The Oregon Sugar Pod peas that I direct-seeded on April 14 have sprouted (in the middle of the row in the picture).
I transplanted some plants that Heather started. From the end in: kale (dwarf blue curled), chard (mixed colors Swiss), spinach (Bloomsdale), lettuce (cutting mix), lettuce (unknown–the label faded), and marigolds (petite orange). Some of the starts were waterlogged and others were dry, so we’ll see how they do.
We planted about half of my garden row with Little Marvel peas that Heather started, two rows with one-foot spacing, and direct-sowed Oregon Sugar Pod peas every six inches down the center of the row.
A hawk killed one of the Jersey Giant chickens today.
I turned my garden row a second time with the pitchfork. I decided to remove the chunks of sod that I had turned over the first time I worked on the row. I was afraid the grass would keep growing if I didn’t. By leaving it there for the past month, I think it created a good environment for the microbiome to transfer to the manure and wood chips that I added. I saw a lot of worms, so that’s a good sign.
We also mulched between the rows and over garden area that will remain fallow this year but be cultivated into two more rows next year.
I reinstalled the original oil bath air cleaner on the tractor. I bought a 30-inch long flex radiator hose with a 1-1/2-inch inside diameter to connect from the air cleaner to the carburetor.
Got a small trailer load of horse manure. It’s mostly aged already. I dug and turned over the sod to make my 3×30 garden row. I layered and mixed the manure plus a tractor bucket load of wood chips.
We had to put down the boy lamb today. He still had a fever, and his breathing had become faster. We could tell he was in pain.
We had a friend come over with a .22 rifle and help us end the lamb’s suffering.
Transplanted two Douglas fir trees for Christmas 2026, one in each corner of the back acre. They’re about 2-3 feet tall.
Transplanted a bunch of chives found in the hazelnut orchard.
We worked on building the trail today by spreading wood chips. We also put up fencing around the fruit trees that we planted a few weeks ago to insure against deer. I pruned the pear tree today. I probably removed about 30%, which is more than you should for a pear tree. It might cause the tree to grow over-vigorously this year. But there were a lot of branches growing downward, across the center of the tree, or crowded.
We also dumped about three tractor buckets of wood chips on Heather’s hügelkultur garden row.
The boy lamb looked quite a bit better the day after his first shot five days ago. However, he has continued to run a fever of 104, and he has been lethargic compared to his sister. She is very empathetic and spends a lot of time with him. This morning we gave him his second (and final) antibiotic shot. A few hours later, he was already looking better. But we don’t know if it will last.
Yesterday, we noticed the little boy lamb was limping. We checked the leg, and there was no injury. We learned that infections usually affect sheep in the legs first. We called a vet. He checked the lamb’s temperature, and it was 104. He gave it an antibiotic shot. The vet visit was $250. We need to give it another shot in five days.
Bought chicks: 2 Jersey Giants, 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes, 2 Cuckoo Marans.
Planted fruit trees: apple (5 varieties), peach (), nectarine (), peach-plum. Mulched with wood chips. Pruned the plum tree (a lot).
Started building the pasture fence. We’re using stock panels and T-posts.
Pruned the grapevines. A lot.
We changed the fluids in the tractor: hydraulic fluid in the hydraulic reservoir (topped off), hydraulic fluid filter, hydraulic fluid in the torque tube (drain and refill), gear oil in the steering box, gear oil in the transmission (flushed with diesel), engine oil and filter, and grease in as many grease fittings as we could find. I also topped off the coolant and installed a new radiator cap. The oil in the transmission was like milk, and the oil in the engine was blacker than black. We found a large screwdriver in the transmission.
The tractor came. It’s a 1958/59 Case 310B with an International 2000 loader. We paid $500.
