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.
Thursday is usually a fairly short day of work. Thanks to some recent changes in Daddy's work schedule, it should soon be a day off for both Mommy and Daddy! Then we will have a family day every week (until we fill it to the brim with errands and extra-curricular activities and such...) But for… Continue reading Thursday Afternoon
It's amazing what we can accomplish with a few hours of work and some motivated helpers. Miss Winnie fits Seppi's old cowboy boots. Man work! Not quite big enough for Daddy's sunglasses. Ellie was sent to go get a roll of wire from the barn. Apparently she needed Seppi and a wheelbarrow to bring it… Continue reading The Sheep Shelter
Right now the process is too time consuming. We are going at look at ways to improve the process so it only takes a few minutes. At the beginning of the week last week we found that the sheep were beginning to test the fence. Their side of the fence was eaten down pretty low,… Continue reading Setting up a new paddock
Well, it's not pretty, but it will do. Two 8-foot gates closing a 16 foot gap at the end of the laneway. They are only fastened by two relatively light chains with extremely light clips, but there is a pile of rocks (yes, I know, but I was in a hurry) behind the middle section… Continue reading Opening up the lane… by closing it off!
Last Saturday, after the bull calves casually walked through our (somewhat) electrified netting for no apparent reason, Mommy and Daddy went on a date. I record that here because we made a resolution at the beginning of the year that we were going to do one date per month, and so far so good! Of… Continue reading It never goes smoothly…
A week ago I did a bit of "fancy" fencing to get a gap closed. However, despite how fancy the chiseled notches looked (not that fancy), at the end of the day it was only tied in place with one bail twine and one wire tie. So yesterday we ended up having to go to… Continue reading Fancy Fencing, Part 2
The ultimate goal of having cows is for them to eat our grass and turn it into meat and milk. Accordingly, we want to get our bulls out on pasture as quickly as possible to take advantage of the Spring flush. (I say "bulls" and not "steers" because, despite the fact that they have been… Continue reading Bulls on Pasture
There are two main issues with keeping animals on pasture all year around here. One is the heat and dryness for 3 months every summer. The other is the cold and wetness for 9 months every winter. Other than that, it's a cinch. Since our pasture doesn't have any trees (yet) we are constructing mobile… Continue reading Mobile Shelters
Busy day on the farm yesterday. We decided on Sunday we need to re-arrange the barnyard better to be able to sort out livestock and direct them where we want them, and to be able to drive a truck into the laneway, or even just walk down the laneway without having to walk through gates… Continue reading The Measure of a (Little) Man
Quick update from last week, on Thursday afternoon after work we split forces. Mommy took the two older girls and got all of the grocery shopping done for the week. Daddy took the two younger ones and finished the last stretch of pasture fencing. It was cold, so Seppi borrowed my flannel. Winnie didn’t mind,… Continue reading The final stretch
Little Farm in the Big City 