Early Season Chores Around the Farm
We’re expecting a mix of sun and clouds in Bedford, New York today with temperatures in the mid-40s - perfect weather for continuing our outdoor work and pre-spring chores.
The crew is busy with many projects, including raking the garden beds, pruning various trees, and blowing all the dead grass and leftover leaves. In the woodland, they are moving cut trees closer to the carriage road, so they can be hauled to our big compost pile in the back field. And in the outbuildings, spring cleaning has begun - windows are getting cleaned inside and out.
It’s a strong start… to a refreshing season ahead. Enjoy these photos.
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- Over the last few weeks, the crew has been able to get many of the outdoor chores done around the farm. Here comes Chhiring in our new our Kubota M4-071 tractor. He’s transporting wood chips to various areas of the middle field. This is best done when the ground is still frozen, so the wight of the tractor does not create big ruts in the soil. My tractors get lots of use at the farm for pulling or pushing agricultural machinery or trailers, for plowing, transporting mulch and compost, and so much more.
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- As Chhiring drops piles of wood chips, Pasang spreads them over the area with a rake. These wood chips will degrade over time adding nutrients to the soil.
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- Here, Pasang, who is a very experienced tree expert, prunes some of the dead branches from this old hickory tree in the run-in field. As he is working, Domi watches from the ground to make sure Pasang works safely and to help get the tree limb down once it is cut.
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- Pasang uses a STILH chainsaw specially made for using up in trees – it is lightweight and well-balanced for effectively pruning, trimming, and shaping high above the ground. Pasang is also wearing all the necessary equipment, including a harness, to keep him completely safe during the job.
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- All the cut branches are gathered and placed on the side of the carriage road. They will all be picked up later chipped for top dressing.
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- Potholes are formed when precipitation seeps into the pavement causing it to expand and contract, and ultimately crack with freezing and thawing. Traffic causes further damage. During the coldest part of the winter, gravel roads at my farm were covered with compacted snow which turned to ice. When all that ice melted, many potholes formed on the road surface.
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- To repair those potholes, we keep a supply of pea gravel on hand. Here’s Fernando scooping some gravel into one of those potholes.
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- Next, Fernando tamps down the gravel. A tamp, also called a tamper, is a tool used to compact granular matter such as crushed stone, dirt, sand, or cinders.
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- The flat, heavy head of the tamper works well at compacting the gravel into the pothole and leveling the ground.
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- Down at the stable, Pete uses an aluminum grading rake to level the gravel over the carriage road.
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- On this day, the outdoor grounds crew is moving the big, heavy logs in the woodland. These ash trees were cut down last year because of a great infestation of Emerald Ash Borer disease that has killed many ash trees in the region.
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- Domi stops to smile for the camera before he chains up this giant tree.
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- Here’s Brian in the linden tree allee outside my stable. He’s raking old, dead growth from last season’s plants and weeding around any new growth. He’s using a soft rake so as not to damage any of the perennials or the bulbs in the bed – many are already starting to emerge.
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- In the stable office, Carlos cleans all the windows and doors. This is an interior glass door connecting one of the offices to the front vestibule.
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- Carlos cleans every windowpane thoroughly – it is so nice to get a head start on our spring cleaning tasks.
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- Some individuals are very lucky to never get a reaction from poison ivy. Pete is one of them. Here he is pulling down some of the dormant poison ivy vines from the trees. Use caution when doing this – even in the winter when the plants are dormant, they are still toxic!
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- Poison ivy is a perennial plant that grows back from the roots and often spreads by underground runners. Pete pulls the vines off the trees and then pulls the roots from the ground.
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- Near one of the old stone walls, Fernando blows the old leaves leftover from last fall. He is using one of our STIHL backpack blowers. We’ve been using STIHL’s blowers for years here at my farm. These blowers are powerful and fuel-efficient. The gasoline-powered engines provide enough rugged power to tackle heavy debris while delivering much lower emissions.
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- The area looks so much better after a thorough leaf blowing.
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- Here are Pasang, Chhiring, and Domi after a long day’s work. There’s always lots to do on a working farm to keep everything in excellent condition.
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- And look, one of the first crocus flowers of spring. It won’t be long now – soon we’ll have so many flowers blooming around the farm. I can’t wait.
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