Wed, Aug 7

It's been a while.  I've fallen into a habit of posting on Sunday night, but we stayed out at the farm for a few days to do chores while Charley, Jackie & J were gone to see family in North Carolina and Atlanta.  We enjoy waking up on the farm with the roosters crowing and the sound of the birds.  I'm surprised how much bird sound there is even though we only have a few small trees.

We have the small garden which you see in the first picture below.  Fenced.  This is where I have the 3 raised beds.  Beyond that is the big garden.  I think the rows are 30 feet long and there are 16 rows?  Anyway, it is pretty big.  Most of that is laid out with black plastic over the rows and drip irrigation under the plastic.  This year the University of Kentucky Agricultural Development paid for the plastic and the drip line, so they had a "field day" where these people came out to see what was going on.  The weeds are bad, although Bob and Charley had weed whipped most of them down.  This group of people was split between those who rely on chemicals to keep the bugs at bay and those like Charley, who choose to not use chemicals.  One man said that every Sunday afternoon his activity is to spray his garden.

There were a couple people that Charley hopes to develop a relationship with so he can learn from them.  All of them were really nice and willing to share their knowledge.

We were really excited that we were going to be able to start digging on our house this week, but it is not happening.  Monday, the excavator and the builder came out to look things over with the intent to bring the equipment back on Tuesday to dig.  Well, he had forgotten that an underground electrical line needs moved before they can dig.  The electrician came out on Tuesday but is busy on Wednesday and is having surgery on Thursday, so can't come until Monday.  Sigh...  Another week.

Usually the kids do the picking on Friday evening after we are gone, but this week we stayed to help.  It is beautiful to see the produce.  The beets in the right picture below are ones that I planted from seed in the greenhouse after I got here.  Then I transplanted them into one of the raised beds.  The variety is Bulls Blood.  I picked some of the greens to have one day, but none of us eat beets so we didn't try them.  They all went in the baskets for the CSA customers.  They had corn and potatoes.  To dig the potatoes, Charley is having to fight the weeds.

We had a momentous happening this week.  In the first picture below which was taken in 2010, you can see the big barn in the distance.  Since then, it had really been leaning (to the right).  We didn't feel it was worth trying to save it, so we just let it be.  On Saturday, Aug 3, Bob drove past on the tractor and thought it was leaning more than ever.  He thought about taking the gates off the end so they didn't get damaged, but didn't want to take a chance on cattle being in there when it fell down.

Well, Sunday morning, Aug 4 - this is the view.  The barn is flat on the ground like a line of collapsed dominoes

This is Bob walking on the roof.  We definitely want to salvage the roofing sheets.  The far right corner sheets were replaced by the previous owner so are fairly new.  Most of the wood is oak, but is so old that it is very difficult to use.  You have to drill holes because the wood is so hard.

 

Well, I guess that is all for now.  Another week and a half in the Bluegrass.