The Farm

Of the 14 acres, our house and yard and barns probably sit on 1 acre, and permanent pastures take up an additional 3 acres.  We use electric netting to rotate our sheep up on the back field.  The remainder of the land is covered with shrubs or wetlands.  We have a small creek that cuts through the property, and a network of underground springs that serves as our water source. 
Our house (~1500 sq. ft) was built in 1840, and was obviously heated by wood back in the day.  Our traditional oil furnace just died this year, and we are replacing it with a wood burning indoor furnace (with oil backup).  We also use a woodstove to supplement.  The second floor gets heat passively through open air vents in the floors.

The smaller barn on the right in the above picture was constructed by our Amish neighbors in about 5 days.  When my husband presented me with Oliver, the horse, as a wedding gift, we needed some place to keep him.  It's a one horse stall barn with a small hay loft upstairs.  The chickens also reside in this barn. 

The larger barn on the left was originally part of a much larger structure built in the late 1800s.  When we bought the farm, most of the rest of the barn was falling down and beyond repair.  This part, originally used for hay storage, was salvagable. After a rather large restoration project it now houses our sheep in the winter, our pigs in the summer, and turkeys or broilers.  It also holds a LOT of hay. We store much of our farming equipment in here as well.