Farm Life in WV

Our WV Farm Life

We decided to go away from the busy city life. The map shows a general idea of where we chose to go. With the land, we thought about farming.

Farm life isn't easy. It is fun for outdoor lovers though.

During the growing season, we try various vegetables in our garden. It is satisfying to see the crops growing. We still yet to enjoy what we planned. The biggest issue is the little animals on the properties. They enjoy more of our produce than we do. We tried electric fence, slanted fence, garlic spread, ... Nothing seems to keep them away from our hard labor.

Planning from seed, watering cup-by-cup

Cabbages, broccoli, tomatoes, squashes, ....

Animals

We had bees. We tried out goats. We had a donkey, named "Hope", to watch the goats. But, the goats were the escape artists. Barbed wire and electric fence ... They can get through everything. We oohed and aahed when a new baby's borne. We sighed and hiked when they wondered off the far.

We raised ducks. The snapping turtle had a feast.

In 2009 we switched to cows. They are huge. But, they at least obey the fence. We started with three ("Big Mamma", MooMoo, and BooBoo). The "Big Mamma" was pregnant when we brought her. October 2009, she gave birth to a healthy bull. Thighs were quite at beginning. But, they started to wonder off the farm. We became experienced in herding cows. One of us carried a bucket of grains. Two held long poles to keep them in line. One stayed back in case one of the cows decided to "wonder". 2011, "Big Mamma" gave birth to another calf on the Labor Day weekend. We were too excited and scared off the baby. She ran off the farm. "Big Mamma" decided to go after her. Our miniature horse, Sturn, acted as a great guard for the other cows. (He's small but he's the boss.) He kept the others in while we went looking for "Mamma" and the baby "Scareddy Cat". Thank God. Things went calm after that.

2012, Both MooMoo and Mamma gave birth around Labor Day weekend. MooMoo was a BAD mother. She refused to feed the baby. We had to separate her from the others and kept her and the baby in an enclosed area. Mark made sure the baby was fed at least 3 times a day. After a week, the baby was able to follow her and grew stronger. We never had issues with Mamma and her babies.

Once again we had another two babies this past Labor Day weekend. But, Mark was too busy with the "Green House" project that he couldn't pay too much attention to MooMoo. She did better this time. But, she did give us a scare of being "careless" again.

Hay

The hay field is a great playground for our kids.
The hay field may be fun. But it's tiring for my husband and our kids in the summer. Summer time means hay baling. Our hay baler is a little broken. It lost its ability to tell you when a hay bale is ready. So our kids take turns walking behind it and waving when a hay bale is ready.
In the winter time, we're afraid the tractor will skid on the ice. So we have to roll the hay bales for the cows. It's a fun experience.

Partially done hay field...

Just after the cutting...

Fun

Dune Buggy

What do you do when you don't have to work? Enjoy a ride? That's why we have dune buggies.

Trampoline (July, 2012)

Christmas in July. Santa delivered this one almost 7 months late. But, it's just in time for Allie's birthday.

Fishing

We have two ponds on the property. One year Mark put in some catfish, sunfish, and bass into the ponds. Now they are thriving. We can actually fish in our ponds. We tried gutting and cooking the fishes once. It wasn't an enjoyable experience. Now, we just catch and release.

Microscope

Allie loves to play with her microscope. She would collect algae from the pond or anything gross. Check out what she captured yesterday.

Bear

Yes. We have bears. Shhh. Don't scare the baby away.

Snow

Being in WV, you have to expect the snow. Snow can be fun. Sledding, snow angel, ... It's also good for exercise. Especially, you have to hike up-and-down the hills to take care of the animals. (You can forget about driving the tractor.)

Petersburg

Our farm is about 4 miles south of the town Petersburg. You can't find another friendlier community to begin your farming experience.

Church

Our family is part of the St. Mary Catholic Church family.

Spring Mountain Festival

Every spring, Grant County Chamber of Commerce hosts the Spring Mountain Festival in the Petersburg City Park. Lots of arts and crafts boutiques spread out the park. You can find rides and moon bounce for the little kids. Different folk music groups provide the free entertainment. Motorcycle show is always fun to watch. There's even an antique car, truck, and tractor show for the "Big" kids.

A train ride from the South Depot is always fun.

Places to Go

Cranberry Glades

Seneca Rocks

DollySods

Caves

River Side