Farm Chores
This week was very busy. Monday was clean the garage day and then later in the evening I was learning fruit tree husbandry, which consisted mostly of picking up “drop apples” and sorting the good from the bad. We also pruned the plum trees and surveyed the pear trees. Marie has made and canned some 16 quarts of applesauce already and there is still another bushel of apples in the basement. Tuesday was gravel day. We had 11 tons of gravel delivered to raise our drive way some and although the truck spread the gravel we needed to shovel and rake a couple of tons to fill in some places that had settled. Nest week we will have another ten tons delivered so we can make a turn around at the end of the drive way. Wednesday was free for riding but just as I finished work a thunderstorm rolled in and watered our thriving garden. Thursday FGB and I moved 20 bales of straw from the barn to our house to prepare for the seeding of our yard. After the straw was moved we helped load half a ton of steel onto the truck so my father-in-law could take it in for scrap at $80 a ton it was a worth while endeavor. Next Saturday there will be more steel roofing to deal with as my father-in-law is taking down several of the old saw mill buildings that are falling apart anyways. Friday I rode over to the farm to help out with some more clean up. This would only have been about a 1.2 mile trip, but since I had inadvertently shoved two left shoes in my saddle bag I had to ride to my house and back for a total of 3.6 miles. Friday’s chores consisted of moving rolled up wooden fence, hefting a 1930’s canvas army baker’s tent up a ladder to the rafters of the barn, shoveling coal, and various other exertions. Saturday was a pretty day for a ride. I didn’t check the wind but it seemed to be blowing from the SW so I headed South and West as usual. I rode mostly South on paved road and was averaging better then 18 MPH. It appeared that averaging 17 MPH on this trip was going to be a breeze. All was right with the world when I happened to glance to my left and noticed a flag blowing in the wind. The wind was from the North West. Oh well! I ended up riding 25.8 miles with an average speed of 17.2 MPH. It’s just good to ride!
10 comments:
Forget running, biking, "working out"-- farm chores is the way to get in shape!
I'm trying to do some math on your steel scavenging:
($80/ton * 0.5 tons - gas) /
(? hours hard labor)
And if you come up with any tips on fruit trees, let me know. I'd like to put in an orchard next spring-- one of each tree.
wow...work Never stops on a farm. Yak are you going to orchard in the first or mountain house
At the mountain house. It would be a pretty small orchard if it were at my first house.
"Green Acres is the Place for Me... Farm Living is the life for me..."
That is a LOT of work down on the farm. WOW...
Just had another 20 tons of rock delivered on Monday to make a turnaround at the South end of the drive way. Yaq, one of the things that I learned is that black walnut trees are lethal to fruit trees. I don't know if you have black walnut trees in your neck of the woods or not but if you do make sure that the fruit trees are a good distance away. Plum trees are highly susceptible to fungus while pear trees attract hornets when the pears are left on the ground. Cherry trees either need to be sprayed or covered or the birds eat the cherrys before they ripen. Peaches aren't near ready yet so I haven't learned anything else about them.
No black walnut trees on my land. Actually hardly any trees except for some newly-planted pines that will evetually provide some much-needed shade in the summer.
Besides the problems with the birds and the bees (huh huh huh) is the deer in my area. Right now my fence is only about 5 ft high. The guy at the nursery recommended at least 6 ft and said that he's even seen deer jump his 7 ft fence. Also, a friend that lives in the area has seen bears eating plums off his tree!
what bear wants bear gets and I would try scent of wolf and stuff to try to keep deer away, 6 foot fence is not much to a deer. I learned that in AR some use donkeys in the pasture to keep kyotes and deer out...not sure if the donkey would eat the very same fruit though...but they keep the cows safe.
I've seen deer jump a 5 foot fence as if it wasn't there. Black bears, will they jump the fence or just push it over :)
Actually the bear might not bother with the fence if the neighbor's dog is running loose.
The guy at the nursery said that deer typically won't jump fences unless they're being chased or cornered. I have a hard time believing that though, if the only source for tasty morsels is on the other side of a fence.
Never heard of using donkeys to keep out the coyotes. But I did see someone who had a sheep to keep the foliage down and a llama to protect the sheep.
Leaving in the Farm,was a great trip because you can smell fresh air and sees lots of trees.
I think Farm Chores is very challenging,you need to organize in what you've than first and also what is the next.There are a lots of chores when you are leaving in the farm.
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