Farm Project #1 Opening Up

 Farm Project #1: Opening Up

This year was the latest date that I made my first visit to the farm to open up after its winter hibernation.  The job usually goes rather smoothly, but there are a lot of things that can be a problem.  I began by assessing the annual invasion of Asian Beetles, that look like little ladybugs, but are looking for caves to hibernate in, and your hibernating farmhouse looks near enough to a cave for them.  I spray all around the openings and the lower lip of siding in the fall and it dissuades many of them.  However, they can crawl through any opening, even the tiny slots in vented soffit, so there are always some.  They come in and die.  I don't call that hibernating,  First job is to vacuum all of them up.  They are mostly in the basement around the door and in the slots below windows on all floors.  They were not too bad this year.

Bringing up the water is paramount because the toilets are needed.  When I come alone for a few days like this year, I can slowly and carefully take the hose which drained the water heater off and stow it, close the valve, close the pressure-tank valve, and put the sand filter back on.  Moving next to the washer and dryer, the feed hoses need to be put back securely to the washer or there will be a mess.  I had a little job to do on the washer, so I delayed this step, as well as firing up the well pump for a day so I could get it done.

The downstairs bathroom needs only to have the little drain valve emerging from the wall beneath the toilet closed again.  This is a remnant from the old plumbing in the wall when we upgraded the shower stall.  It is used only once a year, draining a low spot inside the wall which would freeze and break otherwise.

Visual inspection of sinks downstairs and up, as well as toilets is only needed from here on out.  

I had some trouble with the sand filter.  The element is completely full and I need to get another, so I screwed the bowl on without one for the time being.  

It was raining when I arrived and a heat wave came in.  I was busy setting up and running air conditioners and dehumidifiers and there is still a sheen on the floor downstairs.  I don't like that and set up fans and such to remove as much as I can.  It is a fight.  Finally got the extras done and fired up the water, flushed and cleaned the toilets.  The kitchen sink had grit in the spigot.  

We cover the French doors to the decks with tarps, and these have to be removed and stowed.  I also did an initial weeding, just cursory, of the gardens, getting the big and obvious ones gone.  A little birch in the yard snapped about 12-feet up and will have to be dealt with.  House opened and operational, time to get at little jobs that always need doing.