The new home of 3HR, and our journey to freedom

Hi Brian,

You sound excited.  Best of luck.

Spring is here and the work continues, working on the garden and cross fence for pasture. Discing and reseeding one pasture, we have decided to remove a few trees. This will help to expand the garden area.

Brian
3HR

Sooooooooo, it's been awhile. I started a handyman venture, and subcontracted for internet install. Covid came and work went through the roof. Family member pasted away, well pump went out again, premi calf born, fire burned right down 75' from the house. Phone, power, internet, cell phones all down. So it has been one of those years. Now school is at home, no babysitter and a wild horse coming home soon. LIFE it never stops, still working away at all the goals. Garden turned out really well, huge pumpkins and a bumper tomato crop. Soon as we finish up a few things I will get some pics up.

We started rasing meat rabbits, and converted a old barn to use for it.
The fertility continues
Brian
3HR

As life goes so does growing, we have kept at it and converted the outer pastures to market garden space. Got rid of the cows and down to just sheep and rabbits. Garden turned out even better this year. We have added some new equipment and are now working on getting setup for major farmers market next year.

Thanks
3HR

This winter has been interesting, November 6 we received almost 3 feet of snow. Which is about what we get for the entire winter. Now the other day we measured 42" of snow pack, and if you go just 10-15 miles away they dont have half the snow. We have a tractor and picked up a clearance snow blower on a whim. Sure were glad we bought that snowblower, most years we dont need it. But now we dont have anywhere to put the snow, but we can blow it over the 9' bern. We are looking forward to how the snow melt will effect things. Give me a really good idea of water flow. Just have too see where things go from here.

Thanks
3HR

Well as with most things challenges always push you on. We had a double fatality accident which took out 3 fence lines, all the equipment for the garden, and the greenhouse. Along with my farmall cub tractor, we dont even have a working cart or wheel barrow. Estimate of 140 mph, and no help from insurance.

On the bright side we got a BCS with a rotary plow. Built a new green house for veggie starts, and expanded the market garden. We are using our land to make money so i can be home with the kids. Still working on the pond and our roadside hugelkulture. With insurance money we are replacing the fence with conventional fencing. We are going to be trying a wolven aspen fence, there are some groves close by i can get the saplings from. The increase in insect diversity as we have moved from a pasture to a mixed annual production has been gratifying to see.
Just before we left for Wheaton labs i spied a black and blue wasp. My wife had been commenting on a problem with black widows. The wasp is called a black widow killer, looked it up on the way.
Hoping as we expand more of the market garden it can be replaced with poly culture and trees, as we age.
Now the pics

Thanks
3HR

After planting up, the variety of plants we have found in the soil bank is great. Lots of lambs quarter, and dandelions. 3 different clovers, we also will be planting clover in the beds.

Found a western racer in the garden. Quail love the wood pile think i will make a couple of brush piles for them.
Thanks
3HR

Walking the garden today and found 3 western racer snakes and a bunch of lady bugs breeding. Looking to see how i can create habitat in the market garden. I think i will use the central raised bed as a polly culture area with some perennials, and maybe some dedicated home sites for beneficial insects and animals. Carrots from last year is where all the lady bugs are right now.

Thanks
3HR

Making a path through part of the beds i used some of the soil for potting mix. Surprised to find most of it is worm castings. We have a large population of Robbins every year and about 20+ nests. They always have big fat worms, or grasshoppers ever time i see them. We have worms every where but to dig up some plain garden soil, with nothing added and fine this was all the reason i have to keep working the way i do.
Thanks
3HR

Berta rotary plow, i had heard many things about this tool. Most reference how it moves soil, my biggest take away from using it. 1 dosent kill worms like a tiller, 2 the soil crumb size is really variable. With using it for primary tillage i didnt see the over pulverized soil or dust like a tiller. Small crumb to clods fist size and everything between. Loved how that worked, looking forward to using it for some contour work if i can find any. We just looked at an 80 acre parcel, which would work great for summer range and permaculture projects.

Thanks
3HR

Taken pics of a bunch of predator insects. Today we had hummingbirds coming into the garden for onion flowers. Using a raised bed as a buffer pollinator area has worked so well. We also have alot of variety in the living paths.

Changed to raised beds for the potatoes and they have just exploded and we started getting potatoes july 6th. As one of my friends commented "your garden gets better every year". It takes some time, but our fertility keeps growing. Mulch, chop and drop, Poly-culture path ways, we mow the paths and then spread the clippings as mulch. We only bring in arborist chipps,and wood shavings, which give us more texture.
We use sheep and rabbit manure, sheep manure is mixed with the arbor chips as compost then aged for a year.
Thanks
3H.R.

Picture update for the garden

Zucchini and tomatoes are doing great, should have beans and cucumbers soon.

Kids working hay, local weedy Poly-culture hay.

We got a new side by side, now this is recycling. Only the 3rd generation to use it, fresh out of storage.

Hey Brian, that is a sweet jeep. How are things going over there?