The Best Exercise!

Forever thankful....

The property came with two elderly horses, age 30 and 26, who are the most beautiful creatures. I have been feeding the horses a few apples and now they come running when they see me. That is a beautiful picture when the horses start running. The horses have been here for 20 years and their Owners told me that if we moved them they would not be so happy. So we have a couple of pastures and I am learning about taking care of horses which I must say is rather a happy time for me. Another happy time is riding an old Schwinn bicycle around the farm that we found in the back of the barn - it is simple joy.

Our home insurance agent emailed me a said that she drove by and noticed the horses, so I need to have additional insurance. I explained to her that the horses are friends and wanted to keep them on the farm. Now we are in the process of our agent looking to find additional insurance for the horses. If we are said to have 'boarders' then it is an additional $700.00 to $1,000.00. If we purchase horses, we will find out how much it will cost. Naivety is not the best characteristic. I'm not really sure how the insurance agent found out about the horses, because the horses have been in the back pasture and we live off a state route that the speed limit is 55 mph. I'm not so paranoid, but it does seem suspicious that the agent saw the horses from the road.

The BEST EXERCISE is mowing grass with a walk behind mower which is the only mower we have now. Although, we did find a Jari and got it running. A Jari is a sickle mower and was built in 1950s/1960s. So, I have been using the Jari to mow the back pasture which has taken me about 4 days and I probably have 4 more days. Again the best exercise and better than any gym that I have been a participant. Although sit-ups and toning the triceps is an additional exercise for the full body work out. I start mowing in late morning or early afternoon due to so much moisture we have in this area. I am thinking it is the 'lake effect' that we have so much moisture. I am also preparing the beds that have been here - removing the weeds and placing a layer of aged manure for a top dressing. I have been reading "A Northeast Gardener's Year" by Lee Reich which I am finding to be a real comfort in my gardening practices. Eventually we will have a greenhouse from old metal cased windows that we have acquired along with a bread oven. So we were thinking of the greenhouse with an attached bread oven. We would keep the bread oven filled with wood to heat the greenhouse during the winter months. I read some place of heating the greenhouse two ways or keeping it from freezing:

1. Place 15-day old manure in a trough about 4 feet deep and 3 feet wide and 8 feet length, covering the manure with wood shavings to keep the ammonia from leaching out. This would 'warm' the greenhouse so the winter seeds would not freeze. The decomposing would warm the greenhouse. I am not sure how long this would last - surely not the entire winter. More research is needed. on my part.

2. Then I read filling black barrels with water and stacking the barrels along one wall of the greenhouse. I read this from a University paper and I am sorry I do not remember of the University that was researching this practice. Sun is required, of course. And more research on my part.

I would really like to research solar, hydro and wind energy to 'get off the grid' so to speak. I have seen these great youtube videos creating hydro energy. Although our stream is about 100 meters or I think it is about 350 feet.