Cutting Down Some Trees

We needed a few trees cut down. They are old and had a lot of dead branches in them. One tree hung over our neighbors fence and we were concerned that it might fall down and ruin the fence.

Another tree was so thin and scraggly that we decided it was better to take it down since it didn't give much shade.

The men who cut down the trees were very careful to save our new walnut tree.
Can you see it in the photo?

Here it is! All safe and sound. With the other tree gone, the walnut tree will get a lot of sun and should grow to be a big, shady tree.

Can you see the man in the tree?
He has safety equipment on so if anything happens he won't be injured.

What happens with the piles of branches?

It will take us hours to clean up all the branches and chip them. We use the chipper on the end of the tractor to make piles of wood chips. We'll use all the chips in the flower beds to help keep weeds from growing, and help us use less water.

The wood from the tree trunks will be stacked and we'll use it in the wood stove in the winter. It will keep our big family room warm. We have to build a wood shed this year, too. I'll show you pictures of that when we get started.


The tree with the skateboard swing is still strong! Everyone loves the skateboard swing!

Do you have any questions about the trees coming down or the chipper? Please write your questions neatly and put them in the box. I'll find the best questions and answer some next week.

If you're reading this at home with your parents you can have them ask a question in the comments. I'll read it and answer the question in the next post!

Thanks for stopping by!

Post Holes for the Greenhouse

Welcome back!

One of the things we're building is a greenhouse. A greenhouse is a house where green things grow. We want to grow plants in our greenhouse. A greenhouse will let plants grow earlier in the spring before the snow melts, and later into the fall and winter after the leaves have fallen off the trees.

Someone in your class noticed there was a corkscrew on the back of the tractor. The real name for that piece of equipment is a post hole digger. It's very heavy! We need it on the back of the tractor when we are moving hay to balance the tractor.

We also use it to dig holes in the ground.

Do you see how much it bounces around?
That's because there are so many rocks in the ground!

Someone has to dig the rest of the rocks out of the hole before we put the mold in.
Matt is strong, so he helps.

The hole has to be deep enough for the mold.

Next we need to fill the mold with cement.

The post goes in next.
There is a hole in the top of the post because the hoop for the greenhouse will fit inside it.
The hoop will help hold up the greenhouse roof.

It's very important that the post is straight, and in the right place.
We use different tools to measure. We used a tape measure to measure where to put the hole, the mold, and the post.

We use this tool, called a level, to make sure that the post is straight.
Do you see the bubbles in the top two tubes on the level?
The bubbles inside the tubes need to be between the two black lines.
It's a little tricky to get the post straight up and down.

It's exciting to see the greenhouse get started!

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Yes, we have a cat.
This is the barn cat, Midnight.

This morning she decided to climb on my back while I was hooking up the hose to the faucet.
She works hard keeping the mice out of the barn.

We also have two indoor cats.
This is Stinky.
She's lazy.
She likes to take naps.

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We've had some problems with the chickens and turkeys roosting in the barn.

The problem is they don't know how to use a bathroom. They leave their droppings all over the food barrels, and the hay in the stalls! Ewwww, YUCK!

Bryon and Matt installed bird spikes so the chickens and turkeys
will find someplace else to sleep at night!

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Hay Delivery

Welcome back!

I hope you have enjoyed the nice weather we have been having. We've been getting some things done around the farm because it's so nice outside.

I thought today would be a good day to answer some of the questions you've sent me.

No, we don't have a daddy cow. A daddy cow is called a bull.
Bulls are not very nice, they are hard to handle and we don't
like to keep animals on the farm that might hurt children who visit.

We have a steer, named Remi. He's not a daddy cow because he can't have babies.

He gets very excited every time he hears the tractor!

We have a mommy cow named Echo.
She's not a mommy, yet!
Her calf is due on March 25th.
How many more days before she has a calf?

No, we don't have pigs.
We aren't allowed to have pigs in our town,
that's the law.

This is a good question!
We have flat head shovels, spades (shovels with a round end), pick axes,
manure forks, rakes, pitch forks, garden forks

We also have a tractor!

Bryon, Matt, and Tim shovel the manure and mess from the stall to the tractor.

Our tractor helps move the manure and yuck from the stalls to the mulch pile.

That is a lot of manure!
We use it on our garden and we share it with anyone who wants it for their garden.

Our tractor can unload hay from the truck.

This is a good question!
How much hay do you have?

This is what the barn looks like when it's ready for more hay.

How many bales of hay can you count?
How long do you think this hay will last?