We are starting a beef farm. We feed them grass. There are so many projects on our whiteboard right now, I sometimes lose sight of that. Amazingly, I’ve actually managed to cross off projects that have been completed. It feels so good. It feels so right. While Brent works with all the aspects of getting our cows fat and tasty, I stay closer to the homestead with our one-year old (yep, she’s one!). Part of getting this farm up and running is getting it neat and tidy. We’ve made progress with Project Tidy, yet still it feels like hardly a dent has been made. The bones of this farm are solid. We have the right size land. The land has great soil with some steady improvements being implemented by Brent. The cows are extremely happy and somewhat spoiled with the food they get each day. Brent is working out systems to get the grass for the cows to taste good, keep them fat and healthy without spraying chemical fertilizers. All that stuff is moving and shaking.
Project Tidy looms. The out buildings have solid foundation and fairly good walls. The doors, windows and roofing are mostly held together with baling wire and string. Project Tidy means getting the old bidet, toilet and sink being stored in the attic and tossing it to the big bin of gravel (VERY satisfying … let me tell you). But Project Tidy also means: solid. We have to do away with broken plastic windows. No more giant doors hanging on hinges and itty bitty steel wire. I suppose it’s time now to get welding. I read the first page in my Farm Welding book a few months ago when Zélie was a newborn. After reading the list of ways I will kill myself welding, I put the book aside and let all that sink in. I’ve met a few people in the area who know how to weld and I think before I crank up that giant glue-gun, I’ll have an expert nearby to laugh at me or catch me, which ever comes first. Soon I’ll be welding like I’ve never welded befo’.
… little one-year old 🙂
Thankfully, she’s held together with sugar and spice.
Zélie is the first one that looks more Audrey than Arnie.
In my early, get by days, I swore my basic tool kit included duct tape and baling wire. I could fix just about anything with those two items, car, house, bike, I rested peacefully knowing I had my bases covered.
Gladys
you’ve just named my two favorite fix-it materials.
That is a beautiful child. And I am SO PLEASED that your farm is held together with wire. Our barn is a classic for this. I was cleaning out one side of the barn today and looked over to see John nailing an old cupboard door over a hole in the wall. It fits perfectly and actually looks quite quaint but a cupboard door! and where is the rest of the cupboard. And as you know our animals are all grain free! such a joy, what kind of cows are you running?.. c
yes, we have our share of cupboard doors as well 🙂
We are running Salers. Brent did a bunch of research. We both did a lot of tasting. Salers came up the winner for what we want to do. Brent blogs about this side of things on http://wobbly.com. Some are just about ready to go, so I’ll get to write more about that.