Homestead mailing list

["Gloria Morris" <gloriamorris59 AT gmail.com>]

On 12/20/06, sanrico AT highdesert.com <sanrico AT highdesert.com> wrote:
> I've seen some really good ideas on gardening, accessibility, etc. come from 
> this
> thread this evening (regarding provisions for aging), but have not seen - 
> unless
> I missed a post - any thoughts on the care of / ability to keep livestock,
> chickens, etc. It seems as though, without help, there is no way to continue 
> with
> this aspect of...independence?

A friend of mine is in her mid-seventies, lives alone, and still has
horses. She trail rides extensively and stays physically active and
socially active. She is not wealthy and manages most of the upkeep on
her 5 acres on her own. She buys hay and has it delivered and stacked
in her barn, on ground level, where she can access it without great
difficulty. She has to get friends to help with things like fence
maintenance, but she does pretty darned good on her own. And, I knew a
woman beekeeper who was still at it when she was 80 years old.

I have long sought to find ways to reduce the workload of the
critters. It became crystal clear to me when I was in my 30's and hurt
my back pretty bad, that bucking bales up into hay lofts was not
something I would be able to do indefinitely. Ground level hay storage
became a priority. Too, at a previous homestead I set up my water
tanks under gutter downspouts so that every rain filled and flushed
the tanks - a savings of labor and water. Wise expenditures on
equipment could further reduce hard labor. For example, a tractor with
a bale spear could allow you to move large round bales, which would
eliminate the need for lifting hay bales. Garden carts make wonderful
square bale haulers. Indeed, wheels, levers and pulleys are vastly
useful in lifting all manner of heavy things (which have saved the
backs of countless beekeepers). If you evaluate your set-up carefully,
and look for ways to arrange things so as to reduce your hardest
physical labor, I think you could extend your livestock keeping nearly
indefinitely, at least until you were so infirm that you could not
manage to lift much of anything, at which point you would likely be a
candidate for a nursing home or needing the care of relatives anyway.

Gloria
A Recent Birthday Girl of 47 Years,
with 20 years of homesteading under her belt, and hopefully many more.