I'm Baaaaack.........

I just came back on here looking for the info on the dang battery I need for my "moveable shooting practice project" and thought I'd take a moment to stop in and say "HI". No, I didn't shoot the "Dirty Word", "Dirty Word" TOAD that sold me the big ole' hunk of sometimes useable tractor, but I SURE think about it still!

I have been BUSY with the kids and starting them back in school, -say it with me now, YEAH!!!, the PTA (don't even get me started on that one) moving chicken coops, building broiler pens, (Smashing thumb with a 16oz hammer, only did that ONCE, well ok twice, but it was on different days and I was already tired and sore so I couldn't hold the fence staple right )lambing the sheep, turning our beds for re-planting this month, hatching out baby chicks with a cantankerous incubator, continuing to take care of the rest of the critters, selling eggs, ordering seed, taking smallest child to Pedi. for emergency stitches on a tiny knee, yadda yadda yadda.....

My "moveable, shooting practice project" a.k.a. as my 68' Ford 3400 is still running, believe it or not, though we believe for not much longer as she is now drinking the oil steadily and must be checked to re-add oil every 3 acres. Thankfully we only have 5 as you know. It's cheaper that way on SO many levels!

I can't wait to finish moving the "fertilizer" out of the old coop and get it all spread into the beds so I can get planting again. No, it's not anything compared to what most of you guys do on here, with your big fancy equipment and hay tedders and acres of mono-cropping, but I and my family enjoy the "micro-farming" that we do immensely and wouldn't trade it for the world. We plant in raised beds (still, no attachments for the Ford yet to plow with) and rake our hay by hand for use in the coops for nest boxes and to feed to the sheep and such. It's good exercise for the adults and wears the kids out for a bit so I can keep up with them!

I am getting ready to plant: lettuce, carrots, cauliflower, misc.culinary herbs, onions, radishes, spinach and hopefully get some strawberries in there as well. In our hopefully soon to be raised greenhouse I want to get my tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, snap beans and hot peppers planted for a head start on the spring crops.

Well, it's late here - around 11:30pm and I need to head off to bed. What has everyone else been up to??

Take care everybody!
Katharine

I'm still hanging in here, just been busy is all... I'll try to "check in" more often and see how everybody's doing, or just come stick my nose in once in a while.

Thanks!

Tom

Did you ever check out www.homesteadingtoday.com ?

Think you might find a lot of like-minded folks there.

Tho, if you are like me, like-minded folks are kinda boring..... ;)

A quart every 3 acres, and you don't have any tillage implement to pull so you aren't working it very hard - that is how I am reading your message?

She's burning that much oil, but still running? Would think the plugs would foul out before you need more oil.... Or is it leaking the oil out? I forget.

--->Paul

I'm part of a Yahoo group called OHG (Organic Homesteading Gardening) and it has somewhere over 6,000 members with all kinds of useful links to information files and such. I'll take a look at this new one though, thanks!

It's actually using half a gallon every three acres but I guess that's still cheap compared to paying a $125+ an acre to have someone else mow it for us. We do buy the cheap stuff at the local wally-fart which is an all purpose Diesel oil since she seems to be dang near drinking it. It's leaking some out, down the side by the filter. Not like it used too, but the main part is coming out the vent tube underneath, which if left idling too long in one spot she leaves a nice oily patch on the grass for my broilers, so I have to be careful and keep her away from their whole area.

We don't call it "Blow by" anymore, we call it "Squirt By" for all intents and purposes!