Acreage Articles

What destination blends leisure and business into one of North America’s most sought-after year-round warm weather get-aways? For my wife and me, along with two close friends from the “frozen tundra” of northwest Iowa, Hilton Head Island, a foot-shaped barrier island located off the Atlantic Coast of South Carolina, provided the perfect late-January respite! No, the daytime temperatures weren’t in the 80s, but the low temperatures in the low 60s were just fine for us!

Whether it's the first time you've raised a farm animal - you're limited for space or you're just looking for an unusual pet, miniature animals can be both fun and profitable. A brief search will reveal that the options for owning a mini is possible with cows, horses, donkeys, sheep, goats, pigs, alpacas. Within each of those many categories are numerous choices for breeds, colors and characteristics.

The outside of your country home can be as natural as the Earth itself, If you combine greenery with natural stone. Not only is stone aesthetically pleasing and durable, but it can perform many needed functions—as a material for steps, terracing, a patio, walls, and much more. Among the most widely used stones for landscaping are granite, limestone, marble, slate and sandstone. Each has its own qualities that make it best suited for certain uses.

Cooking, grilling, and entertaining outdoors while enjoying the convenience of a full service kitchen is great fun, and outdoor kitchens are the fastest growing new trend. But for those who were raised in rural communities across the United States there is nothing novel about the concept of outdoor kitchens.

It was a mid-summer day nearly 15 years ago that Gary Phillips, Environmental Studies professor at Iowa Lake Community College in Estherville, IA, and I slid his jon boat into the waters of the West Fork of the Des Moines River for a day of exploring and fishing. Little did I know that I was about to enter the incredibly serene and beautiful world inside the banks of the river-a totally different world than what I had seen from the outside as a passerby on the road.

How do you take a good idea and make it even better? Ask the engineers at Ferris Industries. They’ve created a whole new class of mowers designed for acreage owners and people who have large areas to mow. We had a chance to test drive it recently and found it to be different from any mower we’ve ever seen.

Depending on where you live, spring may be well under way or just around the corner.
This season of rebirth and renewal is a great time to undertake landscaping projects that will have your acreage looking its best.