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.
It does not often rain during the summer in Western Washington. This is one of the biggest challenges of farm management in the PNW, the 60-90 days of drought that we get every single summer. However, last week we had rain forecast for Friday, and not just a little drizzle, but a good inch of… Continue reading Prepping for Rain
We have learned a few important lessons these past few weeks. One is that Christmas time is really busy for everyone, so very little gets done on the farm. The other is that the project of installing gutters on the chicken houses is long overdue. We recently picked up a trio of sapphire gem hens… Continue reading Gutters
So far behind on posting, likely won't catch up because it's a National Guard Weekend coming up. But here's a quick update. https://youtube.com/shorts/lhwnyNE1_-A?feature=share Thanks to our good friend, the electrical pump for the rainwater collection system is hooked up and running. It is even now providing water for the animals on pasture.
Measure twice, cut once. The pump for our rainwater catchment system is an inline RainFlo MHP75A Automatic Booster pump. The idea is that it will pump water from the catchment tank to the water lines that feed the pasture. Obviously, this means that the pump needs to be mounted on a sturdy surface, and additionally,… Continue reading Building the Pump Box
We are supposed to get a quarter inch of rain tomorrow, so needed to do something to protect the hay that we just bought. So we climb a ladder that’s barely long enough and stand on the edge of an unstable mow. And voilà!
Actually, it probably will not be the last ditch. But we have broken ground on the next stage of the rainwater catchment project. This is the trench that will run water out of the tank and splice it into the line running out to the pasture. And this is why hand tools for digging rather… Continue reading A Last Ditch Effort
Well, the water collection system survived its first rain storm... Mostly. We got a little over an inch of rain from Friday morning to Sunday night. The gutter downspout simply didn't work, it just ran out the fitting around the pipe. So Uncle Adam took the top off the manway on the tank and jammed… Continue reading Water Catchment System, Damage Report
Yesterday afternoon the soil temperature was about 60°. Then it rained all night long. Barely over 50. Nothing cools the soil down like 12 hours of cold rain. Nevertheless, still warm enough for some cool season crops like radishes, spinach, lettuce. We have some seeds in the ground so we decided to feed them some…… Continue reading Worm castings, and soil temperature
The big wet and rainy is here. The days of beautiful weather are behind us. We may get one or two here in there, but from now on, it is pretty much just rain until next spring. After the heavy, homeschool lift, and baking and laundry and dishes are done for the morning, and errands… Continue reading Rainy day in the shop
Little Farm in the Big City 