How things are going
on the farm.
pondering mid summer?
The weather has
been a big factor this year in how the farm is doing. We have had considerably
more precipitation at higher intervals to prevent one from making hay. I am
still on my first cutting and have lost a considerable amount of hay due to
spoilage. But all is not lost permanently as I still removed the hay and added
it to my mulch pile I was trying to make to finish the decomposition process. The
old adage when they give you lemons make lemonade applies here. My decision to get
rid of the cows I believe is now wiser than it was before. Hay was their most
needed component to keeping them, and with this weather I wouldn’t have been
able to keep them anyhow having lost half my hay due to bad weather and it would have forced my hand to do again
eventually what I had to do. In the end my primary goal for keeping the cattle
was to make compost and in effect I am still doing that without the cattle.
Some of the
topsoil I have added my compost to has performed exceedingly well, and as well
the manufactured potting soil seemed to have done well also. In some cases when
left alone for a while weeds flourish greatly in my topsoil and show all the characteristics
of being fed way to well. Thick heavy foliage abounds. When applied to a yard,
will yield a starts of new grass in three days or less, and complete coverage
in a couple of weeks. This indicates a soil that is well fertilized with enough
organic material to encourage seed growth. I have plans of bagging my own
potting soil as well as having bulk screened topsoil available. This may happen
before fall, for fall seeding. If you are interested in either the potting soil
or the topsoil just call and let me know.
The bees in both
hives seem to have settled in well with a flurry of activity and occasional bee
beards growing on the hives as the activity in the hives are speeding up due to increased numbers of
bees and honey being made and a need to cool off the hive. I try to leave them
alone but soon I need to enter both hives and see how well they are doing and
judge the need to add more storage space for honey production. The buckwheat I planted
served its purpose by providing ample flowering in its seed production.
Multiple flowers on different areas of the buckwheat allowed the bees to forage
on pollen created of which I observed multiple bees taking back to the hives. Overall
I have noticed an increase in the number of bees here in the valley in
different areas; I owe this to the hives I have placed there as well to the numerous
wild flowers and berries in various stages of bloom.
We have done well
in again having a bountiful raspberry crop with huge raspberries. I need to
expand these berry patches as they seem to do well without much interference
from me except managing them to produce better. As well I have started a new campaign
to plant a tree a day for the rest of my life here on the farm. It seems like a
lot but in reality, but if I live
another 20 years it would only amount to about 7200 trees give or take a few
hundred. In the end this will more than
make up for all the trees harvested in my name for different purposes like
napkins paper plates , lumber to house myself , and toilet paper , making me
truly a green person. I am lucky as the farm could easily absorb that many
trees and many thousand more without yelling ouch. Yet this will only be a
fraction of the trees harvested here over the years for a variety of different
purposes,( coal, farming , heating etc.).
Anyhow this is
kind of where I am at as I reach a mid-summer reflection of events here on the
farm. I am hoping to yet harvest more hay and sell some more trees as well. I have done limited work on the cabin I was
going to build here but plan on doing more with the remainder of my summer as
well enjoy what time we have left before the weather begins to turn colder.
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