Well, the offer was accepted today and we are moving in the right direction. The only thing standing in our way right now is a bad home inspection. I'm no construction work or architect, but the house looks very good to me. So, barring any major problems, we should be able to move in the first weekend in February. In the meantime, while we're waiting on things to move and papers to sign, I'm gathering information on the things I need to know to raise chickens, goats, bees, and as my wife reminded me today...worms. Yes, worms. So, let's start with the most simple critter and move up.
Why worms, you ask? Composting...vermicomposting to be exact. I looked into this a few years back and didn't really ever find the time to put something together. So, since the farm is becoming more of a reality, I'm resurrecting the idea. When I first looked into it, the main issue was building a vermicompostig bin and layering things correctly. I'm not sure of the direction, but I was/am under the impression that the worms eat in one direction. By the way, the worms eat pretty much anything but plastic and steel...cardboard, paper, kitchen scraps, etc.. Anyway, back to the point, the worms are supposed to eat...and crap, thus the compost...in one direction, leaving behind the compost which I am supposed to collect and add to the garden. That's where the idea of layering is important. You are supposed to layer the materials either above or below the most recently-composted level. As they move out of the composted layer, they are supposed to start munching on the new layer. I think the eat from the bottom up. The other issue, is building an appropriate vermicomposting bin to accommodate the worms in their journey through the trash. So, the first item on my vermicomposting To-Do-List is figuring out how to make VC bin and how to layer it correctly.
The next critter on the taxonomical list are the bees. The idea of having bees is fairly new for me. So, I'm not bring any previously found information into this project. Anything I have learned has been collected only recently. One of the big questions I have, as I think most people would, is "How long until I get honey?" As for the answer, I'm not sure. From the videos that I've watched and some of the literature I've read, it seems like it takes about a year. The reason I say that is because one video series I watched was of a guy that did a video diary of his experience. He set up his hives and received his bees in late spring/early summer. Subsequent videos were added, indicating his activities in summer, fall, winter and early spring of the next year and he still hadn't collected any honey, although some of his plates (I think that's what he called them) were showing signs of honey production. The other issue of beekeeping is keeping them from swarming. I'm not definite on what this means, but I think this is not a good thing and that it will occur if the hive somehow develops a new queen. I guess the get confused on who the boss is. Anyway, from the videos I've seen, keeping bees looks pretty labor-intensive, but I'm up for that, especially if I get some honey.
As for the chickens and the goats, I'll have to get back to you on that. I need to get some actual real work done. The semester starts in about a week and I need to get somethings done.
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