Friday, October 16, 2015

High Field, Low Field

First off, the most important item of business is ... I got some farm boots.
Adam is again working on his wheat/barley field. After our flooding and general dampness, he had to wait until the field was dry enough to till one last time, which he's doing this morning:
The dryer (uphill) part of the field is on the left, and he tilled and seeded that portion of it yesterday afternoon. We have extended days of sunny dryness coming! Today he will finish tilling/seeding the rest of the field.
Our winter garden still has a little standing water between the rows, but the greens are doing fine. Farm boots serve well in the muck.
Greens coming up and out!
I know where the broccoli and radishes are, but we've misplaced the paper we wrote reminding us of the various greens and which bed they're in. We'll identify them as they grow.
The bottom of the pasture/field nearer the road is still too wet for Adam to drive the truck there and pick up the last piles of dry grass. He was hoping to plants potatoes here, but now he knows the ground is too moist for potatoes. He'll adjust his plans.
Beautiful morning. Looking straight east. The power lines run by the road.
The bees are quite happy. We have five healthy hives going into winter, down from a hopeful high of eight hives earlier this year. In farm life, things die or fail. It happens.
Adam's making a massive pile of dry grass for compost. His compost bins are already working -- when he turned them yesterday, they were black and steaming. Look at the pile!

He's repairing the chainsaw. Many trees and limbs need to be cut. He replaced the primer bulb, but some of the fuel lines are quite fouled.
 Back behind the barn, things are clearing out. Peter is home for college break (yay!!!!) and he cut out limbs here yesterday.
I clearly need more pictures of him. He was working on cutting off that low branch.
 He and Adam moved this rusty, holey 1000-gallon water tank from behind the barn, into the pasture. Adam will later buy a liner for it, build a roof over it, and use it in his water system.
And finally, my little herb garden is thriving! Nothing has died yet.
I accidentally imported a little lettuce with my chives.
 My smaller rosemary plant, which was infested with those nasty worms and their spidery masses, is recovering. I cleaned it with dish soap and stripped off the infested parts. The bare woody stems are sprouting again. I'm glad it's not going to die.
I was a bad plant-mama, and I put my thyme plant, in its pot, in a shady, damp place when we moved here. When I got around to putting in the herb garden it looked dead, eaten by worms. But I put it in the ground anyway, because ... you never know.
Well. See that little dab of green at the bottom of this pic? That's thyme. It's not quite dead after all.
In farm life, things live and succeed when you don't expect it.
We're wearing a nice path to the barn from the house/field gate. It's the same path Mr. M. wore there years ago.
When you live on land, over time you wear a path in your heart, and it becomes home.

6 comments:

  1. Things looking fine on the farm. : ) Oh yes, you must have a pair of farm boots!!
    I love your last picture and what you wrote under it.

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  2. **When you live on land, over time you wear a path in your heart, and it becomes home.**

    Love that and the picture you put with it.

    Farm life is suiting you well.

    Happy Fall ~ FlowerLady

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  3. I love how you make use of things you find lying around. Why buy a new water tank when you can repair an old one?

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  4. In the bee hive picture I was wondering what that huge, round, white object was in the background...but you answered my question! :) A very cool and useful water tank. I love the path you're wearing to the barn. Mr. M would be pleased to know someone is loving his little farm so much and making a home of it once again.

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  5. Lots of things seem to be growing nicely! You're all doing so well! I never know what to do with my compost- leave it and hope for the best usually!
    Glad you've got some good footwear. Boots are great! I hope the bees thrive- now, seeing yours makes me think of my Grandad's bees- I hope they are happy in their new home.x

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  6. 3 ring notebook will become your best friend. especially if you keep yearly records; eventually, you'll have quite a nice selection of "hard" memories to take you back to the beginning.

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