Saturday was a great day, weather-wise. The sun was shining and it was warm. If I were to have one complaint, it was the wind, which was rather strong. It blew bird houses of their stands, the trash cans went for a tour of the back yard and the buckets I had sitting in the driveway wouldn't stay.
About a week ago, I ordered some plants from Ison's Nursery. They arrived Friday evening, delivered by FEDEX and wrapped in a plastic sheeting and a thick, brown paper bag. I got two more muscadine vines for the grape trellis, four raspberry plants, another pear tree, a peach tree to replace the one the goats killed last year and I couldn't resist trying out a pomegranate tree. So, with buckets, plants and shovel in hand, I headed into the orchard to plant me some trees.
This is the first time I've ever dealt with bare root plants and I sure hope I did things right. For each plant, I dug the hole about twice as large as the roots (except for the pear tree which had really long roots - I would have had to dig to China). Then I took the dirt and mixed it with some home made worm castings in about a 2:1 ratios (dirt to castings). As I filled the dirt back in around the roots, I would add a little water in the hole to help settle it down around the roots.
It took much longer to plant nine plants than I thought it would. It was mid-afternoon by the time I was done. After all that effort, I sure hope they live!
By the time I was done planting, it was time to feed the menagerie. I walked down to the feeding area to get the feed bowls set up and was greeted by 15 hungry animals. (I guess I should explain here that Rosalita, the donkey we acquired in Jan, has proven to be uncatchable ever since the farrier trimmed her hooves two months ago. This is unfortunate, because she has a bad case of thrush and her hooves are over grown and need lots of attention) Rosalita got just a little too close to me and a quickly grabbed her halter. When a 350# donkey doesn't want to be caught, it can put up quite a fight, but I managed to hang on and drag her out of the pasture.
I tied her up to the horse trailer and fed her separately, trying to make this as pleasant an experience a possible. I brushed her, gave her a carrot and then started working on her feet. That's when the real fun began. It was a tussle, but I managed to clean, treat, and file her hooves as best I could. Buddy the farm dog was a casualty, though. He got a little too close to the action and took a hoof to the right shoulder. No permanent damage, but I think he developed a very health respect of the donkey at that moment.
Anyway... That was my Saturday at the Red Clay Farm. At the end of the day, I was dead tired, but it was a good tired! Lots of fresh air and sunshine. Spring is in the air here in SC!
(Editor's Note: I will add pictures later. One of the things I've got to do better is take more pictures. Nothing is more boring than a blog without pictures! Who wants to read all the time?)
About a week ago, I ordered some plants from Ison's Nursery. They arrived Friday evening, delivered by FEDEX and wrapped in a plastic sheeting and a thick, brown paper bag. I got two more muscadine vines for the grape trellis, four raspberry plants, another pear tree, a peach tree to replace the one the goats killed last year and I couldn't resist trying out a pomegranate tree. So, with buckets, plants and shovel in hand, I headed into the orchard to plant me some trees.
This is the first time I've ever dealt with bare root plants and I sure hope I did things right. For each plant, I dug the hole about twice as large as the roots (except for the pear tree which had really long roots - I would have had to dig to China). Then I took the dirt and mixed it with some home made worm castings in about a 2:1 ratios (dirt to castings). As I filled the dirt back in around the roots, I would add a little water in the hole to help settle it down around the roots.
It took much longer to plant nine plants than I thought it would. It was mid-afternoon by the time I was done. After all that effort, I sure hope they live!
By the time I was done planting, it was time to feed the menagerie. I walked down to the feeding area to get the feed bowls set up and was greeted by 15 hungry animals. (I guess I should explain here that Rosalita, the donkey we acquired in Jan, has proven to be uncatchable ever since the farrier trimmed her hooves two months ago. This is unfortunate, because she has a bad case of thrush and her hooves are over grown and need lots of attention) Rosalita got just a little too close to me and a quickly grabbed her halter. When a 350# donkey doesn't want to be caught, it can put up quite a fight, but I managed to hang on and drag her out of the pasture.
I tied her up to the horse trailer and fed her separately, trying to make this as pleasant an experience a possible. I brushed her, gave her a carrot and then started working on her feet. That's when the real fun began. It was a tussle, but I managed to clean, treat, and file her hooves as best I could. Buddy the farm dog was a casualty, though. He got a little too close to the action and took a hoof to the right shoulder. No permanent damage, but I think he developed a very health respect of the donkey at that moment.
Anyway... That was my Saturday at the Red Clay Farm. At the end of the day, I was dead tired, but it was a good tired! Lots of fresh air and sunshine. Spring is in the air here in SC!
(Editor's Note: I will add pictures later. One of the things I've got to do better is take more pictures. Nothing is more boring than a blog without pictures! Who wants to read all the time?)
No comments:
Post a Comment