The last few weeks have been full for us around here. Between visiting other farms, helping friends build things, and harvesting for the CSA, we’ve also been trying to get a million things done before the rain arrived.
Our first and biggest task to that end: installing our septic system on the new land. We did the work ourselves, from start to finish, which worked out fine because our next-door neighbor has a backhoe we could borrow (and we had shovels too). By the time all was said and done, we spent about two weeks (off and on) working on it. So, if you wondered where we were recently, we were probably in a trench, digging or leveling. Here are some pictures:
Here’s Casey on our 1500-gallon septic tank. Yep, we think that should be big enough!
Our drain field: we used a neat new technology called ‘Infiltrators’ that are easy to install and allow the use of ‘native soil’ in the trenches (rather than gravel). Using them simplified the process quite a bit. Here you can see our three lines of Infiltrators installed and ready to be covered.
The good news: we finished installing and covering our septic system just as the rain began to fall (literally, within an hour of our finishing). We were very relieved about this, since now the site is a big muddy mess. Had we tarried at all, we would have been frustrated and stalled for weeks or months on that project.
The bad news: when the rain began in earnest (and I do mean earnest), we realized that our makeshift shed roof (i.e. tarp) was not going to be enough. It’s funny how we can forget what rain is really like at the end of a hot, dry summer. We certainly did when we were building our shed. ‘Sure, this tarp should work,’ we thought naively. Nope.
So, the last two days we frantically took apart and then rebuilt our roof, this time with solid materials like plywood and tarpaper (wow!). It is now secure and dry, but the work of getting it there was not fun, because it was raining and windy the entire time. Working in conditions like that always adds a feeling of urgency and uncertainty to any project. Plus, I (Katie) was sick and coughing too. Yesterday afternoon, our neighbor kindly offered us hot coffee and then told us that we looked like ‘wet rats.’ Too true. We felt that way too! Here’s Casey crawling around on the roof:
We still plan to put more long-term siding and roofing on later this year, but for now our things are dry and we no longer have to cringe during downpours, wondering what’s happening to our shed. That’s very good.
And, another seasonal item worth noting: with the time change last weekend, half of our Tuesday CSA pick-up occurred after dark! Fortunately, we prepared for the change. We borrowed strings of lights and hung them all around the pick-up site. They provided enough light to see the veggies by, and it felt rather festive too:
And of course it’s still raining today. Not that we expect it to stop until next June, but we sure have broken our fast hard. Fortunately, since we’re both native Northwesterners, we know that there will be some breaks, but it’s hard to believe that right now. It’s funny how we can get so immersed in one weather pattern than anything else feels unbelievable—when it’s 105°, winter feels like an impossibility; and when it’s raining an inch a day, August feels like a dream. But at least we can (more or less) predict things around here.
And we do love the rain. I think we’ll just love it more next fall when we don’t still have to move our farm, set up infrastructure, build a house, etc etc etc all during the wet winter months. Good thing we have yummy vegetables to keep us energized and supportive friends to help us on our way!
and, one last good note about rain—it’s helping our cover crop grow! Check out this green field (the muddy mess in the foreground is our covered drainfield):
