A Farm Update

 We haven't been posting about the Farm much. Farming has not been my priority for two years, and deep depression took one of those away from our long history. But things are happening right now worthy of letting people know something about.

We had a litter of puppies in the last Winter which gave us some excess money to spend on putting a floor under our wrap around porch roof. We had planned for concrete but concrete got really expensive and I suck at it. So we are going with 2x6 wood planks. We are using concrete to make a barrier between the concrete bases of the porch supports. Even though they are strange the idea is to block out the rats and raccoons who would just love a nicely sheltered home under the decking. The concrete retaining wall comes within a quarter inch of the understructure of the deck so there's a chance it will keep the bigger people out. We will not be putting a wodden deck under the west side roof so that our segregation kennel has the drainage and is easier to clean up. Part of that section will house a newer hot tub too for old bones to soak in next Winter.

We put up a new greenhouse last year and it worked wonderfully. All of our plantings came up strong and the garden is looking really well. Today all is doing super out there and we have bought a few new tools to make things easier on arthretic hands and tired bodies. We got a nifty rechargable pruner which cuts anything up to 5/8 inch without slowing. Ann oftentimes uses it to cut off larger weed stalks and berries. The battery lasts for months and we have two of them. I bought Ann a mini rechargable roto- tiller which tears anything up which is less than two inches into the dirt. The thing clears crabgrass, the last thing in the dirt after everything else is gone. And last Summer we bought a used riding lawnmower so our flowering weeds don't stand a chance in the longer term. The place seems much more managable these days and we get more done in less time, which is good. We need more done and time is fleeting. Our corn is chest high today, we've had strawberries for two months, potatoes are doing very well. Tomatoes, peppers, zuchinni, cukes, are doing better than we've had in a while. We're no longer a farm, but as gardeners we are killing it.

The fruit trees I put in at odd intervals in the past five years are fruiting their little branches off. We have four varieties of apple, five of plum, all of these fruiting it up out there. A nectarine which is doing nothing, an apricot which is barely hanging on, and a peach which is doing less than nothing still look good at a distance. Our Mimosa is flowering and lovely. We initially started the Farm with the idea of becoming a Upick orchard. It might have worked too.

Our chickens and Ducks are healthy and egg sales happen weekly. Not enough to do it for the money, but it does defray some feed expenses. We built them a larger run this year to keep them out of the gardens and protect them from Raptors. It has two ponds and loads of berries hanging around, so the birds are happy.

And finally, but not the least of our good fortune, our Hound business is doing very well. We have had two litters this year, boarding rates were risen and the business is up, and we even have one order for dog coat (in Summer) so far. Between retirements, dogs, eggs, and our age keeping expenses low, the accounts are stable. 

Life is good here. We hate leaving, even for an hour. Ou personal health is exceptionally good for a pair sixty-seven years old. It won't last, as nothing ever does, but if you live day to day by God's grace and it works out. . .  Celebrate.