Blog - Page 2 of 2 - Summer Rain Farm

The planning and construction of our 3 stall horse barn.

My daughter and I had boarded our two horses where we took lessons for 4 years. We learned so much about taking care of them we found we were prepared to design our barn for what our family wanted.

Hobby barn in distance — Barn in the distance

Planning

After going to our municipality and asking what we were allowed to build we had plans drawn up. This depended on our property size as well as where we could put it on our property. We had to have set backs and distance from our property line and neighbours’ homes. We love that it is a bit of a walk from our home especially in the fly season.

Our plans included three stalls, an area for hay and a tack area. Another item on the want list was a water line to the tack area and heat to keep that waterline from freezing.

Another item was a upper viewing area or loft for my daughter to hang out in. This really wasn’t needed and became a storage area in the end.

Construction

When we were ready to build we had a concrete floor put in and rubber mats in the stalls. It was framed up and we had aluminum siding put on that matched our home. We added the stalls and accessories ourselves like insulated bucket holders and corner feeders. Of course, nameplates and halter hooks were included for convenience.

We use our barn for our horses, barn cats and chicken brooder area. As you can see our farm animals seem to approve. What kind of animal shelter are you going to have?

How to decide on fencing of pastures and gardens

Our property had some fencing for horses that the previous owners had put up and enclosed about 2 acres. We decided to devide this area into 2 pastures allowing us to rotate the horses as the grass grew. This was a good start. We added a third acre parcel later as well as another half acre temporary field. This is still an ongoing issue.

Types of fencing

We used wood fencing with electric rope, chest high to prevent the horses from chewing or pushing against the wood. The electric fence was solar powered.

There was also a small lot enclosed in front of the barn but it got too muddy for the horses so it became our pig pasture. Therefore adding field fencing on the inside and a line of electric rope at 6 inches up from the ground, keeping the little pigs enclosed.

Our gates are all 10 to 16 feet wide metal attached on our largest wooden posts. Therefore allowing it to support the weight.

The fencing around our chicken, turkey and geese areas are made with hardware cloth along the bottom 4 feet with overlapping 1 inch chicken wire up to 5 feet high.

Maintenance

Fencing will always be an ongoing maintenance job. Painting, replacing boards and electrical hardware as well as solar batteries. Walking your fence line on a regular basis is always a good idea, checking for any repairs that are needed.

Tree on fence — Luckily no damage was caused by the fallen tree

We fenced our garden area therefore we were able to keep out rabbits and our dogs from trampling the beds.

Why not free range?

We tried free-ranging our chickens at first but they ended up on our neighbour’s deck! Luckily our neighbours were friendly and thought it was cute. Again fencing makes for good neighbours.

All our fencing took time to go up and didn’t all go in at once. Just keep in mind where you would put your fencing as you plan out your property.

What fencing are you thinking of putting up on your country property?

How to find the best country property for your lifestyle.

When we decided to leave our suburban home we looked at real estate sites. We had 5 items to keep in mind.

Our 5 requirements for our property

To be within a half hour of the city where we worked. I would be working from home but my husband would be driving daily to his place of work. Weather would definatly be a factor as well since we live in the north and get a good amount of snow storms in the winter.
We wanted it large enough to have our 2 horses live on it. This was over 3 acres for the municipality we were looking at.
We required the property to have a home on it with potable water, working septic and hydro available. This made it a property we could live at while adding barns or renovating the home.
To be in our price range. We knew what our previous house would sell for and we approximated what amount we were willing to use for enhancements to the propery.
We required it to have some character. Not a flat piece of farmland.

Rolling pastures — Beautiful rolling pastures

Your list might be different than ours but do think about your 5 most needed items. Are you a handy person or does it need to be turn-key? Can you hire someone to do the work needed? Can you work from anywhere? Do you need it close to schools for your children? Do you need to be close to hospitals or shopping?

Can you get good internet? A big question for some rural areas.

Do you need 1, 5, 10 acres or more? This all depends on what you plan to do. Animals are considered in units per acre so consider looking into this for your municipality.

How close will the neighbours be? We have great neighbours close enough but not too close.

white and brown concrete bungalow under clear blue sky — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Country properties are going fast in some areas so if you know what you want, start looking and get a real estate person you trust looking for you.

I’d love to hear about your property search and successful buy.

So you moved to the country, now what?

So you’ve found your little(or big) slice of heaven. Congratulations!

You’ve moved in and looked at all that space. What can you do with it now?

I’m going to list some ideas for you to pick and choose what interests you most. A few things should be first if your looking down the road. These are just general suggestions. I will go more in depth for each suggestion in later posts. Check in the categories for updates.

List of ideas

Orchards should be planted first as they take a little time to establish. If you want to grow fruit, I advise researching your zone and get planting.
Vineyards also need to be planted a couple years until you can harvest grapes and make wines or jellies.
Berry bushes and strawberry patches usually produce in the second year.
Gardens can start to produce right away.
Animal shelters and fencing should be thought about before bringing that first cute animal home.

Shelters can be as little as a 4′ x 6′ shed for a few chickens or ducks or as large as a full size barn for horses, cows or goats and everything between.

Think about where the fencing will go. Fencing makes good neighbours as well.

Take a real look at your property and see what is already there. Is there a shed that would work, or fencing already installed? Can it work for what you want?

Is there a water source close enough to use for plants or animals or will you have to truck buckets around?

Is the land flat, sloping, rocky or forested? All these attributes have uses such as pastures, gardens or tapping for maple syrup.

I would love to know what your property will be used for.