Long Weekend of Farm Chores

I have switched to a 9-80 schedule at work, which means I work nine hour days but get every other Friday off. This works out well in that it cuts my driving by 10% and gives me more time to spend with the family. It also means that I have more time to tackle the ever growing honey-do list. This past weekend was hot and dry but there was too much to do around the farm to just relax by the pool. Here is a list of the jobs accomplished.

• Moved the sheep and laying hens to new pasture.
• Refilled piglet water station and water wagon barrels.
• Took trash and recyclables to dump.
• Vacuumed pool.
  
• Picked up and stacked in barn loft 30 bails of straw.

• Helped harvest oats.
• Dug post holes for dog kennel fence.
• Built lumber loft in barn.
  
• Harvested and stored in larder 320 lbs of Red Nordland potatoes.
• Shot ground hog in grain test plot.

Obviously the potato harvest was the most strenuous of the tasks. The kids helped out but lost interest in the hot sun, even though I was paying them $2 for every row of potatoes the picked up. Need to get a photo of the lumber loft. It was a small job with a big payoff since it let me get all the scrap lumber up out of the way. This allowed us to move Danielle's potting bench into the corner that was the scrap wood repository, so now I can pull the tractor or truck straight through the barn. I severely over built the loft so that in the future I can put some floor boards down and it can be used to store hay and straw as well as lumber.

Sunday afternoon I was out in the market garden while Danielle was trellising up tomatoes. On the way in we picked some squash and she complained how something was nibbling on the squash and eating the tops of her bean plants. I had seen a groundhog a couple weeks ago in the potato plot but was unable to get him at the time. I setup in the shade of the barn ~100 yards from the market garden to see if I could put a stop to the problem. I was multitasking, flipping ribs on the grill every half hour or so. Upon returning from flipping the ribs I spotted a groundhog in the grain test plot. He saw me as well and scurried off into the cover of some bushes. Ten minutes or so later curiosity or hunger got the best of him and he came back out into the garden. He won't be eating anymore of our veggies, but it is unclear if it is the one that was doing damage in the market garden since they are roughly 50 yards apart. Only time will tell.

Finished off the weekend with a delicious Sunday dinner of the BBQed ribs, country home fries made with potatoes, onion and green pepper from our garden as well as raw green beans. It was a tiring but satisfying weekend.

Monday after work additions

• Cemented in dog kennel posts.
• Built bean trellis.
• Reattached roof flashing ripped off by thunderstorm.