Lessons Learned!

After a long weekend of tractor time, spreading fertilizer and seed, and juggling way too many little projects, we came away with a few valuable (and sometimes hilarious) lessons. Sharing here in case it saves you some trouble—or at least gives you a laugh.

1. Don’t stick your hand in the root rake.
Seems obvious, right? But when you’re clearing muck out of a tractor rake, you might think “Oh, my wrist is small enough to fit between the tines.” Spoiler: you’ll probably get stuck. And yes, you can wiggle free—once you dig out all the sticks and rock—but it’s not an experience you want to repeat.

2. Pay attention to your spreader.
When pulling a spreader behind a side-by-side, you’ll find yourself leaning out to hear the sound of pellets spraying. If you don’t hear that sound and you know the feeder isn’t empty, the pellets are probably jammed. Quick tip: jiggle the lever back and forth. Don’t open it wider unless you’re ready to dump the whole load in 20 seconds flat.

3. Know where your septic tank is.
We thought we knew. We did not. Which is how we managed to pull the septic tank cap right off with the root rake—while carefully avoiding the area we thought it was in. Oops.

4. You can’t catch a duck.
If a duck makes a break for it through a parking lot, let it go. It will outrun you every time. And for goodness’ sake, don’t leave your kid with strangers while you sprint after the bird (luckily, neither the duck nor the child in this story was actually ours).

5. Check your cup before you sip.
Freshly graded land + zero rain = dust everywhere. Don’t assume your water is just water. That surprise is not a fun one.

6. Look before you spray.
Driveway weed killer seems simple enough, until the sprayer heads are pointed the wrong direction. Let’s just say… learn from our mistake.

7. Don’t get too attached to pumpkins.
Deer love pumpkins. But apparently, they only eat them once they’ve grown big enough for you to get excited.

8. Patience and humor are must-haves.
Things will go wrong. Projects won’t go as planned. But if you can laugh about it, the work is a whole lot easier.