Laying a tarp on our grain bed - a BRUTAL Day on the Homestead!

Clearing land for the planting of ancient grains has been A LOT harder than I anticipated. It has also been incredibly time consuming. In this video I clear out a big 20m (65ft) long and 3m (10ft) wide section of my grain field I cleared out in my previous video linked below. This brings me one step closer to planting out my ancient grains and being able to provide healthy, nutritious food for my family and I.
Let's call this one "Clearing the grain field: Part 2"
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Once the land was cleared all the little bushes, and more importantly the really tough grass I was able to lay down a 70 micron black tarp to kill off and of the grass that may have survived. Laying down the tarp will also prevent and sprouting of new seeds that may have been activated with the turning of the soil to get the roots out.
The preparation of this grain field has been a lot of hard work, but incredibly rewarding. In this 20m X 3m section I will be able to get 2x food crops and 1x cover crop planted while I prepare the next section and move the tarp over. This will allow me to systematically increase the growing space over time - saving my body and muscles.
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[@tamakoa-homestead]

What was your toughest day on the homestead or farm that you can recall? I would love to hear your story 🌻

[@neutonrenda2303]

Great job and even better done with family. Can't wait for your build to start, I can only imagine how excited you must be.👍❤

[@tamakoa-homestead]

Yeah, I must say, doing things with family makes it a lot easier and memorable. I mean, it is amazing doing the work yourself, but having others there makes it even better. Thank you for all your support 🌻

[@mellaniejenkins4265]

Hi Craig, what a blessing this venture is for all of you. Enjoy every moment just luv watching all the videos keep going you making it happen for sure.

[@tamakoa-homestead]

Aw, thanks Mell, really appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment 💚 Can't wait to have to come visit sometime soon...must need to dust off those wellies though 😂

[@richarddiederichs5578]

Hi Craig, one step at a time, one day at a time. Consistency is the key. Just to say your mom is a real trooper... I am so enjoying your journey.

[@tamakoa-homestead]

Absolutely and thank you for the motivation 💚 you are so right and to just keep chilling away is all we can do and maintain a sense of humour along the way! My mom is, as you say, a real trooper. She can go for hours and the next day I could hardly move and she was completely fine 😁 the baby boomers are a group of people that (mostly) are not afraid of hard work and really understand that nothing comes easy. Hopefully we can help change that perception for future generations 💚

[@ronaldlucas5360]

The drone shot shows it all.

[@tamakoa-homestead]

It really does and I am so glad that the footage brought across the amount of hard work it took to get it to that point. That being said I am only about 1/3rd of the way so lots more back breaking work lies ahead...I am sure it will all be worth it in the end 🌻🌻🌻

[@Homegrownexplorer]

Awesome to have found your chanel, interested to see how your soil improves. You're in for a lekker journey. Best wishes from Hong Kong

[@tamakoa-homestead]

Oh wow, thank you so much Mitchell and thank you for following my journey from the other side of the world 💚 I am also super excited to see how my soul improves as I have some greatness planned for it. Just need to get through this back breaking phase first 😂

[@etiennelouw9244]

Good work, I am digging out Kikuya grass to expand my veggie patch, at 69 it's hard, but good. the rain in Cape town makes it worse to sift the soil. My suburban little homestead.

[@tamakoa-homestead]

Thank you, Etienne 🙏 it's back-breaking work, as I am sure you know, seeing that you are doing the same thing on your side. That being said it's incredibly rewarding and makes me feel alive. Way more than sitting on the couch or in front of my laptop! It sounds like you are on your way to making something great where you are and urban homesteading is incredible! I actually have another channel on urban sustainability called My Sustainability Journey, if you have not yet heard of it. I share lots of local tips and tricks of growing in urban spaces. Thanks for taking the time to leave me a comment and wish you nothing but success and abundant harvests 🌻🌻🌻

[@raymondverster1673]

Enjoying your journey.. But come on man we wanna see more vids...

[@tamakoa-homestead]

Haha, I'm keeping the suspense... Jokes. I would absolutely LOVE to create more content and share daily updates, but with my split life and full time job I only get to the homestead / farm on weekends and some weekends the kids keep me busy so I always try have 2 to 3 weeks of content as a backup for when I can't get there. Hopefully I get to spend more time there and create a lot more content over the December school holidays 🤞 Thank you so much for your support and for loving my content and journey so far. I really do appreciate you 🌻🌻🌻

[@raymondverster1673]

You Must plant some jerusalem artichokes...

[@tamakoa-homestead]

That is a SUPER suggestion and I actually have some of them that I ordered from Livingseeds that I need to get started so I will hopefully be able to divide up that plant in the near future 🤞🌻

[@rickr5927]

Does the neighbour or anyone in the area have a digger loader ?... they may be able to rip that land for you at an agreed price.. We used to do that when we still had the farm in Slanghoek/western cape.. you'll be surprised how much help you can get from the neighbours, at a small cost of course.. diesel, rent machine and labour.. saves a lot of work though ;-)

[@tamakoa-homestead]

Hey Rick, yeah, you are spot on! My back is taking a beating and I am actually talking to someone in the area that has a TLB that as you say, make an offer and pay for diesel and you get a huge amount done in very little time. I need it mainly to clear the fence lines as it's 1.5m high renosterbos which is a massive risk come fire season. I want to try clear 2m each side and then can some more clear inside where I want the veggie garden and the rest of this grain section. I planted it out today and it was absolutely awesome so keep an eye out for that one 🌻

[@rickr5927]

Nice smallholding.. am I mistaken to assume the neighbour's land is also for sale ?.. seem to remember seeing it as listed for sale.. 1.5 ha ?

[@tamakoa-homestead]

Thank you! Yeah I think it is 1.8HA which is enough to do everything we want to but also not waste any space. I know all the spots around me are sold, but I think there are still one or 2 left. I have a contact if you are wanting to find out more? 🌻

[@raymondverster1673]

Aito potatoe... Daai ou tannie kan werk!!!... Lol

[@tamakoa-homestead]

Sy kan, ja! Sy is 63 en werk asof sy n tiener is en sit my enige dag ore aan 😂 sy is mal oor bou projekte so ek is seker sy sal baie betrokke wees in the huis bou.

[@mechanics4all405]

you should by some electric fence and 20 piglets,they will clear easily,and fertalize groundmthen sell for orofit,work with nature

[@tamakoa-homestead]

Ah, man, if I could do that I 100% would! That would be the most natural and effective way of clearing spots, but right now I don't live there as there isn't a house on that land yet. I must say it's been quite the challenge balancing everything and what to do next as everything is a priority in my mind 😂 I decided grains because they are all drought tolerant and don't need me there all the time. I am sure once there is a little house in place that I will be able to get a lot more done 🌻🌻🌻