finder's creepers

tim found this rusted out, awesome bike frame in the woods.
and i don't know where this dolly came from, but hopefully she will scare the deer out of the fields while our electric fence is on the fritz....


also, if your wheelbarrow has a leak and can't seem to hold water, this farmer suggests a handy old trick to fix it: gum!

today was epic! we transplanted onions. our first few beds of crop are in the ground. and counting. we'll be back out there tomorrow, transplanting more and more.
empty the green house - fill the fields - feed the people... the season has begun!
pictures from the field, and a coop update to follow.

a floor to dance on

update on the coop: there's a floor! tomorrow should bring walls and this thing will really start to take shape.

we had a couple of visitors to the farm today: one of the board members, sarah, stopped by to help seed up flowers with tim. she's spent the last many years working within horticulture in NYC and recently within agriculture at stone barns. it was great to have her energy on the farm on this gray, rain-threatening day! daniel moon, who will be apprenticing along with hiedi and me this summer, also stopped by to check in.
this will surely be an exciting season! (as if it wasn't already exciting)

earth of a different color

i finished the floor of the chicken coop today... but i neglected to take a picture of it. so, check back tomorrow for the updated images.
i know how much we all love pictures, so here are some images from the Black Dirt Region, also known as Pine Island, NY.

i was in the area on saturday for lunch- at the warwick valley winery- and couldn't resist a drive around the farms of the area.
it took all of my might (and the restraint of a safety belt) to not run out into the fields and wiggle my toes in that rich, black, amazing soil.
for years, the main crop here has been onions. recent changes in taste and economy has expanded the harvest to various other crops, such as lettuce and radishes.

peas, please

today was momentous, indeed. tim, devin, creek and i put the first seeds of the season into the ground: sugar ann snap peas.

i'm headed out to Vernon, NJ for the holiday weekend. check back on monday. have a great weekend, all.

"12 hour days... in April?!?"

- words from devin's mouth as we climbed into the truck to head home this evening.
what a day! at about 730 this morning, devin came up from the basement, shirt covered in chicken feed, brow furrowed, shaking is head.

d: we're moving the girls
me: today?
d: now!

the 2 hours that followed were too intense to stop and photograph, but i'll do my best to sum it up. it seems the roosters, one rooster in particular, had pecked his final peck in the basement of 61A New Hamburg Rd., eagerly attacking the feed tray, sending feed everywhere.
we grabbed the two huge animal carriers we are borrowing from our neighbor, slugged them downstairs, and started grabbin' hens, roosters, and hay. once they were all in, tim loaded them into his truck and headed for the farm. devin + i stayed back to clean out the stinkyness that is a month and a half of chicken life in a basement... blech!

now that the ladies (plus a few unruley fellas) are on the farm, the need for a coop is evident. they are currently in a 'teenage' coop; safe from the elements and adjusting to fresh air, bugs, grass, sunshine, snow (it snowed today!), etc.

yesterday's disassembly energy was quickly converted to assembly energy. my archie brain and limited carpentry skills sure are coming in handy. who would have thought that converting to the world of farming would allow me my desired 'design-build' time?!

when the wheelbarrow saw horse didn't quite 'cut' it for the work i had to do today, i simply turned one over, loaded it up, headed to the room with the vice, and saws-all'ed away!

and that heating system we worked on yesterday... the system that has been tim's headache for months... still in the works. t + d are sleeping at the farm tonight, keeping watch over the thermometer to make sure those pepper + tomato babies stay warm. oiy veh.

brrrrrrrrrrrrr!

today i tried a couple different ways to stay warm despite all 35 of the degrees that arrived on the backs of 10-20mph wind gusts out of the WNW:

finish the rock edge for the perennial garden (from pile to style)


dismantle the manure spreader/trailer
"i (un)made this!"

though rewarding, these tasks did not 'warm' me up... fingers frozen, cheeks pink, i decided to go to the source. i finished my day helping tim rig up the vent ducting for the little green house's heating system.
hopefully it works... we need to ensure the warmth and safety of the precious, germinating baby tomatoes and peppers.


soooooo that's where warmth comes from!

bugs

the northeast got some RAIN today!

it was off and on at the farm (mostly on) so i broke out the full-suit rain gear and boots to work on the chicken coop and the rock edge around the perennial garden. i'll show you chicken coop pictures in a few more days. until then, check out these guys:



carpenter ants!
doing their job to contribute to the deconstruction of our manure-spreader-cum-chicken-coop.