Farm Update 8/23/2019

Farm update 8/23/2019

A lot has happened in the past few weeks.  Money (our 32 year old horse) has been pining after his pasture mate passed on.  We purchased the Scottish Highland cows thinking they would serve as pasture mates, but that experiment did not pan out as we could not put them in the same pasture, so they are over the fence companions. Money did not appreciate the situation. So we thought, let’s get a polled cow so we could put them together.  We were talking to a friend who runs a trail riding/feed store business on the island (www.horseshu.com) and as we asked  if she knew of anyone with those types of cows on the island, she said she had a Welsh pony that has been retired and she would loan her out to us.  Bingo, instant success!  Money looks better than he has in a year, is moving about the field more and has fallen absolutely in love with little Moxie.  Hopefully it is a match made in heaven.

The Japanese Garden is taking shape too.  The bamboo garden was tilled this week and it appears all the transplants will survive and hopefully thrive.  The paths have begun to take shape as well as Donna’s Pond.  

New signs were ordered and have arrived.  A few have been installed and the remaining ones have been mentally placed.

Also the soil samples were sent in and the test results returned.  We are researching how to balance to soil naturally and will build the amendments in to the holes as we dig them for tea placement. 

The parking area is completed and the Torii Gates are in process.  Hopefully at least one will be installed before the Farm Tour (https://islandgrownsj.com) .  Anyone want o volunteer to help with tastings, parking etc.?

Because of the watering schedule, mowing is now a weekly occurrence and that means a minimum of 3 to 4 hours lost for other tasks, each week.

Progress has been made on the garden paths with bamboo edging and the paths finished with first a ground cloth and then packed sand.  

And lastly, our newest addition to the garden is a feature stone bird bath we purchased last weekend in Port Townsend.  

Hopefully the deer fencing will move up the list really soon.  I have a good friend coming in a few weeks and that is the chore that we will tackle while he is here, along with crabbing and boating of course.

That’s it for now. Check back often as the weather may allow for more updates more frequently.

Ciao