Kristen Gingera

Hello!

I'm in Zone 5 Quebec, Canada. We overwintered about 25-30 hens, using the deep bedding method throughout the winter. Every few days, I would sprinkle out half a bag of pine shavings or half a bale of straw and it would cover up the droppings that the girls had left behind. The floor of the coop got quite high by the end of the winter and now the girls have moved on to the pastures.

I transplanted 12 blueberry bushes (about 3-4 years old) last fall and mulched with compost and ramial wood chips. This spring, they've almost all disappeared which I know is good- full of worms and good microbes. But the weeds and grass are growing back in among the bushes. I've interplanted the blueberry bushes with strawberries and hope that eventually they will grow and cover the ground under the bushes.

Question is: can I use my overwintered deep bedding as a mulch in the more open spaces between the bushes and berries? I will avoid putting it too close to either since there might be a chance of the poop being too hot.
I started spreading and will get a picture to show what I mean.

We live in Lac-Brome, Quebec, Canada. I believe our water table to be fairly high in the area because there is a pretty large creek/river at the back of the property, we are near a lake and this is a heavily farmed area so you know there's good water here.

We are right at the base of Mont Bromont so our land is slight rocky with a decent amount of clay.

The road drives right past that pond area. If I dig the pond and grade the ground from the driveway down towards the pond, do you think that would help with the state of the road?

Hi there!

First time poster, long time reader.

We bought our property in June 2015. It was an old horse farm and the owners were in their 80s so the maintenance done was very minimal, for many years.

We are having issues with water where we don't need it/want it. There is a drainage ditch that runs the length of the property on one side but after examining it, it seems to be filled in with silt/brush/debris. As soon as the ground hardens, we will try to get in there with the tractor and clean it up. Hopefully that will help with some of the issues.

The first photo attached is the road from our driveway/house/garage to the barn. It receives a lot of traffic and it's now a giant mudpit. My husband wants to bring in gravel but I'm wondering if there is a cheaper solution. Any suggestions?

The next two photos are a low spot in the yard where water naturally collects. Good spot for a pond? How could I go about digging it? I don't want to use pond liner. Any good resources I should look into for digging/designing the pond?

Thanks!
Kristen