We have Water!

Queen of the water!

Since we bought the land we have been trying to get water out there so that we could water animals, plants, and ourselves. This has also turned out to be one of the most difficult projects that we have undertaken so far. 

Here is the deal. In order to get a well dug you have to have a well permit, which means that you have to have the health department come out and inspect your proposed site. The requirements are pretty simple; 25' from all borders, 50' from all structures, and 100' from septic. Where we wanted to have the well met all those requirements. So after spending an afternoon finding the right department i was able to get all the documents signed and payed for and we were on our way. That was back in June. Once you have the permit the well guy can drill after you show them where you want it.

The Well with power poll in background, the well is actually the large white PVC pipe behind the blue tank. The blue tank is what gives the pressure (i think)

Then there is the electric side of things. You can not just say I want power on my land, so i can plug things in. That is not a good enough reason. you have to have a need, for instance a light pole, an electric fence, or a well pump. We wanted to have power before the pump was installed so it could be tested immediately and we could be done with the whole thing. So our trusty electrician took out a permit for an electric fence. The inspector being the great guy he was, said he needed to see an electric fence and failed the permit on a few minor details. So on the second attempt we made a small fenced in area and electrified it. By small i mean something that was like 7' x 8'. The inspector didn't like that either. It seems that maybe the small area made him a little angry, so again he failed us on some small details of the code. Things like the electric fence needed to be labeled electric fence. So after that we decided to wait until we had the well dug. I put in a call to the inspector and he said that now that we had the well i had to bury the electric from the well to power poll. So i had to dig the ditch which was 18" deep and 10' long. 18" doesn't sound that deep, but it is deep, it was past my knees and took me a few hours in 100 degree weather to dig. Again i thanked the good L-rd that we have sandy soil. After all that we again tried and failed on some more minor issues it seems now that the inspector is out to get us. Hopefully with a few more small corrections he will finally be appeased, stay tuned.

But then today the girls and I went out to the land to escape a baby shower at the house for one of friends. When we got out there the meter was in the power pole and the well was working! I don't know if duke power got tired of waiting on the county or what, but we now have power and water. Eat that inspector...haha 

a little turtle we found, anyone know what kind it is?

While we were out there we tested the water pressure, swang on the big tree swing, hammocked a little, check out buckwheat crop and went on a little nature hike.

Some time in Naomi's favorite climbing tree.

Buckwheat in full bloom

Now that we have water next on the list is the outhouse. Don't worry it will be kid friendly. We also have located some roofing for the picnic shelter. By the time the Farm Day rolls around we will be ready for everyone to have a good time. We are planning to have Open Farm Day the weekend of September 25 and 26 with camping, farm work, kids activities and much more.

If you haven't already done it please make sure to become a fan of our farm facebook page. We will be sending out more information about the farm day through the facebook fan page. If you are opposed to facebook send up your email, click here so we can add you to the info list. Click here to join Facebook page Farm Page