My Day-to-Day

I'm writing up something for the next WWOOFer at Salt Hollow, and thought you all might like to know what I do every day here. I'll just paste in what I wrote to the next WWOFer.

The day-to-day WWOOFing responsibilities at Salt Hollow are mostly in the morning and evening. They consist of watering, milking/feeding, and dog-walking. Other tasks are outlined in the WWOOF book, and as needed, projects and other work will come from Jini/Peter.

Morning

Feed Lucy (dog) in the morning. She gets a half a scoop of kibble, and gravy if there is something meat-based in the fridge that needs to be used up.

Watering should happen around or before 8 am every day. This climate is much hotter than I am accustomed to, and the sun starts early. If you leave water on the leaves of the plants when it is hot, the leaves are likely to be sunburned! Watering when the soil is warmed will cause much of the water to be lost to evaporation. It  is important to water early.

Water all vegetable beds in the upper and lower garden. Water the Wooly Mammoths (vertical gardens by the River Birch tree/beehives. Water the plants in the Nursery, in the greenhouse, and the pots outside the greenhouse and firepit seating. Often it is warm enough by now to open the greenhouse so it doesn’t get too hot. Open the window on the far side for some ventilation. Until drip irrigation is installed in the planters in front of the Dog Room, you must also water these plants. Water the plants in the front of the house in planter pots, and the roses in front of the North Quarters. Keep a careful eye out for struggling plants, and give them some extra water as needed.

Milking and feeding should be done by 9 am. Ask for a milking demonstration so you know what you will need to do. The compost goes out in the morning sometime to the chickens so now’s a good time to bring it. While you are at the milking station, feed the goats, chickens, and cats. Check the sink in the goat pen to ensure that it is full every morning. Keep current with Jini on how much to feed the goats and chickens. Currently, we feed the goats one flake of alfalfa and one flake of grass hay morning and night along with a half a scoop of goat feed. Milk before you feed the goats to ensure that the milking goats are hungry enough to keep eating while you milk them. The chickens get a scoop of feed, or down to a half a scoop if they have plenty of compost to eat. If the chickens leave a bunch of feed on the ground, you can decrease slightly so it doesn’t go to waste. The cats get a full bowl morning and night. Once you return and filter the milk, feed the birds in the aviary, the chicks in the chicken tractor, and refill the birdfeeders as needed. Make sure everybody has plenty of water, and that the aviary has fresh water daily.

Afternoon

Lucy prefers to be walked twice a day. Afternoon is a great time to accomplish at least one of these. She likes to walk in the vineyard across the street, and I let her off her leash. She returns to you if you keep on calling her periodically, but she will not come to you if she has found something to chase. Be patient with her and she comes back to you. Leash her before crossing the street back to the house. Walk her on the leash anywhere else if you like. It’s a good excuse to do some exploring. The Black Bart Trail loop is a good 5 mile jaunt if you are up for a haul. Beautiful too.

Evening

In the evening, water sometime around or after 7:00. By then the sun has cooled down and it’s time to water and close the greenhouse. Water the same spots as in the morning. Milk the goats and feed by 9 pm. Check for eggs in the evening in both the roosting rooms off the chicken coop. Feed Lucy before dinner.