Day 122

Projects on the farm are akin to peeling an onion. It seems that with every completed task, four or five new ones are revealed. The work never ends. Though we were stoked to have the beginning path of the future Dargatz Trail in place, we knew there were tasks associated with that trail ahead of us. It would need to be mowed regularly. We wanted to add bird houses along the path. We had Leopold benches to place and maybe even a wildlife blind to create. We needed to create bridges across the ditches to be able to utilize all of the land and really have a trail that encompasses the ins and outs of our property.

When we created the trail, we noticed a good chunk of the soil and dirt covering the culvert that provided access from the front portion of the land had washed away. With traffic connected to restoration going back and forth over the culvert at various points, it was time to protect the culvert. We replenished the soil supply and added earth over and around the culvert.

Speaking of culverts, when we cleared land near the property line, we found a culvert we didn't even know existed. However, after years of allowing extra water to channel through it, it had created a bit of a valley, perfect for a child (or clumsy adult) to fall into and potentially injure themselves. To protect that from happening, we worked to add rip rap rock to the fill in the valley. Besides making this hazard easier to see, the added rock would slow the erosion of the land.

What a past few months it had been. New solar panels. New backyard. New barn. New chickens. New chicken yard. New trail. We had done so much in so little time.

We had given this place a whole new look and a whole new name. Now we needed a sign so others could know what we were all about. A former student of mine was happy to help and we were ecstatic she chose to use her talents.

But there was no time to waste. It was time to get back to work inside.