Monday, May 16, 2011

Around the Farm

Now that spring has come to Cavalli Run, we have been doing some things around the farm. It still needs so much work, and we still have yet to collect all the equipment we will need to do a lot of that work. Progress is being made, however, and I know we will get to where we want to be eventually.
We were not able to put a garden in last year, but we are doing a small one this year. We don't have a tiller yet, but we're not gonna let that stop us! Last year, after we got our sheep and they had cleared out an over-grown paddock for us, we discovered several old and new tractor tires hiding under all that brush. We thought they would be great for raised beds, so our garden this year is a raised-bed, tractor tire garden! You can see the cattle-panel grape arbor in the background, and I already have lettuce and radishes coming up in my "salad-garden" tractor tire.


One tire holds pepper plants and the tomato plants each get their own small tire (we have found lots of those around the place, too).

We are getting eggs galore these days. It's just about time to start having some roasted chicken! We can't keep up with all the production, but several people have reaped the benefit our excess! With a little modification, Greg has found that his old desert uniforms work as farm shirts! I almost didn't see those eggs!

We have found many innovative ways of utilizing the various treasures we have found around the place. These old real estate signs that were left behind by a previous owner made a good lamb "baby gate" to keep little lambs out of the ram's stall at night!

Greg had some extra field fencing that he used to finish the corral area behind the barn. No more orange snow-fencing to keep the sheep where they are supposed to be! Yay! While it has come in handy many times,I detest that orange stuf.

I had a run-in with a ram this year! He didn't actually butt me, he sort-of side-swiped me. Next time he wants to be on the other side of where I am, I will try harder to get out of his way! Ouch!

Greg found this big snapping turtle making his way across one of the sheep paddocks. He had already rescued one, and lifted the fence for her so she could make her way to the pond in the horse pasture.

This big guy was quite a bit larger, though, and not near the fence, so Greg had to get the snow shovel and pick him up in order to move him out of the sheep's area.

He was huge, but he looked nothing like a sheep!

7 comments:

  1. Very creative with the tires. I also like the cow panels for grapes. Those snappers cross our yard sometimes heading to the pond. They sure can get angry when you pick them up by the tail.

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  2. Love love the tires!! Pretty cool! From your pictures I can just feel that spring is in the air at last! Your boo boo looks like it really smarts. My hip bone had a nice run in with a ram horn (his was deliberate) but I think it was his way of sharing the love! ;) I have few more scrapes and bruises after milking the ladies last week! But its all good!

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  3. What a great idea with the tractor tires, Brenda! We have an old one we unearthed when we built our barn - I might let the kids spend some time finding good dirt in the woods and filling it up to plant this spring! Thanks for the idea! Wouldn't it be a riot as a redneck flower garden in our front yard?!!!

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  4. Thanks everyone. We hope to put in a much larger garden next year, and then I may use the tires for my herb garden! I love the idea of a redneck flower garden, too, Robin!
    Ouch, Sandy, that must have hurt like crazy! I think I got off lucky compared to you! "Sharing the love" is one way to look at it!
    Nancy, we thought the cattle panel arbor was was a nice, farmy touch! LOL! It's a handy place to hang up the one topsy turvey we bought to try, too!

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  5. Did your vegetables take on the rubber flavor of the tire

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    1. Hi Jessie,

      I've been gardening in old tires for 6 years now and have never had any trouble with odd flavors or rubber flavor in my veggies. I have my soil tested each year as well at the local AG office and there have never been any kind of leaching or chemicals from the rubber in the soil.

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  6. Did your vegetables take on the rubber flavor of the tire?

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