What's in the Box: The Reveal!

The new toy Bill was excited to get last week is....

A LIGHTSABER

...for cutting grass.

It's his own, made-just-for-him scythe. There are lots of exciting details about this scythe. I, though, haven't paid attention to a word of Bill's explanation. Something about a snath? Or a ball sack? I dunno. But a lot of the details sound very sketchy and dirty.

Bill intends to hay 4 acres of pasture with this handy tool. Much like I prefer sweeping over vacuuming, Bill says he'll enjoy scything much more than mowing. Mowing is loud, he says, and "bees sting you and you smell like gas." Apparently scything is rhythmic and soothing.

Our strawberries and peas are growing!

The hay mulch we've been using to prevent weeds in the garden is working pretty well. We just need more of it! Let the scything commence!

Garden progress

Our strawberry plants look better than they ever have. This is likely because a deer hasn't (yet) munched on them. We also used a lot of hay left over from last fall to mulch around them and prevent weeds.

They love it. I swear I can see them grow by the minute.

Radishes are peeking out.

And Sugar is rather enjoying running in the pasture.

That pasture grass is getting pretty high, don't you think? Given that we're not expecting ruminants until later this summer, and our neighbor isn't going to hay the field this year, I wonder what we're going to do...???

Let's play "What's In The Box?!"

Bill was very excited to get a new toy yesterday. Any guesses?

Fencing!

Bill recently installed 400 yards of woven wire field fencing around our pasture.

It was hard work that took him two full days and left him looking like this:

But now all of this:


and this:

...is the free-running range of Sugar Pie - at least until the turkeys come. After some barn repairs it may be the home to sheep and/or goats as well.