I'm at the farm today. I *finally* had a chance to do a herd check with Dad. The cattle got hit hard by the move this spring and fescue this summer. Dad had never encountered fescue in his pastures before and it looks like quite a few pregnancies were lost, as well as significant milk production and conditioning. He's getting into A.I. breeding, embryo transfers, and genetic testing. Turns out several of the "fancy" cattle he's purchased in the past year or so don't know who their father (and even their mother in one case) is. Most of their EPD's dropped once the testing results came in. Needless to say, he's none too happy. The herd quality is very much a mixed bag at this point.
The farm and house are leaps and bounds above the old farm back in NY. Smaller house and acreage, but much more easily managed and better maintained. The age and siting of the buildings also do not compare. Cattle farming is done differently out here and I expect it will take a few years before things are fully set up how Dad would like. Compared to the NY farm, though, they're already better set up here. Mom is spending a lot more time with Dad and she's been unpacking and organizing while she job-hunts. They're both so much more relaxed and happier here, it's indescribable.
Mom is currently typing up our joint 2016 seed order. There is an Amish greenhouse nearby that sells seeds and supplies for gardeners. Mom and Dad are both talking about putting in a garden and I'm pretty certain that my seed vault has near 0% viability. So... it's time for (another) new start. Not much plant starting for me this year. We have the basement under construction and starting plants is just not on the can-do list this year. I have a few raised beds that need to be shifted and a handful more that are in progress. It will definitely be worth paying for tomato and brassica starts this year. I'm on the fence for peppers and squash due to price, quality, and availability factors. This is a direct seed and transplant year and I'm going to have to mull over how much effort and space I have available for seed starting.
I have three raised beds that will have to be shifted, as well as several more that are in process. I bring bags of soil, compost, stone, and mulch home as they get discounted for being torn open at TheBigBlueBox. The swale that runs across our property got lined this past summer/fall with landscape fabric and the existing rocks re-laid across the bottom. The turn is all rocked in but the "stream" portion leading away from the turn still needs rock re-laid and added. The majority of the area between the swale and the fence has either landscape fabric with rocks (or will have rocks) or cardboard with mulch laid down. There is a section at the turn that I haven't gotten around to mulching yet. Our lilac tree from the NY house is planted there, the compost bin was there, and I did significant work building up that area of the turn so that water won't flow past the turn and flood our backyard. The 15 ft before the turn that leads along our property line and across the oil line has a 4 inch drainage pipe installed that exits amongst the rocks after the turn in the swale. Hopefully that will help channel excess water away and we won't be spending the spring cleaning muddy puppeh paws whenever the hound goes outside. The main garden area needs mulch in the walkways and more material added to the beds. I'm planning on a fall fruit tree delivery and will be working on prepping the tree sites this spring and summer. (Hopefully the bearded one or the redhead will be willing to deal with HOA stuff for the trees! I'm dreaming, I know.)
We hosted a holiday dinner last weekend with Baby Brother's family and Mom/Dad coming for dinner. Hubs and Redhead cooked, cooked, cooked and we had a fairly event-free first holiday hosting at the new house. Dad, of course, tried to teach DixieDog bad habits and Baby Brother's family seemed to make their trip up stretch out forever.
PT and various doctor's appointments still take up a significant amount of my time each week. The daily pain and mobility is slowly improving even if the PT sessions don't get any easier. I need to figure out a different work situation so I can actually make it to practices with regularity. (Not to mention the whole income situation being under-performing since I left NY. Yeah. It's awesome. Not.) Anyways... my Christmas gift was a trip to RollerCon 2016, so I'd better get prepared!
