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Today I welcome Tammy and Stacy to this space.

Our property contains my pride and joy - an 1880's barn that we still use in our ranching operations today. We have a website to both introduce ourselves as well as market our animals - Taylor Make Ranch and we also have a blog to share our life here on the ranch at Taylor Made Ranch Blog. Check it out, we love to have company!
I think our biggest success is taking things slow to get where we are now. It was hard for us to be patient and go slow, but we kept our jobs (and salaries) in the city as we purchased our land and acquired the buildings and equipment, repaired and replaced the fences, improved the pastures and dug the ponds. There was a stiff learning curve and we were lucky to have steady paychecks and trusted mentors as we found our way through. I wrote a blog about our experience called "Chasing the Dream", you can read it here.
Our biggest mistake has been trying to save money on our first tractor purchase and WAY under buying - the stripped-down model could not meet our needs. Although we make sure we're being wise with our monetary resources, we now make sure we're obtaining the equipment that will do the job we need it to do.
Our future plans are materializing and changing. We decided we wanted to try to improve our herd by utilizing artificial insemination so we sold our registered Angus bull and Stacy became a certified A.I. technician. We've already had several A.I. calves that have been born and they're impressive. We've also had to remain flexible due to weather conditions. Texas experienced a record-breaking drought in 2011 and we had to reduce our herd significantly that year to assure there was sufficient feed and water for our remaining girls. We were hit with another consecutive year of drought in 2012, although thankfully with a smaller permanent herd we were able to squeak by. But because of those lessons we have begun using stocker animals to utilize the flush grass of the seasons, pulling them and selling them as the grass wanes. It's been a very good move for us.
We've also expanded with a 60-acre offsite pasture. We're fortunate that it has yet another 1880's barn on it, those old barns really speak to my heart! We're in the process of improving the pastures and having another pond dug as well as building corrals and pens for working the cattle. The future looks bright!
This life works so well for us since we were aware of our footprint years before it was the common thing to do. I raise a large amount of our food through the use of raised beds for our veggies and harvesting God's bounty of wild plums, blackberries and pecans in addition. Our veggie garden is irrigated 100% from an underground cistern that collects rainwater that falls on our home, and we rely heavily on passive solar energy to supply much of our energy need (zero cost - SCORE!) I've learned to slow down and enjoy the beauty around me and it's AMAZING. If I could encourage someone I'd like to remind them that a dream not acted upon is simply a dream. Take baby steps and go slow, but take that first step NOW!
I really enjoyed reading more about your journey! I love that you decided to make the move from the corporate world and work on the ranch. It was wise to keep your jobs while working towards your dream, and now you can enjoy it! So happy you are doing what you love :)
ReplyDeleteIt was really hard to hold back when we wanted to go-go-GO! But it ended up being very beneficial to making the transition successfully. What a fulfilling life we live now!
Delete~Taylor-Made Ranch~
Wolfe City, Texas
We are still in the "working" phase and can't wait until my husband can quit his job so we can move up to our future homestead. So far we have a well, a septic, a tool shed, an orchard and a nice place for our travel trailer so we can stay up there and work on weekends and vacations. I love reading how other people do this so that I can learn from other's mistakes and triumphs! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteVickie - that's exactly what we did. We set it up so that we could come to the ranch to work on the weekends and holidays. But all the while we could see our dream for our future coming closer & closer within our reach. I can tell you this - keep reaching, the future is even more awesome than you can imagine!
Delete~Taylor-Made Ranch~
Wolfe City, Texas
How fun to read more about your ranch here. We are also going slow but since we have a house full of teens that have other dreams, we're ok with slow. Thanks for the reminder that sometimes plans change and it's ok.
ReplyDeleteAngi, the house full of teens certainly helped us to slow down as well. Our plan was for my husband & I to actually move to our ranch after the last one graduated high school, as the kids were all firmly entrenched in their own lives in the city by the time our property was purchased. It worked well for us - good luck! ~TMR~
DeleteI so enjoy reading these! Thanks for linking them up to the HomeAcre Hop! http://blackfoxhomestead.com/the-homeacre-hop/
ReplyDelete