What's Happening Around The Farm

The little bantam hens are only laying three or four eggs a day, but even that is more than I can eat. I've begun bringing eggs in for a friend at church each Sunday, which so far seems to be a perfect solution:

I still don't let the chickens outdoors, though I hope I can do so in the fall. Though our fox population seems down, I now have seedlings and new plants all over - and I remember when I first got the chickens and the little hens raided my garden, first eating all the tomatoes, then eating all the plants:

The two baby fantail pigeons are amazingly healthy and smart. They jump down from their nest to join the flock and explore, then jump back up and peep for their parents to come feed them:

Their nest is on a ledge, just above the food barrel and someone else's nest on the floor. The babies frequently jump down and get friendly with the bird on the floor nest. I expected a defensive reaction from the adult, but so far everything has been friendly. The babies hang out with the nesting pair on the floor, then socialize with the flock, then hop back up on their ledge and call to be fed:

When I first moved here, there was a woven wire fence stretching halfway across the middle of the south field. It was dilapidated and of no good use, so I began removing a couple of sections each summer. This year there were only two left, but I hadn't had the energy to dismantle them. Then one day I was cleaning out the barn and saw there were only two sections of fence, so I drove the tractor over there:


Instead of the slow and careful dismantling I did previously, this time I used the tractor bucket to pull the fence and posts up out of the ground:

I got them all firmly held in place on the bucket and drove them out the gate and around by my work area:


I carefully removed the fence from the posts, then folded up the wire into two sections, put them in empty feed bags and dropped them in the trash bins. Now that awful, useless and potentially hazardous section of fence is gone forever:

The little garden I made where I'd removed most a giant stump was looking hopeless, but it improved a lot as the Yarrow and Chives began to grow. There appears to be some Globe Thistle coming along, and the Heliopsis, Delphinium and Veronica I bought at end-of-season sales are helping make my little garden look like it might work:

The stretch of Sunflowers is growing so fast that any photo I take is obsolete in a couple of days. Many of the plants along the fence are already over four feet tall. There are much smaller seedlings in the front of the strip, but they get the most sun and are therefore still likely to do well as the summer progresses:

And then one day, the first Daylily bloomed. I couldn't remember the variety name, so I looked up my last year's order. It is called "Chicago Arnie's Choice" and it appears as if there will be a lot of them. By the way, I've been calling them Day Lilies (two words), but it appears as if the correct name is Daylily (one word). I will try to remember to use the right word in the future:

What is this mess, you may ask. It's the northeast corner of the barn, where the traffic cones I used to use when the cattle crossed the road are nestled in giant Burdock and Ragweed. It's a good thing I don't have allergies:

Days Mill Road, Hopkinton NY - Part 1

Days Mill Road is nearby, woodsy, rural and beautiful. I like to drive it every so often just because I enjoy the scenery. It has mysterious, gated lanes which lead back into the woods and fields:

Another gated lane, this one appearing to have a residence back there, almost out of sight:

I passed a tiny brook, dappled with sunlight as it burbled through the rocks and bends:

Many of the homes, like this one, were nearly hidden behind trees. It made it hard to get photos but I'm sure it makes it a pleasant place to live:

There were small clearings alongside the road, inspiring me to think there were once homes or cabins there:

And stretches of tall Red Pines:

This small barn was nearly smothered in young trees and the afternoon sun made it difficult to photograph. I wanted to take the picture from the other end, where the door was, but that would have required pointing the camera directly into the sun:

A comfortable country home with outbuildings, patios and screened porches. This patio had a large dog chained on it who wagged his tail at me as I stopped along the road:

A large hay field which stretched way back to the forest in the distance:

A small barn with a basketball hoop:

And a house to match:

A shed with firewood and cedar fence posts, next to a stone retaining wall. There still was more to see on Days Mill Road and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Summer In Full Swing

The Snowball bushes were at their peak, blooming extravagantly and, I suspected, nearing the end of their season. So I collected some branches and put them in a vase. I'd intended to bring them to church, but they were so top heavy that I gave up and left them at home. At least I got to enjoy them:

And speaking of flowers, this early morning shot was taken looking over the tops of the Rugosa Roses, out into the pasture. You can barely see some cattle out in the field. They were coming in for some morning grain:

It hasn't all been good news. My Bush Cherry died over the winter. I gave it plenty of time to revive, but it was dead, dead, dead:

I'd sunk cedar fence posts in the ground to use as a framework from which to hang bird netting last year, so I hooked a chain to each one, and tried lifting them out of the ground with the tractor bucket:

To my surprise, they slipped right out of the earth:

Then I used a weed-whacker to clear the long grass so I could see, and a chainsaw to cut off the bush at ground level. I tried to cut it low enough so I could mow there, but not so low I'd ruin the chainsaw blade:

When I was done, I had a neat patch of lawn:

And right next to the Bush Cherry was the plum tree which bears fruit every year. It's doing well again this year, though the other plum tree had no fruit which I could find:

The fantail pigeons seem happy and healthy:

And have an elaborate social structure:

When I top off their food and water each night, they congregate at the feeders and waterer with great excitement:

The old-fashioned rose which I rescued is doing well in spite of the fungal damage from last summer:

County Route 47 In The Town Of Stockholm, New York - Part 1

I was on my way from the feed store to the village of Potsdam when I decided to take a detour and snap some pictures. I turned onto County Route 47 in Stockholm and passed this tractor, apparently used in a firewood and/or fence post cutting operation. The marked trees look to be small Eastern White Cedar, so I'm guessing they were cutting fence posts:

I crossed over the west branch of the St. Regis River. You can see an island in the river right there:

This small, well kept barn didn't seem to have any animals using it at the moment:

And there were rolling corn and hay fields, surrounded by woodlands:

An old farm house, modernized and winterized:

A fence post operation. Eastern White Cedar grows abundantly around here and some farmers use their woodlots to produce fence posts:

This roadside stand appeared to be in the middle of a renovation:

A series of barns and additions, with a green shingled well:

A comfortable looking farm house:

Two outbuildings, one without sides:

Another farm house with a well:

This old building looked as if it might have been someone's tiny house once upon a time, but I couldn't tell. It was fascinating. But there was yet much more to see on Route 47, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: