Amber Oaks Ranch is Ours

Amber Oaks Ranch is Ours

We closed on the property on March 4th, 2016.  And while technically the bank owns it, we are now landowners.  Everything went according to plan.  It was actually quite a pleasant experience.  Even our lender, Jon from Capital Farm Credit was...

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I Need a Drink

I Need a Drink

Water is fundamental to life, so when I we were choosing the property, it was one of the primary considerations for selections.  I was told that the local water supply coop serviced the property – unfortunately that was not the complete...

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Something Smells Fishy

After several months of waiting, Dunn’s Fish Farm showed up at a local feed store.  I bought 200 Channel Catfish, 200 Black Crappie, 100 Copper nose Bluegill, and 10 lbs of Fathead Minnows ($475).  Unfortunately, half of the crappie were dead...

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Surviving the Storm

Surviving the Storm

Hurricane Harvey passed through this month and dumped about 12″ on the ranch over a 5 day period.  It was rather insignificant as the water fell at a steady slow rate, and had plenty of time to move through the terrain and make its way off...

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Curb Appeal

When I built the pond in front of the house (the one that catches the rainwater overflow) I was left with several yards of spoils.  They had been stacked up for several months and were quite unsightly – with weeds growing in great...

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Isn’t it Swale

Isn’t it Swale

Added more earthworks to the ranch. This time I put a swale in as the first phase of my orchard. A swale is basically a ditch on contour.  The idea being that runoff acclimates in the ditch and slowly infiltrates the soil instead of running off...

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Disappointing Hay Harvest

Disappointing Hay Harvest

I had a few acres cut for hay this year as the cows weren’t keeping up and it was going to seed. On 25 acres I only got 15 bales. I knew one 10 acre patch would be sparse, but I was expecting 2 bales per acre on the remaining 15 yet I got less...

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