watch waddle about, but I have not actually cooked one yet but my son likes them so they will stay for the entertainment value if nothing else.
The garden is plowed up and some seeds and plants have been planted. Again, a little of this and a little of that, to see what works and what doesn't. My daughter planted corn, my son planted 'salsa'. I planted asparagus. Please oh please let my off-grid future be FULL of asparagus!
Woodstove is installed, so we are bound to have mild winters from here forward. :-) The spot on the horizon is definitely OFF grid, solar and wind powered, bartering raw milk which I can produce on my flat, windy 5 acres for firewood that I can not.
And someday, waking up and not packing up for the office, knowing I will spend the day tending the creatures and gardens, but not throwing up because there's a bill I can't pay, looks pretty good to me.
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