I’d like to preface this by saying that I support ALL farms. Big farms, small farms, first generation farms, seventh generation farms, conventional farms, organic farms; they’re all helping to combat food insecurity in their own ways, and they all deserve recognition for their contributions! However, we consumers are often put in a position where … Continue reading Small Farms, Big Impact
Author: Laura Cook
Laura holds a B.S. in Agribusiness from the University of Tennessee at Martin.
La pièce de résistance, the sliding door! We are ALMOST done with the quonset hut build! Since my last update, we sheeted the end walls, installed the sliding door, set up the pens inside, and built a heated washroom (complete with a slop sink, stainless steel countertop, and lots of shelving). We still have one … Continue reading Barn Construction: Finishing Touches
Once we finished assembling our quonset hut, the next step was to build the end walls. We opted to build our own, rather than purchase them as part of the building kit, so that we could completely customize the size and placement of the doors and vents. First, we screwed pressure treated boards to the … Continue reading Barn Construction: End Walls
Since our quonset hut is now more than half assembled, I figured it was time to share an update! We started out doing things the VERY hard way. First, we tried standing up a fully assembled arch, with the help of Brandon's father and brother. We quickly learned that the arches have a propensity to … Continue reading Barn Construction: Halfway There!
The biggest mistake we made when we ordered our DuroSpan steel building kit was NOT ordering the hand welded base plates along with it. I don’t know what we were thinking. The base platse may not be necessary to install the quonset hut, but they definitely make it 1,000% easier. Had we ordered the base … Continue reading Barn Construction: Base Plate Installation
Over the past several weeks we’ve slowly but surely been working to prepare the building site. We started by running mason’s line to determine where to build the forms. We then built the forms using leftover lumber from our sawmill, which involved cutting and driving LOTS of stakes. Once the forms were constructed, we leveled … Continue reading Barn Construction: Slab
Our DuroSpan steel building kit was delivered this past week! We opted for a classic Quonset hut style building, which is constructed of a series of arches that bolt to one another. Pictured above are the pieces that make up the arches. I’m not going to lie, it’s a bit daunting to see multiple buckets … Continue reading Barn Construction: First Steps
Today we put the roof on our farmstand, despite getting caught in the rain. We are so excited to be bringing fresh, local food to our little community. Hopefully we will have things up and running in just a few weeks! We received a generous grant from the Food Animal Concerns Trust to help cover … Continue reading Farmstand Coming Soon!
Since we made the commitment to eliminate single-use plastics from our life, we’ve been experimenting with a lot of new products, some good, some bad. Today, I’m going to tell you about the really bad. I mean REALLY bad: my hair still looked wet 24 hours after showering and my husband kept calling me “greaseball”, … Continue reading DIY Shampoo Fail (And Why We Don’t Make a Shampoo Bar)
We recently purchased two properties that will serve as the new base of operations for our farm. Initially, we purchased a 26 acre wooded lot that we planned to clear and build upon, but the opportunity presented itself to purchase the half acre adjoining it, which already has power, water, and a septic system. (As … Continue reading Our New Property