That Smell

You know that smell? The one where there is wet hay mixed with ovine feces, soaked in urine. Lay it out on a bed of clay then cap it with a hardened mixture of sheep feculence, hair and more urine. Pulverize it with  the action of cloven hooves beating back and forth. Pack it together with the fibrous aggregate drying like a scab on a deep wound. It seals in the wet soup of ooze allowing it to seethe with its foul stench building in a hidden chamber of repugnance. Now, take a spade shovel and pitch fork and open it up exposing the chemical reaction of organic waste, insect activity, and decay. Dig in it, mixing it with air so the fumes billow out filling the space with a noxious cloud of invisible virulence. Lift it and heave it into a waiting cart so the offensive, moist brew splashes with noxious splat, over and over until the cart is full. You know, that smell? Well, I do. It's like it's clinging to me and just won't let go. It followed me around for the rest of the day. Now I'm freshly showered and shampooed. I'm warm and dry, clean and fresh. But, that smell, it lingers. It has hollowed out a cavity in my brain where it waits.

I shoveled some more out of the lower sheep shed today. I got three more cart loads. After a lunch of bunny sliders I split up the rest of the logs in the staging rack. Now I can get to work on the rest of the big logs.

Heather got Lisa an empty plastic mineral tub. She's going to plant the cucumbers in it. I drilled some drain holes in the bottom. 

We're going to try a potato tower. The idea is you make a cylinder of welded wire and make layers of straw and soil. In each layer of soil you plant the seed potatoes.

2x4 welded wire

At harvest time you're supposed to tip it over and dig out the potatoes.

The plans called for a 24 inch diameter. You're probably wondering how I was able to determine how long to cut the wire.

The sheep got moved to the upper cow pasture. They'll be in there until weaning. Lisa moved them yesterday when I was mowing the pond pasture. They love moving into a fresh pasture. They run around looking for all the best weeds to eat. It's cute.