Building a Hobby Farm- from woods to eggs

[dieselfuelonly]

Those are some great pictures, I can gaurantee you that you will be having a lot of fun on your tractor!

[tony123]

Rob, the dirt stays that color no matter what you do.... I'm told that it is very high in iron content and it is actually rust that causes the color. One Christmas my wife made tie die shirts using the dirt as dye. They came out great and everyone has a shirt now that is stained with dirt from our yard I don't know if they thought it was as cool as we did.

Hey Dennis! Thanks for peeking in.

We're actually getting some light rain today! Just what I needed. Light enough to wet the dirt without washing it out. I need to run out and get some more winter rye today.

[3RRL]

Thanks for the reply tony.
LOL ... I had my share of tie die shirts in the sixties.

[tony123]

Seems my whole wardrob is "tie die" now that I have this tractor...hahaha I'm ruining more clothes than my dry cleaner.

Anyone have a marshmallow? I found something productive to do in the rain this evening. I'm not comfortable lighting up a pile any bigger than this, and I'll have about 12-15 of these to do.

[WayneB]

Not sure about the marshmallows, but just wondering how easy it is to get a burn permit where you live. Man around here there is no way we could set off a fire like that this year...................way too dry.

[scott_vt]

Mornin Tony,
Great pictures, especially the boys in the wagon ! It was fun when my boys were little like that, now there 24 and 26 Enjoy the moment !

[tony123]

Wayne, we don't need permits here. But, to take liability off, they want you to call both the fire department and forestry to let them both know what you're doing. They make sure they can pull up directions to your address and ask what you have to help contain the fire (garden hose works for them). They also let you know if you can burn on any given day. Of course, rain is usually a fair bet that you can burn.

Scotty, glad you enjoyed the photo. I do cherish every second I get with my boys. Would any of this be as fun without them? NOT.

[rox]

Tony, I also am enjoying immensly your posts ad your pics. Thank your wife for taking the time to take the pics. i jsut saw on a show, one of those home improvemnt shows or something like it about doing a driveway with block that lets he grass grow through. here are a couple links i found
Hanson Paver Products, Inc.
http://www.flowstobay.org/p2business...int_Pavers.pdf

http://www.lcpaver.com/buyit/?specTurfBlock

Paving Expert - AJ McCormack and Son - Reinforced Grass Paving

With your slopes I am sure you probably ahve errosion control on your mind. When searching for a picture of the turf blocks I also read about permeable concrete adn that looked interesting for errosion control also.
Again really enjoying your posts you have a lovely family and a fantastic homesite. Good luck with the chickens.

[tony123]

Rox, welcome to the thread! Bienvenue! Merci beaucoup for the links on the pavers. I will check them out. In reality, this is going to be an underfunded farm, and will rely on weeds to stop erosion. Tonight we're getting our first decent rain since we graded. So I may wake up to a mess and have to increase funding. I visited your website. Looks like you have a wonderful place and are living your passion. That's great to see.

I went out at sundown tonight to check on the fire. It is still smoldering, but is really nothing more than ashes. It's nice to have that pile out of my way. I want to hold onto all the wood for our occasional campfires, but I just need to get stuff out of the way.

I worked the boxblade around a little tonight. Boy does it work so much better with some damp soil!

I went to the tractor store this evening and found about 105 pounds to add to my front bumper. On these slopes I get a little light in the front. I know nothing about the physics involved, but 105 pounds seems to be more than most people put on the front. I hope it makes the front end stay down a bit better.

I need to take some measurements tomorrow and draw a scaled drawing of what I've got to work with. It's time to start thinking about layout of all the different spaces we want. Vegetables, chickens, barn, where to put fencing, etc. I'll post the drawing when its ready.

[tony123]

Just checked on the fire this morning. It's still smoking! 48 hours later and through several rains.

Question: What do I do with these large piles of ash? Can I just spread it out and grade right into the soil? Is it helpful in vegetable garden soil?