(Dominance, Inducement, Soil, Compliance) the stuff out of this field

The past two days have been pretty much focused on one project, cutting apart bits of topsoil.  This morning I caught Phillip coming back from running his dogs early this morning.  He mentioned that the fields were wet and it might not be a good day to plow.  I thought to myself since technically I wasn't plowing that I should be alright and went at it anyway.  Phillip was right, but I plowed through it. :)

I know I have a couple more passes to make tomorrow.  My plan is to be out of the house early to inoculate the cover crop seed picked up last week, and then get to making the final passes with the tractor.  I am going to chain harrow everything to get a really nice finish before I throw seed out and aim to get the seeds spread out late tomorrow afternoon before a final pass with the chain drag that carries the seed just under the surface of the soil.  There will be pictures. 

The hen that was setting is no longer setting.  She had something like 17 eggs under her.  Slowly I have been finding bits of shells near the boxes.  Today she wasn't on the nest, and I did not see but two eggs.  When I had the chickens in the tobacco barn, when an egg went missing, you knew it was a snake.  I checked everywhere in the coup, no snake or evidence of anything other than birds.  Phillip said they must be eating them.  I started giving them more grit several days ago, I thought it was maybe that they were not getting enough minerals, but Phillip did not think that was the case.

I still have 47 eggs in the incubator, so we will see what happens with that.  Started two days ago.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered - Manure

Yesterday I didn't really sleep very much and was up early for the compost deliveries.  Since I moved here I have been looking for a good source of compost.  After many arm and leg solutions, a group of local farmers and I lucked into a really awesome situation.  Averette Equestrian Center was overflowing with bedding materials from their 40+ stalls.  With no idea how to manage it, getting rid of the excess was paramount.  Seven dump trucks like Die Hard Three delivered, some hardcore spreading, and everything is dressed and waiting for the weather to break.

One of many piles

I have awesome neighbors.  Butch runs heavy equipment and lives just around the block.  Initially he was helping bury Buppert.  He pushed one of the piles over on his way out to the spot effortlessly.  My tractor makes dents in comparison.  I have to pick it up bucket by bucket.

Stuff on film, stuff on film.

The disc-harrow from Tractor Supply has never really cut into the ground as deeply as it should.  When I first got it, I was told that it needed a little extra weight on the back.  The suggestion came with an experience based solution in welding angle iron to make braces in which cinder blocks could fit.  Butch came up with a much better idea today of strapping an extra railroad bridge ties to the back.  The tractor bogged down between the ridiculous weight, wet ground, and slipping the tires.  I gave it a rest and later came back to get rid of the wood overhanging the tires.

Scenic tractor shot; several passes still to be made once everything dries out a little bit.

Holtz project update: wood split to be stacked and repeat.

Rest in peace, Buppert. I love you man.

So sometime between last night and today, Buppert passed away.  I am unsure of his age, but the vet said he was anywhere from 6-8 years old.  He is survived by his two wives, seven children, and the memory in my heart.  He is already missed.

Tilling the no till

It is time to break up the ground for this round of winter cover crop.  I have a lot of horse manure being delivered soon to be spread on the field, but in order to get it ready to accept compost the top crust needed to be broken a little bit.

I picked up the disc from Randy's shop.  He had welded angle iron to the flimsier parts with great success.  When I picked it up, Randy wanted to show his dad the bee hives I have, so he came and hung out for a minute and got a free intro to bees lesson.

When they left, it was back to work.  After playing with the adjustment, I finally feel like I got it cutting into the ground like I want it to.  I neglected to mow before discing.  The disc knocks down anything standing and with a couple more passes should be cut into butter.  The compost will be applied over the top, and I will make a few more passes with the disc.  Then comes my truck pulling a chain harrow to make everything nice and flat.

The first pass reveals the dirt underneath.

Hello from the tractor's seat

I know it is late notice, but if any one is interested in stopping by this weekend to experience getting a field right for planting, equipment run down, and a short talk about soil nutrients and cover crop get on the guest list now by emailing Sustainablehomesteadinstitute@gmail.com and for further details.

Read the directions

Today I was reading the directions after putting in the second exhaust fan in the greenhouse several days ago.  I was pretty sure, but not positive, that I needed another louver set for the opposing side.  The directions clearly stated that in order for the fan to not be overworked it needed at least X amount of opening equal to the size of intake that came initially with the kit.  So I need to either have the door open or add another vent.

I cleaned out the rabbit cages and add the pellets that don't fall onto the ground into the compost already started in the ibc as described in a previous post.

This afternoon I stalked a group of turkeys in the field behind the house.  I had clear shots on several but I didn't do anything.

Tomorrow I will finally unload the rocks in my truck in an 8 foot trench to form a two foot on center naturally built roundhouse.  The spot where my first thought to put to put the lodge will be a beautiful spot for a natural built roundhouse.  I knew I was on the trail of what needed to go there, but today I was reassured it was a good switch to make.  And there was no money laI need to put a corrugated plastic drain pipe in the ground to drain water inside but the rain during construction.  After watching a bunch of youtube videos, I got this.

I ate some fresh scrambled eggs for dinner.  They were still warm from being under the hen.  I moved her off and she wasn't completely happy, but quickly became interested in the layer pellets I put in the feeder seconds before.

I ordered a bunch of compost.  I don't know when it is coming.

hot rocks

When I first playing poker semi regularly at a local game, there was a man there who I will call "Profane."  He was a reasonable person until he got to drinking.

After the completion of most rounds of cards, the dealer would ask, "Is the pot right?"  Sometimes it would come out, "pot right?"  Somehow over time, Profane got it in his head the folks were saying "hot rocks."  It started off slow but by the time he stopped playing cards with us, he was saying "hot rocks" like "no whammies" on a gameshow at each and every opportunity he needed a good card.

He has stopped playing with us because I think people got tired of how drunk he was getting.  One time he stood up from the table and almost fell on a 4 year old.  If I didn't catch him he would have flattened her and gone through the huge screen tv.

Well pretty much all day, I have been thinking about "hot rocks."

This morning I went to the local quarry.  I tried to get some rocks for the sweat lodge I have been working on here.  The lady pretty much looked at me like there was no way their 8 ton bucket was going to load my truck, and she wasn't allowed to let people load it buy hand, which seemed very reasonable as the size equipment operating in the yard was massive.  She pointed me to another place for which they supply stone.  She mentioned that they have a bobcat and could probably load it easily.

I am really amazed how much rock weighs and how cheap it is.  I selected a pile of rocks that I wanted him to take from and deliver to the truck-bed.  He said the rocks weighed from 25 to 75 pounds each, but some how I don't think that is accurate after handling a few there and a few more when I got back home.  For twenty seven bucks I got approximately a ton's worth of stone and it didn't really make a dent into the truck bed.

Upon arriving back at the house after getting some milk, I continued digging out the fire pit in the lodge area.  There was still too much water in the whole from the previous days, but I made a little progress.  I will offload the stones onto the dirt berm I made around the fire pit tomorrow.

I got the fire rolling now testing one of the rocks to make sure it doesn't explode when heat is applied. Hot rocks!   It is doing well.  

Chickens first day out

I was wary about letting the new chickens out today.  I didn't want them to fly out of the pen after I just got them yesterday.  I figured since they are big laying birds that the chances were slim that they would be flying very high, and with the other group of birds to show them around, they seemed in good hands.  Some people will recommend putting your chickens in a cage so that both flocks can look at each other for awhile and become friends before sharing the same space freely.  I did not do this rather just let them go.

The hens immediately knew what was up.  Through out the day they came in and out like they had lived here since birth.

The bar rock hens took to the roosting poles immediately.  The salmon faverolle birds stack up in the corner and have never gotten on the roosting poles.  Sometimes I will grab them and put them on the poles to see if they would figure it out.  Each time they stack up in the corner again shortly after being moved.

Taken from the ridge opposite with a lot of zoom

Crossing things off the list

Almost a year after the completion of the initial structure, I feel like the greenhouse can finally be crossed off the list.  I have said this before, I am hoping this will be the last time.  Over the past week, Freddie and I have removed all the tables, swept up all the dirt, hosed down the floors, swept again, installed metal anchors and attached cables to secure the shade cloth.  Today's job was building a frame for the fan, cutting a whole in the plastic for the louvre assembly to fit, and further stabilizing the fan with a brace.

The one we put in

The one the professionals put in.  I call them professionals because they had scaffolding.

The first exhaust fan is pretty high up near to the top of the arch.  This one is mounted about chest height.  During the initial testing the addition of the extra fan dropped the temperature 10+ degrees.

It is really incredible how much energy being in the greenhouse takes out of you.  We spent three hours in and out starting a little after 1.  Freddie and I were both sweating and wanting a drink by the time we were done.  I know we saw 110 on the thermometer.

But the greenhouse is ready to go, cross it off the list, again.

Cluck Cluck, doubled the flock

Tonight afterI thought about some raised beds for most of the day, Phillip came over.  His friend who lives several streets over had mentioned that he wanted to sell 11 Bar Rock hens.  They are black and white spotted really pretty birds.  They will lay a larger egg than Faverolle still in the brown spectrum.

When I herd that someone had some for sale so close by that were already old enough to be producing eggs, I jumped at the deal.  Freddie, Phillip, and I loaded up Freddie's dog box into the back of my truck and rolled down the road.  

When we got to the man's house, we talked for a bit then formed a chicken brigaded and handed the fowl from the coup to the dog-box, passing them one to another grabbing the chickens by the feet and passing them upside down.

The rooster pretty much didn't know what to do with himself.  He was flapping and flying and running around the coop.  Chickens can't really see at night time so he didn't know what was going on.

Plymouth Rocks on the left,

Guineafowl in the middle

Salmon Faverolle rooster and hens on right.

Setting

If you have read some of the past entries, you know that I am collecting eggs to put into the incubator.  Several days ago I mentioned to Freddie that one chicken was setting on a clutch of eggs.  Today Freddie agreed that she looked like she was going to hatch the eggs under her.  I don't plan to take her off the nest and modify my gathering count.  I'm going to let the chicken do her thing and see what happens.  Start the clock - 21 days if everything goes correctly.  Egg count update, like 60+  I'm not exactly sure how many are under her.

ugh

Today was thoroughly unproductive.  I got up really early and just did nothing.

I got a call this morning from the metal supply store.  Yesterday when I was purchasing metal for the tractor attachment.  I told the man that I wanted 40 feet of thick angle iron.  Turns out he only had 20 feet.  In the confusion he charged me for the full amount, and I having never bought metal like that before just was happy to have it and didn't say anything.  The man called to state the situation and informed me that I could come get some money back or wait until tomorrow and pick up the other section once it had come in.

The metal shop I am still giddy over.  They make pretty much anything but last time I was in there talking to the owner, Danny who wasn't there yesterday, said a majority of the business came from making buffing machines for aircraft parts.  Mills and lathes of all sizes.  It is just gorgeous.  The machine that cut the sections for me looked like a mitre saw that came up from the bottom like a table saw.  The speed was slow but it chunked through the angle iron.  The operator said that if he got it spinning to quickly it would kick the metal off of the press.  There were no sparks or cooling fluid.

Today I marked out some line for where I want to put these raised beds that I have been thinking about for awhile.

I talked to my friend Justin today about compost.  We have been trying to secure a load of compost from the relatively local farm supply store.  Recently a horse riding center has said that they need a place to get rid of their extra.  We talked for a half hour about that and some other things.  When the load gets situated it is destined for these raised beds.

Freddie came over again tonight.  We just walked around.  We needed one clamp to finish the greenhouse shade-cloth tie down project from the other day.  So we put that on, but didn't take a second.  Freddie's rabbit dog, Jack, was running around investigating things when it wasn't being molested by Ash.

Stink bug holy war

The brown marmorated stink bug is the worst.  If a genie gave me three wishes one would surely be for all the stink bugs to go back to where they came from.  Since declaring holy war on the stink bugs several days ago, it looks like the legions have shown up to do battle.  Yesterday they covered the outside of my house and were slipping through the cracks around the door.  I sprayed them with left over carpenter bee formula.

They died.

The result of yesterday's spraying swept into a pile.  Ugh.  It is depressing.

I went to Lowe's again today for more spray after a second wave was seen this morning gathering on the exterior of the house.  

A contingent had infiltrated the house but were quickly exterminated quickly upon discovery this afternoon.  They are now dead swept into a pile on the floor.  Ugh.  It is still depressing.  On the bright side they really only gather on this one window.