So the year comes to a close and if
anyone had told us at the start of the year that we would be in our
own homestead with a dog, we probably would not have believed them.
We have quite a few plans for using the
land, and a kind of time frame for these ideas, but as it is our
first winter here, the main job is to get through the hard weather to
come. The driveway is steep and curved so if we get snow or ice, it
will be a little tricky to get out without slipping into the gulley.
The well has already given us concern this year, and although it is
working perfectly at the moment, we are still not sure if there are
any pipes that are exposed and run the risk of freezing.
We have a dead oak in the front yard,
that if it comes down in any direction will cause severe damage. We
have had several people come knock on the door and offer to take it
down, but only one of them mentioned insurance and the quotes have
ranged from $100 to $500. We don't have the cash available at the
moment but as soon as we do I will be getting it taken care of.
One of the things we want to do is keep
some bees. I have spent the Christmas break building the hive so it
will be ready for them in the Spring. The type we will be using is
the Tanzanian Top Bar Hive. If you don't know of this type, it is a
very simple design of hive consisting of a box with bars resting on
the top. There are no frames as there are in the regular hives,
rather, the bees build their combs on the underneath of the bars.
This produces a much more natural comb although it makes less honey.
We have ordered fifty wild fruit trees
from the MDC and they will arrive in March. Most of them will be
planted around the edge of the orchard with the remainder planted
sporadically around the pasture.
The main fruit trees will be ordered in
the next month or so. This means we will be digging a lot of holes
come springtime.
The other projects for the coming year are to build a chicken coop and raise some laying hens, buy a couple
of cheap dairy bull calves and then feed them up for the fall. There
are a few squirrels and rabbits on the property, so I would like to
work at maintaining habitat for them as well as farming it. It would
provide an alternative meat source. We have already started a small
vegetable garden but there are plans to build on this and provide us
with enough vegetables to prevent the need to buy in.
I wrote this today so we can look back
on it in twelve months time and see what worked and what didn't.
Happy New Year to you all from Outlaw Farm.
