The Garden Hit Its Stride

August pushed the garden into overdrive—tomatoes nonstop (I wish), peppers everywhere, and herbs acting like they owned the place inside the kitchen. The pumpkin plants took over the entire area and into the flowers and lawn.

  • Need different stratgey next year for tomatoes.
  • Two beds got a full reset with compost and fresh seed.
  • Note to future me: install drip + mulch before the first heatwave.
  • Lots of sunflowers all over

Firewood Shed Build

I stopped treating firewood like traveling art installations and built a proper shed. Simple on purpose: sturdy posts, slatted sides for airflow, open front, and a gravel base over fabric so it drains clean.

  • Sized for a season-plus buffer.
  • Geotextile + crusher run to kill mud and weeds.
  • Slats for airflow; roof pitch just enough to shed snow.
  • Built over a couple weekends, with a few late evenings to finish.

Loading it felt weirdly satisfying—stacked rows, dry splits, and enough space left to avoid the February panic. A gutter and a barrel are on the list so rainwater lands where it helps, not where it makes ruts.

New Workhorse: Bobcat CT2025

Pulled the trigger on a CT2025. It will be paying rent: leveling the shed pad, moving pallets of stone, hauling brush to the burn pile, and keeping the driveway honest. The surprise MVP has been the forks; once you have forks, everything becomes “pallet-izable.”

  • Attachments in order of actual use: forks, bucket, then grapple.
  • Keep loads low, go slow on slopes, and don’t outsmart gravity.
  • Grease early and often; give pins, hoses, and quick-connects a quick look before you start.

I’ve been using the grapple to clean up the edge of the woods—storms left pockets of branches, small logs, and brush. Ten minutes with the tractor beats an hour of dragging by hand.

Pets on Patrol

The dog took deer-deterrent duty seriously, posting up near the garden fence like it was a day job with benefits. The cats rotated between “foreman” and “quality control,” usually napping on warm lumber and judging my cuts from the workbench. Morale team, but with opinions.

Driveway & Yard Touch-Ups

With the tractor in play, the driveway will finally got some attention—light passes to knock down the washboards and pull material back from the edges. I’m saving a heavier regrade for a dry stretch, then a clean top-off before the ground locks up. Around the yard, I cut back beds, staged the last stacks by the shed, and started sketching where next spring’s beds and paths should go.

Lessons I Don’t Want to Relearn

  • Set irrigation before the heat hits; not after.
  • Pest netting is cheaper than losing a bed to critters.
  • Build for airflow and drainage; wood dries faster, mud behaves better.
  • Forks make every project easier; the grapple makes cleanup not suck.
  • Slow is faster. Especially with a tractor.

What’s Next

  • Garden: finish cleanup, top off compost, tuck garlic in if the ground holds.
  • Shed: add the gutter and a rain barrel; lay a small apron at the entrance.
  • Tractor: box blade passes on the driveway and a quick grease before the real cold.
  • House: stack the last half-cord and call it ready.

Why This Season Felt Good

It wasn’t perfect. A couple beds got hammered, and I still ended up doing some things later than planned. But the big pieces clicked: a tidy wood supply, a garden that pulled its weight, and a machine that turned heavy work into normal work. That’s a win.