Hi everyone, we are all well and we are still living the dream here in south central Iowa on our 40 acre farm. Sorry it has been a long time since I have posted, it seems Like once you start living the dream and not just dreaming about it you don’t feel like writing about it as much. I hope to do a better job this winter.
What we have been up to
We have been keeping busy by still making improvements to the farm. We have now added chickens and built a chicken coop and gathering eggs everyday. We have added many more heirloom apple trees to our orchard and we have now been grafting apple trees to help save some of Iowa’s oldest trees.
We have built a leanto on to our barn for more storage and put in sidewalk from the house to the barn. We have insulated the barn and we have added a 1000 gallon rain water tank to help keep the garden, orchard, and chickens watered during times of drought.
I am also restoring an 1976 Chevy pickup and many more things I can’t think of as I am writing this, so you can see we have been busy. We hope to add sheep someday and a cow or two and believe it or not still have some things to finish on the house. It will be 4 years this coming February when I retired and moved to Iowa to start building our farm from bare land. Time has flew bye and I am scared it is going so fast it will be all over before I am ready. I am so happy to be living this dream and want it to last many more years. I hope all is just as well with you. I hope to share more soon.
I have always wanted to be a farmer, but never had the money or the knowledge to live my dream until now. I have now bought the farm ground and am in the process of turning my bare land into a farm and myself into a farmer. I am finding out that it isn't always easy, but still love the journey. This is my journal of that journey.
Milligan's Gander Hill Farm 
Hello Gordon, I’ve followed your post since your last days on the rails. Glad to hear things are going well. Your place is beautiful. I love it when a plan comes together. I retired from in 2016 and when people ask me how retirement is going, my reply is “If it were any better, it would be a lie or illegal.” Good luck to you and yours on all of your future endeavors. Steve
Thanks Steve, glad to hear you enjoy retirement as much as I do and I may being borrowing your reply when people ask me how my retirement is going. Thanks for following.
Dear Steve,
I am enjoying my retirement here is the ozarks near Salem Mo. I put an above ground pool in and retaining wall, french drain on one side of the building and gutters. Bought a camper in March and camped in it at Montauk State park which is 13 miles away. I can keep it in my garage to protect it from the elements. Nice to hear things are going good for you. How is your hunting going? I lost a small buck with my cross bow last month. Haven’t got another yet. Later. Rick.
Sounds great Rick, retirement is good, we all deserve it after many years of hard work. My hunting has gone well this year. I have gotten 2 does for the freezer and I missed the biggest buck of my life just 2 weeks ago with my bow. Hope to see him next year.
Congratulations on all you have achieved…. an of course, Happy Christmas!
Thanks Margaret, Merry Christmas to you too.
Wow it is looking good. I am particularly impressed by the apple tree work.
Thanks grasspunk, I see you guys over there in France have expanded some. You now sell pasture raised chickens, nice. Wished we lived close by so we could buy your beef and chicken.
They’re easy enough to raise on your own, and with your skills you’d have a blast building various variations on chicken tractors or day range houses.
Hey Gordon… Great to see you posting again. It sounds like your Farm is really coming on now, Its really looking good. Even as a reader, I cant believe its four years since you retired, lol… Steve
Thanks Steve, I hope to do a better job of posting this winter. Time just flys by now that I am retired. When I was working it was slow as hell lol.
Happy New Year, Gordon! Congratulations on all the improvements–it’s clear you’ve been busy! Time flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?
Thanks Susan, nice to hear from you. Hope things are going well with you too.
Yes it does Susan, thanks for your comment. Sorry I didn’t see this until now. Hope hints are going with you too.
Congratulations on your achieving your dream. Farming is hard but satisfying work.
Thanks Zambian Lady
with all the news on the pandemic in Iowa, how are you doing on the farm? Hope you and your family are remaining healthy and your farm doing well. all is good at my house.
We are doing well here David, thanks for asking. I just had a friend here who’s son in-law is in the hospital fighting for his life from Covid 19. His son also has a fever and was sent home without a test, so you can be sure all the numbers are not being counted. It is only going o get much worse here before it gets better, we do need prayers.
I have not replied in a while. My wife and I moved from Texas to SE Iowa (Davis county) in October 2018. We built a pole barn house/shop. We moved in our house in May 2019 after living in our camper for 7.5 months. We love it here in Iowa. We have planted 5 apple trees and two pear trees.
i bought flat sheets of treepro tubes and used approx size 1″ x 3/8″ sized plastic automobile fender buttons from local hardware store, inserted in the pre drilled holes and made a 3 panel tree tube to protect from dogs and rabbits, plus wind protection from our constant drying winds here on the rangelands of the northern great plains in eastern MT.
i have pictures if you you would like to see them
Congratulations Mike on building your Pole barn house and moving to Iowa. It is a great State to live in. I know all about living in a camper for 8 months while also building our home but it sounds like you did it during an Iowa winter. I don’t know how you did it. Anyway don’t wait so long to reach out again.
Do you sell breeding chickens or fertilized eggs?