We had a great day today. One of the priorities right now is to clear the area across from and slightly downhill from the big greenhouse so we can start building underground storage. Before that can happen, though, the amazing compost pile needs to move. And that is a project.
First, where to put the compost? I have been gradually using some of it for comfrey planting, wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow. But I'm nowhere near done with that project. Some of the nursery trees will be ready for planting later this fall, and I would like them to have a good compost boost then. But it's too early for planting (I want the leaves to fall first).
After a long conversation about options, we decided to use the tractor to put the compost pile in the unused quarter of the greenhouse, happily right near the entrance.
First Phil pulled the enormous weeds off the top of the pile.
Then he broke up the clods.
Then he was ready to transport compost. Bucket by bucket he would scoop (uphill worked much better than downhill), then drive to the entrance of the greenhouse. There he would pull any weeds or Johnson grass roots, in order to give the greenhouse the best possible chance.
This was a huge boon: I had been weeding, cleaning, chopping, and transporting by hand. Now the compost was dumped, mostly cleaned, only a few feet from where I needed it.
Near the end of the compost pile, Phil had another materials handling issue to deal with: we had stacked all the unused cattle panels on the other side. In order to scoop compost, he needed to move the 40 or 50 panels.
That's a tough job. He hoists the 16' panels into the back of the truck, all by himself. After the truck is pretty full, he drove up to the metal building. I am SO thankful to have a place where they can be out of the way and not covered by massive weeds. What a frustration that has been, to pull panels out of a dense mat of weeds whenever we need some.
I had a productive farm day. This is a fruit day with the waxing moon, in August: the perfect time to bud graft. And I had 30 apple trees that I hadn't bud grafted yet. After researching, I finally steeled my nerve enough to attempt it.
And I was surprised to find that I loved bud grafting! I thought cleft grafting was fun in the spring, but this bud grafting felt ridiculously fast (as a rank beginner, I don't think the entire batch took more than an hour, including locating new growth with buds and gathering materials).
Will the grafts take? I have no idea. If they do, I think I've become a convert.
What makes it more fun than cleft grafting? For one thing, the trees are already planted, so to put the graft on the north or east side of the tree isn't difficult: I know where that is. It takes so little strength, comparatively: a little slice in the bark of the rootstock, a little cut on a branch, a little wrap. No top to seal off with either sealant or wrap. It felt more controlled, and the materials handling was much easier.
I'll be interested to see if bud grafts do better: with the top of the root stocks intact even now (the leaves act as solar collectors until the bud takes off), it seems less stressful to the plant overall. They've grown so much since planting! (You can see the little graft down at the bottom.)
The trees have grown well recently: all the rain, and the cooler weather—they don't seem dormant any more, as they did during the heat of the summer.
Don't they look good?
When I finished the grafts, I hurriedly weeded in the greenhouse quarter, so all the compost would fall on a more clean surface.
Then I did six rows of comfrey filling in, double what I've done before. What a joy to have soft, moist soil. I am so thankful for the rain.
To close, a joke, by Abraham, age six. Why are cows good bakers?
Because they're always making pies!
First, where to put the compost? I have been gradually using some of it for comfrey planting, wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow.
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