Please Rain Already!

Watson's Law - (similar to Murphy's Law) When we were trying to build a barn, it would rain every weekend and slow down our process.....but.... the minute we plant vegetables in the ground, (which is when we need the rain), it stops raining!  I have never seen a drought like this.  Luckily, we have access to water through our pond but still, it just doesn't so as much as what a good soaking rain would do. 

And then....let's talk about the heat..... hottest summer ever and it was in the 90's this past week (hello....it's October!). 

Ok - enough complaining.....

Our winter vegies are still in their seedling trays because the ground is just too dry to plant.  We are soaking the plowed area with pond water where we are going to plant them to try and make the ground favorable for planting.  Hopefully this weekend we will be able to plant.  We have Kale, Collards, Turnips, Rutabagas, Brussels Sprouts, Beets and Mustard.

Fish - our fish are doing great!  The bluegill are growing and there are many baby fish swimming around.  This weekend we are picking up about 50 small mouth bass to put in the pond.  This winter we plan to clear out the trees around the pond to open it up (and maybe get rid of the snakes!!).

Tractor - our Ford 8N tractor is having it's engine worked on.  Nothing major and we should have it up and running this weekend.  In the meantime, Cris found a Massey Ferguson tractor on Craigslist that has more power and was $1000.00.  It works great with the plow.  I like my little Ford 8N though so I will keep using that to bush hog. 

Speaking of bush hog - our neighbor down the street and around the corner, Homer, offered to cut our fields for the hay and will give us a couple rolls to keep for ourselves.  That works out great because we need the hay for compost and he needs it to feed his horses and cows. 

Vet - when Cris took Teddy to the vet for a snake bite follow-up, our vet, Dr. Shaw, said he's very interested in our organic farming and will be one of our first customers.  More importantly, he is learning how to treat animals using organic type treatments and is happy to assist us with our animals when we do get our cows, sheep and chickens. 

The outhouse is about 1/4 the way complete - we have not been able to work on it lately but it's not an immediate need so it can wait.  We also plan to enlarge the barn by adding another 12x24 stall area but that's not too hard to do. 

Hoop House - we got approval for the hoop house (greenhouse without heat) from the Dept. of Ag and they will cover most of the cost.  They came out to the farm to approve the area where we want to place the hoop house; next we have to purchase it, install it and then they come back out, inspect it, then we get reimbursed. 

Cabin - in the planning stage.  Working out a floor plan and hope to start on it the first of the year. 

Electric - put off until a little later.  We have been doing fine out there with the generator and propane lanterns.... of course, when it's 20 degrees and we are spending the night in the barn, I may change my mind.  But hey, if the Boy Scouts can camp out in freezing weather, so can I!