Stoneyfield Snapshots: After the Storm

Since I often would like to put on more posts but don't have the time to actually write a post, I thought I would start a new topic category just called "Stoneyfield Snapshots". Although I'm not a professional photographer by any means, and we don't have an expensive camera, I hope some of these pictures will show you a little more of what life is like here at Stoneyfield and display some of the wonders of God's creation. Enjoy.




Follow The Beginning Farmer's Wife on Facebook for additional personal peeks at building a family farm.

Bird Feeder?

Not exactly what I had in mind when I hung up my bird feeder . . .

Time for T-Bones

This morning I posted about rounding up our bull, cows, and calves and finally getting an electric fence up so the bull can be in the grass that he has so desperately wanted to be in.

Well, this afternoon I couldn't believe what I saw.

There was our bull

Not in the fenced in grass

But in the dirt cow pen

ALONE

I was a little worried about bloat so I went over to him. He hopped right up. He just wanted to chill out in the cow pen.

I couldn't believe it.

He's Out Again

Yesterday I had the pleasure of putting 3 cows and the bull back in the fence (the new wires weren't enough) while Ethan was gone. He told me I could just let them graze the pasture - and I was going to let them - but they put themselves in an easy enough place for me to get them in.

This morning was a different story. After putting the calves back in (you can click here to read my husband's account) I noticed there were some animals missing from the cow pen. It turned out that the bull had busted out again with the same 3 cows as yesterday. Ethan and I chased them around for quite awhile with nothing close to getting them in. It was decided that it would be best to build a fence around them, which we needed to build anyway.

After about 3 hours of dealing with cattle today, the bull is now fenced in the grass along with his cows. Hopefully that will keep him happy until we get our perimeter fence up.

(And for those wondering about the kids, I check on them frequently, Isaac takes great naps, and Caleb knows how to use my cell phone to call Ethan if there is something that needs attention.)

Gifted an Orchard

Ethan is big on doing things according to where your passions are and what you like. This is why we are doing cows/pigs/chickens even though it would have been A LOT easier to do a market garden. If you know Ethan at all, you will know that his tastes for meat and his tastes for veggies are in stark contrast.

I am kind of the opposite. Although I do eat meat, I really don't like eating big chunks of meat. A little is plenty for me. I do really like veggies - which is why I love my garden.

What I really pile on though is the fruit. I LOVE fruit. I could make myself sick off of eating too much fruit. Not only that, but I love to prune - trees, vines, bushes - and with fruit comes plenty of pruning. When I started talking about the fruit that I want to grow I was a little worried that Ethan would want to save the area for pasture, but I was surprised to have him be excited about it too. (If you know Ethan you might also know the only fruit he will eat is store grapes and bananas.)

All this is to say that I have been anxious to get fruit crops going and especially the ones that take awhile to get established. With all of our start up expenses though, I assumed that it was going to have to be something that would require my patience.

Well, this spring I learned that I might not have to be so patient. A very generous friend let us know that in a few weeks we will have 27 fruit trees and 3 flowering trees (for pollination) appearing at our house! Here is what will be coming:

• 3 pear trees
• 3 plum trees (2 varieties)
• 5 cherry trees (4 varieties)
• 7 peach trees (4 varieties)
• 9 apple trees (6 varieties)

This is such a blessing, and I am so excited to give these a try! Right now I am doing some research on the best way to plant our variety of trees. I would love any input that you have. Until then, I will dream of fresh fruit and preserves . . .

Our New Storm Shelter

You know when you are cleaning the house and you have something that really doesn't fit anywhere so it is continuously shuffled around but always in the way?

Well, our storm shelter project has kind of been like that through this whole building process. It is something that is extremely important to have in Iowa. We had lots of options of things to do, various places we thought about putting it (both underground and above ground - inside and outside), and just as big of a range of price options. So we talked about it with contractors and family, kicked ideas around, made decisions and changed our minds, and avoided the final decision as long as possible.

Well, spring is here and with that was coming nightmares of tornadoes and nowhere to take the kids. So it was time to make a decision.

First we decided to not have it in the mudroom - first of all because we didn't want to give up the space and secondly because we wanted it underground.

Next came the decision of what to put underground. There were 3 choices.

Option A - Build one ourselves with my dad's volunteered help. This was very generous of my dad, but with Ethan's schedule we ruled it out since we didn't want to make him build it by himself.

Option B - A 6X8 rectangular precast concrete shelter with a metal door and seats. This one didn't call for a drain or sand underneath, and it was ready to go once installed.

Option C - A 6 foot wide, 6 1/2 foot long cylinder out of precast concrete with no doors and no seats. This one needed to have a PVC drain run and sand underneath. We would have to build 2 doors and get wood for seats. We can also get wood for shelves and it can double as a root cellar. This one installed was two-thirds the price of Option B, even with the sand and drain.

We went with Option C - the cylinder. I affectionately call it our glorified septic tank. It WAS made by a septic tank casting business.

Next was where to put it. To make a long story short, 5 minutes before it was dug in we picked our spot. We chose to put it at the end of the porch instead of behind the house by the mudroom door because of where we want our shed and winter cattle area.

So our storm shelter is in. We were happy to see that it didn't get water - even after getting 3 inches of rain with storms that passed through this weekend. We now have some doors to make and landscaping to do, but I'm glad this decision is done!

 

Follow The Beginning Farmer's Wife on Facebook for additional personal peeks at building a family farm.

I've Had Enough, Mr. Bull!

It is spring.

The grass is turning green.

The bull in the cow pen knows the grass is turning green.

The wires on the cow pen are rusty.

The bull has figured out multiple times that the wires on the cow pen are rusty. (Which by the way was put up for cows and not a bull.)

This is not a good combination with the fact that Ethan is also gone a lot with coaching soccer in the spring.

Now I have nothing against activities that get your heart rate up. But rounding up cattle that have broken out of the pen once a week is not my first choice of exercise.

Today Ethan was gone all day with work and an away soccer game. All I'm going to say is that I spent the LAST half of the afternoon/evening rewiring the fence. Instead of 2 rusty wires, each end of the panel is now tied up with 2 rusty wires and 3 new wires.

Hopefully now I can choose my own form of exercise, and hopefully Ethan got my text message and will bring me home mint chocolate chip ice cream after the game.