The Amish Forest - Part 1

There is an Amish family just down the gravel road from me. They have carved their farm out of the forest and built all the buildings. The husband trims my horses' hooves and one day I asked him if he owned the forest across the road from his house because there was an attractive dirt lane going into it which I'd like to walk with the dogs. He said he did not, but gave me the phone number of the man who did. I called and got permission to walk the lane, and one morning I did so. I parked my car across from the Amish farm:

And entered the forest with my very excited dogs:

All along the edge of the lane were blackberries in full bloom. There will be some good eating this summer by the looks of things:

And underfoot were hundreds of wild strawberries, fully ripe:

Ovenbirds, Chickadees and Wood Thrushes filled the air with their songs, and Ravens croaked warnings as they flew overhead to check out the intruder:

Most of the forest at that point was pine, and some of the trees were numbered. I later learned that the numbered trees would soon be cut for telephone poles:

 I learned from another neighbor that these pines had been planted many decades ago on land that had been depleted by too many years of potato farming:

I heard and saw the owner up ahead as we approached, so I put the dogs on leashes. I got to meet the man, who was mowing his lawn when we arrived. His cottage in the forest has no electricity and was built on an old foundation, probably the home site of the former potato farmers' house:

We talked for a while and the dogs ran and played. He told me what to expect from the dirt lane as I continued, so I soon went on my way. Out behind his cottage he'd planted several fruit trees, with protection against marauding deer:

We continued on the dirt lane, but it was seldom traveled beyond the house, so was less obvious. The owner had said that there were lots of coyotes, enough so that they followed hunters out of the woods with their deer carcasses. He also said there had been quite a number of black bears, though they had not caused any trouble:

All in all, it was a pleasant walk in a beautiful forest:

And the dogs were happy, having lots of fun. We took a side trail for a short distance, but soon turned back toward our original dirt lane, which the owner had said would take us back to the gravel road. Our walk was not over yet, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Scenes From The House And Farm

We arrived back at the farm early on Sunday afternoon and all looked well:

I've collected the weekend's farm photos into one post, so they represent more than one day. The dogs are always happy to be out in their backyard run:

Wally, who had such a grand time on Sunday morning, appeared to have had a stroke (or something) on Monday morning. But he rallied and appeared to be making a comeback. Nevertheless, knowing his old age and declining vigor, I wanted a couple of photos of him to celebrate what would turn out to be his last trip up to the farm. I called him outside and snapped this photo while Madeline stood in the background:

I took a walking tour of the yard. The apple trees didn't appear to be very active yet:

Until, that is, I looked more closely:

The pear tree was coming to life as well:

The daffodils were in bloom, the birds were singing and the world looked like a glorious place:

I used my new water hydrant to water the newly planted fruit tree saplings:

And then fired up the new riding mower and got to work on the lawn before it turned into a hay field:

The dogs were happy in their yard as long as they could see me:

And they were happy in bed - except, of course, for Winky and Seamus who slept on the floor:

The weather was nothing short of glorious and I decided to do something fun to celebrate springtime. But I'll post more about that tomorrow:

Part 2 - St. Lawrence Nursery

I continued walking the grounds of St. Lawrence Nursery and found friendly barn cats here, there and everywhere:

There were free range chickens, safely confined in a fenced but very large pasture:

And once I'd moved off to the side, I got a nice view of the greenhouse, home and windmill:

This picture doesn't signify anything. I just thought it made for an attractive tableau, an interesting mix of colors, shapes and textures:

There were many fields with nice rows of carefully marked fruit trees, grape vines and what they call "edible landscaping." The giant white bales seemed to be compost, imported from Canada:

A collection of workers' tools, including compost, pallets, hoses, buckets and a specialized wheelbarrow:

A shed full of tools:

And another greenhouse, this one also used for storage instead of plants:

This gray cat was so friendly that I tried to take his picture. But whenever I'd back up to snap a photo, he'd rush forward to stay close to me. In the end, I was hunched over, holding my camera and trying to jog backwards, laughing giddily. It's a good thing no one saw me doing it:

The old Lab was friendly, but shied away whenever I'd point my camera at him. So I had to snap his picture from a distance:

This cat looked and acted so much like my Rocky that at times it seemed like I'd known him for years:

All in all, I found St. Lawrence Nursery a friendly place with relaxed people in spite of their busy work schedule this time of year. I'll let you know in a year or two how my four new fruit trees survived. I found not one, but two cats lounging around my car when it came time to leave. I had to rev the motor and make sure they'd cleared the area before I pulled away:

Part 1 - St. Lawrence Nursery

I posted earlier about planting my four new fruit trees. Well, this is where they came from. St. Lawrence Nursery, located on the outskirts of Potsdam, specializes in cold climate fruit trees and what they call "edible landscaping." This is how it appears from the road and I realized that I'd driven by previously, just thinking this was someone's farm:

There is a small sign at the road, but I'd missed that on previous trips:

I drove in and parked. A worker directed me to the office, where I asked if I could walk around and take pictures for my blog. Unlike some others of whom I've asked that question, they seemed happy with idea and gave me the freedom to walk anywhere I'd like:

I began at the base of a giant windmill, just outside the office:

And yes, I do mean giant. This is flat country with lots of wind which is where I got the title for this blog:

A man and his toddler were petting a friendly barn cat, while an old Lab lounged lazily behind them:

Out back I began to see sapling trees planted:

There was a greenhouse of sorts, but I suspected that was for the owners' pleasure and not a part of the business:

There was a Buddha statue:

I could tell that the snow cover hadn't been gone for long as evidenced by the overturned lawn chairs and other debris:

I found large plots of carefully marked tree saplings planted in neat rows:

And a real greenhouse, though it seemed to have been used mostly for storage. But there was still more to St. Lawrence Nursery, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

A Busy (And Expensive) Monday

I drove to the Tractor Supply Company in Potsdam to buy a stock tank, but first I had to stop and admire the baby chicks they had for sale:

The stock tank I'd had in mind turned out to be too big (I already had a big one), so I opted for a smaller model. And it was cheap enough that I bought two of them:

I stopped at Walmart to get bags of compost for planting fruit trees. I was impressed that they had a collection of canoes out front. This part of the country is rife with rivers, streams, bogs, lakes and waterways of every description. I found it fitting that even the local Walmart would have canoes on display:

Potsdam was a busy city, with lots of traffic, freight trains and people. The man with the sign was advertising a furniture sale up the road:

And then I drove to the Kubota Tractor dealer and arranged to purchase this beauty:

And on the way home, I stopped at Potsdam's infamous "Toilet House." They'd replaced some of the toilets with a couple of bathtubs and scarecrow type figures, but it was still an eye catcher:

Here's a close up. It seemed odd that a nice town with so many fine homes would have such a silly display. But then I remembered the several universities in town and figured that might explain a lot. Well, it's all good, clean fun - especially now that there are bathtubs in the mix:

I arrived home and let the dogs out into the sun. They were very happy:

I'd also been to a local tree nursery and picked up my order (nursery tour posts are coming up soon). I began by digging a big hole and admiring the quality of soil here:

I got out my four young trees and unpackaged them:

I added compost, planted, staked and watered them. I purchased super cold hardy plums (two varieties required for cross-pollination), an apricot and a bush cherry: