It’s been forever since I have put anything out there for anyone to keep up with the farm. That’s because the honeymoon is over - things are really crackin’ around here!
With the weather warming up there are all kinds of projects and tasks that have to be done. Last night I planted the cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumbers, carrots, and the second batch of lettuce. It is supposed to rain in the next 24 hours, so those things need to get going. There have been bulbs and seeds planted for flowers as well. But wait, there’s more!
Remember those trees I ordered? That seemed like such a good idea at the time. However, the 18 trees that needed to be removed made me think twice about that. It took a couple of days to plant the 10 Empress trees, two apple trees, two apricot trees, two mulberry trees, peach tree, and cherry tree. All of the fruit trees are budding out nicely, but only about half of the Empress trees have come out so far. I’m hoping that I don’t have to replant any of those. I guess time will tell. They were sticks about a foot tall so the only place they have to go is up. I’m waiting to see if I get my 12-15 feet this summer.
This weekend I hauled in lots of dirt. With a world made of dirt you’d think that rearranging it wouldn’t be such a job. I invented new swear words many (MANY) times. What seemed like such a good idea about a month ago stunk to high heaven as we did it. Blast that dirt.
I wanted to put a berm in the yard where I had removed several trees as it was really low and held water. It is between the house and the garden and is the perfect place for some bushes and plants. I used the grain truck to haul in three loads of clay for a base and then put 15 loads of topsoil on top with the tractor. I also put three loads of clay in the old barn foundation to bring that level up to plant a garden in there. I still need to put the compost on top, but at least the hard part is done. And it was hard, let me tell you. I got the truck stuck in the neighbor’s pasture after loading up the first load (I used the clay she had left from having her ponds dug out) and then got it stuck in the foundation with the last load. Because the load wouldn’t dump where it was we ended up shoveling that load off by hand before pulling the truck out. She still wouldn’t budge, so we had to hook up the 4-wheel drive pickup to the big truck and then hook the tractor to the pickup. There is a fun little picture of that operation I will post when my arms are less sore. If that ever happens. The neighbors at the end of the mile kept laughing at the poor old truck as it growled around the corner repeatedly. We loaded it to the spring stops each time, making each load about 20,000 pounds give or take a dirt clod or two. Harvest will be nothing for the old girl after that, let me tell you.
As I was hauling dirt the neighbor to the east was moving cattle. She ended up with four lame ones that need to be pampered and fattened before butchering. Where better to pamper than here? So, just as we were winding down the weekend we had to fix fence to bring them here. We’ve now got cattle in the corral behind the hog pen. It feels nice to see something grazing back there, and we’ll end up with lots of free meat so it is a win-win. Other, however, has never been around cattle. I just got a fevered order to go outside to see what was wrong in the pen. “There’s something wrong out there - they are making lots of noise. Something must be attacking them,” I was told. As I trudged in from the corral to report that they were rubbing themselves on the feed bunk there was an air of relief that there wasn’t something dead or dying. I have also needed to provide gentle reminders that cattle don’t have paws and that a few flies don’t bother them. This is going to be a big learning curve for those from the city.
It seems like every neighbor I talked with this weekend also wanted a hog to butcher. I think we are up to about 10 now. I will be getting those in the next couple of weeks, so I worked on getting a fence moved for them this weekend. Pounding in 18 fence posts really helped to loosen up my arms after shoveling all of that clay, but I really could have done without the exercise. These beasts had better taste good, as the only thing I will be able to do soon is chew. We are going to be overrun with animals around here! The smell of money will be in the air. Or swine.
Although I am excited about this weather and the things it is doing for all of the animals here, it does have me a bit worried. The peach trees and pear tree are loaded with more fruit than they can ever hold. The yard, pasture, and wheat is growing like crazy and they look like a million bucks. I just worry that this bubble will burst and we will have another summer like the last with not a drop of rain for the summer. I’ll just be sick if that happens. I’ll probably be sick dealing with all of the produce if it holds, too!
In the next week or so I need to finish the hog pen and drill a water well for the hogs and cattle. With no hydrant out by the pens I am running a hose out there and that’s old already. In theory, the drilling of the well isn’t supposed to be hard. With the water table so high I shouldn’t need to go more than 20 or 25 feet to get water enough to fill the stock tank and make a mud hole for the hogs. Yet one other thing to figure out how to do. Any of you “townies” drilling a well in the next week? If’n you want to help out there is another pair of gloves around here somewhere.
We’ve never been more tired, banged up, and weary, but we’re all giggles over here. It must be the delirium. Stop by some time and we’ll introduce you to all of the new additions. Now where did I put that Tylenol?
TJR
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