THE MOVE

Let's just say it's been a stressful road to getting to this point. We all know moving and change isn’t easy. Then you add the 1,624 miles across the country to get to our new homestead and you can add a bit of extra anxiety to the mix. We were selling our home in Utah and making our way over to West Tennessee. Luckily a friend offered to drive our second vehicle over and away we went. Us in our Uhaul with the car towed behind. Our friend in our truck pulling our trailer with a pile of our stuff piled high. Straps and tarps included. I'm just surprised we made it in one piece with all of our belongings and raggedy tarps by the end. 

After a month in a small Airbnb with our two dogs. We closed on our new home in Tennessee. Which we envisioned to be our future homestead. Our homestead where we can have a few farm animals. Learn to grow a beautiful garden. Bake bread and enjoy the fruits of our labor. We call this a modern homestead because yes, we still plan on going to the grocery store. Our goal is to be more self-sufficient as well as integrated with our community.

Two months in and with the help of my amazingly handy husband Elmer. We have managed to build a greenhouse. Purchased two Myotonic Tennessee Fainting goats and built them a fenced in area around an existing shed. Including a simple and very cute gate to enter. 

WHAT WE PLAN TO DO NEXT  

What we plan to do next is create a chicken coop and run. Fence off the yard to let the animals roam more freely for part of the day. 

GOAT TIPS + 

Make sure you have a shelter in place and a fenced off area before getting the goats. We started with the animals first and then rushed with the shelter and it wasn't fun for us or the goats in the meantime. What goats need- Hay, salt lick, mineral block and goat treats of course. As well as the grass and other plants they nibble on around the yard. We have been using the pellets for now but will probably switch to hay when we add a few goats to our small herd. We plan to add a few things for them to climb on since goats love climbing and standing on the tallest thing they can lol. Goats remind of dogs but with less articulation. They love to munch and get into trouble as well as squeeze where they don't belong. Our goats do faint if they get scared enough due to their genetics hence the name, Myotonic Tennessee fainting goats. For the most part they don't faint often, just their back legs stiffen. Due to the fact they are still getting used to their new home and people. The mother who we named Domino wasn’t used to a ton of human interaction and came from a large herd. Her Kid that we named Daisy has warmed up to us much quicker. She is so cute and hops around in the yard. She loves to sniff my pockets in hopes of finding goat treats as well. One last tip is to have a shelter you can close. We close them at night in their shed to ensure predators can’t access and harm them in the night.