Apocalyptic Homesteading (Day 421)
Hello Everyone!
Apocalyptic Homesteading Day 421!
Staying in the routines, Converting a gulch to a watering hole, Fowl attraction ideas & The chilly weather arrives!
This morning was pretty much a repeat of the day before as far as getting up early goes so that was good because at least I am being consistent even if I am still not getting up as early as I want to. Although I was very tired last night I wound up being awake much later into the evening than I wanted to be because I first spent too much time writing and then too much time editing! That late night coffee that I had may have played a part as well and I wound up watching and reading stuff online until rather late before finally drifting off to sleep.
The weather was much colder today and I was reluctant to get outside and begin doing my usual chores but I eventually got motivated enough when I realized that if I put it off too long that it was just going to be colder outside. It did the trick and not long afterwards I found myself switching from the routine chores to doing other projects much like I have done the last several days now. I worked on that new compost a bit more as well as adding more to that little habitat area that I started making yesterday. The 'burrow' (as I like to think of it) now has a lot more room under it because I added a whole new section to it on part of the downhill side. I did not fully close it in or anything but I did begin adding more sticks to the area that I previously mentioned expanding it into.
After all that jazz, I took a hike downhill with the post-hole diggers to one of the numerous gulches that are on the hill between those raised areas. I still never completely figured out why the terrain is the way it is (with all the gulches and raised areas) but given all the signs that are there it looks like something was grown there once for agricultural purposes. In one of those gulches there is a tree growing sideways at the bottom end of the gulch and it forms a sort of natural dam so I used a bunch of small sticks and logs that were in the gulch itself to fill in around it and make it even more of a dam. I did not spend a bunch of time making the dam strong or anything and I primarily just wanted to make a mound of sticks (around the sideways tree) so that I would have a better idea of what a larger dam would require.
Once that part was done, I went to the top of the gulch and dug a hole with the post hole diggers. To be clear here this particular gulch does continue further uphill but it is just a narrow, shallow depression in the ground and the dam (and the hole that I dug) is in this very large almost teardrop shaped hole near the foot of the hill. All total that 'hole' is maybe a meter in depth, two meters wind and probably four meters long if not slightly longer. The bore hole that I dug at the top was of course to look for water and I gotta say of all the places that I have dug around here that was probably the easiest digging that I have done. Although I dug as deep as I could with the post hole diggers I never hit flowing water. That is not to say that things were not wet in there and all the signs that water is near were there which was my main goal (to see what was going on with the water) so that was cool.
The main idea with that gulch is to see if I can get it to the point where it can hold water for the wildlife. Ideally I want to create a thriving little wetland there but even if I wind up with just a tiny pool of water that the critters can drink from that would be awesome. I am debating on just how much of the leaf matter and topsoil that I should remove from the bottom of it but I will probably at least get a good portion of it dug out just to build the dam with and the rest kind of depends on whether I think it is soaking up too much water or not. It might sound like a really big project but I am trying to create a puddle and not a pond so it should not be all that much effort nor take much time. If I get on a vein of water while I am digging that would be cool but I am thinking that the 'puddle' will easily stay full between a combination of rain and runoff water from the hill.
Anyway, my thinking of late keeps revolving around this idea of bolstering the wildlife and making some natural watering holes in some of the 'out of the way' places seems like a good idea. I have also begun thinking about making some bird houses as well as building some duck boxes (and brush piles) near the meadow in an effort to attract more birds and waterfowl. Since the coyotes are not too bad here (and there are not many other predators) the waterfowl could do really well given the right circumstances. The meadow does not always have water so that is a big consideration to make. I think that if I directed some runoff appropriately and dug a small pond for it to feed into that I can keep at least that one spot (the pond) holding water year round.
Alright, I think that is enough typing for one evening. It has been tricky staying on schedule and posting each day but so far so good and it sure beats having to edit super long posts or writing about things the day after they have happened. Yeah, the fatigued part sucks but I seem to sleep deeper after writing so it is not the worst trade off! I hope that everyone is doing well and has a nice day/night.
