Working In The Cold, Manicuring The New Hydrant Area, Creating Drainage With Pine Cones & The Spreading Of Grass
Although it was chilly outside I got to doing things outdoors rather early in the day and did not let the change of weather stop me from enjoying the pleasant sunshine and the sounds of nature. In other words I bundled up in some warm clothes and made the best of things much like I have throughout this entire winter. As much as the cold weather used to really inhibit me from being in a good mood something has assuredly changed for me over the last few years and it no longer has the same influence over me that it once did. I recall a time when I would absolutely balk at working in cold weather but now I just find it invigorating as long as I have the proper gear on. Honestly the best investment that I made in the last year (as far as gear goes) was getting a new pair of Muck boots because throughout this entire winter adventure my feet have stayed warm and for lack of a better word happy!
Anyway, first thing in the morning after I did my usual chores I decided to work on grooming the area around the new hydrant and also flush the hydrant out so that all the oily factory residue inside of it would be gone. With the water flowing at about half volume I was able to see where it pooled (near the hydrant's base) and where it wanted to naturally flow downhill. I then accentuated the ground in the pooled area so that it would flow more freely and then dug two small trenches (maybe a meter long each) that helped to evacuate the water from the pooling area. Once I had the water draining well enough I then opened the hydrant to its full volume to 'stress test' the new drainage system which held up nicely because even at that volume all the water evacuated the area quickly.
With the drainage in place I set about raking up all the lose dirt left from the trenching work and hydrant installation and made a semi-circle berm around the hydrant, then grass seeded the whole area and covered it with a layer of straw. Lacking enough gravel for the larger of the two drainage trenches I collected a bunch of last year's pine cones and stuffed them into the trench to keep it from getting filled with leaves and other debris. The pine cones make for a really porous 'filter' for the water to flow through and probably work better than using mulch. The pine cones will of course break down over time just like mulch does but the way I see it is all that I will have to do is clear the trench of the old pine cones and add more of them from the nearby pine forest. Aside from fire starter it is the best use for old pine cones that I have ever come across and it works surprisingly well for creating a quick and easy drainage system.
Once I was finished with that project I retrieved the flower pot that I keep my silage corn seed in and with it a trowel and a pair of gloves I wandered around the property until I found a sunny spot that looked favorable for planting in. I wound up scratching out a total of five small trenches that were a little over two meters long and then planting the corn kernels in them before covering them back over with dirt. Learning from the mistakes of planting corn early in the year last year and having the wildlife eat most of it... I decided to do a bit of over-seeding so that I could perhaps offset whatever losses might occur from hungry wildlife. Hopefully things will balance out and I will not have a bunch of root-bound corn plants growing too close together nor have all the kernels stolen. I was also very careful not to leave any kernels on the surface of the ground where they might attract wildlife to the area. The place that I planted that stand of corn is slightly sloped and appears to get good sun most of the day so I will more than likely be planting more corn in that general area over the coming weeks and if I am really lucky there will be some really nice corn plants popping up not long afterwards.
At some point during the day I hiked around with a coffee can of grass seed and spread it around what will eventually be a horse pasture here once the fence is finished. It is located in a big pine forest but the other day when I was collecting those fencing scraps I noticed a bunch of bare spots where for one reason or another the pine needles were not carpeting the ground. So, I hiked around and spread grass seed over as many of them as I could find until I used up all the grass seed that I had in the can. It is worth noting that I have no idea how well that Kentucky-31 will grow beneath the canopy of the pine forest but once again I am simply hoping to get it established (to one degree or another) so that it can then spread itself further.
There are also several other types of grasses already growing on the property and I have been considering cutting some sod sections from them (once they grow in for the year) and using the sod pieces to spread those varieties around the property as well. Those fescue variants are awesome for erosion control and livestock grazing but they do not make for the best 'lawn' grass and in some places around here that 'lawn' grass would be more ideal and especially so in areas where there is a lot of foot and vehicular traffic.
Well, I should get to wrapping this up so that I can get on with my day. Even though it is still quite chilly the sun is shining brightly and there is not any wind so it will not be too bad to work in. I hope that everyone is doing well and has a nice day/night.
So many pine cones!
The little drainage trench that I filled with pine cones.
This is how the hydrant area came out!
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That Is All For Now!
This post was originally posted to the Hive Blockchain here:
https://peakd.com/homesteading/@jacobpeacock/apocalyptic-homesteading-day-107
