Tuesday 7 May 2013

I failed the weekend To-Do List

Weekend's list was a bust!

Saturday started as productive as possible.  Jon and I worked on electric fence for the morning.  There was actually a lot more work to get the fence up and running for the season.  Last year we broke up the fenced in area because we did not have a vegetable patch and focused on the perimeter of the field.  So keeping the cows on our land is not a problem but keeping them out of the vegetable patch is another problem.  Jon had to go to a Remembrance Party for a friends father.  I finished up with the fence perimeter and then headed inside to get the home cleaning done.  There's a lot more work need to reinforce the vegetable patch again the cows, the deer and rabbits.

Sunday morning was a wet one in the basement.  The pressure tank blew.  I mean it literally started gushing water in the basement at 6:15 in the morning.  I happened to be up feeding the dogs and noticed there was no water pressure when I went to wash my hands.  I ran out to the barn believing I had once again left the cows water on (I really like to leave the water on before I go to work and then come one to a flooded paddock).  Unfortunately for the house, but fortunately for my memory, I hadn't left the water on.  I heard running water in the basement only to find a very large puddle covering the basement.  Without my glasses on I randomly tried to shut off the water.  Due to the nature of our plumbing system - we have a rental house, the barn and an irrigation system all coming off the main well pipe in the house - it took me a while to figure out what to turn off.  We not no real water damage.  The mason jars cardboard boxes all go wet and will have to be recycled and some unwanted Christmas ornaments my mother had given me got wet.  All in all not a bad flood.  But I spend most of the day trying to clean it up.  Water was restored to the house on Monday evening.

I did re enforced the chickens brooding nest.  Success!  One of a three for a To-Do list on a sunny weekend isn't soo bad.

Friday 3 May 2013

For real this time ... Spring!




Spring has finally come to the farm 

I know that the calender said that spring has been with us for a while but Mother Nature did not stop her dance with old man winter until this week.  But with the warmth of the sun come new chores and projects around the farm.


This week on the farm
- We bought 56 new chicks.  I built the brooding nest last weekend and was fairly proud of the end result.  But every morning I go into the coop to let the big chickens out for the day and find a large white layers in the nest laying a egg and all the poor chicks herded together in fear.  I should say, I was very unkind to the bigs, I build the brooding nest in the corner where they used to lay their eggs.  So this weekend I have to spend sometime patching the brooding nest.

- Jon and our friend planted the post for the hops.  These 18' post will create the scaffolding in which the hop plants will grow up.  They did just the poles for now.  The field looks so odd right now.  This weekend we will be planting the hops and string up the lines which hopes will be growing up. I love this video - Try and not look at his eyebrows!

- And my personal goal is to make a new and improved compost bin.  Currently there is no security on the compost pile.  I find my dogs eating the decayed food a lot and find myself having a hard time looking them in the eyes after.  So, Jon has 6 pallets at work we can have and the goal is to make something like this:


BUT, I will need to add some chicken wire to keep the chickens and the dogs out.  You know, so I can make eye contact with Rogue

I think my weekend list should keep me out of trouble.