Hurricane Farm

Here, at long last, is a photo of our new grain bin, also known as a silo.  It holds 4.5 tons of grain and we order it 3 tons at a time.  The mill makes it per our specifications and this shipment of feed (that we are feeding to our poultry and hogs) should last us until the end of the summer.

It's pretty tall.  Just over two stories, I'd say.  It towers over our barn.  I was nervous that it might start tilting with the weight of the feed in there, but it still looks level and even.  They come to deliver it in a tractor trailer truck (all 18 wheels were there!).  Too bad that the kids were at school.  Liev would have absolutely LOVED seeing such a large truck in our driveway.

We have just completed Phase 2 of our SILO ACQUISITION.

Phase 1, the most tedious of all phases, included posting several ads on Craigslist throughout the greater New England and Pennsylvania area in the hopes of locating an unwated silo (a.k.a. Grain Bin).  After culling through dozens of responses offering us "less-than-ideal" (read rusted, warped, three-legged, bottom-less!) silos, we decided to call around to find out about new silos. 

New silos, however, are not very cost-effective--especially from the perspective of those who always purchase things second, third, and fourth-hand.

We did, though, find a slightly used silo through one of owners of what I guess should be called the "Silo Store."  He informed us that one of his clients was interested in selling her silo, and that he would be willing to remove it from her farm and erect it on our property.  Around the same time, I stumbled upon another used silo at a farm in a neighboring town.  This one was slightly more "used," but worth while checking out.

Phase 2, then, involved looking at and inspecting both silos.  We decided, ultimately, on the newer of the two in the hopes that it will be a longer-lasting investment.  Below, find some photos taken at the conclusion of Phase 2.

(BBQ grill not included)

Phase 3, which involves the delivery and installation of said silo, will hopefully commence (and resume) sometime this week or next.  Phase 4, involving filling it will feed from the mill will, logically, follow Phase 3 forthwith.

So as the farm grows, we get to purchase cool things that we would never even window-shop for if we lived in, say, a condo.

Case in point:  a grain silo.  We've located two different places that will custom mill grain for us and deliver as well.  The only issue is that we need to buy it by the three ton load.  Five gallon buckets won't work in this case.  Perhaps one of the only problems unable to be solved by the five gallon pail solution. 

Enter the silo.  We called a few places and Erica was able to find a woman selling a used one.  It also turns out that the place that gave us her number can also take it down and deliver it to our farm.  We will soon be able to take delivery of our first load of bulk grain.  It will be nice to save on the 50 pound sacks, and this will be a great financial deal for us as bulk grain is significantly cheaper than the sacked grain.  Additionally, the mill can deliver us grain to our exact specifications.  Way too cool.

Back to the deal about buying cool stuff...We're also getting a new dump truck.  That's right a "new" 1977 dump truck.  This will help in delivering hogs and cattle, as well as hauling firewood.  Pictures of this to follow.

Below, though, you can see a photo of part of our hungry crew from last Spring.  Notice that sack I'm awkwardly dumping into the feeder?  Well, without sacks and with bulk grain, I'll be using...that's right...FIVE GALLON BUCKETS!  Another functional use of one of the greatest farm implements in the world.

Hungry little devils, eh?  You'll notice only a couple heritage birds in there.  The rest of them prefer the food they can find on their own out in the field and in the woods.  Hey, it makes my job easier!  Stay tuned for photos of the silo.  We will try to do a photo spread of the whole installation process.