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.
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…
Meishans are a very interesting species of pig. We haven't completely figured out their behavior yet. Most of the time you can run them through the pasture and they may root a little here and there, but overall they will leave it alone. At most you'll have a spot or two where you have to… Continue reading Pasture Rehab
Lots of people (myself included) watch homesteaders on Youtube, and that show about early Victorian farms, and read John Seymour's "Self-Sufficient Life" and get all fired up about living the more simple life. Some even buy or rent or borrow some land and make a start at homesteading. But there is a dark side of… Continue reading Subdividing the South Pasture: First two Fence Anchors
Here in the good ol' Pacific Northwest, getting ready for winter is more about getting things ready for rain than it is prepping for snow or ice. This means cleaning out the gutters (before and after the leaves fall). We had gutter guards, but found that we grew too much moss under them and the… Continue reading Winter is Coming
When you need to go out and feed the animals, but you don’t feel like walking, and you are wearing your Rapunzel costume on top of your Cinderella costume with a side of little house on the Prairie.
Saturday was a run-around kind of day. The older three kids were all over the mountains with Deedee and Papa, picking apples, so Winnie got to be an only child for a day. She is very good at being an only child. Takes to it like the proverbial duck to water. Fortunately she only gets… Continue reading Garden Snacks (not just for people)
We have moved the animals on. After about 10 days at the east end of the north pasture, we have shifted them to the north side. This is the worst and least productive part of the pasture. We have decided to mob graze it this fall/winter. That is, instead of moving the animals through fast… Continue reading Pasture Rehab (with a digression about Curly Dock).
Monday was one of those days. We hustled hard first thing to get to the farm early, because it is Michaelmas and we wanted to get Iris back out on pasture. Why on Michaelmas? Because it's fun to say, and because it's memorable. It's a fixed feast at the end of September that I can… Continue reading Not much gets done some days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLo_XQJeF5k Some observations: The difference a few days and one good rain storm can make is astonishing in pasture recovery. I need to learn how to identify pasture grass species. The farm is quite pretty of a summer morning.
Little Farm in the Big City 