Transforming our Farm

I'm already losing track of what we've done here so far in the month since we officially got our keys...let's see..

Inside:

-wallpaper out of the master bedroom

-painted the master bedroom, kitchen, and still need a coat in the living room

-put in a new toilet, sink, cabinet in the bathroom (and filled in a big gap in the laminate under the old vanity)

Before (with new toilet, though):

After:

-cleaned...cleaned, cleaned and cleaned some more

-repaired the dishwasher (rats had chewed through the hoses and it was leaking into the basement)

-cleared the basement and workshop of most of the junk

Outside:

-tilled the garden by pig  - they got it down from waist high vegetation in some parts to a nice workable area

-made a chicken coop out of one of the 3 sided stall shelters

This now has hardware cloth sealing all the gaps and 6 roosts in it - it's a bit small for 28 birds, but we'll eventually expand it and since they're only in there overnight it's ok.

Transporting the chickens in my car. That's Speckles in the front. I still think about and miss her at lot :( She was a special chicken.

-set up the aquaponics next to the pond/swamp

I need an updated photo, but this is where the aquaponics is now. The grass isn't as lush as we'd like altogether so we've added a sheep pasture seed mix to most of the pasture. It's raining today so that should help it germinate.

Dogs in the pond.

My dad watching Zoey in the pond. They visited a month ago and are coming back this weekend - I think they'll see a big difference!

-removed a giant bin full of junk

-cleaned, cleaned, cleaned

-set up 2 big garden beds, 5 smaller ones and a bunch of veggies in big pots

The first garden bed we put in - my aunt and uncle visited that weekend and helped us a ton!

-cleaned up the side of the house and planted raspberries, blueberries and strawberries (thanks to Erika and Jess, my work crew last weekend)

Before:

During...we were on the outside working, and that's a chicken inside on the window seat. Chickens haven't quite learned to stay outside, yet...

Erika and Jess hard at work while I take photos:

After:

-started cleaning up the front yard and planted grapes, transplanted lavendar and put in some potted hostas (again, thanks Erika!)

-cleaned, cleaned, cleaned

-emptied out the shed next to the house and put in our 1000 gallon cistern (still have to get it set up - waiting on a quote from an electrician)

-cut a hole in wall of said shed to fit the cistern in

I think there is more...but this is one of the rare moments when I've sat down long enough to even write here, and I can't think of everything that we've done so far. It has definitely been fun, though. It's the kind of work where you can see a lot of progress. Some projects are more time-consuming/frustrating than others, but for the most part we are happy with how we're getting things done and getting closer to the potential we see in our farm.

So tired!