Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Tools and Skills
for the
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5
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Backyard Farmer
Maintaining a backyard farm can be an excellent way to not only increase the health of your fam-
ily, but also save money, as long as you already have some tools and you are prepared to do some or
all of the work yourself. If you purchase everything brand new, or have contractors come out to do
all the work for you, you will not save money. Not even close.
Just as there are some tools that should be part of every backyard farm, there are some skills that
every homesteader will want to know (or develop). The savings can be astronomical.
For example, the price of a small, well-built chicken coop at our local market was $450. The cost of
my husband repurposing some old lumber and creating a chicken coop? Only $50 worth of chicken
wire to cover the outer yard area. That's $400 in savings right off the top. (See Chapter 1 for a
photo of the finished coop.) If someone else builds your fence for you, it can cost anywhere from
$10 to $15 per hour for a full day's work, in addition to the building supplies and cost of materials.
If you are paying for everything out of pocket, chances are you're losing money. Whether it's worth
it to you in terms of the cost versus time outlay to have the increased health benefits is something
only you can decide for yourself. However, it is still necessary to have a basic understanding of
repair skills because you have to expect the worst to happen, at the worst times. If your goat breaks
through the fence in the middle of the night, guess when you have to fix the fence? And if you
think you can call the local handyman for help at 10 p.m. you are sadly mistaken.
This chapter covers the basic skills and tools you should have or try to pick up before tackling your
backyard farm.
Hand Tools
There are certain hand tools that are absolutely necessary. I love a good spade, for example, and
unlike my husband I do almost all my gardening using simple hand tools. He is the king of the
shovel and triangle cultivator but I like to pick a cozy spot and hunker down and feel the dirt when
I work.
