Friday, March 31, 2017
March 31, 2017 Collette's Birthday
Collette Kramer was the woman we bought the Farm from. It seems so long ago, but really it was two years back. Collette lived an interesting life and left us too soon. But the months are enough to hope she is happy wherever she wound up. Today would have been another birthday for her so I figured I'd journal it and remember her. No matter how it all turns out in the long or short history of it, we could not have done this without her.
Monday, March 27, 2017
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
March 22, 2017 Gates
We went out to the Farm last evening. A beautiful rainy afternoon, 60 degrees, sun breaks even in the rain. The only thing we went out to do is hang the second gate half on the post we put in on Sunday.
Sometimes it is the little things that count.
After closing the gates for the first time it suddenly occurred to us that the addition of viable gates changed the feel of the place in a way that is hard to describe. The place felt separated from the world, a private thing kept safe from the craziness outside. We are now surrounded by a five foot fence and it seems we are well on the way toward building the Farm itself.
Ann and I have been chanting "two gates" for about the past three months. This simple saying means that we intend to put up another fence within the perimeter of the Farm, something big enough to park cars. There will be more gates on the interior fence to keep the dogs from running out every time someone drives in. I cannot wait to put up the next fence, it really sound like fun. But first there is a bit more to do.
We need to build the tiny house trailers, raise a litter of Cinnamon and Clarke's pups and get them delivered, hook up electricity to the Farm which brings power to the well so that we have water. We are planning Tractor Day #5 for sometime in May.
So much to do, time is flying; but we are on the way and we move onto the Farm in June.
Sometimes it is the little things that count.
After closing the gates for the first time it suddenly occurred to us that the addition of viable gates changed the feel of the place in a way that is hard to describe. The place felt separated from the world, a private thing kept safe from the craziness outside. We are now surrounded by a five foot fence and it seems we are well on the way toward building the Farm itself.
Ann and I have been chanting "two gates" for about the past three months. This simple saying means that we intend to put up another fence within the perimeter of the Farm, something big enough to park cars. There will be more gates on the interior fence to keep the dogs from running out every time someone drives in. I cannot wait to put up the next fence, it really sound like fun. But first there is a bit more to do.
We need to build the tiny house trailers, raise a litter of Cinnamon and Clarke's pups and get them delivered, hook up electricity to the Farm which brings power to the well so that we have water. We are planning Tractor Day #5 for sometime in May.
So much to do, time is flying; but we are on the way and we move onto the Farm in June.
Sunday, March 19, 2017
March 19, 2017 A day at the Farm
We took advantage of a nearly perfect early Spring day to go out to the Farm and do a bit of cleanup, burn a bunch of stuff that piled up all winter, and begin hanging the gates we bought second hand this winter. It was a hard six hours work, but very rewarding considering the actual good we did.
The truth of the matter is that I have been getting so down on the whole farm idea for the past few days. Things don't seem to be moving nearly fast enough to suit me. Money isn't there, and when it is there isn't weather. But we knew that spending time out there cures the blues so well. And it did.
There were hundreds of people riding the Banks-Vernonia trail today. Can't say I blame them. Some day we hope to make customers out of them. The next few weeks will be spent birthing puppies and raising them to delivery age. So we're glad to have had a nice Sunday to go out there and work toward the dream. This isn't much of a post, but it is important none the less..
The truth of the matter is that I have been getting so down on the whole farm idea for the past few days. Things don't seem to be moving nearly fast enough to suit me. Money isn't there, and when it is there isn't weather. But we knew that spending time out there cures the blues so well. And it did.
There were hundreds of people riding the Banks-Vernonia trail today. Can't say I blame them. Some day we hope to make customers out of them. The next few weeks will be spent birthing puppies and raising them to delivery age. So we're glad to have had a nice Sunday to go out there and work toward the dream. This isn't much of a post, but it is important none the less..
Saturday, March 11, 2017
March 11, 2017 Resurrection Day
Yesterday was "Resurrection Day": the first day of what can truly be called "Spring".
I know the calendar doesn't say so, but I seldom think about these things conventionally. The first day of Spring is the day on which the biome in the soil come back to life and you can smell dirt in the air. Calling yesterday "Resurrection Day" would be a better way of thinking about the beginning of the Spring growing season than "springing forward" or waiting for a calendar date to tell you. The microbes can tell you when Winter starts and when it ends. Just be aware. Smell the air for signs of life and you will know.
Plants can grow in winter, but the real fun happens when the soils become active. And since last night was also a full moon, then today is the first day to put spring vegetable seeds into the soil, there isn't likely to be any more frost.
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