Early yesterday morning, I joined the farm family for a ‘farm walkabout’. From the sounds of it, farm walkabouts take place a couple times a year when most farm members are home, including Murray and Carol (the farm founders) who now spend most of their time in England. I thought the farm walkabout was great! It gave us a chance, as a group, to tour the farm and make observations about what looks to be in need of repair. It also helped to get us thinking out loud about additions and new plans we’d like to see take place on the farm.

Carol made a list of our observations that I’ve posted below to give you an idea of the regular maintenance work that needs doing on a farm. The list really doesn’t include any of the ‘farming’ tasks (planting and harvesting crops, raising livestock, etc) that we want to it – it’s really focused on general upkeep and curb-appeal. Now that we’ve brainstormed the list, we’ll be prioritizing the tasks and planning some community work days to get them done. Fun! I love ‘to do’ lists…I’m a sucker for the satisfaction of crossing things off as you complete them (in case you haven’t figured it out by now, I was a total gold star junkie in elementary school). It’s really great to have this stuff down ‘on paper’ – can’t wait to get started!

August 6 “Farm Walkabout” for input to future community workdays:

(Group observations walking from street to back of property (Jocelyn, Julie, Matt and Chantalle, Murray and Carol). Not yet prioritized or committed to action by a specific point-person. Date of next community workday not yet proposed. Community workday coordinator was voted to be Chris .)

Front ditch would look better with weed-eater treatment

Mail box on post at driveway

Plastic under front trees covered with bark mulch

White picket fence needs paint, gate replaced or removed.

Pressure wash house

Moss removed from roof

Trim willow tree / branches encroaching powerline to house

Fix house gable-ends, put garage gable end door (access to storage over garage) back in place.

House numbers repainted

Hose reel for front of house (move from back?)

All but one box of kindling behind garage moved to firewood storage area (polebarn?)

Back door light TLC or replaced

Restain hot tub siding

Basketball hoop removed from rear patio

Weed-eat north ditch between road and raspberries

Powerwash north side of barn

Move manure, wood and trailer in front of tractor & ’50 Ford

Mow side pasture, ‘riding ring’ back of barn

Upgrade chicken coop, add chickens (Joc project?)

Cover rockpile in back with straw, dirt to make it a small hill with ground cover

Move scrap wood from back pasture / treed area to pile east side of pole barn for Bob to burn

Buy goats to keep back pasture down

Sell or give away (Craig’s list?):

• Basketball hoop
• White bi-fold doors in barn lean-to (Jord annex)
• Usused trailers
• Fencing material in back pasture
• Stove, fridge, freezer