Muddy Time :: Again

Spring may not be here until March 20th, but the mud tells me it is coming soon. As for this blog ... I think this quote will become at least a year tradition. "March is a green muddy month down below, some folks like it ... farmers mostly." (of course that is Bear Claw Crislap from "Jeremiah Johnson ... one of my favorites) That quote just always seems fitting for this time of year. Right now, as you can see from the picture, we just have the mud. Hopefully soon we will have the green to go along with it. I do know one thing though ... this farmer will take mud right now. I'm not saying that I like mud, but I will grudgingly admit that it means dry ground may be coming soon.

Mud does present it's fair share of challenges though. Just last night I had the pleasure of loading a pig for the processor (at 9:15 PM). Things went surprisingly well considering how dark it was ... and how muddy it was. I was able to get the trailer hooked up, the pig loaded and the trailer out of the mud in 45 minutes. Of course I'm pretty sure I will have to level out some ruts at sometime this spring and plant some new grass there ... oh for lots and lots of gravel!

Once I made it back in the house I decided that I needed to add another thing to my list of possible projects. That is to make a centralized loading area in the winter lot area (I've decided the pigs and the cattle are going to live in what we'll call a "sacrificial area" next year. In the winter neither of them use up much space, and then everything will be close to the feed, water, and shelter areas. Plus, then I would have the benefit of making one nice graveled loading area so that I can load without getting stuck all year long.

This would mean that I would have to do some advance planning to bring animals up towards the loading area when it is close to loading day, but I think that is a small amount of work compared to tearing up the whole farm or getting vehicles stuck in awkward places. It would also give me an excuse to have them bring out enough gravel to put down in front of the shed ...

One more thing about the farm names again ... Muddy Hole Farm seems to be pretty fitting now ;)

Spring Thaw :: Many Projects

Since I have a tendency to become overwhelmed by the projects on my plate I thought it would be a good idea to get a jump on the planning and map them out so I have obtainable goals for this spring/summer/fall. There are quite a few things that need to get done and just as many or more that I would like to get done. So, here is what I was thinking ... I have decent idea of some of the most important projects, but I thought I could list them out and you all could throw out ideas on the order I should attack things. Some things will be obvious because they have to be done first before other things can take place, but some other things ... Let's just say I always appreciate all the help I can get!

Here is the list as it stands now...

1. Cut down small grove of thorny trees that have popped up in the middle of the pasture and plow up that area for pasture planting (they are about an inch think or more).
2. No-till drill in a pasture mix throughout the main pasture areas.
3. Run water and electricity out the the new shed (the extension cord from the back of the house works, but isn't ideal.
4. Put up permanent high tensile fence around the homestead area.
5. Plant trees around the homestead (hardwoods and pines).
6. Install a frost-free automatic cattle waterer for the winter lot.
7. Cut lanes through the woods to setup electric fence for pig paddocks.
8. Clean out area in the storage section of our house building for a chicken brooder (just a few chicks).
9. Build a mobile chicken coop to follow the cattle out on pasture.
10. Build three more pig huts (various designs to see what I like best).
11. Plant a windbreak on the west side of the winter lot for the cattle (and probably the pigs next year).
12. Gather wood for next winter (I understand that will be an all year thing and it really has already started).
13. Get all my hay on the farm before fall (try to buy extra hay out of the field as opposed to all winter long).
14. Clean out and compost the deep-bedding from the cattle shed.
15. Put up gutters.
16. Prep the garden and plow/disc the current pig area for this years sweet corn (this will be an as soon as possible project understandably).
17. Build a portable loose mineral feeder and water cart.
18. Gather all the materials needed to set-up at a farmers market (coolers, signs, table, tent, etc.)

That's my 5-minute list (it took me 5 minutes to put it together). How would your rate the priority? Any thoughts on what to add (if you know much about the farm)?

**As a side note ... Rich, that is a picture of my smallest cow at the hay ring. It's a normal hay ring so I would say maybe 4 feet tall or so ... You can tell she is small. I'll try to get some pictures of me standing next to the bigger ones, but they really aren't much bigger.