Plans for the year?

[Lowdown3]

I don't know about you, but I got a LOT to do on the homestead this spring!

Most pressing is the time related stuff, getting ready for production type stuff. This includes:

*Fruit trees in 2 of the orchards pruned- done in Jan
*Fruit trees sprayed for the ongoing problem of plum circulio- done in 2 of the areas
*Mowed persistent brambles and burnt off problem areas in orchards to assist disease and bug control- done in 1 area.
*Drip irrigation checked on all trees- still to do.
*Irrigation in garden areas checked and fixed where needed- done but will need to be double checked again when weather finally gets warm.
*Fruit trees fertilized -still to do.

*Prep for new bee hives, new hive boxes put together- still to do.

Outside of the more pressing-

*Expand fencing to add another goat pasture to the rotation. This one also in an area we normally garden in. They put the poop right where we need it and their is already water to that spot.
*Re build the chicken shed. Gonna go Hardiboard this time, tighten things up with roof and redo the rain catchment. We have gotten almost 15 years out of the original part of the building there, so it's time and we ought to be able to salvage and re use the 4x4's and tin.
*Finish splitting that monster pile of wood you might have seen in videos. Hopefully by then we'll be done burning for the year so it can go right where it will be needed in a few years and not in an "annex" firewood area.
*The kennels need some work, the little Vietcong has dug the tunnels of Fuh Bi near one of the fences and we need to finish up the water system and rain catchment for that building.

So much to do....

[jimmycthemd]

1) Add to rain catchment system (started it last spring...need to double it).
2) Finish rebuilding mine and my wifes' bicycles (need to shed some fat).
3) Build some raised gardens.
4) Signed wife up for a basic handgun class (April...I'll attend too for moral support).
5) Sign up and take an advanced (concealed carry) handgun class.
6) Finish getting camping gear inventoried/checked out.

[610Alpha]

*Finish splitting that monster pile of wood you might have seen in videos. Hopefully by then we'll be done burning for the year so it can go right where it will be needed in a few years and not in an "annex" firewood area.

On your log splitter do you have the standard 2-way or did you get the real time saver of a 4, 6, or 8 way splitter?

I don't know why they even bother with just the 2 way, make the standard 4 or 6 way at the minimum. That will save some time and make it really worth the investment. I get really frustrated when I see these splitters at the local farm store and the only put on a 2-way splitter. GRRRR. You can't tell me that a 4 or 6 way wedge would add that much cost to it.

[EX121]

1. Got apple trees pruned closer to what they need to be. They were allowed to go wild for 8yrs before we bought the place.
2. Cut firewood, maybe get a new wood stove.
3. repaint house.
4. build root cellar.
5. move top of "honey do' list from the Queen to the top of my list.

[motesjm]

So far this year we've fenced in our chicken yard, expanded our orchards by about 20 trees, pruned, fertilized and sprayed the fruit and nut trees, and finished the gutters around the house.

For the remainder of the year I have:

Finishing building and install an automatic coop door opener

The garden - this is the biggie. All of the indoor seed starts are up and growing. This weekend I'll burn off and disc. Still have a couple weeks before I'm comfortable planting outdoors.

The road - After all of the rain we had this winter I have a ton of grading to do and water bars to repair on our gravel drive. Of all the things we left behind in the city the thing I miss most is a public road crew.

Increasing Rainwater Collection Capacity - This should be an easy project since most of the gutters already feed into 55 gallon rain barrels. I'm planning to double the number of barrels to water plantings near the house.

Thorny Hedge - This should have been taken care of as soon as we bought the property, but at that time I didn't fully see the need. Due to some recent prowler activity in our community and at my place in particular I'm trying to beef up security and this is just one of the long term items I'm doing. We have lots of locust seedlings coming up in various areas around the property and I'm trying to transplant these to the areas most likely to see unwanted foot traffic over the barbed wire fence. It will take years to establish into a formidable barrier, but if I can get it as thick as I want no one will be walking through there without leaving a blood trail to follow.

Bees are coming in the first week of April. I've have to get the boxes set up and ready for them. I've hosted other people's bees on our property before but this will be my first attempt at keeping them myself.

Let's see....railing around the front porch, sealing the back deck, installing an underground propane tank (crossing fingers for this one) and propane cooktop, brush clearing, and one other fair sized project that I'm too embarrassed to describe. Those on top of the normal homestead chores and work should keep me busy for the rest of the year.

[610Alpha]

level out the ends of my raised garden...add more soil media to my garden...make a rain shelter for my rabbits...cut/split firewood...clean the chimney...

[dilli]

get over being sick..
work on few new beds
finish grey water system
coax my elderberry n watercress into growing..
work toward a grower/grain co-op locally
split next years wood
establish a cactus garden
all normal chores and school...

but the good news is we have a young couple here helpin regularly ... finally

[protus]

chickens get going on that.
expand garden again. LOL
get well going
pick one major project ( thinking of electrical upgrade and adding the abilty to add AE later on)
small solar set up ( see electric upgrade)
maybe re do our front deck.
get back into jogging