Hi many of you may already know me .My name is Patty I along with Hbby and 4 children live on a 140 farm in upstate Ny .I have been with Cs from almost the beginning .I remember the nice site where everyone was nice , and hope to get that here.We raise most of are own food , beef, pork,chicken and veggies.We have milk goats , sheep ,and a great cattle dog .Hope to hear from some more soon.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), February 18, 2002

Answers

I enjoy all the forums, and great to have a new one. Tom and I live on 10 acres in south east texas, we are retired, and never worked so hard in all our lives. We have a acre of garden, and it is all organic, We raise hay for the cattle farmers down here. I have lots of berry bushes, fig trees and pecans. I canned and freeze our food in summer time, And will do more this year, as I just don"t know whats going to happen in our economy or terriost problems. We are hot in summer so gardening is over by july 1st. I will pop in everyday to see whats going on.

-- Irene texas (tkorsborn@cs.com), February 18, 2002.

hi. I'm a misplaced Texan. We moved to Colorado last May, with hubby's work. We have 2 acres here. Hubby reworked the horse barn, and added on a very nice addition for the goats and chickens. We had a nice garden here last year, planted right in one of the old horse corrals. Still waiting for spring.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), February 18, 2002.

Hi Patty. I've been kicking around the forums for a few years.

I've been kinda quiet lately and that's okay, too.

-- Laura (Ladybugwrangler@hotmail.com), February 18, 2002.

Hi Patty, always enjoyed your posts and hearing about your little one sitting on your lap while you were typing.

-- Cindy (SE. IN) (atilrthehony@hotmail.com), February 18, 2002.

My name is Stacy, I'm the mother of two teenage daughters-ages 18 and 15, and am married to a very patient (tho whining right now) hubby. I raise, train, and breed horses, will have a large garden, lots of chickens (Rhode Island Red and Polish), two very spoiled pet goats, 4 dogs, 4 cats, and two hamsters all on 113 acres in the Southern Tier of New York State. Before I became a full time Barn Goddess I was a Disability Claim Specialist for a major insurance company. I like to sew and make most of my youngest daughters horse show clothes, I'm sure you'll be hearing me whine about the jacket I'm working on right now. I'd really love to learn how to quilt, but I just haven't had the time.

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), February 18, 2002.

Hi, my name is Anna and myhusband and I live on 50 acres in northern Iowa. Our children, one son and one daughter, are grown and on their own. We're empty nesters and loving it! We've had many animals throughout the years but have pretty well cut back and only have 3 llamas, turkeys, geese, cats and one each of duck, peacock and rooster. I love my flower and veggie gardens and have already started some seeds in the house which is not a good idea for this early in the season. Sometimes it's so hard to tell myself no when we've had such a mild winter. Ah well, I can always hope!

Nice meeting you all!

-- Anna in Iowa (countryanna54@hotmail.com), February 18, 2002.

Hi all, my spouse and 2 of my 4 children live with me on 5 acres in SE NM, plenty of coyotes, rattlesnakes, scorpions, and prairie dogs. Our soil and water are terrible, so I made 2 4by 20 raised beds last year, and two more are in the works now. We have rabbits and chickens are on their way. New Mexico and its water seem to be going through a tough time right now, so we are soon going to be relocating to another state, SE Oklahoma is high in the running. I don't usually post much, but I read a lot!

-- Gina NM (inhock@pvtnetworks.net), February 18, 2002.

Hi, I am Terri and I live in eastern Kansas on one acre of land. I have 2 kids, one just turned 8 and one will be 9 next month. My main goal is to become self-employed. I have made some money at farmers markets with my blackberries and assorted jellies, but not nearly enough to be called an income. This year I have gotten the use of more land, and I hope to do better by adding vegetables to my blackberries (I am sick to death of making jelly)! I have just a few contraband chickens, thanks to the tolerance of the neighbors, which I very much enjoy.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), February 19, 2002.

Hi, I and my husband have 32 acres, horses, dogs, cats, a rabbit, turkeys, a jack, and fan tailed pigeons. We just sold our chickens and will be getting some more in spring. We have one son at home and live in Georgia. I want milk goats (Toggenburgs are favorites, but I have owned and bred Pygmies for years). Hope this site will take off and be devoted mostly to country things.

-- Cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), February 19, 2002.

Hi, Becky and I live on 47 acres in western Virginia near Roanoke and smack dap on the Appalachian Trail. I used to farm our land and a lot mre in the county. Today I work for G.E. and Becky runs the trauma center at night in Roanoke. We still try to live independently. I am often mistaken to be rude and authorative but that is not my intention. I just state things the way I view them. So hope to talk to all soon. Have fun and Happy Homesteading !

-- Joel Rosen (JoelnBecky@webtv.net), February 25, 2002.

My name is Jean. My husband, Scott and I moved to S.Central Ky. 3 years ago. We homesteaded 16 years in the U.P. of Michigan, prior to that. We have a small herd of Scottish Highland cattle, a few chickens, and have planted a small orchard and vineyard. We have a few bee hives. We are now planning on getting some small draft horses, preferably Haflingers. We try to be as self sufficient as possible, but hubby does work off of our farm at present. Although our lifestyle carries it's own stresses, we still find it less stressful than being on the "broad road" that most travel.

-- Jean from Ky. (dandrea@duo-county.com), February 25, 2002.

Wow, decided to "cruise" lucenet and see how the off-shoot forums were doing and found this. So glad you started this Patty. I have found that all the forums take on a certain feel after a while and cruising lucenet is like going through a big shopping mall and it is full of interesting stores.

My husband Gary and I homestead 40 acres in south-central Michigan, about 20 miles from where the Michigan, Indiana and Ohio borders meet. We have a small Nubian dairy goat herd, raise all our own meat, fruits and veggies, have chickens for eggs and rabbits. Gary works off the homestead about 6 miles from us as the maintanence man for a rather large gated recreational community. Many perks, including usually first picks at the dumpster (now that would be a whole nother story). I am an R.N., but only occasionally take home heath cases and make regular trips to Haiti to work at our church mission there.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), February 27, 2002.

Good evinin We are Celia and Charles 51 and 59 (in April) retired and enjoy our goats. We have 2 acres here in Santa Fe Tx where we winter the Goats and Us. The spring finds us back on our farm (120 acres)in Stilwell Oklahoma until the cold sets back in around Thanksgiving.

Both of Us are country to the bone, I was raised on a farm in Dickson Tenn back a 100 years ago, the wife was raised in El Salvador where her Father farmed for a living.

Both of us are Christians and the Lord rules our life.

God Bless.

C & C

C & C Boer Goats IBGA

-- C & C Steen (xbeeman412@aol.com), February 28, 2002.

Hi Patty! I recognize most of the posters and have not heard from Joel in a long time. I live on 3 1/4 acres on the very edge of a very small town. I raise Nubian goats and soon will add Boers, thanks to Mr. Steen. I have ducks, lots of chickens with my big standard Partridge Cochins as my favorite but love all my laying hens. Three dogs, two rescue, and one homegrown. Lots of cats, someone is always giving me one. My 4 living sons are all out on their own. My eldest son lives one block away and is my rock steady son.

-- Karen in Kansas (kansashobbit@yahoo.com), March 05, 2002.

Hi Patty, You know about us from Countryside. My husband andI have a Small Family Farm in Upstate, N.Y. We raise chickens,ducks, goats and have the usual cats and dogs. We raise our produce organically. We market our eggs to the public and church FOOD PANTRY. wE love what were doing and wouldn't change it. Our goats were a welcome to our family. My husband is Navy Retired and a Full Time College STUDENT. hE'S Majoring in Human Services. I was a Nurse and now do Pastorial Work at 2 Local Hospitals. I also teach Religious Instruction. We have have 8 children and 17 grandkid, Forgot 1 Great grandaughter and are very busy with them. I love to cook.bake,sew,so crafts and enjoy life. Were in our 50=s. We still act like were in our 20's. My daughter saids I'LL NEVER GROW UP. GOD BLESS GARY AND PRISCILLA

-- Gary and Pris (MTASHEACRES@AOL.COM), March 10, 2002.