They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
This was Saturday, May 30th, the last day before Daddy left for National Guard orders. Getting to the thistles was a top priority, as they were starting to put on buds. But first: Cannellini beans! Dozens of little beanlets! And we took a few minutes to weed out another section of row 5 and seed… Continue reading Thistle Massacre
Tuesday, May 26th. Seppi saw me heading out to the wilderness with a shovel, a machete, and some clippers. He immediately ran to the tool shed to grab his hatchet and followed along. Yes, a five-year-old (almost six) has a hatchet. It is quite blunt, you couldn't cut a dandelion with it, but it is… Continue reading More Man Work!
We have been noticing a problem in the pasture with the onset of hot weather. It is the presence of flies. Deer flies, specifically, but there are many varieties of fly out there. They love poop, especially cow poop. They also like landing on warm, sweaty surfaces, and in the summer, there is no warmer… Continue reading Pasture Ducks
I have so many pictures backed up, waiting for get put into a blog. I have given up on a detailed update on all of it, but as this blog is our primary record keeping mechanism (for big picture stuff, anyway) they still need to get updated. Good Friday (April 3rd) planted two new apple… Continue reading Three Week Update Post
Last Saturday, Adam texted this picture during morning chores. (It was a clinic day, so I wasn't there for chores). No, that's not a picture of one of the older lambs. This is a new lamb! Matilda had a baby on April 20! No, no one was tracking she was pregnant at all, though I… Continue reading Well that was a surprise!
We are doing the pasture rotation a little bit different this year. We have three lambs and a calf in our little flerd, and there has been some coyote activity in the area over the last few weeks. Also, there is not enough grass yet to sustain them in a small 40x50 foot paddock for… Continue reading Early Spring Pasture
Way back at the beginning of December.... We built a fence. We got a lot of work done in a single day, but left some of the brackets unattached, but this was no big deal we came back and got 3/4 of them put in a few days later. Couldn't quite finish before sundown and… Continue reading Finishing the Fence
"Daddy! Daddy!" "Yes, Winnie?" "Daddy! I paused my dame! I paused my dame!" Daddy: "Okay, Winnie. Why did you pause your game?" "Betause I need to div you a tiss!" Good reason! (And no, it is not a video game that she "paused." I am not sure what game she was playing, but the apron… Continue reading T-Post Brackets
Saturday was one of the biggest days of work of the year. Thanks to an old friend coming to help, we finally stretched the center fence to divide the south pasture in half. It started about 5 in the morning, actually. All the fence anchors we have built on the farm, this is the very… Continue reading Subdividing the South Pasture: Stretching the Fence
One of the most common suggestions we get from people who see our homestead is "You should rent a... [insert piece of heavy equipment here.]" Whether it is a backhoe, or a skid steer, or whatever, there is some truth in it. A lot of the projects we have done on the farm could have… Continue reading Because it is relaxing. Sometimes…
Little Farm in the Big City 