An update on the tractor tire: it's been fixed. I'm more than a little embarrassed to say that my first reaction upon seeing it flatter than a pancake was to call in the experts. I called Ron the tire guy and he said he'd come out and look at it, and depending on what was wrong with it, it could cost over $300 to repair it or over $1,000 to replace it.
When I told my father-in-law Clyde about the tire, he asked me, "did you try to pump it up?" Uh, no. Why do that? It makes too much sense. I just hope the winter froze my brain and it hasn't thawed yet, and it's not an indication of some larger personal ineptitude. As a so-called farmer, that should have been my first thought - pump it up. So Clyde came out the other day (on his new leg - see this post for an explanation), pumped it up, discovered the valve was shot, replaced the valve, pumped it up, and there the tire sits, plump and happy. As for me, I think my brain has a flat. Now who can I call to fix it?
Ouch
This is a reenactment of what I came upon at the farm the other day:
Something sure does seem off.
Yep, something is definitely off.
The Case is crooked.
Why is it crooked?
Uh oh...
I knew it.
Ouch. This is not going to be cheap.
Something sure does seem off.
Yep, something is definitely off.
The Case is crooked.
Why is it crooked?
Uh oh...
I knew it.
Ouch. This is not going to be cheap.
Farming on the Front Porch
First I have to give credit to the title of this post to my good friend Jason (see the fan-man in the photos).
Yes, we're making do, and we're also making decisions and remaking them daily, and sometimes it seems hourly. I guess that's a nice way of saying I feel rather wishy-washy at times. We decided to hold off on the greenhouse we bought. We've gathered (i.e. bought) most of what we need to put it up, such as the plastic, inflation fan, and wire and channel to hold the plastic in place. But what we haven't sorted out yet is the propane and power. While both of those shouldn't be too hard to set up (though they do cost money - which we're trying to dole out sparingly), we were feeling a bit too much pressure to get this thing up and running in time to start planting. So we backed off. Nothing lost - we have the necessary supplies to put up the greenhouse at some point, but at our leisure (ha!). The ground is still frozen, so perhaps sometime this summer we'll find the time and crew to put it up in anticipation of spring 2011. For now, we have our nice little "greenhouse" in our rental house in town, which makes daily watering and care much easier than if all our starts were out at the farm.
More pictures from that day:
Yes, we're making do, and we're also making decisions and remaking them daily, and sometimes it seems hourly. I guess that's a nice way of saying I feel rather wishy-washy at times. We decided to hold off on the greenhouse we bought. We've gathered (i.e. bought) most of what we need to put it up, such as the plastic, inflation fan, and wire and channel to hold the plastic in place. But what we haven't sorted out yet is the propane and power. While both of those shouldn't be too hard to set up (though they do cost money - which we're trying to dole out sparingly), we were feeling a bit too much pressure to get this thing up and running in time to start planting. So we backed off. Nothing lost - we have the necessary supplies to put up the greenhouse at some point, but at our leisure (ha!). The ground is still frozen, so perhaps sometime this summer we'll find the time and crew to put it up in anticipation of spring 2011. For now, we have our nice little "greenhouse" in our rental house in town, which makes daily watering and care much easier than if all our starts were out at the farm.
More pictures from that day:
Making Do, Part II (Or: How to Be a MacGyver Farmer, Part I)
Last year, about this time, Jacob posted about "making do" with what we have, in the way of tools, equipment, buildings etc. And, since then, we've been doing a lot of "making do."
We both believe that when you can, make do with what you have -- a philosophy that's familiar to many a small business owner and almost second nature to any small farmer.
Luckily, both Jacob and I are pretty good at it.
I've spent the last five years building a small independent media company and I used to joke that I was good at the whole "start up" thing because I grew up fixing most problems with duct tape and bailing twine on the farm. (In the beginnings of NewWest.Net, my office was in the bathroom of the extra bedroom in my business partner's house.)
This time of year, those make-do skills come in handy. During the summer, we're farmers. During the spring, we're MacGyver farmers.
And, this year will mean even more "making do" than last year because Jacob is now working a full-time job in town and that creates a whole new situation for us. We're going to have to get really good at efficiency. We're already thinking constantly about work-arounds, not only to our sometimes less-than-ideal set up and equipment, but to labor as well.
We're starting early. Here's the first example of us "making do."
We both believe that when you can, make do with what you have -- a philosophy that's familiar to many a small business owner and almost second nature to any small farmer.Luckily, both Jacob and I are pretty good at it.
I've spent the last five years building a small independent media company and I used to joke that I was good at the whole "start up" thing because I grew up fixing most problems with duct tape and bailing twine on the farm. (In the beginnings of NewWest.Net, my office was in the bathroom of the extra bedroom in my business partner's house.)
This time of year, those make-do skills come in handy. During the summer, we're farmers. During the spring, we're MacGyver farmers.
And, this year will mean even more "making do" than last year because Jacob is now working a full-time job in town and that creates a whole new situation for us. We're going to have to get really good at efficiency. We're already thinking constantly about work-arounds, not only to our sometimes less-than-ideal set up and equipment, but to labor as well.
We're starting early. Here's the first example of us "making do."
We Bought a House
A greenhouse, that is. Actually, just the skeleton. Now we have to round up the organs and make the thing come to life. My good friend Craigslist told us about a bunch of greenhouses for sale just 2 1/2 hours south of the farm. So, I drove the empty pickup and flatbed trailer down on a rare free Saturday to check it out. And what a scene it was. It's acres of greenhouse skeletons, abandoned vehicles, sheds, shacks, and peeled-paint houses. There are piles of pipes and plastic and large covered buildings filled to the gills with fans, racks, and knick-knacks (I think I might have a rap going here - backbeat anybody?). There was everything including the kitchen sink (I even asked about it - triple, stainless steel - not for sale).
I was too much in awe of the place to get any photos that capture it as a whole, but I'll likely head back that direction to pick up some greenhouse tables and who knows what else as yet to be discovered in some pile somewhere.
Dan admiring the geometry.
This place was a century-old nursery that fell on hard times. The current owners are four years into the process of cleaning it up. The story is, as told by Mike, the very friendly bearded man who helped me out, the family who owned the nursery all those 100+ years experienced a messy divorce, owed lots of money (including to Syngenta) and lost the place. The current owners bought it from Syngenta ("this little German chemical company", as Mike put it) and are now selling off the acres of greenhouses. What you get when you buy a greenhouse here is essentially just the hoops and a natural gas heater. I also picked up a fan and exhaust. The structures are 100-140 feet long and you take as many hoops as you want to make the length you need. I took 13 hoops for my desired 30x50' greenhouse. My good friends Dan, Kim, and Kelsey helped deconstruct it and load up the hoops and equipment. We had to rent a propane weed torch to melt the ice that had cemented the bottom of the hoops to the ground posts.
Kim and Kelsey load the trailer.
When all was said and done, it seemed like an awful lot of time and energy for a handful of galvanized pipes, a fan, a heater, and exhaust. And we still have to reassemble it, get plastic, pull power out to it, determine if we can convert the natural gas heater to propane, get propane to it, and numerous other tasks as yet to be realized. All in the adventure that is Prairie Heritage Farm.
Greenhouse in a trailer with little girl snowpants as a flag.
I was too much in awe of the place to get any photos that capture it as a whole, but I'll likely head back that direction to pick up some greenhouse tables and who knows what else as yet to be discovered in some pile somewhere.
Dan admiring the geometry.
This place was a century-old nursery that fell on hard times. The current owners are four years into the process of cleaning it up. The story is, as told by Mike, the very friendly bearded man who helped me out, the family who owned the nursery all those 100+ years experienced a messy divorce, owed lots of money (including to Syngenta) and lost the place. The current owners bought it from Syngenta ("this little German chemical company", as Mike put it) and are now selling off the acres of greenhouses. What you get when you buy a greenhouse here is essentially just the hoops and a natural gas heater. I also picked up a fan and exhaust. The structures are 100-140 feet long and you take as many hoops as you want to make the length you need. I took 13 hoops for my desired 30x50' greenhouse. My good friends Dan, Kim, and Kelsey helped deconstruct it and load up the hoops and equipment. We had to rent a propane weed torch to melt the ice that had cemented the bottom of the hoops to the ground posts.
Kim and Kelsey load the trailer.
When all was said and done, it seemed like an awful lot of time and energy for a handful of galvanized pipes, a fan, a heater, and exhaust. And we still have to reassemble it, get plastic, pull power out to it, determine if we can convert the natural gas heater to propane, get propane to it, and numerous other tasks as yet to be realized. All in the adventure that is Prairie Heritage Farm.
Greenhouse in a trailer with little girl snowpants as a flag.
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