Pics Part 1:

Here are some pics of around the farm. I'm addicted to having a camera on me now. I feel like I need to let everyone see what I am seeing.


Dudley Sleeping


Ah Chicken Scratch


Big Boy


Digging to China


Still Digging


Looking For Food


Looky What I found


Fence Line

New Layer House

I am really excited about this. As mentioned in 2008 goals, we have a building that I am going to convert into a large laying house. It has electricity, concrete floors, a large door in the end so that I can drive our small tractor in to save litter, a room in the front so that I can incubate lots of eggs and keep chicks safe, and many windows so that the chickens can come and go as they please wandering out in the pastures and around the barnyard.


Old Building


Stuff, Stuff, Stuff...Need to DeStuff


Today I started cleaning up. First I have to clean the barn up because I know that I am going to have to move a lot of the stuff from this building into the barn. I like to be organized before I move things that way I’m not just adding stuff onto more stuff. I will keep you posted on the progress of the chicken house. I’m hoping by mid week next week I will be done. Ready for chickens.


Cleaning Barn

Chicken Laying in New Coop

Shaking Things Up on Yonder Way

Well I decided after much wrestling with and battling that it is time to move the Pygmy Goats. I love these guys to death but this was a botched experiment. When I first got chickens, the area I had them in kept growing much too fast, faster than the chickens could keep it down, so I had to mow. I already have a huge area to mow anyway so I definitely didn’t want to have to mow there too. So in come the goats. I liked the pygmy goats because they were smaller (later learned is a downfall), cuter, and people really enjoy buying their kids (babies). But being new to the whole farming thing, I didn’t think that if you put goats with chickens that the goats will eat your chicken food. I soon learned that by far, goats have to be the most stubborn animals ever. Persistant, witty, and being so small, I couldn’t keep them from anything by using electric wire so I just let them out to roam on their own.

This seemed great, they were all over the place until they found the barn. Now they were constantly trying to get in the feed room. I then had to set up a barrier to keep them out. But the worst thing was they knew just when I was going to feed the pigs. This was crazy. As soon as I would walk out, they would start creeping up. Then I would pour the food and begin chasing them. I’m all about not stressing animals out but these guys were really stressing me out. Plus, they weren’t ever going to be eaten, they were simply a botched experiment. There are four of them so as soon as I would get one of them out, the others would dart for the food. I mean, they knew I was chasing them and as they passed the food, they would take a bite a head off running again. It looked like a circus. The pigs were oblivious cause now they had their food.

But now, I am at peace with all men and animals. I have moved the four goats back to the original chicken pen. It has chicken wire all the way around so they can’t get out. Yes it was because they couldn’t seem to help themselves when it came to others food but also I think 2 if not 3 of the females are pregnant. They loved being in there with the pigs but my fear now is that if one of them had a kid, the pigs being a pig would eat the poor kid. So now they are back where they belong, eating what they are suppose to eat, weeds, brush, and hay.


New Location

Since I was moving the goats into the chicken pen, I had to move the coop out and relocate the chickens. Now I know your not suppose to move their houses mid day and that you should move it at night when the are inside so that when the leave the house in the morning they will know where it is. Yah, Yah. I like to make things harder on myself sometimes so I knew they would be where the house use to be. Plus this would give me a good chance to actually get some numbers of how many chickens I actually had since I would actually be picking each chicken up. So last night I moved the chickens and placed them in their new roosting spots. Things don’t always go like they should.


Eating Like Good Chickens


Waiting To Get Back In

I let them out and low and behold within an hour, they are back across in their old pen with others trying to figure out to get in. Sometimes I feel like getting rid of all the not so smart ones and only keeping those that make things easier on me. Kinda selfish sounding but man, they just don’t make any sense. Tonight, the round up will commence again. At least I have a whole day to plan.

Composting: The More the Smellier

This morning was very cold for Brenham standards. The low was in the mid 20’s or so. I felt like Randy on the Christmas Story when I went outside to let the animals out to begin their day. If the wind would have blown me over, I would have been like him, just rolling on the ground, unable to get up. I love the mornings on the farms because everyone is fresh and ready to start the day.

Frozen water trough:


Pigs keeping warm in the hay:


Goats doing the same:


Dudster playing with Rowdy:


Chickens doing what they do best, working the dirt:


Today I finished getting most of our spring garden areas tilled. After tilling them under, I spread a bunch more compost on them with the hopes that in 2 months things will be ready to go. We have such sandy soil here, especially in our garden areas so we have a lot of our vital nutrients wash out. Our PH tends to be low so the mushroom compost we use, which is has a more alkaline PH, around 8.0, really helps to boost our soil. It is amazing that once you get the PH balanced, (Not Degree), your soils really release a lot of nutrients it tends to store in case of emergencies. Not a science lesson, just wanted to give some pictures of today’s events.

Loading compost:


Manure spreader:


Before 2nd batch of compost:



After compost: This is my lovely helper KK. I love that she comes running out when I am working and wants to help. Never would have thought it in a million years. Although, most the time, she has a Princess dress on over her clothes with a pair of rubber boots on under them. Awesome.



Disclaimer...My wife Lynsey is a professional photographer. All the pictures on The Diary of a Farmer were taken by me Jason Kramer. Even the ones that look like someone took them while I was working, driving a tractor, etc. "Thats how I roll," I jump out of the tractor, snap a picture, then get back in and continue working. My pictures are amateurish so if you want the good looken ones, go to Yonder Way Farm blog or her photography blog. Booyah to the third power.

Got Gophers

Today was garden day. I had put compost on the garden area a couple of weeks ago and let it burn off most of the vegetation that was on top. So today I began tilling in the compost into the ground when I noticed a dreaded gopher mound. Then several mounds one after another. Last year we were infested or overrun with gophers. There were mounds throughout the yard probably in the hundreds. Well, we tried everything. We smoked them, poisoned them, I even sat for an hour till one stuck his head out the hole and I shot is head off. (I was kinda impressed about that) Then we found these nifty little traps that allowed you to catch them and now you knew you actually had got rid of the critter. I think in total we killed 66 gophers in a period of 2 months. Not a single mound has been in our yard for about a year till today. They are slowly migrating back from the pastures and into the yard so I had to take the offensive. This is the progression of the battle.

The Invasion


Their Underground Tunnels


The Traps (You have to have them anchored or they will drag them off)


The Kill


The Disposer of the Kill (Free dog food)


I have to admit that gopher hunting is not very productive in using your time wisely but it is very fun. I highly recommend that anyone who has never hunted these elusive creatures down should give it a go. I’ve got the fever, and it ain’t for more Cow Bell.

Yonder Way in 2008

I can’t believe it is already 2008. New Years is always fun to me because it gives you a chance to make some goals for that year and challenge you to meet them if not exceed them. Over the last year, I have figured out that my true passion, other than Jesus (Sunday School answer, but true), is farming. Not just farming, moving cows and driving a tractor, but sustainable farming that pulls us away from relying on big agriculture to provide for us but instead being able to produce things that cover all of our needs. This means cows, pigs, chickens, eggs, fruits and vegetables. Not doing them the traditional way that most people do today but allowing nature to work its course. Everything in their natural state doing what comes natural to them. Working the land. The one thing I have really noticed is that God made this place to work like a clock and we spend more time trying to make it fit our needs rather than allowing certain “natural” things to help us along. I hope that in the near future, we are not just producing food for ourselves, but that we are able to provide for many other families, who want to know where their food comes from and show their children that the food we eat doesn’t just pop up at the grocery store. So being my first post, I feel that it would be beneficial to anyone that wants to read this to know what Yonder Way Farm will look like after 2008.

Land: Currently I have 31 paddocks for our cows to rotate on. In late October I planted my rye grass and clover on about 50 acres so hopefully it will really come into action early Spring. We will continue to rotate our animals using Managed Intensive Grazing combined with High Stock Density Grazing. This allows good grass consumption, large amounts of manure and urine on paddocks for fertilization, good “hoof” action, and for the land to receive plenty of rest. By the end of 2008, the plan will be to have approximately 40 pads for our cows to rotate on.

Beef: We currently have 31 steers and 5 heifers. Most of them are black baldies (Angus/Hereford) crosses. This month, we will get 10-12 more and I hope to have approximately 80 by the end of 2008. Come late Spring early Summer there should be 5-10 ready for butchering so news will come of that when they are ready.

Pork: This has become one of my new projects because it started off with me just wanting to produce pork for our family. However, who doesn’t like bacon and pork chops. Only those from France or Canada and maybe some Russians. After seeing how commercial pigs are fed out, eating slop, snack mix from Kelloggs and other processed food makers, I really want to offer a true, pastured pork product. Our pigs are able to root, roam, and lay in pasture 24 hours a day. In 2008, I hope to have about 10 acres set aside for pork alone, doing the same thing as our beef, rotating on paddocks. Pigs won't be rotated to the original pad for a minimum of 30 days. Upon finishing the pigs, they will be moved to an oak patch where they will spend the last 4-6 weeks of their lives. Acorn finished pork has a distinct taste unlike anything you will get at your grocery store. I have two Yorkshire females (Lucy and Ethel) ready for breeding that I raised from piglets, and I just purchased a Hampshire male as the proud man of the barn. His name is Dudley or the Dudster. I also have three barrows that are stocker pigs that should be ready in the next four months or so. I got dibs on one so I will have 2 ready to sell in Spring. Also in Spring, I hope to have two litters of pigs so we will take reservations for those when the time comes.

Chickens: I plan on producing about 300 chickens a year at this point but I know I will have some learning on broiler chickens. They take about 8-10 weeks to be ready to butcher so figuring out breed and feeding as well as having to build mobile houses will be high on the list of things to do.

Eggs: I love eating fresh eggs everyday and getting to gather them is very rewarding. It is the instant gratification product of farming. Cows take 12-14 months to butcher, pigs 7-8 months, chickens 8-10 weeks, but eggs, you get them everyday. I had about 115 chickens/chicks in fall so that by Spring they would be laying but there are things out there in the wild that sneak up on you and get you. First, I am rooster rich which cut my egg number down at least 30. Then came a hawk. That blasted thing killed about 25 of my chickens. And Rowdy my dog, he didn’t attack them but he chased 3 or 4 and gave them heart attacks. Along with some just dying I think I will end up with about 40-50 layers come Spring. However, we have a building that I am going to convert into a large hen house which can easily house about 300 birds, with electricity, lots of windows and doors so they can easily have access to the pastures around it. I am so excited about this one.

Garden: I enjoy to garden but my true passion is animals. However, I want to produce what I eat so it is vitally necessary. I am starting to get the ground ready in January so that I can have it good and ready by Spring. My hope is that we will have enough for approximately 10 families or so who can buy stock in the garden and have a fresh basket of vegetables in the Spring and Summer. We’ll see how that goes and I’ll let you know about a Fall garden.

These are a few of my thoughts right now for what I am planning in 2008. I want this to be what it says- a diary of my thoughts and days, so if they seem long and grammatically incorrect, so be it. I have a lot of stuff in my head and be glad you can just click your mouse to make it stop where as I have to listen to it all the time. Sometimes I wear myself out. Pathetic.