Laying Pipe and Other Things

2

April 15, 2013 by Kriscinda Lee Everitt

I can’t begin to tell you how well we slept last night.

So, let me tell you ’bout our week:

First, we had an awesome thunderstorm, which made everything much greener than it had been the day before.

Next day, our pal Gary came out and he and Big A fired up the tractor and mower to tackle some of what we couldn’t get to in the fall, before it got too cray-cray.

Then, while Gary mowed, Big A (and I helped!) dug the little trench for the water line we’re running under the garden.

Eventually, this line will get hooked up to the rain barrel system by the barn. The future spigot on the other side there will be near the future hoop house. (Kevin, our carousel horse, is taking a nap.)

Despite staying later than he meant to, I think Gary had fun on “Fast Gary.”

We had covered the trench with plastic, just in case it rained (didn’t want a long, thin puddle). Next day, we installed the pipe.

Repurposing Big A’s boxers.

Big A connected all the pipe bits.

Uncovered the trench, put the pipe in…

…and covered it back up! (I helped!)

Ta-da! Both ends are covered with plastic to keep rain and stuff out, until we can get the rain barrel system up and running. Then we can hook everything up.

Until then, we decided to run a hose up from the house (it’s about 400 feet). The outside spigot on the house is sourced from the natural spring in the basement (which is very cool). So, whether from the spring or the rain barrels, it’s free (which is also very cool). I doubt we’ll run a line underground all the way up from the house for gardening purposes, hence, the rain barrels…

…but, rather than rush the barrel system to collect the spring rain this season, we figured this is a good standby. We weren’t sure the spring pump had the power to get the water all the way up to the garden with enough pressure to make more than a trickle. Turns out, it does just fine (whew!). We’ll still work towards finishing the rain barrel system, but now it’s not as urgent to get it done immediately and we can focus on getting the garden beds made and filled.

While Big A put the pipe together, I assembled the wheelbarrow (which we desperately needed!).

*assemble, assemble*

Finally! Something to wheel shit around in!

Tune in Wednesday for more work ’round the farm. No metal this week. You’d be surprised how long it sometimes takes to find the right metal to include with each post. This is a rough month and we all must make some sacrifices. Rest assured, though, that the metal’s still flowing over here.