Burning that wood

When we moved to Maine we were prepared for the cold weather.  I remember some of our first days here. I thought to myself, more that once, boy I have never been so cold in my life.  Many people were surprised when we said we were moving to Maine.  They would say, it's so cold there.  Well it is.  Being here a year now I would say I have adjusted, somewhat.  I could never work outside in this weather.  But I will go out even when it is below 0 out.  I have found ways to dress in many layers.   I have, at least, a few shirts on and maybe even two pairs of pants.  I wear hats now.  I never would wear a hat before.  When its below 30 degrees you want to keep all the heat in so a hat is a must.  I don't care about my hair.  That is so funny.  I care about being warm first, that is more important to me.   I make sure I am by a roaring fire as much as possible.  Firewood is something we go through and I just don't care.  We burn firewood as our primary source of heat.  We have two wood stoves.

 One on our round side of our home and one on the Gabriel side of the house.  We filled the oil tank when we moved in a year ago.  We used oil for heat at first but with the prices being so high we wanted to make sure we were not waisting our money.  So one day we turned down the thermostat to 50 degrees.  From that day we have been using wood to heat.  It has been a year later and we still have 1/2 a tank of oil from our first delivery.
When we first moved to Maine we had to pay a higher price for wood that first season.  We did not know anyone and it was late in the season.  You find out fast in Maine that around March wood runs dry and is hard to get.  So that means you pay top dollar for it.  Last season we paid more per cord than we do this year.  We did find a great guy at the end of last season who will bring us two cord at a time for a great price.  That is who we have used all this winter.  So far we just had our fifth and sixth cord delivered to us.

 
I would like to hope this will last us till the end of the season.
We started off the season with about two cords of wood that we harvested from our own land.  We have plenty of woods.  Most of it was trees that had fallen or we had cut through-out the summer.  We did notice most local residents working on wood piles during the late summer and fall.  Our mistake for starting to late.

  Next year we will start pruning our land when spring comes.  We hope to gather at least half our wood for next winter season.  That should be a big savings next year.  Next we hope to find someone to deliver us some tree length wood.  If you get it in the summer or fall tree length we can cut and split it ourselves. That should save a lot of money.
So our goal will be to start the winter next season with eight cords of wood.  If we do that the savings would be huge.
We have also entertained the idea of a pellet stove.  They are said to burn cleaner and more efficient.  The only down side is you still have to buy the pellets.  We will not be able to harvest them from our land.  So that is just a thought for now.

Don't leave your day job

Making a farm work and then making the farm work for you takes time.  You will need an income to pay for all the start up cost that come with it.  It is not like you have to put a lot of money out the day you start your farm but each week you must invest time and money.  Other than selling a few eggs and maybe a zucchini or two all the money has been out going and not an incoming status.  So far.

As much as we try to use our resources wisely you still have many weekly expenses.  Repairs is a major one.  With an old farm house always something needs to be replaced or repaired.  Animal feed and supplies you need to get them going can add up fast.  Being self sufficient is a major goal of ours but there are items you just have to buy from the big box stores.  We try to be informed shoppers and make sure we are not paying more than we have to for anything.  We never impulse buy, we always do our research and find the best place to purchase. Try to find out if any discounts are available.  We look around our own home first to see if we might have something that would do whatever job needs to be done.  Then we might go to our local dump and see if they might have it there.  While there we look to see if there is something we might need in the future.  I will write a blog later on how we built a smoker house on just supplies from our local dump.  All the wood was free.  The best place we have discovered is our local auction.  When we first moved here we found they have an auction every week.  Then every few months they have an equipment action.  Well we bought thousands of dollars of farm supplies for pennies on the dollar.  It was a fun day also.  Be careful an auction can become an addiction.  We love going.  I mean what is better than finding recycled items and helping someone make a buck at the same time.  The best part is you are not giving all your earnings to the big box stores and you are keeping it with the little guy, just like you.  

The other recourse's are Internet.  Craigslist, ebay, and other swap and trading sites help you save money.  They can help you make money also.  Look around your house.  I am sure you have items you have not touched for months, even years.  Sell it.  You don't need it.  You could use that money for something else.  Trading is big now.  You can make out better sometimes if you trade items.  You don't have to be a farmer to do this.  It works for everyone.  Clear out the clutter and make some money.  Plus we might be able to use something you have. :)

We are trying to make some money selling the handmade crafts Russell makes with the kids.  This will help with repairs and animal feed/care.  You can check out our farm store often for new items they make.

www.etsy.com/shop/RoundHouseFarm7 follow this link and you will see what we are selling this week.  All the profits will go to our homesteads incurred cost to get it going and thriving as an active farm.  

Russell works hard.  He goes to work as a car sales man at Central Maine Toyota in Waterville, Maine.  He works long days and when his day is done there he comes home and does his farm work.  He works hard on the farm on his days off.  He is always repairing or building something.  He has a list a mile long.  He could be home full-time on the farm and have work to do 12 hours a day.  At this time in our journey he is our major income provider and has to keep his day job.  Selling cars is what Russell has done for years and he is a great guy to buy a car from.  He knows the Toyota brand better than anyone.  Plus he is an honest person and likes to get to know people.  That helps him in the business.  Winter is a slow time of year in the automobile business but he works for a great dealership.  They have great customers and a great following.  So he is doing fair for this time of year.  All we can ask is that our bills are paid and that we can move ahead with our farming way of life.  Him working hard most of his day has made this happen for our family.  

So if anyone needs a Toyota, they sell other vehicles also, please go to Central Maine Toyota in Waterville and please ask for Russell Bradley.  Tell him you read his family blog.  He will love it.  

So I guess in closing my blog today I want people to follow their dreams.  Everything takes time, hard work and energy.  The ending result can be your own piece of mind.  The happiness of you doing what you dreamed of.  Most of all if you don't try you will never know.   Give your dreams a try!