Early Fall has arrived and we have welcomed it with open arms. The constant heat was finally replaced with much more moderate and bearable temps about a week ago. At the same time, we finally got some dry weather which meant better for working outside, weeding the garden, mowing the lawn, the corn and beans in the fields are drying down nicely, etc.
Karen reminded me the other day that when we first met,it was on one of these types of days I told her "these kinds of days make people think it would be great to be a farmer." I keep forgetting I said that. The inverse, of course, is also true. When the weather is harsh I guess people either feel sorry for us or they think we are crazy.
The leaves around us are mostly still green and on the trees, but the black walnut trees in our front yard have been dropping their bumper crop of tennnis ball sized bombs all over our lawn and driveway. Birk and I have gone out and picked them up a few times, but looking up yesterday I realized we will have many more hours of walnut picking ahead. We haven't gotten around to actually using them for anything, I wind up throwing them in our campfire circle.
Yesterday was a pretty productive day for me. It was a gorgeous day-sunny, breezy, mid to upper 70's. Just so nice, a beautiful day to get to spend outside getting things done. My morning chores consist of cleaning out the pig pen (the newer pigs we got are in the barn until we get them vaccinated for piggy viruses, then they can go outside), and setting up a new paddock and moving the cows.
After that, I drove to the feed mill and chatted up the old guy that makes the deliveries in my area. Came home with 500lbs. of feed for the pigs, and 200lbs. cracked corn for the cows (putting a little bit of fill on them now as we are getting ready to sell them). After I unloaded that into the barn, I went back to work on the corral.
The corral is essentially going to be a fenced in area between our three out buildings that will be a secure holding area for cattle (or pigs). I'm pretty sure that there was something similar here many years ago, but any remnants of a fence there are gone now. It is another infrastructure project that needs doing now.
Other big projects that are on the to-do list include cleaning out the "chicken" side of the stone barn and making it pig worthy. This will be apretty big project, actually. Need to remove old cow stanchions, put up wall coverings and insulate, insulate, insulate.
This also means probable decisions and more work on the coop in the polebarn. One thing leads to another!
The big hoop barn project has taken it's first real steps, and I've been getting quotes from guys for the labor on the project, which will include trenching water and electriclines, and excavating and levelling thesite, pouring a concrete pad, and then setting posts, building the wall it will sit on, and then finally putting up the rafters and stretching the canvas over it. I'm hoping to be able to move in in about 4 weeks from now. This will give us lots more options for pigs here. And some covered equipment storage!
Spent a few hours mowing the lawn. Ran over and chopped up one of the garden hoses :(
Spent some time working on the proposed location for the corners of the hoop barn. After a delicious dinner ofburgers on the grill, Karen joined me in the barn for the tag-team event of vaccinating hundred pound feeder pigs! It was afun way forusto round out a weekend evening. Not as fun for the pigs. And they didn't get a sucker, either, but they did get a bowl of kale. Next time you have to take your kid in for their shots and they start crying, you could point out that at least they are not getting kale for a reward. A good lesson in the rule of relativity.
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