After a very busy fall things have calmed down somewhat at Tree Frog Nursery for the winter.  I still have plenty to do but it isn't as rushed with business.  All summer I said I was going to put off some things until winter when it was cooler and I had time to concentrate on them - such as fixing up the house and barn more, clearing out a field to expand into, and various other odds and ends.  As usual - my expectations and reality have not quite met in the middle.  I have been able to get a lean-to built to store equipment and do some work in.  It will really help in the summer when it is blistering hot and in the winter rain days when otherwise I could not be able to do much other than potting plants. 

Over the summer I kept toying with the idea of getting sheep.  I had read that they were good for keeping pastures trimmed up and not overgrown with trees and grass.  My tractor mower blade does not do well in the bigger fields that I have because of the small trees that grow.  I want to expand in that direction.  I also have some heavily grown up areas behind my barn that I could use if it were cleared out.  I have finally decided it was something I should do this fall and will be buying three sheep to start with in a week or two.  Preparing for them has taken more time than expected.  I had to build an electric and barbed wire fence for them which I had never done.  It required springs and crimping tools and stretching the wire tight.  I had to re-do this several times before getting it right but now I feel more educated in fences.  I started small with the area behind the barn so if I made mistakes they could be corrected easily - now I'm glad I did that.  The sheep will not only be good for keeping the pasture maintained but they will reproduce and I can sell them.  Hopefully this will pan out to be a good idea. 

I had to wrap all my plants up for the winter and with all the wind and rain out here this year it was a real challenge.   First I kept waiting for a calmer day to do it but when that didn't come and frost was looming in the future I had to do it in the wind.  Covers were flying everywhere and trying to pin them down was very problematic but we did it before frost. 

Last year we were dry as a bone in the fall and winter and dying of drought.  This year my pond is overflowing and the ground is saturated and wet.  I need to cut some drainage ditches but the ground is too wet and my tractor would sink.   I've contacted several state agencies trying to get and idea of how to do this most efficiently but haven't found the answer yet. 

My chickens have been doing well and we adopted some new ones last summer.  They are beautiful gold color.  I put them in our barn at first to get them accustomed to the place before joining them with the rest of the flock.  Every time I would try to put the two sets of birds together they would fight.  Now the golden ones are larger than the Dominick's and barred rocks so they should be able to hold their own.  They are curious and try to go to the coup with the others but they are still too scared to go in.  I can't catch them for anything to physically put them in there - need a new net for that.  Unfortunately we have had problems with hawks recently and lost two of our new flock.  The hawks are very brave and come around when I am out doing things in the vicinity of the chickens.  I once just turned for a second and one swooped down and was on a chicken in a split second.  They have been quite traumatized by this so I have kept them closed in the barn for a few days to help them - they seem better now and the hawks haven't come back in a few weeks now.