© 2000 - 2008. Website design, text and photos are copyright by Ronda Jemtegaard unless otherwise noted.
Reproduction by any means, electronic or mechanical, is forbidden unless written request is submitted to
In this age where it's now easy to clone and delete parts of photographs,
and some farmers and webmasters are doing this to published photos of their livestock,
please note that all photos on this website are unaltered in any way!
Colors, conformation, etc are exactly as depicted.
Getting Started
How to Begin Your Farm or Smallholding
Before you buy your first livestock or put up any fencing, you need to do a bit of research. This page is a good place to begin!
Borrow from the library or buy a copy of Gene Logsdon's "The Contrary Farmer," published by Chelsea Green Publishing. I cannot emphasize enough; this book is a MUST HAVE. For a mere $14, this book gives give you a practical and sensible overview of a farming year, what tools you may find the most useful, which livestock you may find the most profitable, how to acquire land without getting into debt, and even how you can manage vacations from your farm, all written in a humorous way by an author whose love of nature and farming shows in every sentence he writes.
Those even slightly interested in self sufficiency should read (and likely invest the $20 to own) John Seymour's "The Self-Sufficient Life And How To Live It." This book is so comprehensive, I can't think of a thing that has been left out; whatever you want to know, there is an overview on how to do it. The illustrations are excellent, and the descriptions and illustrations on how to divide up your acreage for various uses are thought provoking and an excellent jumping off (or diving in) point. While each subject from bee-keeping, cheese making, butchering, alternative power, gardening, keeping livestock and more too numerous to mention is briefly covered in this 312-page volume, you will want more in-depth books on the areas you choose to concentrate. As with any book, I don't agree with everything the author says, but having this volume in your library is worth it for reference, mulling over ideas for your farm, and discussions. I borrowed a copy from the library, and found that despite the fact that I'm a born and raised farm girl come back to the farm after 20 years in the city, there is much here that I will want to reference over the years and I'm definitely buying my own copy!
Those on small acreages may want to read "Micro Eco-Farming" by Barbara Berst Adams, which is packed with hundreds of tips for success from many Real Life farmers making a go of it on small parcels.
In addition to the above books, read others on the subjects that interest you most. A list of my favorites are on the Books & Magazines page.
Once you have read up on basic farming and your areas of interest, you can begin thinking about fencing. It's important not to just jump into putting up fences, because this is a time-consuming project that is not necessarily easy to change later. Many farmers find that their ideas regarding good fencing and fence placement change within the first few years of farming!
After reading up on farming and which livestock are easiest to start out with, you are ready to make some choices. Chickens are inexpensive and give a quick return on your investment. Sheep are one of the easiest livestock to keep if you choose a primitive and hardy breed, and give back several fold on your investment. Don't necessarily buy from the first person or company that you run across. Our "Questions To Ask" page was created for Soay sheep buyers, but is a good tool to use when buying just about any type of livestock.
What to feed your livestock? Pasturing is the healthiest and most cost effective method of feeding ruminants (livestock that chew their cud). Poultry will require grains. Visit OrganicChickens to find a variety of recipes for making chicken feed. Visit EatWild to find out about the benefits of grassfed livestock.
Housing can be as simple or as elaborate as you want it to be. Ideas and photos for simple shelters for sheep and other livestock can be seen on our Shelter page. Photos of our own henhouse and arks can be seen on our Henhouse page as well as our Backyard How To and Housing page.
The most needed tools for a farm can be seen on our Useful Tools page.
The best source for recent and/or classic books on farming naturally can be found at the Acres USA website, which also produces the only newspaper for organic farmers.
And our parting shots... if you want to be successful at farming, don't bother with commercial livestock breeds. Purebred livestock and unique breeds created for small farmers are the only way for small farmers to compete with agribusiness. If you are a small farmer, in order to be successful and profitable you HAVE to do it better than the next guy, or the Big Guys.
There are so many rare
breeds in need of
conservation, many of
which are not as large
as commercial livestock,
and therefore more suited
to small farms.
Helping preserve a rare breed is profitable
as well as satisfying. At the end of each day
you know that you have done something
wonderful for this earth we all live on.
