The last two weekends we've been able to ink out some good ol' farm working time. Each have given us one day of temperature that was not at that "my teeth are cold" cold.
Last weekend we were able to organize the pile of lumber in the field next to ours. All of that leftover lumber was available to us from the previous home owner. We've put in a call to make sure but now it is out of the ground and ready to move. Dragging wet, frozen boards a few acres at a time was not a lot of fun but our crew of merry men did it. If we get the go-ahead with the lumber (again), we will be using them for the chicken coop.
The Chicken Fortress layout has finally been decided - a 12x16 house for 20+ hens. I'm tickled pink
that there will be a green house as part of it.
A Green House. I
swoon.
The mud. This makes for some really cold mama fingers since I have to prewash this stuff in the snow and water. Outside. Burr.
This weekend we had much of the same again. Nathan was able to burn a huge pile of Hedge tree that he trimmed. There is a lot more tree overgrowth to work on though!
The boys and I took their day off of school to clean out the dairy pen in the old barn. Yikes. I had no idea how long it would take the four of us - 5 hours! I really wanted to finish the job with the crew on hand as it is a mantra around here to "finish what you start and do it well".
We did. Those kids of mine rocked it.
All of that soil "food" as the crew calls it, is our "pumpkin graveyard". Last weekend we buried our Halloween pumpkins and leftover gourd seeds. There was piles and piles of roofing tiles behind the barn and there still is a lot left. Hopefully those vines will help us dig them up. Mason really enjoyed making each pumpkin a grave marker - hence, the pumpkin graveyard garden.
Little by little, before the ground thaws, we will empty that old, beautiful, falling down barn of all of its 40 year old gold. I've bought myself of collection of books on soil. I'm super excited to read them. Good thing I'm married to a science nerd and he gets my need for knowledge.
Happy "Famer/Cowboy/Monticello Worker" who is now not a boy but the a fore mentioned people at any given time.