Skip to main content

What a week

Autumn on a farm is like having children...you forget from one to the other, the amount of work necessary.  The problem is snow, we get it every other year and equipment or supplies left near access points can become circulation hazards.  So this week I spent two days scoping the yards to ensure that all equipment and supplies are inventoried and stored properly.

We had a bit of a scare on Monday night when the alarm for one of our two freezers went off in the middle of the night.   I arrived at our packing shed, where the freezers are located about five minutes after the alarm went off, and within 25 minutes there were four of us. Each having been contacted by text (yes our freezer talks to us...).  It took an hour, and we were about to start shifting frozen meats to the other freezer when David (yes our lead mechanic) found the problem --- a blown fuse.  Once that was replaced everything started up again.  The maintenance company was contacted and they came Tuesday afternoon.  It took a while but it seems that a compressor overheated because a mouse had made a nest near the compressor's air inflow.   

David our lead mechanic has been working flat out for the past month, finally undertaking permanent repairs;  cracked windows, defective grease fitting, leaking tires, and full service.  The list is long and as we get close to full winter he will shift to major repairs.  All electronic components are removed so that they can be stored in our heated shed.

Part of the week has been a lot of fun, it was sunny and warm so working on fencing and boundaries was pleasant.  At this time of the year, we prefer that our cattle remain in the sheds (reduce root damage).   We maintain about a kilometre of walking trails that cross our farm, to reduce damage and erosion.  We built a 500-meter fence near one of our creeks to avoid rambler accidents, but also to ensure that our cattle don't try to access the creak (it's too steep). 

It's a strange part of the year because aside from the fencing work I did with the team, I could not say what exactly I did today without referring to my checklist.  That kind of day.

The farm manager's cottage was renovated at the same time as the great house, but over the past two years, it has remained vacant.  Over the past few years, our contractor has continued to work on the cottage whenever he has a spare crew.  Now there is some urgency as finishing work and cleaning is required.  Thankfully, our contractor is our new farm manager's second cousin.  I suspect she was able to apply some family pressure.  





  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spray painting Taylor Swift G650 aircraft (updated)

 First, a bit of paint will not harm anyone.  These climate activities are going to learn two things in the next few days:  (1) Trespassing at an airport is a felony almost anywhere in the world.  That means criminal prosecution.   (2) removing paint from an aircraft is expensive.   So these climate activists are about to find out the reach of the British criminal system and it will not be pleasant, the UK has very strict laws about that, I would be surprised if cleaning the aircraft of all the paint will cost less than $100,000.     I am sure that when they planned (premeditation) this little show they had a very valid logic to doing this.  Tonight, they are probably realizing the depth of their troubles.   I understand that in the UK it's a minimum one-year jail sentence.    Also, good luck travelling with a criminal trespass charge against you.  I am relatively certain that the airline industry will ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Farm; Half year performance

 People appear to be genuinely curious. 2024 has been a record first half for the farm.  The addition of high tunnels has greatly impacted our revenues.   While we expected Q1 profits to be higher, it really was the second quarter that produced the goods.  The terrible weather has greatly impacted the production of high-end vegetables. Energy costs are now very stable and have become a fixed variable especially now that our bio digesters are fully dialled in.   Replacing some of our pre-dryer equipment was covered under warranty, and the new equipment is far better at dealing with gas moisture, and much better steel!   Our diesel costs are what they are! Our biologist and ecologist devised a new planting plan for our high tunnels that greatly reduced pests, especially slugs.   We have seen a 90% decline in sluggs this year, resulting in better yields.   It seems that several plants act as natural repelants and if planted c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Britain, France and Egypt

 The voters realize now that the Conservative Praty desire to return to 19th-century dominance has driven its hatred of the EU.  The voters realize now that departure from the EU has accelerated Britain's decline and may soon make it irrelevant.  At best it will have to kiss American arses to maintain its standing.  For this, the conservatives were punished.  The decline of Britain was inevitable, competition from Frankfurt and Germany in Finance was bound to grow.  The core of Europe (aka Germany) is aging quickly Macron seems to be winning his bet, the left alliance that won the legislative elections will not remain united for long, since they disagree on about everything.   The Far right though it was about to assume power is once again relegated to the back of the bus.   It may draw its own conclusions, but not all of these are good for France.  The far-right has won nearly 1/3rd of the electorate, that is not something to be ig...
Post a Comment
Read more