east texas sabine homestead

[etxhomesteader]

hi all , last night i got my first 2 nubian babys of the season , and the hardware has arived to finish the ox yoke im building for the oxen im raising and training , hope to have the yoke finished in a few days . Another buitiful day in are wild paridice , the suns coming up to blue skys and i just saw an eagle fly past , what a begening to another grate day , Thank You Grate Spirit

[Trina_S.]

Well you're all smiles. You must have gotten rain recently.
Wish some would stop at my place for a while. I frown every time I look at our dead grass :P

[etxhomesteader]

Hi Trina , Thank's for writing , about 3 years ago i moved over here from the waco area for 4 big reasons , 1 the natoinal forest with all its big trees and room to roam , 2 the bigist buitifulist lake in all the southern states , its 3 to 5 miles wide and almost 80 miles long with grate fishing and kayaking . 3 the very cheep land prices , i was able to get a big 4 bed room house with pond , barn and 14 acers for $69,000. and 4 another big reason , rain , i could see this area gets 20 to 30 more inches of rain then the waco area and when it comes down to homesteading , its the water that makes a big difference in raising food for you and your animals . Where do you live and what kind of homestead do you have ? do you raise animals ? well i hope You have a very good day and hope you write back , Thank You ,,,, mike

[ricterf]

I could not agree more with your statements about the Waco Area and for that matter all of Central Texas!! I have lived and worked here in Waco for only 5 years but the fact is the decreasing water table and the signifigant wind erosion that has taken place in this area is startling..It seems the arid zone keeps extending a little further east every year and now it is threatening to push east of I-35..Given that the Floods of 2007 were remarkable I think they were torrents more akin to what is seen in semi-arid regions ( feast or famine!) ..Water is the Key to any Homestead but consistant and predictable rain patterns are a must for any agriculture or livestock activity..Central Texas as a whole is slipping ever closer to being a impractical location for any long term sustainable Homestead and I would commend you for rationalizing the situation and GETTIN' OUTTA DODGE!!!!!!

[etxhomesteader]

water , cheep land , grate fishing and hunting , biggist lake in the southern states , lots of fire wood . take a look at Toledo bend reservoir , east texas

[debidoodle]

;D
I'm so glad I saw your post. I've been looking for a good area to move to. We were thinking of somewhere between Waco and Houston, but, I'm going to check out the area you've mentioned as it sounds like exactly what we're looking for!
Thanks for the info!

[Trina_S.]

Hi Mike, sorry it took so long too get back here( I forgot which thread it was ::)
I'm in the hill country about 90 miles from Austin,
we have close to 300 acres we were lucky to get family land otherwise we never would have been able to afford to live here.
I live about 200 yards from a river in a 125 year old German style rock house.
I love it here but the lack of rain the last few months have been hard.
The past few days have been wonderful ;D
I grew up in East Texas (the Huntsville area)
somedays I really miss the pine trees and just the smell of the forest.
I would love to do more with our land. We have chickens and my sister-in-law leases the land for her cows.
It just seems that there is never enough time.
We are trying for a big garden this year, I just hope we can keep our ding-dong dogs out :P

[etxhomesteader]

Hi Trina and everyone , thanks for writing , that central tx area is nice with all its convininces and shopping areas , but there just isent enuf water over there and land prices to high . just got about 5 inches of rain and the gardens looking good and shude have more baby goat this week end , gess that means bad weather coming , sence goats only have there babys when the weather is at its worst . The Oxen are doing very good , been trying out there yoke i just finished , and there Ok so far standing there with it on , in a few days ill start walking them with it on them , thats when the rodeo will start , but there just big babys now at 5 months old and about 325# each and in about a month or so and all the goats have there babys , ill get 2 more calf's to raise up on all that good milk and start halter braking them too . shure wish i had some one to share all this fun homesteading with , The fisking here on the lake is starting to take off too , so im going to have to get the kayak out and see whats happening on the water . and if a few of you stop by ill get the canoe out too . well you'all have a grate day and remember you already have the homesteader's dream , now make it a reality , get with it , your times running out , and only you can change the world , each one of you , stop the modern consumer maddness and start homesteading today .... mike

[Trina_S.]

gess that means bad weather coming , sence goats only have there babys when the weather is at its worst

Yes, know what you mean. I've bottle fed a few.
At least goats are smarter than sheep. I'll take the goats any day ;)

[etxhomesteader]

Trina what kind of goats do you have ?

[Trina_S.]

I don't have any goats right now.
In the past Angora and Spanish.
We're not set up here for goats too many Coyotes.
We have so many that the rabbit population has dropped.
I guess that is what is eating them, I can't think of anything else.
There has been spotting of a mountain lion the last few years, who knows?

[etxhomesteader]

Fences make for bettr nabors even if there coyotes and big kittys , 6' non clime horse fence , with 4point 4 inch barb wire lose along the bottom out side and along the top tight for those kittys , makes for happy goatys ,,,, mike

[ricterf]

Hi debidoodle...etexhomsteader is absolutly right ..setting up shop around the bend or down at sabine is a great area..especially for raw land..The price is right and the people are very unintrusive...If however you are thinking in terms of improved land with off-grid redoubt..You may be hard pressed..TXU rural electrification program has over the years and bettween Huricaines realy worked alot down in deep east texas ..basically if you got a county road with any kinda frontage you got electric poles and you will have neighbors..so think in terms of how close you want your community..Also the roads are pretty decent in that they are driven by the logging/forestry industry so everything links out and bisects to state and us highways for easy ingress/egress..Only downside to raw land there is the fact most have already seen timber harvesting and are re-planted..Just food for thought..and THXs again to etexhomesteader for giving us a texas thread to think and talk about homesteading texas...And Trina good luck with the coyotes!!!!!!

[etxhomesteader]

The Coyotes come by very meny nights and sing there there unhappy yips and howls to the goats about how mean i am building all that fortefacations around the goats and the goats just lession and napp . I learned when i lived on the calif. coast wilderness , after i had some lions kill 7 nubian goats in one night , that a good fence is the key to raising happy animals . Last night i had a nice find when i went to milk and feed the goats , one of the Oberhasli dairy goats had 2 baby girls waiting , all fluffed up and very healthy , its truely a merical , she had them in the day , on a warn day and at the warnist time of the day , that is a first for me , usualy its raining like hell with lightning hitting the ground all around the barn , when thay have there babys . well i wounder is there bad weather coming , one of the nubian girls are about to pop :o , babys running every where , spring is truely a nice time of the year , even the wood pickers are singing up in the trees about how nice it is ,,,, have a very nice day all ,,,, mike

[carugoman]

the Hawks,turkey buzzards and coyotes here in the Florida Panhandle, all seem to expire, rather sudden like of acute lead poisoning, especially when their numbers increase? Strange thing about it is that the acute lead poisoning never gets the goat! All y'all take care on you self and I'll catch ya on the back forty!

[Trina_S.]

I don't think the buzzards here in Texas are (allowed) to get lead poisoning.
Coyotes, no problem ;)
We do have a few hawks on the place, they haven't bothered much. I guess they find enough rabbits and mice.
The only way I could protect goats, would be to have a small pen. I don't really want to take the time to milk goats ( sounds interesting though)
There is no market for the hair.
So the only choice would be for meat.
I would rather let them graze then have the expense of feed.
That would take way too much space to fence for coyotes.

[debidoodle]

Ricterf, thanks for the info. I will be heading that way to look around next weekend.
Trina, we had a couple of "Mexican Eagles" that somehow got serious lead poisoning over our place just the other day. Seems my 16yo son saw one of them trying to do *fly-by on our chicks and thier mommas.
The boy is very good is all I'm gonna say. ;)

As far as goats, been looking for a Nubian/Alpine X doe. Preferably already bred, but having no luck. Anybody know anybody who might want to sell one?

[etxhomesteader]

hi all , been off line , computer acting bad . but the goats had 3 more babys , the garden is growing , the oxen are gitting bigger and the rain has the lake up and looking good . starting to fence in more pasture and getting the barn cleaned out for the new hay , so hay hay have a nice day ,,,, mike

[debidoodle]

:)So glad all is well, sorry about the computer issues!!

[etxhomesteader]

hi , the nubian goats had 4 more babys 2 bucks 2 does and i have 1 more doe to have her baby . Shure wish i could find some one that wanted to be here with me ,,,,

[etxhomesteader]

All these funny baby goats running around in the pasture , 9 so far and 7 momma , thay are so happy and now the hay is cut and baled and going in the barn today yah ,,,, The oxen are realy doing grate , and i can see this project is going to be something more small homesteaders are going to want to do to work there homestead . I just wish i could find some people that where in to all this , or a very good partner . the smell of freash cut dry hay in the barn , what a good feeling

[mom2]

Vidman is commingto visit today. you should also

[etxhomesteader]

a day late and a dollar short , sorry Roseanna , i just got your messige a day late , maybe next time , would like to meet you all , you shure have a nice garden and web site . this morning feeling a little tyered bucking hay yesterday , mowing and cutting hay with my sythe , but it feels good , and i got hay in the barn and another moma goat looks like shes about to have her babys . Ran in to the wild pigs yesterday on back of property , middle of the day , i went back there to see if the dew barrys where ripe , thay are and the pigs had the same idea , sevral big ones and a bunch of small one , that would make good cooking too .

[Dave]

etxhomesteader,

Sounds like a time for a good Texas bbque!

Did you catch what time they were out there? Might be a good idea to show up a couple hours earlier downwind with ol'blue :)

Dave

[mom2]

a day late and a dollar short , sorry Roseanna , i just got your messige a day late , maybe next time , would like to meet you all , you shure have a nice garden and web site . this morning feeling a little tyered bucking hay yesterday , mowing and cutting hay with my sythe , but it feels good , and i got hay in the barn and another moma goat looks like shes about to have her babys . Ran in to the wild pigs yesterday on back of property , middle of the day , i went back there to see if the dew barrys where ripe , thay are and the pigs had the same idea , sevral big ones and a bunch of small one , that would make good cooking too .
anytime you feel the urge to take a drive north, let us know.

The door is open
the welcome is always warm
The beer is always cold
and the house may or may not be a mess

[etxhomesteader]

the powers back on , the storm droped lots of trees in this area , just had to go to prepower mod and get out the camping gear .

[Gwynyvyr]

Hey there east Texas!
What kind of oxen are you raising?
I am in Beaumont, planning on moving to the NorthEast US next year. I want milking Devon...milk, meat and oxen from the same animal!

[etxhomesteader]

hi Gwynyvyr , thanks for writing , im training and raising holstens . the last of my dairy goats had her babys 2 happy little oberhasli girls