Hey Folks, long time no talk. It's been a crazy busy year with almost nothing to show for it! (Except for the daughters!)
Farm is coming along, mortgage should be finishing up here in the next few days. Been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to do repairs, renovations, clean up etc.
Raised one wall on the storage barn (chicken coop eventually) poured a new foundation, fixed the roof and am working on leveling the dirt floor and putting OSB up on the walls and windows in. I've been very fortunate in finding free windows, a life supply of OSB from work, structural lumber and what not was an expense but not much of one. Cleaned up where the chicken run is going, and removed some old cedar bushes via the quad and grapple.
Had a wind storm lastnight that took another roofing panel off and tore the new door off the hinges but that'll be fixed this weekend.
Installed a new chimney for the wood burning furnace, installed a supportive wall for the wood storage room in the basement, attached some new railings etc as well for the insurance company.
Been also working on rebuilding the mount for the snow blade on the quad, my little 1986 Honda TR200SX has so much low end torque I've bent my previous mounts to the point they're nothing but scrap. Onto 3/8" Bolts and 1/4" sidewall round tubing for a pivot point to see how well she works. I've got the blade, electric actuator, and quad for cheap if not free so I really have no room to complain.
Garden didn't do too much this year, Sweet Potatos did well, Hot peppers were decent, Chamomile was fantastic but tobacco, tomatos, Swiss Chard, beans etc failed miserably.
We (my wife and I) are also starting a small farm stand this summer with all sorts of items available, eggs, fresh ground grain, meal and mixes and of course crops from the farm. We've decided to go as "natural" as possible, for the livestock we will be feeding only fresh ground grain via a grain mill we're installing in one of the outbuildings. All of our live stock feed will be put through the mill, as well as food meant for human consumption. (All will be the same grade food wise).
We made a test run of FRESH corn bread and dear oh my it's delicious!
Finish up these few projects and hopefully enjoy the Holidays with the new family members (whom I should mentioned just turned 6 months Wednesday. Seriously....6 months already!)
Merry Christmas folks, I hope the best to you and yours!
Farm is coming along, mortgage should be finishing up here in the next few days. Been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to do repairs, renovations, clean up etc.
Raised one wall on the storage barn (chicken coop eventually) poured a new foundation, fixed the roof and am working on leveling the dirt floor and putting OSB up on the walls and windows in. I've been very fortunate in finding free windows, a life supply of OSB from work, structural lumber and what not was an expense but not much of one. Cleaned up where the chicken run is going, and removed some old cedar bushes via the quad and grapple.
Had a wind storm lastnight that took another roofing panel off and tore the new door off the hinges but that'll be fixed this weekend.
Installed a new chimney for the wood burning furnace, installed a supportive wall for the wood storage room in the basement, attached some new railings etc as well for the insurance company.
Been also working on rebuilding the mount for the snow blade on the quad, my little 1986 Honda TR200SX has so much low end torque I've bent my previous mounts to the point they're nothing but scrap. Onto 3/8" Bolts and 1/4" sidewall round tubing for a pivot point to see how well she works. I've got the blade, electric actuator, and quad for cheap if not free so I really have no room to complain.
Garden didn't do too much this year, Sweet Potatos did well, Hot peppers were decent, Chamomile was fantastic but tobacco, tomatos, Swiss Chard, beans etc failed miserably.
We (my wife and I) are also starting a small farm stand this summer with all sorts of items available, eggs, fresh ground grain, meal and mixes and of course crops from the farm. We've decided to go as "natural" as possible, for the livestock we will be feeding only fresh ground grain via a grain mill we're installing in one of the outbuildings. All of our live stock feed will be put through the mill, as well as food meant for human consumption. (All will be the same grade food wise).
We made a test run of FRESH corn bread and dear oh my it's delicious!
Finish up these few projects and hopefully enjoy the Holidays with the new family members (whom I should mentioned just turned 6 months Wednesday. Seriously....6 months already!)
Merry Christmas folks, I hope the best to you and yours!
