Small Calm Farm

9 wild turkeys sighted today. I must learn how to attract, feed, and provide habitat for these big birds. They seem to like the edge of the woods next to the pasture. They are omnivorous, especially keen to eat acorns, pecans, cereal grains, cracked corn, blueberries and other small fruit.

I don’t want to hunt them. I just want them around.

So I finally mowed the main part of the pasture. About 4 acres of approximately 5 acres. It took 3 days. So far. Hacked some thistles and tall woody weeds with machete and hand held trimmer first. Went through 2 rolls of vinyl trimmer string and 5 pair of thick vinyl cutter blades. Took down other sections with walk behind “string” (thick vinyl) trimmer. Went through half a roll of that “string.” Took on the rest with John Deere X330, at the highest setting. It’s not designed to mow 24+” high grass and weeds, so I had to stop a lot when it clogged up. But it looks better. And, come spring, I should be able to mow it with the riding mower. Ct

Pleased to report that these inherited cats are incompetent bird hunters, so far. They stalk, yes, but have not yet caught any of the many birds. Birds are very wary and smarter than their teeny brains would indicate. As long as the cats continue to fail as predators, they can stay. They’re going to have to accept living within sight of chickens come Spring (within a tightly-woven hardware wire fence). I also want a nasty protective rooster. I remember the banty roosters my grandma Lynn had when I was young. Nobody messed with them. They ranged freely and her cats steered clear.

Nice fall evening light and colors. Next year, I’d like to have some animals grazing this pasture.

Dylan and I sorted these barn timbers today, raising them off the ground, and covering them with tarp.

Over 100 years old. The supports for the old barn. Large wooden pegs in some of them. Various hefty sizes: 6″ x 8″, 8″ x 8″, 10″ x 10″, a couple almost 12″ x 12″ and 30′ feet long. Will use them (I hope) to build the frame of a very solid livestock shed and more (maybe a little cabin or shrine) in the woods next year. Too good not to use.

Facebook, Google, Twitter, NBC, ABC, CBS, etc. Enough.

The overt bias has been bad enough and quite obvious for some years. But the overt censorship of alternate facts and opinions is too much and I won’t willingly participate in it any more. There are other ways to communicate. I’ll keep the stupid Facebook account and post links to this web site blog because there a few people who may care about what’s happening in my corner of the world, but I’m done with these biased fascistic behemoths.

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I plan to do a lot of composting.

6 days of solid rain finally ended on Sunday. Three days of welcome sun, some wind, and 70-80 degree warmth have dried the dirt over the 80 x 180 feet area (14,400 square feet, 1/3 acre) enough that I can get back to picking out rocks and prepping it for fall planting of grass and a small patch of garlic. This rock I’d the biggest I’ve uncovered so far. Other rocks range from about 1-4 inches in diameter, many large enough to sheer bolts on the rototiller. I sheer a bolt every 25-30 ft, but I keep trying to till at 4-5″ deep because it’s less laborious to replace bolts than dig 1/3 acre up one shovel or hand mattock at a time.

I don’t have it so bad. Cyrus Kirby, my 4th Great Grandfather and early settler of Menard County, lIlinois. In 1822, he came to Illinois from Kentucky with no horses or plow and tilled 2 acres of dirt near Clary’s Grove with a hand mattock like this. His story: https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/113782092/person/140129358687/media/6a908af1-90cf-4cfc-802d-27eef85247cf?_phsrc=esx186&usePUBJs=true

His gravestone in an old abandoned cemetery near Petersburg. https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/113782092/person/140129358687/media/6a908af1-90cf-4cfc-802d-27eef85247cf?_phsrc=esx186&usePUBJs=true

Here’s to you, Cyrus. Back to work.