Happy Cow Happy Pond Project: Break Time

Well not much has been happening with this as we have been pushing through the last legs of our pre-blueberry season prep. The idea that I might step away from that to work on a project that we have until the fall to complete is a bit off.

Not much has changed...

So here is where I am at...

PVC Pipes are run and everything save the tank and pump are in place. The game plan is to wait until we bring in the excavator in the fall and use it to dig the tank foot print down. Right now we are working to iron our our budget for the coming year and depending on cash and work availability, this might not be possible.

So in the next coming weeks, I will be looking to get out and start digging my hole. I am to have it done for the fall so we can get the tank and pump and put this project to bed.

I also still need to cap the pipes and fill it all with water to check for major leaks. One of these days...

More mouths to feed

This week heralds the arrival of an animal we have not had on the farm for the better part of a year.

Pigs!

We have ordered another batch of bacon on legs and will be setting them up in their new home this week. Look forward to some pictures of our cute little bacon factories. Don't get too attached though. We all know they are destined for your breakfast plate!

Their arrival further cements the importance of my rain-water project. The project is in a holding pattern until the fall when we can get the excavator in to dig a hole for the tank that all of our market and blueberry efforts will help fund.

Exciting!

EDIT: It turns out our pig order got shorted so we never did receive any. We are still working on obtaining about a half dozen pigs, but nothing has arrived yet.

Happy Cow Happy Pond: Half time

Sunday was not a day for work. The normal routine of church was preempted by the stomach bug. All but two of us stayed home for the day. I was still unaffected but I opted to stay with the kids as Laura had been a good sport and let me out for most of the day before to work on the barn, as well as put the kids to bed so I could assist at a conference Saturday night.

Where I left off on Saturday.

I would need to steal time if I was to wrap up what I wanted to get done this weekend. My goal was to get the diverter put together and installed, finish the pipe run and leave a dry-fit pipe pointing to the eventual tank location.

Happy Cow Happy Pond Project: Game Day

I woke up Saturday morning surrounded by sick kids and adults. Josh had just gotten the bug the day before and so did Laura. Most of the kids were sick or recovering. Josh said he would try to get out and help. Marc, unfortunately was out for the day.

So I went about my usual duties, cleaning up after the horses. Then I headed down to the shop to load up on every possible supply I could need. Ladders, hacksaw, hammer, drills, screws, brackets, chain, wire, and so on...

The ever-growing pile of supplies for my project.

Happy Cow Happy Pond Project: Cram Session

This weekend I started on what was to be the most daunting stage of my rain-water harvesting project...

Getting the water to the tank.

Now I do not have my tank yet. The decision was made to save that purchase until later in the season for cash flow reasons. I have the specs and a rough idea of what I am going to do with it.

This is my "rough" design (blue boxes are filters, diverters, and the tank).

I drew up the above diagram last week and sent it off to the folks at Watertiger to get confirmation that this was the intended layout when they came out initially. Now I just needed to get the pieces I would need.

Maaaaan Cooooooldddd

Sorry for the lack of updates this week. I have been beaten down by a vicious man cold.

Short update: We finished the bare minimum for the chicken coop on Sunday. Roofing needs to go on the plywood. We have our birds inside with roosting bars, food, and water. I will have pictures and a more detailed updated later this week.

Also an update on the Happy Cow Happy Pond project... I got my fascia up but now I will be doing the gutters myself. The company that was going to do them cited a minimum charge which would almost quadruple the price for the gutters. No thanks. I picked up my downspout filters and should have more updates after the long weekend for that one.

Happy Cow Happy Pond Project: Start your engines.

Finally got a chance to bring everything to the team last night. I reviewed what funding we had received. I explained my decision to drop the chicken barn from the rain-water project. I explained the fencing and rain-water numbers. Approval.

So now I need to figure out how to move forward with this approval. I have been given the go ahead to do gutters and PVC piping in the spring and install the tank and pump in the fall. I also have approval to purchase the fencing and proceed with the fencing I laid out previously.

The inner fence will be the spring project, followed by the outer fence in the fall.

Happy Cow Happy Pond Project: Quotes and Plans

I decided to further the rainwater project along by getting a quote from a gutter specialist. I called them out and we walked the property yesterday, visiting the two barns.

Low roofs and a high window make this a challenging install.

The experience was enlightening for me. I realized I might have issues running a solar pump at the chicken barn due to heavy tree cover at the two potential spots I had selected. I have begun to think more on cash flow and the value of each location having rainwater harvesting. I think I have decided to let go of the chicken barn and put my weight behind the cow barn being our target for this year.

Happy Cow Happy Pond Project : Prologue

I love spring on the farm. It is not just the long-forgotten sunshine that has reappeared, although that is nice. It isn't even the beauty of nature exploding from the ground, though it is magnificient. It is the end of the long slog of blueberry prep and the beginning of work projects that have been hibernating all winter, waiting for the chance to be realized.

Now that two of the items relating to our recommendations for reducing the environmental impact of our cows are being potentially realized, I think it is time to start looking at the big picture of what I am getting myself into...