Thursday, December 13, 2012

Blimey



Is that snow leftover in the field?  It sort of looks like piled up snow.

But no!  Look closer ... it's lime.




We're spreading lime on all our fields that need it, based on soil tests.  When you add lime to the soil, it raises its pH.  (There are lots of sites that explain why this is good chemically, but the basic point is that it helps maintain peak fertility.)

Kris bought the lime from a company, then he had another company truck it here, then he had another company spread it on our fields.  It took a little figuring but - here it is!


Excavators at sunset

 
Is that a man inside that giant hole with excavators poised above him?

Yes.  No need to look closer on this one.  They're digging the lagoon!  The man was holding a rod, which is a big measurement stick.  The lagoon is going to be 14 feet deep, 150 x 265.

Tonight my brother was on the phone and asked a lot of questions about the lagoon.  In case any of you out there have the same questions - We'll use skid steers to push the manure in it from the barns.  There will be high berms on the sides.  It'll have a clay bottom.  And after it's built, it'll never have a guy standing in the middle of it again.

2 comments:

Jason said...

Will you be able to use all of it on the fields? Do you have an old lagoon? if not, what do you do with the manure right now?

Carla said...

Yes, we used all the lime, and we'll use all the manure. (I'm not sure which you meant, but yes to both!). Currently, we use manure pits under our barn. They were built in the 70s. But since we're going to have more cattle, we need more storage. We pump out the manure and spread it when the conditions are right. Thanks for asking and reading!