The Farm - Week 11

The one major bummer about Fall is that the days get shorter and we have less and less time to explore our new land. With a quality over quantity mentality, we enjoyed a week of discovering our new backyard and visualizing what it will become.

A rather wet week has put the finishing rounds of removing the mowed marsh hay on hold, but with this week’s forecast being drier and unseasonably warm, I feel confident we will be “hay less” in no time. The land is much easier to traverse now and we have taken advantage by heading towards the back’s more wooded areas. With our neighbor being a golf course, we have enjoyed finding golf ball treasures. Jokingly, we’ve even discussed a new business model that could come to life if we ever add chickens to the mix. Egg cartons full of eggs, golf balls, or a mixture of both.

We’ve also started to look at where we will plant some fruit trees we recently acquired. While a full blown orchard isn’t really part of out plans, having a fresh supply of fruit is certainly an exciting opportunity.

I am also happy to announce that the lawn finally grew to the point where it needed to be cut. My summerlong struggle with the riding lawn mower seems to be on a hiatus (knocking on wood) as we successfully cut the entire lawn without issue.

Seed collection for our future prairie has also started. Our vision of a prairie moving towards restored wetlands and transitioning to improved forest is becoming more and more clear.

We also learned that we were approved for a program which connects us with a forester and help cost share portions of our restoration if we follow through on suggestions made by the aforementioned forester.

Lots of work ahead. But, work we will love and enjoy.