Search Results

Soft pretzels are an amazing snack or side! You can make them sweet, savory, and they go with just about every dipping sauce. These sourdough soft pretzels are soft on the inside and just crunchy enough on the outside. Get twistin' 🥨🤍 Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. Soft pretzels are reminiscent of baseball games for me, but really they go with everything! Last time I made these, they were a delicious addition to a large cheeseboard and we dipped them in ranch and queso 😋. They are super soft and light on the inside with a good crunch on the outside. They really would make perfect bread sticks as well. PRETZEL TOPPING & DIP IDEAS Original (Kosher Flakey Salt) with Spicy Mustard or Queso Cinnamon Sugar with Cream Cheese Frosting Garlic Parmesan (pictured above) with Marinara Everything Seasoning with Jalapeno Jelly Herby Rosemary & Chive with Alfredo Cheddar and Jalapeno Slices with Ranch Don't have a sourdough starter yet? Learn how to make your sourdough starter using nothing but water, flour and time! Then head here to learn how to take care of your sourdough starter. Sourdough Pretzels Recipe Yields: 6 large soft pretzels Cook Time: 2.5 hours Instructions: Remove starter from fridge the morning before making dough. Feed your starter that evening and leave on the counter overnight covered by a tea towel. The next afternoon, warm the milk and butter in a saucepan until butter has melted. Add milk/butter mixture, sugar and sourdough starter to bowl of stand mixer and mix on low until incorporated. Add flour gradually with mixer on low until incorporated and all the flour is off the walls of the bowl. Knead dough for 5 minutes. Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and cover with tea towel. Let rest for 2 hours. Turn out dough onto clean surface and do a round of lift and tucks to form the dough into a tight ball. (Lift one edge of the dough and pull it across the top, tucking on the opposite side. Turn bowl 90° and repeat until all 4 sides have been lifted and tucked.) Separate the dough into 6 equal sections. Lightly flour your surface and, one at a time, roll each section out into a long rope-like strip. I did mine about 24" long because I wanted larger wide pretzels. If you want thicker more overlapping pretzels, don't roll the strips out as long. Shape each strip into a pretzel and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Freeze the pretzels for 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 450° and begin to boil a large pot of water. Once the water is boiling, add the baking soda. One or two at a time, pull the pretzels out of the freezer and place them in the boiling water. Boil until the pretzels float to the top, about 30 seconds. Pull pretzels out with slotted spoon and place back on cookie sheet. Beat the egg, brush on top of the boiled pretzels and top with your desired topping. Once all pretzels have been boiled, egg washed and sprinkled with your topping of choice, bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown with a hardened crust. Let cool slightly before serving. DISCOVER MORE DELICIOUS SOURDOUGH RECIPES FROM SOME OF MY HOMESTEADING FRIENDS Click the links below to find other sourdough recipes and discover some amazing homestead blogs. Sourdough Cinnamon Crunch Scones Sourdough Blueberry Muffins Sourdough Irish Soda Bread Sourdough Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks Herbed Sourdough Pan Rolls Sourdough Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Hearty Sourdough Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Bake Cast Iron Texas Dewberry Focaccia Sourdough Apricot Fritters Vegan Spiced Sourdough Waffles Chewy Double Chocolate Sourdough Discard Cookies Sourdough Life Changing Bread Spiced Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bread Twist The Perfect Sourdough Pancake Recipe Biscuits Without Baking Powder Sourdough Pizza Crust Check out more of more sourdough recipes in the Food & Drink blog section. PIN IT FOR LATER! What is your favorite dipping sauce for pretzels? Tell me in the comments.

Pie crusts are notorious for being difficult to get right, but every time I have made this pie crust recipe, it comes out perfect! It's buttery, flakey, not too sweet and pretty simple. Don't be intimidated making homemade pie crusts from scratch anymore 🤍 Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. Pie crusts can be stressful to make, because if you just slaved over the filling of your pie, the last thing you want is a crust that falls flat in comparison. I love this crust because it is not too sweet and has just the right amount of salt to compliment fruit and dessert pies. Don't be intimidated, it really is so simple! The trick is to make sure that the dough stays super cold the whole time you are working with it. THE SECRET TO THE PERFECT PIE CRUST As you knead or mix the butter in, the warmth from your hands can start to soften and melt the ingredients. Simply pause and place the dough or ingredients in the freezer for 1-15 minutes. It is also key to make sure you keep the butter cold until right before you incorporate it into the dough. Only take out a little butter at a time as you are ready, not the full 2.5 sticks. I usually have to pause and put my dough back in the fridge at least one or two times while I'm making it. When it doubt, let it chill a bit. 🙃 Now that you can make the perfect pie crust, head over to this Bourbon Pecan Pie recipe and get cookin' 😏. Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it Homemade Pie Crust Yields: 1 double pie crust or 2 single pie crusts Cook Time: 1 hour Instructions: Prepare a bowl of ice water (I make more and just scoop out 1/4 cup when needed) Whisk flour, sugar and salt together in a large bowl One half stick of COLD butter at a time, chop the butter into thin slices and work into the dry ingredients. Use your fingers and thumbs to smoosh the flour and butter together into wafer thin flakes. You want varying sizes of butter flakes (that's why I like to do this by hand instead of in a food processor). The flakes of butter are what make the dough so flakey, so you want thin flakes rather than round chunks of butter. NOTE: The warmth from your hands will start to melt the butter. That's why you want to start with very cold butter and only pull out a half stick at a time from the fridge. If you feel that the butter flakes are starting to get soft and melty, pause and pop the dough into the freezer for 10-15 minutes. The secret to this pie crust is to make sure the butter you add and the butter in the dough stays super cold the whole time. Continue incorporating the butter into the flour until you have smooshed all the butter into the flour mixture. Beat one egg in a small bowl until frothy. In another bowl, scoop out 2 tbs of the beaten egg (don't stress too much about this being exact) and beat together with 1/4 cup of ice water. Add ice water and egg mixture to flour mixture and incorporate it fully with your hands. REMEMBER: If it ever starts to feel soft or melty, pause and pop it in the freezer for a bit. Knead the dough together until it is a cohesive ball, then cut it in half and form each into a ball or disc. Wrap in a wet paper towel and chill for at least half an hour. After the dough has chilled, turn the dough out on a generously floured surface. Let it warm up for several minutes before starting to roll. NOTE: If you are rolling out both pie doughs, do them one at a time, leaving one in the freezer while you make the first one. Using a floured rolling pin (or bottle of wine like I do because I don't have a rolling pin 😳) roll the dough outward from the center until it is a circle with a diameter of 12-14 inches. NOTE: I like to lift the dough up and turn it over about halfway through rolling it out so that I make sure it is not sticking to the surface. If there are any cracks at the edges, dip your finger in water and press the dough together to repair the crack. Once it is rolled out to a nice circle, fold one edge of the dough over your rolling pin and roll the dough off the surface and transfer the dough onto a 9-inch pie plate. Press the dough into the edges and corners of the pie plate. Make sure you have the dough all the way into the corners. For a single pie crust, fold any overhanging dough onto itself and decorate the edge of your pie crust as you wish and return it to the refrigerator or freezer to chill. Land O'Lakes has a great blog on some Decorative Pie Crust Edges. For a double crust pie, add filling to your base pie crust in your pie plate and place in the fridge to chill while you roll out the second pie dough as you did before. Pull the first out of the fridge,. Roll out the second crust on top and decorate as you wish. Check out these 15 Double Crust Pie Designs from Martha Stewart. Follow your pie recipe for how to bake the crust/pie. NOTE: Before placing the top pie crust in the oven, brush it with the remaining beaten egg from earlier. This will make it a nice golden brown with a beautiful shine. Check out more recipes my Food & Drink blog section. PIN IT FOR LATER! What is your favorite pie? Tell me in the comments.

My grandfather, Henry Richard, journaled constantly and going back to read what was going on in his life and on the farm is so special for me. A small twist: he never wrote in a journal -- only in margins of books he was reading. So nothing is in order and you never know what you're going to get. A RANCHER'S JOURNAL The HR Homestead was named for my grandfather, Henry Richard, who introduced me to the wonderful world of farming and taking care of livestock. Every morning or evening, when he came inside, he would sit down in his "easy chair", pick up whatever book he was reading or was sitting on the side table at the time, and write a journal entry in the margins. He dated every entry, some were long and thoughtful and some were short and just notes on animal breeding schedules or weather. Since he has passed, my mom and I have all of his books somewhere in one of our homes. Just picking a random one up and reading what he was journaling at some point is so much fun and it's always a surprise what you're going to get. I thought I would start sharing some of them with you lovely friends so you can learn from his nuggets of wisdom and get to know the man I admire so much and try to emulate on our homestead. 🖤 Read his journal entries in the Excerpts from HR blog section. PIN IT FOR LATER! Do you have hand written notes from your grandparents? Tell me in the comments!

Learn how to build a fence for your hobby farm with this step by step blog series. First step: plan the fence line. Second step: how to build an h-brace. Third step: In-Line Posts & Stringing Wire. Fourth & final step: Hanging Gates. Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. Welcome to the final step of the how to build a farm fence series! If you have not already read Step 1: Plan the Fence Line, Step 2: How to Build an H-brace, Step 3: In-Line Posts & Stringing Wire go back and read those first. Your fence is just about done! This will be a short one and the easiest step. Just hang gates and move-in your livestock. 🖤 Hanging Gates STEP 1: DETERMINE ORIENTATION OF GATE & WHERE HOLES SHOULD BE DRILLED You will attach your gate to one of your H-brace posts with the hardware provided with the gate. But first, you need to determine which side the gate latch will be and how the gate will swing open. Pay attention to elevation to make sure your gates can swing all the way open in at least one direction. If your gate is long and on a hill, you may have to hang the gate a bit higher on one side so that the other end does not get caught on the hillside trying to open it. Make sure the height has the gate clearing the ground by at least an inch or two (the gate may sag down a bit once hung). STEP 2: MARK & DRILL HOLES FOR GATE Once you have chosen the height of your gate and which H-brace post you will attach it to, mark where to drill the holes for the gate hanging hardware. Next, drill the holes using a bit slightly smaller than the hardware so that the screw grooves catch tightly. Screw the hardware in at the bottom first. Screw it in however far you want it so that the gap between the gate and the H-brace post is the width that you want. Next screw the top hardware in far enough to bring the gate up to level with the ground while also providing some stability so that it doesn't sag. This means the top screw should be in further than the bottom screw. Remember, the L for the bottom screw should face up so that you can set the gate down on top of it, and the screw for the top should face down so that anyone can't walk by and lift the gate up off the screws. STEP 3: HANG GATE & ADJUST Now it is time to hang the gate. Set the bottom of the gate on the bottom screw. To attach it to the top screw, loosen the top cylinder on the gate so that it slides down, lift the gate so it is even with the top screw, then slip the cylinder up and onto the screw. Don't forget to tighten the bolts on the cylinder of the gate again once you have it at the correct height to attach to the top screw hardware. Once you have hung the gate, you may realize you want to screw in either the top or bottom (or both) further, or unscrew them a bit. Adjusting is easy and common, simply pull the gate off and screw in or out and re-hang it. STEP 4: ATTACH GATE LATCHES Most gates come with chains, but you will most likely want to purchase a gate latch for ease of moving through the gate. There are a lot of latch options -- choose whichever you prefer. I have linked the latches we used below. We love them! They are super easy to open, the animals don't bother them and they have a built in support to keep the gate from sagging down. We decided on them originally because we wanted to be able to open the gates with one hand, from horseback and didn't want the goats and horses able to learn how to open it. Remember to think about what animals will be behind the gates when choosing a latch. For example, goats and horses will learn to open the traditional chain link fence latch very quickly. Here are some questions to think about: Will I want to be able to open and close the gate one-handed? Will I need to be able to lock the gate with a padlock? What animals will be on either side of the gate, and will they be able to open certain latches? Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it Woohoo you have a completed fence! Missed Step 1: Planning the Fence Line? Go back and read it here. Missed Step 2: How to Build an H-brace? Go back and read it here. Missed Step 3: In-Line Posts & Stringing Wire? Go back and read it here. Check out more farm projects in the Homestead blog section. PIN IT FOR LATER! Have you built perimeter or cross fencing on your property? Tell me in the comments!

Our coffee table is one of my favorite pieces in our home. Styling a coffee table is very simple, but there are a few rules of thumb to make sure your space is clean and dynamic. Read on for my tips on how to style a coffee table. Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. The living room is definitely where we spend most of our time and our extra large coffee table is probably my favorite piece. This large wooden coffee table is perfect for game nights and entertaining (especially with pets because there is enough room to put wine and water glasses far enough away from the edge safe from tail wags and dog zoomies 🙃). But whether you have a large coffee table, a small one, rectangular or round, styling your coffee table is a simple way to make your living room more homey, have some of your favorite things front and center, and reinforce your home style. Here are my 8 tips that I used for styling my coffee table. Coffee Table Style Tips MAKE GROUPS Add objects in groups. This keeps the décor organized and clean. Using books, large bowls, and trays is an easy way to create groups -- my acrylic tray from Amazon is a personal fave! It organizes some of my favorite objects without adding a big block of color to cover up the beautiful wood of our farmhouse coffee table. NOTE: If you coffee table is glass, maybe opt for a solid, wood or marbled tray to bring a different color or texture you your space. If you have a bottom section to your coffee table, stacking books or photo albums, storage baskets or extra throw blankets are great ways to make groups. CREATE HEIGHT To make the space dynamic and balanced, you want to create different levels with the décor on your coffee table. Adding items that have different heights and using stacked books to make different levels will help the surface feel balanced. I always have a tall vase with something in it, a tall diffuser, bowl or candle and then lower books, coasters or shallow trays. Some other ideas for height are tall tapered candles, long sculptures or decorative vases. LEAVE BLANK SPACE This one may be obvious but it is worth mentioning -- leave blank space on the surface of your coffee table. First, you don't want it to feel too cluttered or crowded, and second, you want your family and guests to have easy places to set drinks, plates, phones etc. when sitting around your living room. ADD SOMETHING NATURAL For a homey feel, adding something natural as a focal point will help create height and a warmth to your space. Whether that is fresh or dried flowers, stems or greenery or even faux, something from nature will bring a different texture and feel to the décor. If you are on a budget and can't have fresh flowers every week, try a dried bundle. They last much longer and are just as beautiful in my opinion. This is also where I switch up my décor seasonally. In the spring and summer, it is fun to have fresh flowers and/or greenery like large silver dollar eucalyptus; in the fall having some harvest-colored dried stems or pampas grass warms everything up, and winter pine bunches that match your holiday trees or garlands is always fun and cohesive. BOOK STACKS It is no secret that coffee table books are some of my favorite things. There are so many gorgeous ones out there that you can find the perfect size and color that you are looking for. I recommend heading to a second hand bookstore or Half Priced Books to search through previously-loved books to get some winners for less. This is also where you can show your personality. Choose books (or even magazines) that are interesting to you or remind you of something or somewhere you love. Magazines are a great way to get "the stack" on a budget, but make sure they are similar sizes and colors so it doesn't come off too cluttered or junky. INCLUDE A FAVORITE SCENT Show your personality not only through sight, but the sense of smell as well. Reed diffusers are my favorite because you don't need to light them for them to make your room smell like your favorite scent. Both diffusers and candles can be beautiful decorative objects that appeal to multiple senses to make your living room feel more homey and personal. Plus yummy smells make people happy! USE COLOR INTENTIONALLY Remember to be mindful of colors and textures as you add objects, books and trays so your coffee table décor matches the rest of your living room and home style. Too many colors can appear cluttered if not done correctly. Introducing different textures like ceramics, glass, wood and metals can add different elements without introducing too many bright colors. DON'T NEGLECT COASTERS And my final tip is remember coasters! Having coasters easily seen and accessible will make it easier for you and your family to remember to use them so you don't wreck your beautiful coffee table. It's also nice to have them out and easily seen for when guests are over so they do not have to ask or hold their drink the whole time 😊. ... There you have it -- eight simple steps to styling your coffee table. If you are interested in how I style the rest of my living room, follow me in the LIKEtoKNOW.it app! 🤍 Shop my coffee table and other items below. Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it Check out more of my home styling tips in my Home & Lifestyle blog section. PIN IT FOR LATER! What is your favorite piece of décor on your coffee table? Tell me in the comments!

Sourdough starter is a living colony of natural good bacteria and yeast that is used to leaven sourdough bread and other baked goods. Because it is essentially a living thing, you have to take care of it to maintain a healthy sourdough starter. 🤍 Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. First, learn how to make your sourdough starter using nothing but water, flour and time! Caring For Sourdough Starter After you have made your sourdough starter, you have to care for your little colony of natural yeast and bacteria so that it stays happy and healthy. Generally speaking, the older your starter gets, the more healthy and strong it will be as long as you take care of it regularly. If you properly take care of your little fridge pet, you can keep sourdough starter alive and well for years. WHAT TO FEED To keep your sourdough starter healthy, you must feed it. Feeding flour and water allows the bacteria to feed off of and ferment the carbs in the flour, creating the bubbles and alcohol present in the healthy active starter. This is what makes the starter sour and gives your baked goods the token sourdough flavor. Water - Use filtered or distilled water when you can so you do not introduce other compounds that can harm the bacteria in the starter. Flour - The flour you use can vary. Just because you used a certain type to make the starter or feed last week, does not mean that you cannot use another flour later. NOTE: a lot of people opt to feed whole wheat flour because of its higher natural enzyme content. How much flour and water you feed will depend on the amount of starter you have. 1:1:1 is a good place to start (meaning if you have 1/2 cup of starter, feed 1/2 cup of flour AND 1/2 cup water. If you find your starter is a bit runny or dry after feeding this, adjust the amount of water added. The starter should be the consistency of a thick pancake batter after feeding. I know this sounds very variable, but trust me, you will quickly learn how to feed your sourdough and what the consistency should be. 😊 FEEDING SCHEDULE Because your sourdough starter is alive, you will need to feed it when it is hungry. You can tell it is hungry when liquid starts to gather on the surface. The liquid will smell like alcohol and is the byproduct of the bacteria fermenting the flour. Once your starter is established and at least 2 weeks old, if you are not baking everyday (like most of us), you can keep your mature starter in the fridge in an airtight container. The cold temperatures slow down the bacteria's activity so it will take longer for them to ferment the last feeding meaning you can wait longer between feedings. There is no strict schedule of when to you must feed, because it is depends on how hungry and active your starter is, but a good rule is to feed sourdough starter that has been in the fridge once a week to make sure it stays healthy. Feeding this often and keeping it in the fridge may mean that you don't ever really see the alcohol film on the surface -- that is fine! You can't really over-feed on this schedule -- you mainly want to worry about underfeeding so that the bacteria doesn't die. HOW TO FEED For starter that has been in the fridge, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to warm up to room temperature before feeding. I take mine out in the morning and feed in the evening just before bed. When your starter is at room temperature, feed your starter as noted above with flour and water. Stir the flour and water into the starter until smooth, cover with a tea towel or cheese cloth and leave out on the counter until it is active and ready to bake with. If you are not going to bake, simply feed, stir and return to the fridge. GETTING READY TO BAKE About 12-24 hours after feeding your starter, the starter should be healthy and active. There should be lots of bubbles throughout and it should have doubled (or more) in size from right after you fed. An easy test to see if your starter is active and ready for baking is to do the "float test"-- take a small amount of your starter out and place into a cup of water, if it sinks, it is not quite ready; if it floats, it is active and ready! I make some kind of sourdough recipe every weekend so my routine is to take Sergio (my sourdough starter) out of the fridge Friday morning so he gets all warmed up and bubbly. Then I feed him Friday evening and leave him covered with a tea towel overnight. By Saturday morning he is all active and ready to use. Try my Sourdough English Muffins or Sourdough Loaf recipes! After using your starter to make your dough, you can feed it again and leave it on the counter, or put it back in the fridge for a week before the next feeding. Remember to close the airtight lid to your jar before placing back in the fridge. OTHER TIPS FOR TAKING CARE OF SOURDOUGH STARTER In general, it is a good idea to use only ceramic, glass and wooden bowls, containers and stirring utensils with starter. Metal and plastic containers have been known to harm the bacteria in the starter. If it is winter or chilly in your house, feed using warm water to kickstart the fermentation process. If you need to leave your starter unfed for a longer period of time, you can dehydrate your starter and leave it in an airtight container at room temperature pretty much indefinitely. Simply spread active starter out on parchment paper for a few days until it is totally dry. To rehydrate, powder the dehydrated starter and feed with equal parts water and flour. Repeat a few times until the starter is active again. If you are getting too much sourdough starter and/or just want to be feeding less flour each week, you can use the un-fed or "discard" starter to make recipes that do not require a rise -- like this Sourdough Flatbread Pizza or these Sourdough Discard Crackers! Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it Find sourdough recipes in the Food & Drink blog section. PIN IT FOR LATER! What did you name your sourdough starter? Tell me in the comments!

T-posts, brace posts and netwire make up the bulk of your fence. After this step, you'll be able to see all the fruits of your hard work coming to life. Learn how to build a fence for your hobby farm with this step by step blog series. First step: plan the fence line. Second step: how to build an h-brace. Third step: In-Line Posts & Stringing Wire. Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. Welcome to step 3 of the how to build a farm fence series! If you have not already read Step 1: Plan the Fence Line, and Step 2: How to Build an H-brace go back and read those first. After you know where your fence will be, have cleared the fence line, and built your H-braces, in-line posts and stringing the wire is up next. In-Line Posts & Stringing Wire T-posts, brace posts and netwire make up the bulk of your fence. For wire fencing, your in-line posts will consist of t-posts and wooden or metal brace posts. We used round wooden posts 4"in diameter for our in-line brace posts. Remember, your materials list from Step 1 of the blog series. Gates Gate Latches H-brace Posts (8' 6" diameter) T-posts In-Line Posts (6' 3-5" diameter) Barbed Staples Brace Pins In-Line Strainer Wire/Horizontal Boards Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it In addition to the materials that will be a part of the actual fence, you will also need the following additional materials: Fencing Gloves Hammer Fencing Pliers (at least two of these so work can be done simultaneously) Screwdriver or T-clip tool In-Line Strainer Handle Cordless Drill & bits sized to the holes you will drill for the brace pins in your H-brace as well as the bolts for the gates into the posts. Stakes and orange string to mark the fence line Auger (hand or gas powered), Shovels, Post-hole digger, and -- if you are unfortunate enough to sit on rock like we do -- a jackhammer Fence Post Driver Come Along to stretch wire (two if you are stretching high-tensile wire) Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it STEP 1: STRING BARBED WIRE It is always a good idea to string one line of barbed wire at the bottom of your fence to deter small animals from digging or trying to squeeze under the fence. This can be about one inch off the ground. The barbed wire also serves another essential purpose when building your fence -- once pulled tight and tied off, it is exactly where your fence line will be and an excellent marker to make sure you put your in-line posts in the correct spot so your fence is nice and straight. The barbed wire will be strung from the edge H-brace post on one end to the outermost H-brace post on the other end of the stretch of fence. Wrap the barbed wire around the edge post twice, tack it to the H-brace post with a staple and twist it over itself as tightly as possible with fencing pliers or by hand. Wrapping about 5 times should be good. Where the barbed wire is wrapped around the post should be between the twitch wire and the ground (about 1"above the ground). Unroll the barbed wire to the other edge H-brace. Before cutting the wire, attach this handy gripper tool to the barbed wire about two feet before the post where you will tie it. Hook the come along to the gripper tool and stretch the barbed wire tight so it is a straight line from one fence post to the other. Cut the wire with enough left past the gripper tool to wrap it twice around the post and tie it off by twisting it over itself at least 5 times. Once it is tied on both ends, loosen the come along and detach the gripper tool from the barbed wire. STEP 2: DETERMINE LOCATION OF POSTS Now that your barbed wire is marking the fence line, you just have to decide how far apart you want each t-post and brace post. Most wire fencing suggests t-posts every 10-12 feet and a in-line brace post every 100-150'. We chose to do t-posts every 10' and a brace post every 100', so our fence line has (9) t-posts between each brace post. You can adjust this as needed to best utilize the bracing from your H-braces. For example, if you have between 110 and 200' of fencing, just place your brace post in the middle of the stretch of fence. If your stretch of fence is less than 100', you probably don't need an in-line brace post for that stretch. Instead of marking the posts with spray paint, we laid out the posts as we measured, but if you don't have the posts yet, marking the t-post locations with a dot of spray paint, and the in-line brace posts with a small X, is a good idea. STEP 3: DIG HOLES, SET IN-LINE BRACE POSTS & DRIVE T-POSTS For the brace posts, you will need to dig a hole at least 2' deep. Remember, you want the wire on the side of the fence where the animals will be (or where the biggest animals will be). Dig the holes on the barbed wire fence line so that when you level the vertical posts they line up with the barbed wire so that it just touches the edge of the post -- where you will tack the fence wire to the posts. You can fill the hole with concrete, but we chose to fill it with the dirt from the hole so that there was sufficient drainage to keep water from seeping in and rotting the wooden post. If you are filling the hole with dirt, all of the dirt that came out of the hole should fit back in around the post. While the post is being held still in place leveled on all sides, shovel a few inches of dirt into the hole and then tamp down the dirt so it is tightly packed in the hole and around the post. Repeat this a few inches at a time until the hole is filled and the post is set. For the t-posts, use a t-post driver to pound the posts into the ground. Make sure the side with the little teeth notches face where the wire will be. Make these as straight with the fence line as possible, but you don't need to stress too much. STEP 4: STRING NETWIRE Time to string wire! First, roll out the wire on the side of the posts where it will be attached. If your stretch of fence is longer than the amount that comes in the roll, you will need to splice the wire together using wire splices (make sure to get the right gauge for your fence wire, often the top and bottom wires are a larger gauge than the middle wires) and a fence splicer tool. Once the wire is rolled out, cut the vertical wire between each horizontal wire so that you have enough horizontal wire cut free to wrap around the outermost H-brace post once with room to tie it off to itself by wrapping it around itself at least 5 times tightly (allow for about 2' of freed horizontal wire for tying depending on the width of your H-brace post). Once you have cut all the vertical wires with fencing pliers, twist and pull the cut pieces off the horizontal wire so that you have the full length of smooth wire to wrap. (This part is so tedious and a major pain, so I recommend getting a portable speaker and playing your favorite music to make it more tolerable 🙃). Starting with the bottom wire, place it where you want the bottom of your fence to start, wrap it around the post and then use your hands or fencing pliers to tightly wrap the excess wire around itself so it is tightly wrapped and secured around the post. Use barbed staples to tack the netwire to the side of the H-brace in about 4 places. Do not hammer it all the way in -- leave room for the wire to move a bit against the post. Going up one horizontal strand at a time, repeat the process you did to wrap and tie the bottom wire until you have tied each strand of the fence to the post. At the other end of this stretch of fence, before cutting the wire from the roll, it is time to stretch (tension) the wire. Attach a fence stretcher (like this) to the fence about where it is about even with or past the last H-brace post. (You will need it to stretch past the brace far enough to cut and wrap the horizonal wire like you just did.) With chain, attach the stretcher to two come alongs that are fixed to a truck, tractor or other sturdy stationary object. Tighten the come alongs together until you cannot stretch the fence any more. While stretching, make sure the wire is lined up against your H-brace. If it is off at an angle, it will be impossible for you to wrap and tie it off tightly once it is tensioned unless it is right up against the post. With the netwire tightly tensioned, use barbed staples to tack the netwire to the post as you did before. Next, beginning in the center of the netwire, cut the middle horizontal wire strand so that you have enough room to wrap it around the post once, and tie it off to itself by wrapping it around itself at least 5 times tightly (just like you did before). Remember, only cut and tie off one horizontal strand at a time so that the majority of the wire stays tensioned by the stretcher and come alongs. Cut the vertical wires and twist and pull the excess off just as you did before. Wrap the freed wire around the H-brace post and tie it off. Repeat this one wire at a time moving out toward each edge so that the middle is totally tied off before cutting the top and bottom wires. Once you cut and tie off the top and bottom wires, you are done with your stretcher and come alongs. Use 4-6 t-clips depending on the height of your fence and t-posts to attach the netwire to each t-post. Use barbed staples to tack the netwire to the wooden in-line brace posts and other H-brace posts, leaving room for the wire to move a bit against the post. Once you have attached the netwire to all in-line posts, you are done! Bekaert Fencing has a wonderful YouTube video on how to stretch a wire fence that I definitely recommend! Woohoo the hard part is done! Next up: Step 4 of the series, Hanging Gates. Missed Step 1: Planning the Fence Line? Go back and read it here. Missed Step 2: How to Build an H-brace? Go back and read it here.

White bedding may be a bold choice for our hobby farm, but I just love how welcoming, clean and cozy a plush white bed is. Read on for how I chose and styled my white bedding for a plush and cozy bedroom. 🤍 Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. I think the key to having all white bedding that is not boring, is to make sure you have plenty of textures and plain fabrics mixed together. The anatomy of our bed is (3) standard pillows, (2) king pillows, (3) euro pillows, duvet & cover, quilt, and bedskirt. For a full or queen size bed, you would only need two euro pillows, no king pillows, and 2-4 standard pillows. (We like a lot of pillows so we can prop up to read.) On top of these standard pieces, I think you can always add more throw pillows and blankets, but for our bed we kept it simple with just pillows, shams, quilt and duvet. For the duvet cover and matching king pillowcases/shams I chose a very simple and plain light fabric that is not too heavy in the summer. It does have a ruffle on all edges to give a little more texture. On top of that, we have a quilt and matching euro shams that is thicker for the winter months and has a lot of dimensional patterns. Depending on your style, your pattern can be girly and romantic, linear or geometric or somewhere in between like ours. You want to match the pillow shams with your duvet and quilt bedding in the same order that it is layered on the bed. For example, our duvet is under our quilt and our king pillows are layered behind our euro pillows, so the king pillows match the duvet and the euro pillows match the quilt. Our bed has only a headboard so we also needed a bed skirt. Because we have texture on the other pieces, I chose a very simple straight linen. (I like to spend a little more on my quilts, shams and duvet covers and go way budget for sheets and pillowcases that have more daily wear and tear. I found some amazing super cheap Amazon sheets that we use for all the beds in our house. They are super soft and hold up well to multiple washes.) If you are interested in how I style the rest of my bedroom, follow me in the LIKEtoKNOW.it app! Last week I also started creating bedroom lookbooks (pictured below). Follow me or check back on my Shop page each week for new home design lookbooks and inspiration. 🤍 Shop my white bedding and other bedroom items below. Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it What is your bedroom style? Tell me in the comments!

This pecan pie recipe is so simple and I especially love it because there is no corn syrup. The honey and maple syrup substitutions keep the pie flavorful, firm and delicious without using corn syrup. Just mix the ingredients, dump in the pie crust and bake! So easy. Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. Salty, sweet, nutty and rich, this pie is simple, but has all the dynamic flavors! Pair with a flaky homemade pie crust and you've got a crowd pleaser. I personally love the addition of a smoky bourbon 🥃, but if that's not your thing, you can certainly skip that ingredient and the pie should turn out great all the same. 😊 This pie can be stored on the counter for up to four days and then moved to the fridge. I usually throw a tea towel over the top while it's on the counter and this pie is almost always gone within four days (even if there's just two of us at home 😬) In my humble opinion, most pecan pies do not have enough pecans. So for this recipe, I wanted to change that. If you are not a fan of plenty of pecan pieces in every bite, you can only add a cup of chopped pecans or skip the numerous halves I have garnished on top. Before you start on this recipe, head to my recipe for the best from scratch homemade pie crust. 😏 BOURBON PECAN PIE Yields: 1 pie Cook Time: 1 hour Instructions: Mix eggs, brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, melted butter, bourbon, vanilla extract, and salt in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment on low until incorporated. Fold in the pecan pieces Pour filling into cold raw pie shell Garnish with pecan halves and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes Place a baking sheet on the center rack of the oven and preheat to 400°F Once preheated, turn the oven down to 350°F and place the pie on the preheated baking sheet (I like to brush an egg, buttermilk or 50/50 wash on the crust right before placing in the oven -- this makes the crust have a nice and shiny golden brown finish) Bake for 40-45 minutes until the crust is golden brown Allow to cool at least 1 hour before slicing to ensure the filling has had time to set. What is your favorite pie? Tell me in the comments.

H braces provide the strength and stability to keep your fence strong and in place. Learn how to build a fence for your hobby farm with this step by step blog series. First step: plan the fence line. Second step: how to build an h-brace Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. Welcome to step 2 of the how to build a farm fence series. If you have not already read Step 1: Plan the Fence Line, go back and read it first here. After you know where your fence will be and have cleared the fence line, H-braces are next on the list. H braces bookend all sides of the fence and are what provide the strength and stability to stretch and pull the wire and hold up gates. How to Build an H-Brace When you planned your fence line, you marked with stakes and string where your H-braces will be at each end of the fence line and on either side of each gate. REMINDER: For one straight length of fence, your formula for how many H braces is --> # of H-braces = 1 (for the starting edge of your fence) + (# of gates x 2) + 1 (for the end edge of your fence. Or, more simply: # of H-braces = 2 + [(# of gates) x 2] You can buy or make pre-fabricated welded H braces or make them with large wooden posts like us. That's what this blog will tell you how to do. To make them out of wood, each H-brace will need: (3) 8 ft round posts (6' diameter) (2) brace pins (1) in-line strainer 10 gauge wire (allow for about 40' of wire for each H-brace) (2) barbed staples (2) crimping sleeves Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it In addition to the materials that will be a part of the actual H-brace, you will also need the following additional materials: Fencing Gloves Hammer Level Rubber Mallet Fencing Pliers In-Line Strainer Handle Cordless Drill & bits sized to the holes you will drill for the brace pins in your H-brace. Auger (hand or gas powered), Shovels, Post-hole digger, and -- if you are unfortunate enough to sit on rock like we do -- a jackhammer Tamper Crimping Tool Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it STEP 1: DIG HOLES & SET POSTS For one H-brace, you will need to dig two holes that, when the posts are set, will be 8' apart. I recommend digging decently wide holes so that you have room to level your vertical posts and keep them 8' apart. Don't stress too much about this, you can always chainsaw a bit off your horizontal post so that it fits, so when in doubt, you want the horizontal posts closer rather than further than 8'. The most important part of this step is to make sure the posts are perfectly in line with your fence line (that's where the orange string from Step 1 comes in handy). If the angle is off, you will not be pulling parallel to your H-brace, therefor the horizontal post and twitch wire will not be able to sufficiently do their job to stabilize the fence and wire. The orange string represents the fence line and, more importantly, where the actual fence wire will be. You want the wire on the side of the fence where the animals will be (or where the biggest animals will be). For example, for our stretch of fence separating our backyard from the goat pasture, the wire is on the goat side. For our stretch of fence separating the goat pasture and the horse pasture, the wire is on the horse side. Dig the holes on the orange string line so that when you level the vertical posts they line up with the orange string so that it just touches the edge of the post -- where you will tack the fence wire to the vertical H-brace posts. For an 8' wooden post, you want 3' of the post to be underground to make sure it has enough strength to stretch the wire. I recommend digging one hole and setting one post at a time. Once your 3' hole is dug, place the post in and level it on all sides, making sure the edge lines up with the orange string. You can fill the hole with concrete, but we chose to fill it with the dirt from the hole so that there was sufficient drainage to keep water from seeping in and rotting the wooden post. If you are filling the hole with dirt, all of the dirt that came out of the hole should fit back in around the post. While the post is being held still in place leveled on all sides, shovel a few inches of dirt into the hole and then tamp down the dirt so it is tightly packed in the hole and around the post. Repeat this a few inches at a time until the hole is filled and the post is set. Measure 8' from this post and dig your second hole for the H-brace with the above method. STEP 2: ATTACH THE HORIZONTAL POST Now that your vertical posts are set, you are ready to attach the horizontal post. First determine the height of your horizontal post. Basically you don't want it too high or too low but don't need to stress too much about this height. Anywhere between 75% and 85% the height of the top of your fence wire should be great. For our 48" wire that sits about an two inches off the ground (we added a string of barbed wire below) the horizontal H-brace post is at 39" above the ground. 40" / ~49" = ~80% Next, determine which direction the twitch wire (the wire that holds tension in the H-brace to keep it nice and strong). The wire will angle from the bottom of one vertical post up to where the horizontal post is attached on the other. The bottom side of the wire should be on the outermost post where you will be stretching the wire from and the post where most of the tension will be pulling. If you consider this slash the angle of the twitch wire [\] the formula would be: wire being stretched, (inner) post \ (edge) post To attach the horizontal post, you will use a 10" brace pin on either side. On the inner post side (where the twitch wire will start at the horizontal post), the brace pin will go all the way through the vertical post into the horizontal post so that one inch stays sticking out opposite the horizontal post. This one inch of brace pin is what the twitch wire will thread over on this side. On the edge post side (where the twitch wire will be at the bottom of the post), the brace pin will be fitted into a 3" drilled hole on the vertical post (not passing all the way through the vertical post. The twitch wire will be thread under barbed staples at the bottom of the post on this side. As mentioned above, if your vertical posts are a bit too close together, you may need to shave an inch or so off with a chainsaw. If you do this, remember to use a wood sealer to protect the freshly cut edge of the post. Now drill the holes for the brace pins. At the height you have determined above, drill a hole straight through the inner vertical post parallel with the fence line. Place a brace pin partly into the hole. On the edge vertical post, drill a 3" hole at the same height into the side facing the inner post where the horizontal post will be. REMINDER: the horizontal post should be level with the ground so remember to measure the same height from the ground at each post. If your ground slopes, so will the horizontal post. On the horizontal post, drill a 4" hole into the center of one flat end of the post and a 7" hole in the other end. Place a brace pin in the 7" hole. Lift the horizontal post and work the brace pin sticking out of one side into the 3" hole in the edge vertical post. Once that is in, line up the other end of the horizontal post with the hole on the inner vertical post. This may slip right into place or require some coaxing with a rubber mallet. Once it is in place, knock the brace pin into the hole drilled in the horizontal post until only one inch is sticking out of the edge of the inner vertical post. Be careful not to knock the pin in too far -- you will need the inch sticking out the thread the twitch wire over. STEP 3: STRING THE TWITCH WIRE Time to string the twitch wire! On the edge vertical post near the bottom of the outside edge (opposite side of where the horizontal post is), hammer a barbed staple in but leave room to slip another staple over the top of the staple (about half an inch). This second hanging staple, will keep the wire from digging into the wooden post. Start threading the 10 gauge wire around the H brace. It will go over the brace pin sticking out of one post and under the staple on the other post. Once you have strung it around two times, stretch it as tight as you can by hand and attach the end of the in-line strainer to the wire. The strainer should be on the opposite side of where the fence wire will be so that the fence doesn't get caught in the strainer. String two crimping sleeves on the wire, stick it through the hole at the end of the strainer, bend the wire and thread the end back through the crimping sleeve. Crimp it a few times so it is nice and tight. Then cut the other end of the wire so that you have several inches of slack to thread through the in line strainer. Thread the cut end of the wire through the bottom of the in-line strainer wheel perpendicular to the angle of the twitch wire (if the hole in the wheel is not lined up perpendicular, turn the strainer a few notches until it is). Once strung through, bend about an inch of the wire in the opposite direction that the strainer turns to tighten so that it stays in place as you use the in-line strainer handle to tighten the wire. If you have more than an inch, trim the slack so it does not get in the way of the strainer wheel turning. Before beginning to tighten the wire with the in-line strainer handle, make sure that the wire does not cross at all on the strainer side, or at each place it is threaded around the post. For example if the strainer is attached to the wire underneath where the solid wire is like in the above picture, that wire should be on the bottom when threading around the brace pin and threading around the staple. NOTE: Because this is one long stretch of wire wound around the H-brace twice, it will have to cross once. But make sure that it crosses on the side opposite where the strainer is attached. Tighten the wire with the strainer handle, pausing every few turns to ensure the wire has not crossed while tightening. Do not overtighten but enough that there is only about a 4 inch give when you pull it out away from the H-brace. You can always tighten it more later. Bekaert Fencing has a wonderful YouTube video on how to build a wooden H-brace that I definitely recommend! Woo we are halfway done! Next Step: In-Line Posts & Stringing Wire Missed Step 1: Planning the Fence Line? Go back and read it here.

Happy New Year friends! One of my ongoing goals is to make our home and family more sustainable and remove toxins as much as possible. Fortunately, these go hand in hand with many of my favorite sustainable products that I use in my home. Swap these products to make your home greener in the new year. 🍃 Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. I feel like we can always add more green habits and sustainable products to our home and routines to help Mother Earth out. 🌍 And bonus... this often means eliminating harmful chemicals and toxins from the products your family uses everyday. I have gathered my favorite sustainable product swaps here, but am all about adding more to this list, so tell me in the comments below your favorite ways to be more sustainable. 🖤 Shop sustainable products I love under the image below. KITCHEN Reusable silicone bags -- eliminate single use plastics, PLUS these are dishwasher and oven safe 🙌 Reusable produce bags -- stop bringing those plastic produce bags home from the store with these produce bags in many sizes. TIP: if you have some of those plastic bags hanging around, I use them to cover my seedlings to keep them nice and moist when it's seed starting time! (I start my seeds in old egg cartons and wrap the plastic produce bag over the top after I water them) Plenty of Dish and Microfiber Towels -- this may seem obvious, but I recently ordered a twelve pack of large cheesecloth towels that I use constantly with my sourdough and a twelve pack of black microfiber towels for the kitchen. Having so many is key and means I hardly ever use single-use paper towels... seriously I can't even remember the last time I bought them. We may have gone through basically all of these towels cooking Thanksgiving dinner, 🙈 but we did not run out. Kitchen Compost Bin -- I love this little compost bin that sits right on the kitchen counter. I take it out to the compost pile 2-3 times a week and the charcoal filters work great! No smell or fruit flies anywhere. Metal or Glass Drinking Straws -- I said goodbye to plastic straws a while ago but missed sipping my iced coffee with a straw so I really love this sustainable swap! Yeti Cup -- again, this one is a bit obvious, but I always have my Yeti (or another insulated cup) on me whether around the house or in the car for water or coffee. No need for styrofoam cups or other plastic water bottles or glasses. CLEANING Laundry Drying Rack -- Opt to hang dry clothing instead of run the dryer whenever you can. Reduce your footprint while giving your fabrics a longer life. 😉 Wool Dryer Balls -- I ditched dryer sheets over a year ago and will never go back. Add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to each ball (optional) and toss three in the dryer. They keep your clothes static free and fluff up duvets and bedspreads even better! Tissues, Paper Towels, Trash Bags, Coffee Filters etc. -- For the paper and plastic products you do have to buy, choose products made from bamboo or recycled plastics to reduce your footprint. Glass Spray Bottles and Cleaning Concentrates (or even better -- your own cleaning concoctions) -- Cut back on harsh chemicals and plastic containers with reusable glass spray bottles, perfect for all purpose, tile, bathroom, glass cleaner etc. You could even mix an essential oil mixture for a natural room spray. I have so many, I label each with a chalk marker or label so I know what is what. 🙃 PERSONAL CARE Cora Menstrual Cup -- This may be TMI for some, but I think menstrual cups are the 💣diggity! Empty it only once a day, put no harmful chemicals and unregulated materials in your body and feel so much cleaner. I barely even feel like I'm on my period anymore. It is so hassle-free to think about it only once a day and never worry about leaks. care/of vitamins -- Besides the convenience of these daily packs being delivered once a month, the packet is 💯 percent compostable! No more dozens of plastic vitamin bottles cluttering under the sink. Use my code: NSYVHP for 50% off your first order. Quip Toothbrush -- Again, this girl is all about the convenience of having the toothbrush heads delivered straight to my door (in recyclable packaging of course). Plus, I change my toothbrush head wayyy more often now and am not throwing away a big plastic toothbrush several times a year. Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it What are some of your favorite ways to be more sustainable? Tell me in the comments!

Building a farm fence is no small job, but important to any hobby farm for pastures and pens that keep animals safe. Learn how to build a fence for your hobby farm with this step by step blog series. First step: plan the fence line. Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. Fencing is one of the most important ways to keep animals on your hobby farm safe. They keep your livestock in and unwanted animals out. Fences can also be dangerous to livestock when not done correctly. The first, and arguably most important, part of building your farm fence is the first step -- planning out your fence line. Plan Your Fence Line To start planning your fence, there are a number of things to think about to make sure this (hopefully) pretty permanent fencing is in the right spot and uses the right materials for the current and future plans for your hobby farm. Ask yourself these questions: How many pastures/pens do we need now and in the future? How and what vehicles will we drive to each pen? What width gates do we need to get tractors and other vehicles in the pastures? Where are any relevant utility lines to consider? What livestock will we have and where? How tall does the fence need to be to keep animals in and out? Will we be adding barns, run-ins, coops or other structures? If so, where? Answering these questions will help you determine where and what kind of fence. STEP 1: WHERE WILL THE FENCE BE? For this step, I suggest getting a copy of your property survey that you can sketch on. You will probably erase and re-draw a few times so make sure it is a copy 😉. Google Maps satellite view will also be your friend when comparing your land and terrain to the survey. We also used Google Maps measurement function to estimate the length of our fence sections. The fence basically has three elements -- the fence (wire or boards and posts), H-braces, and gates. Once you have answered the questions above, you should have a good idea of where you want the fence to be. Now, grab your survey and go walk the fence line so you know the exact terrain you will be dealing with. For us, there is a solid caliche rock shelf right near our fence line, so we wanted to make sure and stay on one level instead of having the fence drop off a few feet here and there. We also wanted to avoid taking out any oak trees, but didn't mind taking out a few cedar trees for our fence. While you are walking your fence line, be sure to think about gates. I tend to think more gates are better than less so you can easily move from one pasture to another, but more gates means more H-braces and more materials so you don't want to way over-do it. We chose to have a large gate to drive a truck/tractor into and between each pasture, and a small 4' person gate from our house to each pasture. Think about your daily routines when choosing the position of your gate and where a barn is (or will be) that you will frequent. Once you have a pretty good idea of where your fence and gates will go, mark up your survey and measure your fence. If you are measuring on Google Maps, your measurement will not be exact -- keep this in mind when planning your materials below. STEP 2: WHAT TYPE OF FENCE DO YOU NEED? The type of fence you need will depend on what livestock you have (or want). First, determine what material fence you want. For us, we have goats and horses so we wanted netwire with small enough holes that horses can't get feet stuck and baby goats can't get heads or horns stuck -- this meant 2x4 woven netwire. NOTE: many places I have seen, recommend gradual climb or 4x4 netwire for goats, but I would strongly suggest smaller squares. Baby goats can get just about anywhere their little heads will fit through and you do not want to mess with goats getting out or worse, getting stuck, hurting themselves, and damaging your fence. I have found the 2x4 works perfectly. It is a bit more expensive than larger netwire, but in the long run, with the cost of mending fences and the safety of my animals, it is well worth it. Types of Fencing: (Treehugger explains these and other types of fencing well!) High Tensile/Woven Netwire (common for goats, sheep and other small ruminant livestock -- this is what we have!) Welded Wire/Panel (common for chickens and pigs depending on the size of the holes and gauge of the wire) Board/Rail Fence (common for horses, the most beautiful (in my opinion) and most expensive) Barbed Wire (classic ranch fencing, commonly used for cattle) Electric Fence (make sure to ground properly and inspect regularly) Height Recommendations of Fencing for Livestock Types: 🐴 Horses: Minimum of 5 ft 🐐 Goats/Sheep/Alpacas: Minimum of 4 ft 🐄 Cattle: Minimum of 4.5 ft 🐔 Chickens/Emus: Minimum of 6 ft 🐖 Pigs: Minimum of 3.5 ft If you have predators that you are worried about jumping wire fences I would recommend going up to about 5 feet for livestock fencing. This is the total height of the fence, not just the height of your wire. For us, we have one string of barbed wire below and above a stretch of 4 ft netwire so our fence is about 4.5/5 ft tall depending on the incline. STEP 3: WHAT MATERIALS ARE NEEDED? Once you have decided what type of fence, you can move on to making your materials list. You can get these in stages instead of getting a load of stuff all at once 😊 As mentioned, the fence basically has three elements -- the fence (wire or boards and posts), H-braces, and gates. The number of gates you need will be pretty straightforward once you have completed step 1. NOTE: If you are doing board/rail fencing, you will not need H-braces. Going forward, I am basically explaining what is needed for wire fencing. For H-braces, you will need an H-brace at each end of the fence line and on either side of each gate. For one straight length of fence, your formula for how many H braces is --> # of H-braces = 1 (for the starting edge of your fence) + (# of gates x 2) + 1 (for the end edge of your fence. Or, more simply: # of H-braces = 2 + [(# of gates) x 2] You can buy or make pre-fabricated welded H braces or make them with large wooden posts like us. Learn how to build an H-brace in the next step of this blog series. If you are making them out of wood, each H-brace will need: (3) 8 ft round posts (6' diameter) (2) brace pins (1) in-line strainer 10 gauge wire (allow for about 40' of wire for each H-brace) (2) barbed staples The fence materials are the more complicated parts to estimate because exact measurements get hard over tens and hundreds of feet. Just make sure you keep receipts so you can return any unused posts if needed. Board/Rail, Barbed Wire and Electric fencing will need vertical posts (usually every 8-10 ft) and the horizontal material being used (boards, barbed wire, electric wire). Remember to multiply the number or length of horizontal materials needed by however many horizontal strands or boards you will have. For example, if you will have 3 strands of barbed wire, remember to multiply the length of your fence times 3 to make sure you have enough wire. Netwire, Woven Wire or Wire Panels will need vertical posts (usually every 10-12 ft), the length of wire being used, and t-clips and staples to fix the wire to the vertical posts. The formula to determine how many posts you will need is [Length of Fence - [(# of H-braces) x (length of H-brace)] - [(# of gates) x (width of gates)]] / (# of feet between each post). Assuming your H-braces will be 8' wide and you want posts every 10 ft, more simply: # of Vertical Posts = [Length of Fence - [(# of H-braces) x 8] - [(# of gates) x (width of gates)]] / 10 For wire fencing, you will want to use majority t-posts, but will want a wooden or metal in-line brace post every 100 ft or so. For wire fencing, make sure to get more than the exact length of fence you have because you will be tying off the wire to the end posts by wrapping them around the posts. In addition, if you have stretches of fence longer than the length of wire the rolls come in, you will need extra to splice two or more rolls together. Materials List Should Include Gates Gate Latches H-brace Posts (8' 6" diameter) T-posts In-Line Posts (6' 3-5" diameter) Barbed Staples Brace Pins In-Line Strainer Wire/Horizontal Boards Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it In addition to the materials that will be a part of the actual fence, you will also need the following additional materials: Fencing Gloves Hammer Fencing Pliers (at least two of these so work can be done simultaneously) Screwdriver or T-clip tool In-Line Strainer Handle Cordless Drill & bits sized to the holes you will drill for the brace pins in your H-brace as well as the bolts for the gates into the posts. Stakes and orange string to mark the fence line Auger (hand or gas powered), Shovels, Post-hole digger, and -- if you are unfortunate enough to sit on rock like we do -- a jackhammer Fence Post Driver Come Along to stretch wire (two if you are stretching high-tensile wire) Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it STEP 4: PREPARE THE FENCE LINE Now that you know where your fence will be and have all your materials, you are ready to clear your fence line and prepare to begin fencing! First walk the fence line and level it as best you can, moving any large rocks, mowing down really tall or thick grass and taking out any small shrubs. Take out any tree limbs that are in the way of the fence line and up to 4' on the side of the fence you will be stringing the wire (you will need room to roll the wire out next to your posts). Make sure to dig out any stumps that are right on the fence line as well. Once the fence line is clear, Use stakes and orange string to make a straight line where the fence will be. Then use stakes or orange spray paint to mark where each H-brace and gates will go. Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it Get ready for a lot of long days because you are ready to start fencing! Next Step: How to Build an H-Brace.