Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Tucking In - Part 2

As we wrap up the growing season here at the hop yard, it's important to remember the soil. Winter is a good time to spread compost, leaves or manure onto your worked ground. This week we cleaned the pens and spread two loads of manure on our fields. We don't own a manure spreader so we improvised.


Since we only have a few animals, this method actually works fairly well.  We load the manure on the trailer and then we drive slowly through the field throwing pitchfork loads onto the ground. Thankfully, the manure in our pens was fairly aged, making the job easier and less stinky.


We've also been cutting firewood for winter prep. We use the tractor to skid the logs to a landing area.  Then we sort the logs into sawmill logs and firewood logs. The sawmill logs are loaded on the trailer and taken to the Amish sawmill. The firewood logs are cut and split and stacked into a shed for use during the winter.  We have a geothermal heating system but we like to supplement with wood. It's a good way to get some use out of the ash trees that have been dying due to the Ash Borer.  Ash is a good hardwood that burns great and splits without too much trouble.

I can't say that we are looking forward to winter, but having some of these tasks done makes it a little less scary!

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