Quite a Process
If beginning the school year wasn’t busy enough, our farm projects have kept us busier than ever. It is great slowly but surely seeing things come together but there is plenty of exciting updates ahead for Craneview on Plainview.
Our farm is being rejuvenated both inside and out. Our entire first floor renovation is in full swing, Besides moving the kitchen to another portion of the house, we are expanding our laundry room, updating flooring, overhauling the main level bathroom, and creating more people-friendly gathering places. Basically, what began as a more basic kitchen update has morphed into a completely new first floor.
The barn has also undergone some major changes. Starting off with ten chicks, we transformed one horse stall into a coop. Now that we are expecting many, many more feathered friends, one entire inside of the barn is now an expanded coop. As my friend would say, it so “barn grade” quality work, but I am sure proud of it considering my lack of experience and ability when it comes to just about anything handy. We are also utilizing solar power, so the panels have been installed on half of the roof and we are looking forward to getting everything hooked up and ready to go sooner than later.
Our wild space is also transforming. Attacking the invasive reed canary grass has been our initial focus. With the help of some restoration professionals, we have worked throughout the growing season to dethrone this grass as the king of the land and replace it with much more habitat friendly natives, emerging from the previously choked out seed banks. We still have a ways to go, but seeing new plants come up instead of the boring grass is very motivating.
So what’s next? Plenty! The progressive dip in daylight will not slow down our progress. Our most recent project involving grading around the barn and leveling some of our land has been delayed because of a near seven-inch deluge of rain last weekend. Once it dries out and gets completed, we will be creating a large outdoor run for our current and future birds. We will also be preparing some of the land for prairie restoration, removing some ash trees, and breaking trail. The ash trees will help create a more natural barrier between neighboring properties as well as be helpful in our nature playground vision.
Farm fresh eggs will also be available soon and we still have hope we may have a trail ready for family and friends later this year. It might even be spooky.
