I was Jeff’s only grown-up helper this weekend with the fencing. We worked straight for three days — Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I don’t think I’ve ever been so little in the house. God was good and stretched all our leftovers out to last the entire time, along with some simple cooking.
The method we chose for fencing — using panels instead of stretching field fence — gives us a nice, sturdy fence. But it is not without its challenges! We actually thought it would be much easier than it is turning out to be. This is due in part to having to set every panel and make it match up with the next one, on a property that constantly changes grade. But it also has to do with Jeff’s perfectionist nature. As he would tell you himself, he is a “fusser.” He fusses over everything to make things line up right. His socks, his possessions, and now, the fencing. 
The fence looks really top-rate, though, so I am not quibbling with the way God fashioned my husband’s character.
The two above photos are areas of the fence we completed over the last weekend. We fenced 1 entire side and another 1/2 of another side. Only 1/2 more of a side to go! (And then the driveway and around the house, but that will be a little bit down the road.)
I couldn’t believe it when I saw that Mikah could operate the T-post extractor! Naomi helped him. The two of them took out every post for 500 feet.
Mikah and Jeff are here enjoying a manly chat and snack, during one of our breaks yesterday.
Regarding the barbed wire. It is evil. I never thought I’d agree with Jeff, but now I do. This is after having to roll up quite a bit of it from the old fence. However, now that I’ve learned how to do it properly (from my fusser of a husband), I can say there is an art to it. If I ever need to work, I could always be hired to roll up barbed wire.
You know, it was a great weekend. It was work, yes, But God is good. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. With the exception of about two hours of rain on Saturday (through which we kept working), the weather was neither too hot nor too cold. I hate being cold and I hate being hot. To be able to work and not feel either temperature extreme was wonderful. But most especially, I cherish the time I spent with my husband. He’s a good man. I know I can’t do the work of a man, but it pleases me that we-together put up the hardest areas of the fence so far. We had some good talks. And with the kids coming and going, doing various things we needed done, I felt so full of love for my family and the work we do together for the Lord’s glory.
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Hello Dear Wardeh.
I hope you are having a great day today. Just
as you were working hard with your husband this
weekend, I was as well. Darrell was home on Sun. &
Monday. It rained off and on all day long Monday
and we worked in the rain as well. I even realized
that I did, indeed, know how to burn a brush pile
in the pouring down rain. I guess I’d seen my
Grandma do that when I lived on her farm when I was
11 years old. I also burned a lot of things we
just didn’t really need. (We are going through all
of the girlies things today and burning much of that
as well. The other half is going in a yard sale
this weekend) When my husband and I were working so
hard on digging out yet another garden, it was a
really great feeling. Like you could do anything
if you could do that, in the rain, while you were
already so sore that you wanted to drop.
Have a lovely rest of your day, Friend!
Hugs, Robin
You have described that feeling very well — “Like you could do anything if you could do that, in the rain, while you were already so sore that you wanted to drop.” I’m so pleased that your hard work felt so good. I wish, wish, wish that I could visit your gardens (and you, of course)! What you’re doing is wonderful and I’d like to peek in person.
Love, Wardeh
The fence looks great you guys! I am also fencing, using field fence.
I think you made the right choice using panels, with all
those trees, I think you’d have a different set of challenges
wrestling with unrolling very spring-ey field fence! (I have
open field, so that part’s easier for me.) Ah, fencing, it
looks so easy, but definitely presents its challenges! I love
the workout though, and am so looking forward to the promise of
animals inside that fencing soon, as I’m sure you guys are too!
Michelle, it is encouraging to hear that we’re not the only ones fighting fencing! Not that I glory in others’ difficulties.
Yes, we are looking forward to seeing those animals about our place. What animals do you have in mind?
Love, Wardeh
I think I’ll wear a few scars forever from that sharp stuff!
I plan to start with sheep; but
But, hiring someone to do it just wouldn’t give the same
sense of achievement!
over time, plan to also run goats, cattle and hogs; as well as
rotate poultry through. I have been studying up on the “new
thinking” on old methods, about cleaving land up into
small pastures and rotating complementary animals/crops
through, for optimal land use. Such a fun journey!
Michelle,
Could you point me in the direction of what you’ve been reading?
You sound like you’re onto something good! We’ve only got 5 acres
and aren’t sure how many animals we can support here, but we
share your vision for keeping as many as we can.
Love, Wardeh
Well, here’s what I know… I get lots of tidbits here and
there, but probably my greatest
resource has been my local Conservation District. They are part of a USDA program
called NRCS-Natural Resource Conservation Service; and
that feeds local CDs. To find your local office:
http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app
What I learned from neighboring farmers is that they are
the “good guys” who will help
you bring your farm into compliance w/ good environmental
practices, and will not “turn you in” if they discover you have, say,
a policy violation or something. Instead, they only try to help
you do the right thing. So, farmers really trust
them for advice and consultation, they are true farmer advocates.
The CD in my area sent a “farm planner” out to my place,
we went over my goals, and she spent a few months on a
farm plan just for me, and gave me this huge notebook of
resources! She stays in constant contact, so if I have a
question, like “can I use this reed canary grass as
graze?” she either knows the answer, or will find a colleague who is
expert on that subject to advise me. I can run any plans by
her to get advice, she’s really super!
They also organize regular farm tours of neighboring
farmers who have model properties of water & runoff mgmt,
mud reduction, pasture rotation, compost, etc. They really promote the
concept of small farms where you can maximize usage by
using diverse animals and crops; and minimize using
chemicals etc by leveraging the complementary nature of
the species(e.g. poultry passing through a pasture after
hoofed livestock can clean up parasite larvae that would
otherwise plague cattle). I’ve been SO impressed
by some of the farms the CD features in their literature-
many are just 5 acres, but wow, do people pull off
some amazing production on little farms that are neat as
pin! No mud!
Another great, free publication I have been enjoying
is the Oregon Small Farm News:
http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/
County Cooperative Extension offices sometimes have some
resources or classes, some better than others.
I’m a WSU alum, also, and because that’s a “land grant”
college, they do significant research on farming,
and I get a lot of info newsletters from them
on their research. I’m not sure how to access that
otherwise though; maybe their website or the library? They
have a lot of good data, especially for the northwest.
Enjoy!
Wow, thanks, Michelle! What a great lot of resources that I am eager to look into. I have been to the Oregon Small Farms site several times, but back when we were thinking alpacas and llamas.
Thank you, again. What a tremendous help. Please come back and share with me how your property adventures are going.
Love, Wardeh
I wish you could, too, Wardeh.
We have a lot
of herbs. Many oregano, lemon balm, marjoram,
parsley, cilantro, sage, thyme. Also, pole green
beans, carrots, onions, pumpkins. I am doing an
experiment with planting carrots about 25 or so per
week, until the last day “they” say you can plant
them. I am also doing that with the green beans,
planting three plants around a “tee-pee” once a week
for four weeks. Next year I will do more. We are
going to dig up a large (ummm, maybe 10 yards x
10 yards?) area this spring/summer for planting
garlic this fall and potatoes, carrots, onion,
maybe corn and tomatoes next year.
What are you planting this year? Hugs, Robin
Robin,
Unfortunately, I’m not planting anything this year! Except for
some microgreens. Our garden site isn’t ready and other things
have to be done first before we can move into the realm of
food production.
I love all your plans. Everything sounds so yummy!
Love, Wardeh
I loved the picture of the manly father-son chat! I can see my older son and his dad doing that in a year or two!
Sangeeta