Make-Do Improvements on the Goat Shed

Once the last of the old coal barn was torn down, we got right to work on what we had planned for the salvaged roof and posts.

Eventually we will build a new goat barn in the same spot, but with repairs to the front porch now necessary, we decided to make a few improvements on the old goat shed for the time being. We had plenty of materials from knocking down the old one, so that's what we used. The entire project was a huge challenge and we talked about so many ideas as we ran into problems, that now that it's said and done, I really don't know how to explain it. I'll let pictures do the talking with a few bits of information here and there.

We started with the roof, 1st snapping a chalk line and cutting it in half

We balanced it on the wheelbarrow and hand truck to move it.

But the fence was in the way

T-post puller, a very handy tool for brace posts too

No fence is okay because the goats are all elsewhere until
the newly planted pasture seed gets a chance to grow.

Now to get it up there

The proper tool would have been a block & tackle plus either on overhead
tree branch or a tripod. We had neither and so used a come-along.

Our audience

At this point Dan built a ledger across the top of the
shed doorway. The roof is still tied onto the tree.

Also we realized that the roof section did not need to be so long. Dan cut
it down from 14 feet to 10 feet, making it quite a bit more manageable.

4 feet shorter and easier to manage

We reused the posts and header to support the roof once again.

I think this is where I'm supposed to say, "Do not try this at home!"

First half up

The next day we got the second half of the roof up.

We decided to put this one up from the side instead of the front.

Once we got it up, all we had to do was push it over. 

Goat stall door on the right, milking room is center, feed & hay storage on left

The last thing we did was cover it with a tarp because it had a few leaky places. The shed roof was covered with a tarp almost five years ago, although it probably should be replaced. The one thing left to do will be to put the fence and gate back up.

I am extremely happy with this improvement. Before when it rained, the ground outside the goat stall door became horribly muddy. The roof will keep the area dry, keep rain from blowing in, and give the girls more loafing room, especially when one or both stalls are occupied during kidding. The roof covers the door to the milking room too, another plus. It should serve us well until we can get the real goat barn built.

For Phase 2, click here.

Make-Do Improvements on the Goat Shed © November 2014
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Back to Working on the Barn

We may have had to slow down our work on the front porch while we save funds for the next step, but that doesn't mean everything else slows down. We simply shifted gears from our big house project, to our big barn project. Earlier this summer we took down most of the rickety old "coal barn" (so called because it was once used to store heating coal).  We left only the attached car port to use for storing hay and straw.

The next project was to take that down. I cleaned it out, then Dan removed its remaining support:

1. Cut bottom of posts with Skil saw
2. Knocked out braces with sledge hammer
3. Removed the cedar support post

It was pretty wobbly at that point. All that was needed was tying on a strap and pulling.

What's next? Click here to find out.

Back to Working on the Barn © November 2014
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

New Project - Need Readers' Help!

I'm embarking on a new project - a series of eBooks I'm calling The Little Series of Homestead How-Tos. The original idea was a follow-up to 5 Acres & A Dream The Book, how-to paperback. Although 5 Acres The Book contains a few homesteading how-tos, it was mostly meant to be the story of Dan's and my up and down journey toward becoming more self-sufficient. After a discussion about eBooks at my author blog, I decided to learn how to make them. The individual how-to ideas seemed a good place to start.

So, I've gotten a start and I need feedback. I have several concerns, and who better to help me than my wonderful blog readers.

The first two are ready for your perusal and input. Below I'll give you links plus a coupon code to download them for free at Smashwords. They are available there for any type of eReader (including Kindle), plus a PDF version to read on any computer.

What I need your comments on:

1. Price. I've priced them at 99¢ each. The question is, is that a fair price considering how short these little how-tos are? This is a much talked about topic amongst eBook authors and many fiction writers offer anything under 6,000 to 7,000 words for free. On the other hand, research shows readers are willing to pay a little more for non-fiction because of the perceived value of the information. Mine are 3500 - 4300 words. What do you think? Is 99¢ an acceptable price?

2. Formatting. There many different eReaders and each one formats what you see on the screen differently; like viewing a webpage with different browsers. I went with both Amazon (Kindle) and Smashwords, because Smashwords enables authors to create eBooks in all formats: epub, mobi, pdf, rtf, lrf, pdb, txt, and html. I've had a lot of trouble with the epub edition and on 2 of my 3 computer epub readers, the book looks terrible. Please let me know which version you download, what you read it on, and how it looks to you. 

3. Other. For example: overall appearance, content, images, usefulness, subject appeal, anything else you can think of, etc.

4. If after all that you think the project is worth it, tell me what else you'd like to see in the series. (It's also okay to tell me if you think it isn't worth it.) Some of my ideas for future books in the series include:

• How To Peel Tomatoes For Canning Without Boiling Water 
• How To Mix Your Own Feed Rations With The Pearson Square 
• How To Make Butter & Whipped Cream From Goats Milk
• How To Make An Herbal Salve 
• How To Make Yogurt & Yogurt Cheese Without Electricity
• How To Whitewash a Chicken Coop
• How To Install Fence 
• How To Make Kefir 
• How To Husk Sunflowers 
• How To Make Goats Milk Mozzarella 
• How To Lacto-Ferment Anything 
• How To Render Animal Fat 
• How To Bake Without Baking Powder 
• How To Determine Soil Texture 
• How To Save Seeds
• How To Hard Boil Eggs Without Water 
• Suggestions?????

Now for the codes. I'm only able to offer discount codes with Smashwords. Kindle Direct Publishing only allows eBooks for free if they are part of their Kindle Select Program. That means making the book exclusive for Kindle, which I did not want to do. There are other eReaders out there and for those without, pdf is the way to go.

For Smashwords:

• How To Preserve Eggs: freezing, pickling, dehydrating, larding, water glassing, & more - Enter coupon code UV95S (expired) at checkout
• How To Make A Buck Rag & other good things to know about breeding your goats - Enter coupon code XK73S (expired) at checkout. 

Both codes expire Nov. 7 at midnight. You will have to set up a Smashwords account to take advantage of this offer.

At Amazon: If you prefer Amazon's convenient wireless delivery to your Kindle, you can purchase them there for 99¢ each. (Also available at Amazon websites in UK, IN, DE, FR, ES, IT, JP, BR, CA, MX, and AU).

• How To Preserve Eggs
• How To Make a Buck Rag

Smashwords distributes to Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Oyster, Scribd, PageFoundry, Flipkart, and Baker & Taylor, so my eBooks should start to show up at these sites soon. They also distribute to public libraries through Library Direct, Baker & Taylor's Axis360, and OverDrive. That means you can request your local library to buy them too.

Lastly, if you think this project is a useful idea, please help me by reviewing them at Amazon, Smashwords, or your own website. Reviews are what make self-publishing worth it.

So that's it. New additions to the series probably won't come out very quickly, but for those who would like to know when they do, I've set up an email list for notifications. Shoot an email to littlehomesteadhow-tos (at) greenmail.net (dot) net. The list will only be used to announce new releases to the series.

Now go grab a copy of each and let me know what you think.

New Project - Need Readers' Help! © November 2014
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/