Working on the Farm

It's that time of the year again, when I go through things on the farm and see what needs repairs and what needs to be replaced. It can be quite an undertaking.

In the garden I've been taking out all the old plants and prepping the soil for planting, which needs to be done very soon.

I've also been sweeping out the barn and washing down the floors and stalls. I usually use a bleach and water mixture for cleaning those areas to be sure any germs that may have bedded down for the winter are cleaned out. If the paint is starting to look rough then me and my brother get together over the weekend and do some repainting. Luckily, this year the weather didn't affect it too much so we're good on that front.

I do have some farm animal supplies that are going to have to be replaced. Some of the calf feeders are looking a little worse for wear and we definitely need those. I'm also going to be investing in some feed buckets that are easier to mount in the barn stalls.

Needless to say, I am enjoying this warmer weather and I'm thankful for the time to be able to get all of these things done up.

How to Start a Fire in a Wood Stove

If you are new to using a wood stove it can be tricky when it comes to starting a fire in one. But with a little knowledge and some patience, you can accomplish this task easily. 

Materials:

• Newspaper
• Cardboard in 2 inch strips
• Kindling
• Small pieces of firewood - 2 inch diameter or less
• Matches

Start with 5 pieces of your newspaper. Separate these pieces, crunch them up and lay them in the bottom of your wood stove's firebox near the door. Now take a couple of a pieces of your 2 inch cardboard strips and lay them over the newspaper. You will now want to place a bit of your kindling on top of your newspaper and cardboard. Now take one or two pieces of your firewood and stack them on top. 

Locate and open your stove's vent all the way. Now start your fire. I light the newspaper and cardboard first. Once your firewood has caught on fire and burned for a couple of minutes you can add a piece or two more of firewood. Take a fire poker and carefully turn the embers and burning wood in the stove before adding your larger pieces of wood. Allow your wood stove's vents to stay open until the larger pieces of wood are ignited well. Now you can adjust the vents to your desired heat output of the stove.

Wood stoves work best when they are used in cold weather and for longer than 1 hour. The stat that I found said 32 degrees and below.