Odds and Ends on the Homestead

Every sunny day - and some not-so-sunny-days - on the homestead results in work being done outside on various projects. I've noticed recently that usually projects take a full day, especially when the boys are helping me. However, the boys and I just had a day full of various smaller projects!

Shoveling the Drive and Coop

Here before long, we need to spread some fresh gravel so the driveway doesn't become a huge mud pit. That being said, any potholes that are in the driveway need to be filled in prior to spreading the fresh gravel. This helps get a smooth surface for the gravel to be spread. The other important thing to note is that if you do not fill the potholes, they will only get bigger. The new gravel will effectively act as miniature shovels as cars drive over them.

To fill the potholes, we have to shovel the some of the dirt and gravel mixture into the hole after scooping the hole first. If we scoop the hole first and then add more dirt and gravel, it will smooth out the surface.

The boys were a huge "help" during this process. Axel kept saying "work, work, work" as he tried scooping gravel. The ground was not completely thawed though, so he couldn't actually scoop with his shovel. Scott enjoyed walking down the lane dragging his shovel behind him.

The same concept was applied to some large holes in the chicken yard/orchard. I shoveled dirt into the hole so it wasn't as compacted and deep. The reason we did this was because the orchard has treacherous ground, and the huge holes become difficult to see when the grass gets taller.

Preparing the Garden

After we filled the holes, the boys went to take a nap, and I worked on clearing the cardboard that we laid out in the fall to try killing off the grass for the new garden area. I first loaded up multiple tractor buckets full of wood and put them back in the woodshed. Then, I pulled up the cardboard and put them in the newly cleaned out and organized garden shed in a neat pile.

Much to my dismay, the cardboard did not kill off the grass in most places, but the ground underneath the cardboard was warm and will be ready to till before the rest of the ground. I think the problem is that even though it was covering the grass mostly, it wasn't staying in place well enough. The wind caused many cardboard boxes to move preventing the grass from dying.

Last Quick Project

The last quick project the boys and I did once they were up from a nap was building the initial frame of the compost bin. At the time, I didn't have a post driver, so we couldn't secure it to the ground, and while I don't believe that will be a problem with the wind, there is always the possibility of wind damage. Because of this, we decided the compost bin would be secured with a t-post. We also only built one bin instead of the two that we eventually ended up with because we needed to be able to move the bin around the t-posts once they were set up.