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...

Pens

Gene built a pen gate for neighboring pig pen.

This is the gate he built for our goat pen in the dairy barn.

Storm Damage Recovery

The storm that happened in UpState NY the summer of 2014, July 3rd, was called a straight line wind - not a tornado.

According to the NWS: "A SERIES OF DOWNBURSTS PRODUCED STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE ... in CENTRAL NEW YORK DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS ON JULY 3 2014. THE DAMAGE FROM THESE DOWNBURSTS WAS DISCONTINUOUS...BUT SPANNED A TOTAL PATH LENGTH OF 30 MILES FROM WEST TO EAST. WHILE THE DAMAGE PATH WAS SPORADIC...THERE WERE POCKETS OF INTENSE DAMAGE. THE DAMAGE WAS MOSTLY FROM SNAPPED AND UPROOTED TREES ALONG THE DURATION OF THE PATH." We have upwards, or should I say sideways, of over 50 trees like this on the farm. Here are some photos - after the snowfall - we still have not recovered all the downed trees.   It took out a bridge, pasture fencing, and destroyed an outdoor shower used for our agritourism campsite. Recovery is slow... Gene is in the process of gathering the trees, and the stumps  - use of a chainsaw and Heavy Equipment requires skill.  I give loggers alot of credit for the dangerous work they do.  We know someone who had a tree fall on them during logging.  Luckily he survived. There were no injuries reported during this storm.