A 90 year old farmhouse, a 200 year old farm, and 2 middle-aged dreamers who are trying to bring it all back to life...
Click on the links to see pictures of the people in their prime
Click on the links to see pictures of the people in their prime
In 1806, James Ellis rode into what would soon be Jasper County, Georgia, with a horse, a rifle, and an ax, and set about carving out a place for himself, his wife Sarah, and their children. Almost 200 years later, 171 acres of that original homestead have come down to me through my grandfather T. H. Ellis and my mother E. E. Harmon. My husband Mike and I want to return it to it's former status of a working farm, using techniques of land, livestock, and pasture management which let us operate in harmony with the natural order of things, acting as stewards of the land. Our hope is to be able to pass it on to the next generation as a working family farm, independent and self-supporting.
The house is around 90 years old, and was built by my great-grandfather R. M. Ellis from salvaged wood used in the previous family home, which was built around 1825 or so. It's not an ostentatious house, just a typical frame house. It has beaded tongue-and-groove paneling on the walls, tongue-and-groove flooring, and lap siding. It has been updated over the years, first by my grandfather and my great-uncle Glenn, and now by Mike and me.
Since Mike and I got title to it, we have replaced the wiring, updated the plumbing, renovated the bathroom and kitchen, and done some painting. It's taking time, but we figure we have the time to do it right and be happy with it. The living room, the front bedroom, and the kitchen have been painted, so we'll be doing the same. Fortunately the walls in the rest of the house have been left alone, so that beautiful wood paneling is featured in the dining room and the other bedroom.
Great-granddaddy farmed the place until about 1955, raising cotton, table vegetables, and grain for the animals. He raised calves, pigs, chickens, and farmed with mules, the last team being named Dot and George. My mother can remember riding the mules--George could only be ridden sidesaddle. Great-granddaddy died in 1956, and the land has lain fallow since. My great-grandmother lived in the house until she died in 1974, then my grandparents lived there until Grandmama died in 1994, and Granddaddy moved into a personal care home in 1997. Not wanting the place to be abandoned, Granddaddy gave it to Mike and I on the condition we fix up the house, refence it, and eventually work it. Having wanted something like this for a long time, we jumped at the chance. Granddaddy's main concern was that it never be sold--he has no worries on that account. There aren't many farms that have been in one family for 200 years, and the Ellis place will stay in mine as long as I have any say in the matter!
THE GRAND PLAN
Our short-term plan (next 6 mos to a year) is to finish cleaning up the surrounding grounds. This will include tearing down (regretfully) the old outbuildings still standing (but saving the useable wood!), cutting down the old dead trees threatening the power lines and the house roof, and finally burning the huge privet jungle which has sprung up around the fallen-in barn, the calf shed, and the old car house. As soon as the logging company comes back out and cleans up, we're going to burn the piles of debris and fence in some of the cleared area for pasture and put up a three-sided shed for the horses and goats. Thank goodness Georgia has a mild climate most of the year--no Minnesota winters to worry about! We'll also be getting our foundation stock of goats and Shires, and probably a calf or two just for us. Here is a little diary to let anyone who cares know when we do what we do--I'll update it as we do stuff.
Over the long term (anything over a year) we want to renovate the pastures, cross fence, conservatively increase our stock numbers, get into beef on a very small scale, and build a pond. And other stuff we haven't even thought about doing.
It's going to be a lot of work, but I think it'll be a lot of fun as well. I'm looking forward to it, and to bragging about it on the Web.
LINKS
A few links that helped us with deciding what we wanted to do and how to do it....
| Topic | Links |
|---|---|
| Home Repair and Renovation |
Do It Yourself HQ
Home Doctor HouseNet |
| Ponds | Pond Construction: Some Practical Considerations |
| Intensive Grazing | Owenlea Farm
Forage Information System Graze-L Archives Jenquip Pasture Meter Main Page |
| Forestry | Association of Consulting Foresters of America, Inc.
http://www.forestland.org/ The World-Wide Web Virtual Library: Forestry |
