A Goodbye to a Good Trailer

We say Goodbye to our horse trailer that brought Gene's horses to the farm, and adopted our mustangs, Blackfoot and Blossom.  A total of 1500 miles logged on a $15,000 machine.  Not much bang for the buck.   Now, if we need horse transport, we'll have to hire it.
These are photos bid Adieu.

And away they go!  Looking good...Best wishes to the new owners.  We hope they make good use of it too!

Renovation: Studio Space

One of several projects this summer - the studio at The Artist Colony - was newly renovated - formerly a garage - the ceiling were lined with metal roofing for a clean finish.

This is a newly laid blue stone/slate entry.

Rainbows

working on the new goat pasture - a rainbow appeared at the end of the day!

Second Cutting

The last of this season's hay - "2nd cutting"  - softest greenest hay - used to feed cattle a burst of nutrition- also used to maintain the diet of an older horse.  Our eldest horses - first Smokey Boots into  her 30s.  Now June Royal,  is showing the later signs of aging.

The gray on her face - the thin body - she's holding her weight pretty, but the ribs are starting to show.  She gets extra senior feed.  June, susceptible to laminitis from too much grass - from pastures plush and large - can stay on pasture all the time now.  In the winter, it is the 2nd cutting that will keep her in good stead.

Restoration Project: Columns

Columns reproduced

to restore an old house.

 Gene's barn woodshop is a large open space that accomodates work on larger projects.

The Amish Way of Making Hay

Time is set back at the farm.  The setting is some time in the 1950s.  For the Amish, it may be back in the pioneer days.  Hay is a difficult undertaking, and for the Amish, horses provide "horsepower", not tractors.

they work together for many of their undertakings - "manpower"

They gather the hay and haul it like this - "horsepower"

than bring it into the barn  - but first it is baled by a stationary setup using a small gas powered motor for baling.

we use this 30 h.p. New Holland tractor just for the tedding and row making parts of the job.

This is the cutter, the initial part of the job.

SOW - Pigs not Pork

I think these faces are lovable and HOPE people consider less pork and more pigs as pets, they are cute and useful compost eaters and makers for the backyard gardener.  Enjoy the photos, taken from local farmers as they humanely raise pig for pork - raising animals in a way that makes them feel special - killing them as painlessly as possible - these are what we can hope for our animal brethren.  Here one is napping in the sun, seemingly quite content!

as you may know already, pigs like the forest floor as a home and forage spot.

Dirt Bike Derby

Having a little fun on the farm

in between chores

to Celebrate Unadilla MX National Race Weekend

Hay Time!

For us, the first hay is a Godsend - because the weather plays the ultimate role in achieving great horse hay...

First it is late, we are ready to bale today after much summer rain - since spring went without rain this year - the rain Gods sent it to us later.

It is July 12th - the timothy headed out 2 weeks ago - approximately - an is going to seed - see photo.

so what you want ideally is when that is just nice and full and green - newly formed.

however the alfalfa is in good stead.

Gene is working the tedder - which takes the hay cut the day before  - spins it outward to fluff it - to dry in a single layer - sun and wind acts to preserve it - dried to perfection.  Gene will typically ted twice the 2nd day - once the day we bale - today - and he will rake it before baling it.   The rake pulls the hay into a row for the baler to swallow easily and put out square bales.  Since the ground was wet on Day one - he also raked it afterwards to dry the ground out underneath.

Gene is dressed with a hoodie to protect himself from all the bugs that fly into him and bite in the process of messing with tall grasses.

and we do it all for these beautiful horses and customer's animals, to keep them healthy in the winter months.  Hay is the ultimate in preserved foods...

Little Pink Houses For You And Me

a small barn-like structure like is a nice design for a small house - one in which Gene and I will live in our "retirement years" - he's just the guy to build it!  I think this tiny house movement makes so much sense - except for the loft sleeping area - they can be designed with a few rooms - one for sleeping - and still fall into the category of small houses.

The NJ beach town of Ocean Grove has the tiniest historic houses - this is a photo of one of the tents in town.

The tents from FDF days on our farm for four years were 522 sq feet had 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom - ample room for living comfortably!

Tomato stakes and other garden accessories

the first 300 tomato stakes lasted over 15 years, made of locust they are strong enough to hold 8 foot tomato laden vines - and get pounded in annually...  after years of use and weather damage, they may break below the soil, being hard to remove out of the ground...we have new ones this year and sold a few hundred, as well.

storm fallen trees get cut into fence posts on the wood mixer, with scrap made into tomato stakes.

portable pea and bean trellis.

Masonry

Brick work involved removing pounds of dirt and resetting old brick - just as good if not better than the original foundation.

Restoration 2015

.........................................screen door needing some difficult repairs

mason work

.....................................spindles made from douglas fir

 .......................................put together, looks just like the first time

The Hay Season

as we approach another hay season, what it means to us:
waiting until July
getting equipment ready
buying baling twine
clearing old hay and sweeping out the barn
watching the weather again and again
mowing the perimeter of the hay field
mowing the hay field
teding the hay
raking the hay
baling the hay
working in 80 degree weather directly in the sun
working a minimum of 3 days to get each batch
heavy lifting, lots of it, to stack  hay
working inside a hot barn
weeding out any bales not dry enough to store
having equipment fails and scrambling to fix them
having lots of green dry nutritious hay for horses and farm animals

when hay is done well it is a rare commodity, Gene does it really well! Thanks Gene...

Wood shop Items for Sale

LATHE - GRIZZLY, like new - $650
Delta Scroll Saw - 18 in Variable Speed - $250
Joiner - 11 in - Navy Yard - $600

The Humane MouseTrap

place a ramp which leads to the top of the this paint bucket.  The mouse walks up it - onto the beer can which has peanut butter smeared on it - and it rolls - like a log in water - tossing the mouse into the bucket.  Than you can safely release the mouse back into the wild at least 100 feet away from the house.

It has been such a cold winter, and the mice are getting past our cats who usually guard the house from vermin.  This trap caught the mice that thought they would spend the winter indoors.  It works well!

Woodshop

 the woodshop is useful for farm projects and repairs...

and allows Gene to showcase his creativity!

Woodshop Year in Review 2014

Projects from the woodshop in 2014:
pasture doors
custom TV console for client

saw horses

restored barn windows after storm
catering display for client
tomato stakes and garden markers
plumbing box for winter protection of barn water supply
cut out PVC forms for client
bamboo holders
cut rafters for client
started bowl on lathe 

the fantastic woodshop invites creativity, but Gene remarks "it is difficult to get the time needed for creative projects when making hay, mucking, repairs and maintenance, and other farm chores are constantly calling his name. "  To add to his workload, we had a storm that downed at least 50 trees on the farm and cleanup is ongoing.  A few downed maple and locust trees may be used in the woodshop, someday...