July 2024 Accomplishments

Here’s a summary of what we accomplished in July on our various projects.

• Bridge
  • Completed all structural work
    • Installed remaining blocking on west side
    • Installed remaining spacers on main span
    • Installed diagonal bracing under joists
  • Shuffled lumber piles on the west side to prepare for finishing the bridge
  • Evicted bald-faced hornets from east approach and trimmed back brush to make less hospitable in future
  • Installed corduroy for western bridge approach
  • Installed decking for east half of bridge
  • Began removing excess tools and materials from job site 
  • Moved corduroy logs from CW-1 to bridge
• Forestry
  • James trained for log handling with Toolcat and excavator
  • Sorted and stacked remaining logs on the ground in NW corner of CW-1
• Hayfields
  • Got all of our hay cut, raked, baled, brought in, stacked, and tarped (despite a seemingly endless series of challenges)
  • Sold one ton of hay, decided to keep the rest for our horses
  • Mowed coastal tarweed in South Field to keep it from seeding
• Pastures
  • Draven trained for using the mower with the Toolcat
  • Mowed almost all of the paddocks for weed control
  • Tansy ragwort patrolled
  • Horses transitioned to 24/7 grazing
• Silvopasture
  • Found all but one row of oak seedlings that we planted last fall (did not try to locate oaks planted along fence lines)
  • Staked all of the oak seedings we found in the North and South Fields
  • Provided micro-shelters of hay to the seedlings in the North and South Fields
  • Received final sign-off from NRCS for brush abatement in the West Fields
• Garden
  • Began harvesting zucchini 
  • Tomatoes trained and producing green fruit
  • Drip irrigation system working well
• Horses
  • Changed to a later evening feeding (horses come in more readily)
  • Nemo
    • Acquired and integrated him into the herd
    • Food aggression training is going well
    • Did some refresher training for saddle with Kim
  • Elf: Got him through severe hoof cracking on one of his fronts
  • Shasta: Appetite improved
  • Herc: Weight stable, feet healthy
  • Simon: Small improvements in skittishness