April 12-19 th

Quackgrass (Elytrigia repens) was introduced as a forage crop. Unfortunately it is invasive and very hard to get rid of since it propagates by underground stems called rhizomes (pictured above), rhizomes can be several feet long! The rhizomes are capable of sprouting a new plant at each node. If the rhizome is cut into pieces (such as by disking) then each piece develops more plants.

One way to manage quackgrass is to harrow at the three leaf stage. If the soil moisture is right the harrow will pull out the rhizomes and they will dry out and die.

A view from the tractor seat, I'm disking up a field I just plowed.

Disking breaks up soil clods to help prepare the seedbed for planting.

Lynn and my dad getting suited up to transfer honeybees to their hives.

The bees are given a dose of smoke to calm them down.

Maple Hill Musings is One Year Old!

This was meant to be last weeks post. For some reason it didn't get published.
On Saturday the sheep got their annual haircut. And Maple Hill Musings turns 1 year old in May!

Bagging the fleece.

We needed to transfer feed from one of the big bins to the smaller one.

It worked best to put it in the gravity box, then auger it into the small bin.

The Second Week of April

We're experimenting with growing wine cap mushrooms this year. Ideally they should be grown on wood chips, straw will also work if you don't have a source of wood chips. The straw has to be soaked for a few days then the mushroom spawn is mixed with the straw.

To keep the moisture in we used feed sacks to cover the straw.


Grain drill #2 we were looking for a parts drill, for $75 a friend sold us this one. Instead of parting it out we're going to fix it up and keep it. Its seven feet wide, and has a mechanical lift so it will work with our Allis Chalmers B. This drill will be great for seeding smaller areas.

A couple of gears were missing teeth. This is caused by engaging the drive shafts without checking first to see if the wheels will turn. If the drill is rusty or has been sitting outside for awhile the drive shaft can seize.

The culprits. The smaller gear took about 10 minutes to remove, the bigger one took a few hours. I had to dismantle part of the drill to get at the gear.

The site of this years vegetable gardens. Spring came early and its been dry, rain would be nice but this way we can get a jump on tillage.

April

The lettuce and other greens are starting to grow in the greenhouse.

Some of our transplants. The tomatoes and peppers have to be brought inside at night since its still a little chilly.

Outdoor fiber art, my mom is working on some weaving.

The Last Week Of March

The wattle hogs are big enough to be outside. So we did some pig herding yesterday.

Traffic jam!

Its mushroom season. We're trying to grow oyster mushrooms this year. Poplar (popple) trees are a good growth substrate.



To inoculate the log sawdust with mushroom culture is spread on the log.

Then another section is put on top.

Followed by a cap.

Then the bags are enclosed in plastic bags. They need a slight opening to allow for air flow and the bags should be kept at 50-80 degrees F for about four months.

We tap a few maple trees for sap each year.

Maple syrup involves a lot of evaporating. Usually takes about 40 gallons of syrup to make 1 gallon of syrup. This year hasn't been a great year for syrup.

The First Week of March

March is our best month for solar power. The solar panels are fixed at a permanent angle, the angle of some panels can be changed to track the sun. Since ours are roof mounted and steel roofs are slippy especially in winter we decided to go with the fixed option.

Four of our larger pigs sunbathing. They like to lay in the sun so I put some hay down for them.

Feed

We buy most of our pig feed in bulk. There is a discount based on the number of tons you buy.

We used to buy all of our feed in bags, it was time consuming to keep opening feed bags and we had piles of empty feed bags.

Prior to feed delivery I make sure the bins are clean. Sometimes feed gets stuck to the sides of the bin, plus there are salts and minerals that cause rust.

Two of our bins have an auger at the bottom. There is a an access panel that lets me vacuum or chip out feed that is caked to the sides of the bin.