Another day of regular good work.
And perfect cool nights and sunny days. There is an in between feel to the days but we are nowhere close to fall – I hate to even hear mention of it. Still summer in my book.
I need to drag my spade around and knock down and drag out the weeds that I do not want to go to seed here. Jude is covered in cockle burrs though I don’t have a picture.
Yesterday I ground another load of pig feed made up of organic corn and oats and sunflower seeds. The pigs actually prefer the pre made pellets I buy (I mix them in) but what kid doesn’t prefer donuts to well – nuts. The pigs get donuts too because R has negotiated to intercept expired bakers items destined for the dumpster at a local supermarket. Sometimes there is a lot sometimes there is only a little. Similar to our restaurant pick ups.
Yesterday’s restaurant bucket. Who knows what is under there!
But it is all edible.
I was showing around a group of visitors the other day and heard the teenage son say to the father ‘This would be great. It’s like work but not real work.’ Huh, I thought to myself. You are only a little bit wrong I wanted to say. It is work and frankly the lowest paid work around. And physically hard. But I guess I am my own boss. And outdoors. Growing our own good food. And I am passionate about good food.
But where there is passion there is heartbreak.
There is another fence post rotted out and broken out in the field but I cannot get Our John interested in fixing the fences. I will go out and have another look today. See what I can do. Prop it up with some T posts. Make a plan.
OK! Time for me to stop ruminating and start working.
Take good care.
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
22 responses to “Working Well in the Late Summer Days”
Repairing broken and rotting stuff seems very unrewarding work, especially when it involves roofs and fences. These are major, time-requiring projects that probably need muscles, at least two people, and new stuff, as yet undetermined. Visitors do not see the work that goes into repair.
Indeed it does. Lots of hours of hard work. And when we started the farm my husband did these things but he has lost interest so I am left trying to work out how to attach a post hole digger to the tractor. Sigh. Maybe he will come round. But visitors sure do not see these things.
Reading this makes my heart hurt for you and the farm C. For John as well who seems (only from the distant outside looking in) to be dealing with his own set of issues and heartache. Losing interest in the life one has built impacts everyone.
Yes! Maybe he is just under the weather again.
Then you have to wonder if it would be easier to dig post holes by hand. I have a shovel for just. That purpose, to get around all the subsurface roots. But I surely don’t have a lot of fencing, or a lot of animals. Only Speckles the rooster, whom I have had to save from owls, and escaped neighbor dogs. And Lollipop, the stray cat I feed, who looks out for himself and has for over four years. Racoons can be a problem, because they come from the marsh, the drainage ditches, climb trees, and get on the roofs. They have knocked my hanging bird feeders down so often that after the last one broke, I quit using feeders to feed birds.
I once knew a lady who shifted out to a lovely farmhouse from the city and hung all her lovely collection of bird feeders. Came out the next morning to sit on the porch with a cup of coffee and to her horror found a bear ripping down the last of her carefully hung bird feeders. 🤭 she never made that mistake again!
A whole new set of problems/challenges comes with every decision or move. I haven’t had problems with bears, yet, but animals migrate, too. We only know tiny segments about their lives. I now scatter chicken/bird food on the ground, but I still feed animals. I watched a family of deer yesterday afternoon.
How lovely!!
That cat’s working hard! I expect there’s a smell to the pig pellets, as opposed to taste. It may be the texture too.
Yes. Possibly sweeter too. The pigs do eat the home milled stuff – no problem but there is always that swift sniff then look up at me – like – where’s the sugar, sugar?
You could be right. Have you tasted it 🤣 Cereals: corn, wheat bran, rice bran, sorghum, millet, vinasse, etc. Proteins and fat: fishmeal, bone meal, soybean meal, peanut cake, cottonseed cake, rapeseed cake, etc. Additive: spices, sweeteners, molasses, fat, mineral elements, vitamins, etc.
Sounds like muesli!
Definitely 🤣
Not fall yet, but moving towards it! Looks like we will not be in the 90s again down here, which is really quite alright. Sure makes working in the garden and on the land easier when it’s cooler! 🙂
I am looking forward to seeing the pumpkins die back so we can see the full bounty in the pumpkin patch. This cool weather is great for that!
I love the in-between stages of nature and that young boy has no ideas how much work it all takes
No he didn’t and he will probably grow up with the dream of having a little lazy farm!
Autumn! Please no not yet! Mind you when it does arrive for real and l acknowledge summer has finally gone then it’s time to enjoy it. We have just arrived at a farm camp site, l am looking forward to looking round for a compare and contrast session but l know which farm l would rather be at.
I hear you on the heavy maintenance jobs. They’re all up to me now. If I elect to replace a wood post I try to dig down around the base far enough to wrap a chain and pull the busted one out. Usually I can put the new one in the same hole with minimal digging with the manual post hole digger. The three point attachment scared me so I sold the 3 pt equipment with the tractor and a digger for the skidsteer is pretty pricey. That said, I very often resort to a steel post next to the broken wood and wiring it to it. Easier, especially if I use the bucket on the skidsteer to push the steel post in the ground. This is a glaciated area – lots of rocks and gravel, fence making is a challenge.
Still summer for a while though all my swallows departed last Thursday, always a bummer.
Oh sad to see the swallows go! And yes. I am happy enough to put a metal pole in instead or as a brace for a wobbly one. Your skidsteer does sound like a gem. You must be pretty good at managing it!
FENCES! I did not know until I started our hobby farm how BIG A DEAL fencing would be. Ordering enough proper fencing – digging post holes for the corner posts – stringing fencing TIGHTLY (quite a skill that needs good equipment and strength) – buying fencing (cha ching!!) – then fixing fencing – then adding a new animal and needing gates – and fixing fencing some more. Learning how to use a t-post pounder. Learning how to use a t-post puller. Crikey! There should be a full time fencer on every farm. Good luck with your post! I once used quick set cement and rocks and posts to make a fence line reach across a rocky stretch. Good old Canadian Shield land.
Yes! All that! Oh my you have described it perfectly. Now add a man who will not take any direction. But I got good at fixing fences until the posts started rotting at ground level and my cows are scratching their buttocks on them! Wobble wobble.