Mini Farming With a Baby

Just found this, started a few YEARS ago, unfinished and unpublished. I think the subject matter itself might explain why...

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How hard is it to have a mini farm and a baby? That depends on the available help.

For me, it is becoming quite difficult.

I love the great outdoors and cleaning the poop of various animals just isn't a hardship for me. But how to do this with an infant?

When we decided to add another family member, I thought I had it all worked out. I could ride early in the am, as well as get some chores done, finishing up in the evening, when the hubby came home. The reality is quite different.

Khavien is as sweet as he can be, but as unpredictable in his moods and habits as any small child. I can't expect that he will be asleep early in the am. I can't expect him to nap when it is most convenient. I knew all this, but apparently wasn't as aware as I should have been. We're programmed to forget such things over time. Otherwise, we wouldn't do it but once. Maybe not a horrible idea...but I digress.

As for the hubby, he has a job. It's the same job he's had the past few years, but things seem to be stepping up. I'm grateful he's working for a growing company, especially in the current economy. But lately the job is keeping him from home quite a bit more than I expected. By the time he gets here, it's already too dark to do anything outside. He sleeps as late as possible in the mornings to make up for the rest he's losing at night. This does not make for easy critter care and enjoyment.

I could wear Khavien in a carrier, and I do, but that's tough when the ground's frozen. Also, it's difficult to work with a twelve pound child stuck to my front.

I could have his big sister watch him, and do, but only for brief periods. I'm a firm believer that a child should not be held responsible for another child. It isn't fair and it breeds resentment between siblings. I can't have that. Family First.

Where does that leave me? Scrambling to make use of the few available moments I have to feed and clean animals. It isn't enough. Rachel helps out a lot, albeit sometimes reluctantly. But she can't, for example, scoop the paddocks without supervision. Large animals are dangerous and I won't risk her being injured. We're not enjoying our mini farm nearly as much as we'd like, and I'm fighting to keep up the level of care for the critters.

I know it will get better. Before long, Khavien can ride on my back in the carrier. When the weather warms, he'll be able to sit and play in a playpen nearby while I care for animals and garden. Riding in the evening will be feasible with more daylight hours. But for now, I'm feeling hard pressed to keep up with the needs of our animals, not to mention the property.

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Perhaps it's time for an update.

He's now almost four. We have goats we milk morning and evening, pigs to feed and fatten, ducks and geese and guineas, oh my, and yes, we still have the horses, and of course the rabbitry.

The garden still hasn't materialized, but slow and steady wins the race, right? Fencing comes first, and eventually we'll manage some greenhouses and aquaponics tanks.

The boy is now old enough to use the TV as a babysitter - yes, we know, but educational shows are pretty good these days. We also have memberships in a few good sites such as ABCmouse.com and Mimio.com, which have him practically reading.

There's the Kindle Fire with Plants vs. Zombies and Fruit Ninja on it, which could keep him quiet for hours, if we let him have it that long. He's able to hang out in the goat yard and play with rocks, sticks and a wooden sword and shield while cleaning is finished. Likewise, his sister is old enough to be responsible now and then, and though raising him isn't her job, we do try to make it worth her time when we need to ask her to help. All in all, when he isn't bringing his mom a book to read or chasing bubbles in the yard, there's stuff to keep him busy and happy while we get on with the work required.

My job has gotten better, so I'm not out all hours of daylight any more. I handle the morning milkings, and loading the hay to the cart, and whatever the Boss asks when I can, but she's still Foreman of the Farm. I just keep us in insurance.

The adventure continues. :)

The Folly of Creating a Riding Arena Without Professional Help

Never, ever, attempt to create a riding arena without consulting professionals. On second thought, consult the pros, then have them come handle it. I failed to do this and am left with an area - I won't call it an arena - that is just ride-able, with care, and far from the all weather arena I'd hoped for.

I made the mistake of allowing someone experienced in clearing only to scrape out my spot and then dump what I was told would be adequate footing for riding.  Let me tell you, manufactured sand doesn't come close to some nice crushed granite, or M10. But it would have been serviceable, had this person graded the area correctly, and dumped the appropriate amount. Five inches is far too much. I knew this, and requested less, but the man decided I didn't really know what I wanted and did what he was told would be more appropriate. He was wrong.

My next failing was in not rushing to put in fencing, or at least edging. I was too busy trying to figure out how to scrape away some of the overly deep footing, since the idiot I had dump it in the first place wouldn't come back and do so. While waiting to get this done, much of it sloughed to the left. Fine, but it didn't do so evenly, of course.

Why didn't I drag it and salvage what I could, you might ask? I tried. I bought a decent drag, and my husband bought a tractor for me. A garden tractor. It isn't heavy enough to pull the drag through five inches of sand.

To make this long story a bit shorter, what we have now is an area that used to be filled with sand - which at least had the benefit of providing my daughter with a fun place to play - and which is now a grassy and uneven mess. I say mess because it is not at all the lovely arena I imagined. Can I ride on it? Sure. Is it anything like what I'd hoped and planned for? No.

I'm not going to gripe and complain (well, I will, but not too much). I'll just make the best of it, filling in those areas that need it and being glad I at least have the space in which to ride. It's more than I'd expected, really. And the area that was once too rocky and dangerous to ride on is now at least serviceable.

Lessons learned? First, when you find a contractor, find out what experience he really has in doing the job you expect. Get references. Call them. Create and sign a contract that details exactly what is expected. If this is too much for the contractor, find another. If your arena builder looks at your horses and behaves as if they're the first he's ever seen, that is a big clue.

Second, don't cut corners. Do not attempt to do it cheaply vs. doing it correctly. You won't get what you want and will end up spending more money to correct mistakes.

The floor

We finally finished it. Sorry, this photo is a phone snap, but it should give you an idea. :)

Chicken Hawk

I knew when I ordered my chickens from McMurray Hatchery that I might have to deal with predators. That just goes with the territory. After all, we've got woods, and in those woods are rabbits, possums, rats, mice, snakes, coyotes, and hawks. Oh, and deer. Can't forget the deer.

I love the wildlife and have done my best to attract birds of all kinds, goldfinches in particular. I hit the jackpot by not only attracting a couple of goldfinches, but a pair of lovely bluebirds. I haven't even mentioned the sparrows, cardinals, and bluejays that come around now and then. I even loved the black and white hawk that hung out at the front of our yard last here. It was small and kinda cute.

I didn't invite the chicken hawk. I didn't even know it was there until I noted two bantams missing. I figured the cold got them. They like to wander the woods sometimes and one loved to sleep in the trees, so this wasn't an unreasonable assumption. Then Ray, my daughter, called me to take a look at one of our other birds, a white silky bantam. There was blood all around the head and neck, and shallow lacerations. I figured it was due to a fight gone bad, since he's occasionally feuding with a buttercup that also lives here. I cleaned him up and forgot about it.

Today, I left my daughter out back to begin a cleanup while I checked the mail. Halfway back down our long drive I heard her yell for me. I ran the rest of the way and reached the clearing where our house sits just in time to see a hug brownish hawk take flight. It left in a flurry of crows, but hung in the air long enough for me to get a good look at its size. For a split second I was really worried about why I was called, then saw Rachel running toward me, full of news.The hawk had attacked one of our nankin hens, Smidget. Rachel thought the flurry was over a rooster jumping a hen, but wondered why the chickens and goats were running tfor shelter. Then she realized it was no chicken that had Smidge.

Fortunately for Smidge, the hawk caught her too close to the fence and had a wing pinned, so she was able to get away. I headed in the the direction Ray told me she'd run and found her in the shelter. She was disinclined to be caught. Given the situation, I don't blame her. But I did catch her and brought her inside for a betadine treatment, after pushing a dogoutside to make sure the hawk didn't make another attempt. The wound was shallow and right on the side of her head, next to her eye, but she should be fine.I think a livestock guardian dog is in our near future. Besides the hawks, I've seen the odd coyote. I don't want to risk our meat birds, which will be coming soon, or our dairy goats.

An update

Dan-Ric gave us $2,500 to "refrac" the well, on the condition they'd be exonerated from further expenses. Seemed cheesy to me, but in this economy (especially the housing market) I can't really blame them, and all in all they're been pretty good.

Afterwards, the technician said the refrac hadn't worked...but we seem to have enough water now. Maybe it did.

Rachel

I figure Rachel needs her own post. She has quite a bit going on as well, so I may as well make allowances for it, even on the Internet ;-).

Rachel is now a busy little girl. She has riding lessons, ballet, class, art class, and Drama Kids. In a couple of weeks, she'll be attending Camp Shakespeare as well.

I know, its a lot. But I'm trying to figure out where her interests lie. I know she loves the animals and wants to be an animal caretaker of some kind when she grows up, but she's young yet and has much to experience before making any firm decisions. So rather than narrowing the field just now, I'm tossing her into the world so she can figure what she thinks about it all.

Believe it or not, we're narrowing things down already. Drama and art are on the same day and in different towns. Its a lot of driving and we can't always make it in time, which forces her to make a choice. She's chosen drama. I am not surprised.

What does surprise me is her love of ballet class. She has to work in there, something she generally doesn't like. She says she wishes she could take ballet several days a week. I have no problem with that, but not together with drama and horses. Too much money. At some point, she'll have another choice to make.

The Well, A Continuing Saga

Well, our water issue has raised its ugly head again. We started running out daily again, and that's with conservation efforts. I called out a different contractor, and can you guess? Our well is nearly dry. Dixie Wells knew it, because they put a pump protector on the well so it wouldn't burn out when the water ran low. They never told us this was done.

We let Dan-Ric, the builder, know about what was happening. Dixie Wells came out again and said yes, the well needs to be hydrocractured. This is a process of forcing water through the lines to free up obstructions and allow water to run into the well. It has a decent chance of success and costs 2500.

We were a little annoyed, to understate the issue. If they had told us when they first discovered the problem, we could have payed for this months ago, rather than leave a pump protector on and leave the well on borrowed time. As it is, we're a little stuck.

Dan-Ric has agreed to pay for the procedure, but no more than that. Its a saving grace, unless it doesn't work. If it doesn't, we'll need to have a new well dug, and they will not pay for that. No one is willing to guarantee a well will not need such treatment because you can't predict rock shifts and debris. Funny, but it seems to me this is a predictable event in a well that was not used for two years. Too bad I didn't know that at the time of purchase, but live and learn.

Hopefully, this will be done next week. I can't help but think someone is pulling a fast one. Perhaps the property is on a site that can't provide water. Perhaps they know the wellmust be replaced. I do know that legally, they cannot dig a well and call it such without a certain output. If the hydr0frac fails, I will find out who I can call to look into the issue. It seems that if the well runs dry, they had to have known it would have limited service. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope so.