Needham Road, Town Of Stockholm New York - Part 2

I was touring beautiful, rural Needham Road in the town of Stockholm, New York (see Part 1, yesterday's post). This farm looked large and prosperous:

The pigeons collected atop the silos and seemed to enjoy flying, taking off every now and then, apparently just for the sheer joy of it:

The Holsteins in the fields came up to the fence to watch me. They seemed healthy and friendly, both signs that they are receiving good care:

This animal had a comment to make:

Old farm equipment, off by the woods at the back of the field:

And a small pond in the pasture. In a normal year, this field would be covered in snow and the pond would be frozen. This winter got off to a slow start - not that I'm complaining:

Corn fields, stretching off into the distance with more farms just barely visible beyond them:

Hay fields and barbed wire fences:

An old farm house:

And a large barn with double silos:

But I'd come to the end of Needham Road, so I took one final picture of a stream, running through a hay field. This area is rural and scenic, and I hope it stays that way:

Needham Road, Town Of Stockholm New York - Part 1

I was coming home from Potsdam when I decided to turn onto Needham Road for a quick tour and a few photos. I started with this placid, friendly looking Hereford, who watched me from its home among the birch trees:

And right next to the Hereford, these three horses lounged comfortably:

I'd stopped at Martin's Market before, but there wasn't much going on this time of year in spite of the unseasonable weather. Nonetheless, I turned in for a better look:

This market is a sort of gigantic roadside vegetable stand in season:

And in the field right behind Martin's Market, the ground was still covered with squash of various kinds:

I continued on Needham Road, coming to Goodwin's Orchard:

There was an impressive stone wall, old maple trees, a small greenhouse and several outbuildings beside the farm house:

And on the other side of the house and barn were the apple trees, all fenced in to protect them from deer:


The next farm on Needham Road was Burkum & Son Holsteins. Behind the sign was an outdoor wood furnace and lots of firewood. I don't suppose they'd used much yet since our winter had (so far) been so warm:

There were barns, silos and, of course, Holsteins:

And farm fields all around, bordered by barbed wire and woodlands. There was lots more to see on Needham Road, which I'll post tomorrow:

Needham Road, West Stockholm New York - Part 2

I'd already passed a farm market, an orchard and a dairy farm on Needham Road. Then I saw this mobile home, high up on a windswept hill. I shivered just to imagine the cold winter winds they'd experience up there:

There were fields of corn stubble:

And woodlands:

And modern modular homes:

And more mobile homes:

A blue home with many additions:

And a green home which still had some mighty high snow banks along its driveway:

The road and my driving tour both ended at this forest filled with old fashioned maple syrup taps. There seemed to be hundreds of sap buckets hanging from the maple trees and, in a few cases, fallen to the ground. I turned onto Heath Road, thereby discovering another potential driving tour - but that will have to wait for another day, hopefully a day without any snow on the ground:

Needham Road, West Stockholm New York - Part 1

The snow seemed to be taking forever to melt even though the temperatures were beginning to warm. But the day was so lovely that I decided to take a driving tour of another local, rural road just to see what I could see - and to share it with you. I turned onto Needham Road at a sign for Martin's Farm Market:

I'd stopped at the market last autumn to photograph pumpkins but never went inside. I didn't this time either, but I don't suppose they had anything at this time of year anyway:

I proceeded northward on Needham road until I reached Goodwin's Orchard:

Goodwin's Orchard was a classic old farm house and collection of barns:

And just beyond, I passed their trees, all of them protected from deer by high fencing. A black Lab ran alongside me inside the fence. When I stopped to snap a photo, he stopped also, and wagged his tail charmingly. The photo of him did not turn out well enough to use, but he was a friendly pooch:

Another farm with lots of outbuildings:

And tractor, backhoe, pickup, feed bins and silos:

It wasn't until I'd passed most of the farm's buildings that I saw their sign, informing me that they raised Holsteins. There was more to see on Needham Road, so I drove on - and will present Part 2 tomorrow: