Before and After

Water has been on our minds this past week: water wearing down the barn lot and causing large pools in animal living spaces, and providing water during winter without having to break ice.

That's where the work of Practical Property Group from the Indianapolis area came in. Over the last several days, a crew drove out to fix the slope away from the barn while removing 50 yards of compost and 50 yards of dirt so they could lay down gravel, geotextile, and geogrid to stabilize the area. They also laid down tile to take water away from the barn.

For me, the most significant installation was a pair of automatic waterers.

Watering in sub-zero midwinter can be brutal, with frozen hoses and ice to chip away at with an ax. These auto waterers use geothermal energy to prevent the water and pipes from freezing. The sheep press on a paddle to fill the water bowl, and when they're done drinking, the water flows back down the pipe below the freeze line.

With all of those elements, plus biochar to decompose straw and minimize pen cleaning, we hope to make winter more comfortable all around.

The before and after pictures (see more photos below) are quite fun to look at, and I especially enjoy this one from Saturday night, when we turned the three rams in to the new pen. Gandalf was the first to try the waterer.

Thanks for Reading!

And I hope you feel refreshed and rejuvenated for the week ahead with this moment preserved in picture and prose. Consider:

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This Week on the Farm

A shout-out to Practical Property Group near Indianapolis for their work on the barn!

Here are some more before and after pictures:

Farm Shop

With the code, GET5, you can get $5 off from our Etsy shop! But hurry, this sale ends tonight!