Baymule’s Farm

[baymule]

Sunday afternoon I put up cow panel hoops. I drove 2 T-posts, then picked up other end of cow panel and bowed it up. Then while holding it in place, grabbed T-post and driver, got post started and slammed driver down on post about 30-40 times. That dirt I spread and packed down set up and got HARD. Blame it on the dirt, not my stack of birthdays or scrawny arms.

I had a team of experts assisting me.

Yesterday I got a tarp on the hoops, zip tied in place. Sentry approves.

I stretched another tarp for more shade.

There is no shade in this field. I have 14 ewes due, starting on or around March 26. I’ve got to build a night pen around this shelter, then I can move expecting ewes to this field. I’ll put Sheba with them for their protection.

This runs north-south and creates a nice wind tunnel. It will offer shelter from rain and hot sun.

 

[baymule]

I’m getting my 2 young granddaughters Saturday. It’s clean house day today. Then play with them all week and give them back to parents next weekend.

The following week I’m headed to the back field with battery chainsaw and sharpened machetes. My goal is to clean the north fence line in 2 weeks.

 

[baymule]

I forgot to post about my DIRT!!!! What excitement! In my whirlwind of activities I totally forgot. Last Friday I got 2 loads of select fill dirt, 15 yards each. Cost $350 for both. Last Saturday I played in the dirt with Marigold. Had a blast! I spread one pile on the site of the future barn and one pile where I put up the temporary hoop shelter.

Beautiful dirt pile!

Playing in the dirt!

Got a good pad of dirt built up above grade, hopefully it will give sheep dry place in heavy rains.

Got the cow panel hoop shelter built on it now.

I also scored a major victory and got the 41 Cornish Cross meat chickens moved out of the tubs on the porch. I brood them to 3 weeks old under heat lamps, by then they have enough feathers to keep them warm at night.

Last year raising them was a disaster. Rains came, yard was standing in water, poor birdies were wet. NOT THIS YEAR!

I built up a dirt pad for their coop. I moved them in it and they seem quite happy.
Oh! The friend I helped with sheetrock has a chicken plucker and is going to loan it to me! That will make it so much easier and faster!

 

[Marie2020]

The past 3 weeks I’ve been helping a friend taping and floating sheetrock. He is building a barndominium. He and his wife are purely city, bought 28 acres with a small 800 square foot cabin on it couple of years ago. They were green as grass. They have learned a lot in this short time.

As many new homesteaders do, they got everything. Saint Croix sheep, black Spanish goats, Kune Kune pig, chickens, 2 red Devon heifers, and 2 Anatolian sisters. They are figuring out that they need to narrow it down to sheep, goats, Anatolians, chickens and a garden.

Wonderful people, the kind all of us would love to have for neighbors. A mutual friend introduced us. They had a ewe lamb born who couldn’t hold her head up to nurse, called me and she became a bottle baby. I called a couple of weeks later to check on the lamb and he told me he and a friend were hanging sheetrock. I offered to help with taping and floating. I worked 3 days week one, 3 days week two and 4 days this week. We have it all taped and floated as of yesterday. Most of it is sanded and 4 rooms have the second coat of mud. We are sliding into the home stretch.

My friend has Hydrocephaly ( if I spelled that right) from being thrown off a bicycle at high speed and hitting his head. That’s water on the brain. He has a shunt in his brain to keep fluids drained off. It sometimes gets stopped up and then it’s emergency life or death surgery. He has had 6 brain surgeries. Each one may be the last one.

He told me that he wants to build this nice home for his wife so she will have a nice home to live in. He’s concerned that the Lord will take him home before he finishes it. So I decided that I would see it through to get the taping and floating finished. He mentioned one morning that he spent the night before throwing up because looking up makes him violently ill. Good grief. So I told him no more trying to do the ceiling, I would do them.

I gotta tell ya’, after 3 weeks of doing sheetrock and concentrated staring at ceilings, my neck and shoulders hurt so bad last night, I could barely turn my head. I got a small glass of wine, then another and then another. Almost finished off the box of wine that has lasted over a year. Yeah, I know, I got a drinking problem. LOL

I slept until 7:30 this morning. Going for second cup of coffee. Got 2 dump truck loads of dirt coming at 9:00 and I haven’t even done chores yet. I have a lot of work to catch up on here, but I’ll go back to finish sheetrock on Monday morning.

That's it, you've tired me out again

Sooooo darned busy

 

[flowerbug]

That's it, you've tired me out again

Sooooo darned busy

don't even have to get out of bed...

 

[ninnymary]

You have accomplished soooo much Bay!

I want to get a cattle panel that's 16' x 4' to make a garden trellis. I probably need more like 3' wide so my husband will have to cut it. Can't find them any narrower than 4' around here. Question, should I cut some of the bottom grid off so I can have legs to be dug into the dirt? Or should I use metal t posts around 4' to hold it up? I think cutting some grids off may make it too short. But metal t posts may not look so good in my garden. You know how I feel about "purdy" haha.

Mary

 

[Alasgun]

I use T post to hold them up and only set them to the spade, making removal easy. Each year i find more applications for them and always have a number of them around. up here they are 60” X 16ft.
I shortened one for my indoor cukes to climb on and used a jig saw.

 

[ninnymary]

I use T post to hold them up and only set them to the spade, making removal easy. Each year i find more applications for them and always have a number of them around. up here they are 60” X 16ft.
I shortened one for my indoor cukes to climb on and used a jig saw.

How tall are your t posts?

 

[Alasgun]

Over all they are 5 ft., 4ft to the spade.

 

[Carol Dee]

You have accomplished soooo much Bay!

I want to get a cattle panel that's 16' x 4' to make a garden trellis. I probably need more like 3' wide so my husband will have to cut it. Can't find them any narrower than 4' around here. Question, should I cut some of the bottom grid off so I can have legs to be dug into the dirt? Or should I use metal t posts around 4' to hold it up? I think cutting some grids off may make it too short. But metal t posts may not look so good in my garden. You know how I feel about "purdy" haha.

Mary

Mary, my husband laid out some big landscape timbers. Pounded long spikes to hold them in place. Then bent panel so each side was against the timbers holding it in place.
You can kind of see it here: