To say that I am eager for the broilers to be gone would be an understatement. I appreciate their fine flavor and their rich stock, but they have been so costly it makes my chest constrict to think of it.
With the compost pile moved near the woods, Phil brought down wood chips from the farm entrance to the pile. He used the tractor to scoop the chips into the truck, and then the older boys worked steadily and faithfully to empty the bed. (When finished, Isaiah happily went inside and vacuumed. He's been asking to do so for a week now, but we have had so much debris around from clearing out the office trailer, I haven't been able to dig the vacuum out of the closet. But with vacuum dug out, Isaiah even went so far as to vacuum my mattress, front and back. What a guy!)
Joe didn't really help with his scoop, but he had a good time, in any case.
With the chip pile removed from the farm entrance, Phil began a little farm beautification. He moved pallets that littered the entrance (leftover from various deliveries). He consolidated several piles of downed trees, left over from our first attempt at land clearing two winters ago. With the logs moved, he could mow along the driveway. And he removed an extremely large rock from the orchard. It would make a good building foundation, perhaps. (It positively dwarfs Joe!)
I had pulled a nasty vine on Saturday. It had quickly covered a large area, and was starting to put out seedpods. I pulled one on Saturday for about an hour. The other came up out of our future pond, I think, so I pulled its tendrils yesterday, and today Phil pushed the whole thing into the pond, along with some other bad weeds. Somehow we have to figure out how to compress this vegetative matter, and cover it with clay, in hopes that we will have a sealed pond without paying for a liner.
But while he did that, he also chopped up the residue from our failed three sisters plot (the corn, beans, and squash, with sunflowers around the edge, not one of which produced anything). The residue was a thick mat on the ground, and I am happy to again see a few of our land's contours.
Phil also fixed the boom arm on the sprayer, which ended up not being an expensive or difficult fix, which is a mercy.
I went out and walked the swales to the north of the road. How long are they? How many blueberry plants could I, potentially, plant? That settled (more or less), I started to weed. When it comes time to actually purchase plants and have them ship, I want the land to be ready.
In the past, I think my enthusiasm for ordering new plants has overtaken my preparations for those new plants, so we have been left scrambling to find temporary storage for these living organisms. I like the idea of preparing a place for them, and welcoming them when the time comes.
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