Update …. since April

This has been one of the busiest Springs we’ve ever had. There’s been no time to update our blog so here is a quick photo compilation of some of the happenings that have transpired over the past couple months.

In early spring I began cleaning up and clearing a bit more space for our garden area and septic field.

A large amount of hardwood for firewood came from this clearing. I was also able to get several nice softwood timbers for lumber towards the construction of our house.

A field of stumps was created

Once we had removed all the material from our clearings we brought in an excavator and the stumps were removed and piled up.

Now we can begin landscaping and start planting and creating gardens. Tracey is extremely excited to start cleaning up and build gardens.

While all this was going on I also enlarged our garden plot at home, more than doubling its previous size.

The garden is doing well, we have all the usual vegetables and I decided to put in a big bed of Sugar Beets this year. It was a staple crop on our farm when I was young, sugar beet syrup was made with them and used as a sweetener much like honey.

We’ve harvested lots of mint and radishes so far, the spinach and borage is also ready now.

On June 3rd twelve new members were added to our family.

At that time they were a bunch of tiny fuzzy peepers, they are now feathery active little runners and flyers in their small mobile run.

They love the bugs and tender clover leaves and other greens in their mobile enclosure.

The mill has been very busy since April. I’ve cut up all the logs that were accessible from our property, creating 2 big piles of timber.

During the winter many large trees were blown down. I was fortunate to be able to salvage a huge maple tree from our neighbors property, which I cut up into large planks and dimensional stock. 

The 2″ x 12″ planks will become stair treads for our house, the other material will be for cabinetry.

Since building the saw and drying sheds many people have asked if I build these to sell. I’ve always turned down requests up until about a month ago when Tracey’s uncle inquired about one followed by a neighbor requesting one. I caved and committed myself to building these two.

This 4′ x 8′ shed is for a temporary electrical service.

These are just a few of the things that we’ve done. We still regularly make batches of soap, pick wild herbs and tend to the numerous other daily chores and commitments. I’m now allotting specific portions of each day to work on building our house.

Spring has passed into Summer. There never seems to be enough time in a day to get everything done. The school year is over, Where has the time gone?

 

 

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