My BHAG: To learn how to regenerative farm!
Current Status: We bought an 11-acre property and we are going to learn how to regenerative farm on it!
Farm Related Posts
Cutting A Road Through The Woods – Part 2 (DeanoFarms: Week 71)
Week 2 of this multiweek project. After a slow start with a myriad of problems the prior week I started making decent progress this weekend. It was a beautiful weekend to be in the woods. I dropped the largest tree I’ve ever cut down (a cedar tree). It even went the direction I wanted it…
Slow Down Deano! Chainsaw Safety (DeanoFarms: Week 70)
Sometimes I get moving a little too quickly trying to get a project finished. In the process, I start cutting corners. Sometimes this means I increase risks. I constantly have to remind myself to slow down. Especially if it is a project I’m not familiar with. ESPECIALLY when I have a chainsaw in my hand!…
Farm Fails – Sometimes Progress Is Slow! (DeanoFarms: Week 70)
Projects are often 1 step forward and 3 steps back. It was definitely like that on this day. Actually, several thousand steps backward on this day! I made many trips back and forth to the barn and wound up with very little to show for it other than all those steps! HA! Oh well, at…
Cutting A Road Through The Woods – Part 1 (DeanoFarms: Week 70)
I need a road to connect my front pasture to my back pasture. This will take some time and lots of tree cutting, clearing, chipping, and leveling. Of course, everything will take longer than I want it to take (it always does). This is part one (of ?). #deanofarms
Cutting Vines Out Of Trees (DeanoFarms: Week 69)
Good Trees = Good!Vines Growing In Good Trees = Bad!I, Deano, will conquer the vines! #deanofarms
Thistle Wars Update (DeanoFarms: Week 67)
Deano’s sick idea of a good day?!? Battling thistles in the TN heat! Ha! We let our fields grow all year (no mowing this year). I walked the property a few times and cut the thistles. Once cut, I spot-apply 10 parts diesel + 1 part herbicide with a paintbrush. I don’t really want ANY…
Letting The Pastures Grow & Thistle Wars (DeanoFarms: Week 55)
We spent a decent amount of time and energy last year mowing the pastures (three times I think). I decided to take a different approach this year. The goal was 1) less work/time devoted to maintenance, 2) let some soil ‘build’ and 3) give natural habitat a chance to give some nature a home. I’m…
Splitting Logs For Firewood (DeanoFarms: Week 50)
Trees down…check. Logs cut into rounds…check. Time for splitting. I’d never done it before, but I decided to try to conquer them by hand. I immediately regretted this as the ax hit the center of the first round. After learning some quick lessons and getting my skills up to speed I finished my first round.…
15 Months To Grow A Tomato?!? – AKA Tackling My Patio Garden (DeanoFarms – Week 60)
Does it take 15 months to grow a tomato? No, absolutely not. Did it take me 15 months to grow a tomato? Yes, sadly, yes it did. My concrete jungle patio has always been a mess. I decided if I was going to move out to the country I could at least conquer 100 square…
Cutting Blown Down Trees (DeanoFarms: Week 46)
My brother-in-law, Justin, really likes chainsaws (like really). When he heard I had some trees down he was all ears. I don’t know if he really (like, really really) wanted to spend a day on the farm sweating but that is what happened. I had 4 (then 5) really big trees down and needed to…
Visiting White Oak Pastures (I Met Will Harris!)
It has been a year since I started learning about regenerative farming (and White Oak Pastures). In a stroke of serendipity, our Spring Break road trip this year took us right by their farm in Bluffton, GA. It would be crazy to not stop by for a quick visit?!? As we drove I made the…
Winterizing The Farm and The RV (DeanoFarms: Week 34)
I didn’t think through winterizing our building for the winter very well this first winter. I got busy and kept putting it off. Then, it got really cold! I solved it after a cold spike in late December. But, not before I rang up a big ‘ol gas bill. No busted water pipes, however. I…
Finding My Property Line (DeanoFarms: Week 26)
Today I hacked through the overgrown jungle to find my property line. I knew it was in there somewhere. More work to be done but I found what I was looking for on this day. #DeanoFarms
Fall Mowing and Clearing Fencerows (DeanoFarms: Week 19)
Mowing day is not my favorite day because I like projects (as opposed to maintenance). Emily likes mowing so she does that part. I get my weed-eating done as quickly as possible and then work on projects while she drives the mower. My projects usually involve clearing out a fencerow. Clearing fencerows usually allows me…
Fescue Seeding / Test Planting (DeanoFarms: Week 18)
To wrap up some prior jobs I needed to get some fescue seed planted on some areas I’d excavated. This fescue seeding was also a test planting because I didn’t really know if it would work very well in the heavy clay soil I’d be seeding into. We also got to use some of the…
Birthday Campout At The Farm
I turned a half-century old and my only birthday wish was to not celebrate that in the slightest way (introvert much). I spent the day working (for my real job) at the farm, eating a steak for lunch, watching the sunset by a campfire, having dinner at our favorite pizza spot in Dickson, and then…
Building Grade Leveling (DeanoFarms: Week 18)
Prior Property Owner: “I think we should not grade around the building we built AT ALL!” Water: “I think I’ll run down this hill and into this building since the owner has left the surrounding dirt area HIGHER THAN THE SLAB?!?” Joey: “Hmm…you make a good point, Water! Maybe I should fix that!” Joey: [gets…
Driveway Renovation (DeanoFarms: Week 17)
The driveway on our new property is a mess. I’ve got grading and water flow issues that need to be corrected. The driveway renovation involves getting the tractor and box blade set up for the job, getting the design for some retaining walls marked, leveling some areas for mowing, and getting the driveway renovated (leveled,…
Architecting and Building Plans – DeanoFarms: Week 15
I told my wife I was going to move her into a metal building out in the middle of nowhere. I figured this would go over like a lead balloon but she’s game! We’ve started the plans for the building’s renovation/buildout. It all started with a very hot day doing some core drilling at the…
Trimming Low Branches – DeanoFarms: Week 13
Emily runs our mowing operation. In an effort to make her life easier I cleared out the low branches that slowed her down (or worse slapped her in the face) while mowing. I also have some decisions to make as far as which trees and which types of trees I want to foster on the…
Clearing Brush In Hay Bales – Project Finished (DeanoFarms: Week 9 and 10)
My first major farm project is now finished! I’m not very smart (most people know this and would agree). My plan wasn’t the best one. I picked the middle of a very hot and dry Tennessee summer to stand out in the middle of a field and clear brush (a lot of it very thorny)…
Rain, Snake, Work, Sweat (DeanoFarms: Week 8)
Good things in this video: Rain (we needed it) and Work (never a bad thing). Bad things in this video: Snake skin (Emily will be excited) and Sweat (lots of it). #DeanoFarms
Clearing The Gully (DeanoFarms: Week 7)
I cleaned out the gully near the back fence row. Warning: Many large blackberry thorn bushes were harmed in the making of this video! #DeanoFarms
The Back Field – Mowing and Clearing Fence Rows (DeanoFarms: Week 6)
It took us too long to mow our back field this spring. Work and normal life got in the way. Luckily the land isn’t going anywhere. The land is patient like that I guess. Emily ran the mower and I worked on clearing a fence row. She finished her part and I made a small…
Farm Safety – Ticks, Poison Ivy, Tractor Tip Overs, Snakes, Spiders, Chainsaws (DeanoFarms: Week 5)
I was proactive on ticks (and my efforts have paid off). I wasn’t on poison ivy (and that stuff made me pay). As I was itching I wondered what other lessons might the farm try to teach me that I haven’t fully assessed. Spiders, snakes, tractor tip over, chain saw accident?!? Hmmm…what else?!?! Deano doesn’t…
I Got Poison Ivy (DeanoFarms: Week 4)
Well, that was fun?!? I’ve never had poison ivy in my life. It hasn’t been from a lack of trying. I honestly believed I wasn’t allergic to it. One of the first lessons the farm taught me is I AM allergic to it. [scratch, itch, scratch] #DeanoFarms
Our Farm Is Flooding – Water Management Needs (DeanoFarms Week 2)
Fine, I’m being dramatic (clickbait). It was really only raining. But I was excited to walk around the building to see where my water problems were located. I was able to confirm we do have water problems. Then the hot water heater started leaking and really flooded things (the building, not the farm). So, maybe…
Our First Time Mowing Our Farm (Or Any Farm?!?) – DeanoFarms – Week 2
I joke with people that we bought a farm just to mow…because mowing in TN heat is fun?!? We’ve never mowed anything bigger than our yard until now. I read all my tractor and implement manuals. We got the tractor set up for our first time and tested everything. Then we set off to mow…
Moving My Antique Tractor To Our New Farm (DeanoFarms: Week 2)
This day has been a day I’ve been waiting for since I was in high school. For the first time in my life, my old John Deere will be on my own place. A lot of trucking was involved in a very enjoyable day. I had to get the old antique tractor woke up from…
I Upgraded My Tractor (DeanoFarms: Week 1)
Hand cranking a ’38 Model A John Deere to work on the farm in 100-degree Tennessee heat ain’t anything fun. Modern solutions are needed, so I upgraded my tractor. We did our research, shopped around, and came up with a John Deere compact 3 series as the winner (3038E). Of course, it isn’t as good…
Removing Thorn Bushes (AKA Blackberry or Brier/Briar Bushes) Without Chemicals
One of the first projects on our farm to-do list was to clear an area of pasture that has been overtaken by blackberry bushes. Whatever you call them (thorn, briar, brier) we don’t need them. The thorn bushes have grown into a row of hay bales (and subsequently grown into the surrounding pasture). For a…
3 Steps To Keep Ticks And Chiggers Off You!
The first item on my farm’s master plan was to keep ticks and chiggers off of me. I was researching this the day after I walked the property for the first time. I don’t want any of the blood-borne illnesses that ticks carry. I also do not want a chigger anywhere near any part of…
How We Decided To Buy A Farm In 16 Days
March 10th, 2022 I listened to a Joe Rogan episode (#1784 Diana Rodgers and Robb Wolf). They wrote a book (and documentary) called “Sacred Cow: The Case for (Better) Meat.” I listened to the 3-hour podcast mainly for the nutritional component. I was fascinated by some of the things they talked about involving how the…
We Are Going To Be Farmers (Regenerative Farmers)…DeanoFarms?!?
I have an old tractor…what to do?!? I have some of my grandfather’s old coveralls…what to do?!? We have an RV I pay to store in town….what to do?!? Emily has an old Bronco…what to do?!? Let’s become farmers! Well…we are not going to be farmers yet. We have kids in school and both have…
DeanoRolls (@deanoroll5) 