New Member from SC

hello everyone.
my wife and i are embarking on a self sufficient lifestyle currently. we have a house in the city and 43 acres way, way, way out in the country. we are currently building a small house/cabin using natural, recycled, and reclaimed materials whenever possible. i just finished installing our off-grid solar system at the beginning of the new year. our goals are to start a small farm/homestead that utilizes a market garden, a commercial food forest, grazing animals and poultry, and bees to sustain us and make some money to support us. as it stands now, i will be going part time at my current job this summer (after our house is near completion) to pursue farming full time. im looking forward to sharing what ive learned and what we've accomplished with the board.

heres some sneak peaks of what we are up to....

Welcome FarmerD. Looks like you've got some great projects going!

Thanks. We're definitely in the infrastructure stage currently. Hope to get the market garden fired up this spring.

Welcome! It looks like you have a lot going right now

How many KW hours do you produce on average?

the array is 4kw. our battery bank is 960Ahr. our system was sized to run a small mini split a/c system, fridge, lights, and other normal appliances. so far it powers a few led bulbs and random power tools

You realize that many of us will live vicariously through you don't you? It is looking great, keep the pictures coming!

I got a catalog yesterday that you might be interested in. It is Vernon Barnes and Son Nursery. McMinnville, Tenn. 931-668-8576

They don't have a website, but I got a small catalog. I looked them up and found good reviews on Dave's Garden

http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/1746/

Their prices for 3'-4' bareroot trees are $8.49 each. We are moving from town to 8 acres and I think I will order from them. There is a nice nursery 14 miles from our new home, but their same trees are twice the price from Vernon's.

more random pics from the last year.....

some more....

last few, including one of me and the wife with naturalist, and semi-celebrity Rudy Mancke...