I visited a local farmer who has some Limousine and Mirandaise cows. He has a small farm and keeps a herd of about fifteen cows. He used to run goats on the farm to make enough money from his twenty hectares but he’s retiring now and selling his place and winding down the livestock numbers.ContinueContinue reading “Mirandaise cows on a tidy small farm”
Author Archives: grasspunk
Project Warm gets warmer with a Dovre 300 stove
We have a stove in the Mess and its name is Fremont. The name Fremont comes because this stove has a relief of the Three Billy Goats Gruff story with the troll under the bridge. In Seattle, the Fremont end of the Aurora Bridge has a troll under it. It was a shortContinueContinue reading “Project Warm gets warmer with a Dovre 300 stove”
our new daughter, Zélie
In case you don’t read Jean’s blog at Brat Like Me, we have a new child and her name is Zélie. Jean’s thoughts on the matter: Bye Bye Belly, Hello Zélie. Not to be outdone, the previous baby in the family is demanding attention now she’s just another middle child: Fashionista
A great farm with one unfortunate problem
This was a farm that ticked all the boxes. It had plenty of land, over a hundred hectares. The house was just large enough and was in the middle of the farm. The barn was big and modern. It was used in an extensive grazing system with Gascon cows and came with a small herdContinueContinue reading “A great farm with one unfortunate problem”
Early morning tire change on a combine harvester
The last crop of the year was harvested from our farm yesterday. The corn field at the back of our house is now stripped back to the stems. But it didn’t all go smoothly. On the first day of harvesting the combine was hindered by a leaky tire so they couldn’t finish. It spent theContinueContinue reading “Early morning tire change on a combine harvester”
The last round of houses before the farm search – Courtyard House
The very last house we saw before moving to farms had a great courtyard. The house formed one side, and three barns formed the others. It was in a very quiet area in the southern Gers. This was before Minty started school so she came along, with Lamb. There were vines and cornfieldsContinueContinue reading “The last round of houses before the farm search – Courtyard House”
A busy week for farm and family
So much has been going on. The house is getting rewired and I’m figuring out the legal way to pay my contractor/employee Mark the Spark and the windows and doors are nearly all in. I’ve visited a couple of farms in the last few days as well as spending several hours at the DDT, theContinueContinue reading “A busy week for farm and family”
Workout of the Day – Pulling vine posts out of the ground
I see friends post their Workout of the Day on Facebook. These are the Crossfit workouts where they lift heavy weights and do gymnastic-style exercises to build strength and fitness. Their set is timed and is over in under an hour. Out here on the farm things are similar. My current workout involves a pullingContinueContinue reading “Workout of the Day – Pulling vine posts out of the ground”
A major step forward for Project Warm – installing the Jotul F500.
After getting a couple of angle grinders on a special deal from Bernard Pagès, I was unblocked for installing Mr. Green in the library. Here an old steel gate is my straight edge for cutting up a piece of galvanized steel for the register. Mark the Spark gave me a talking to aboutContinueContinue reading “A major step forward for Project Warm – installing the Jotul F500.”
The industry standard goes to work – the JCB 3CX
We needed a trench to run water and power lines to the cellar, so we called Gilles the local excavator guy. He’s a retired farmer who has some fancy equipment, like this JCB. Mark the Spark came along to deal with electrical and plumbing issues, of which we had a few. I’ve alwaysContinueContinue reading “The industry standard goes to work – the JCB 3CX”
Grasspunk Farm 