Masked Man was a Fag

There are those nights where sleep just will not happen. As to the title? It was a Lenny Bruce skit, that someone animated, about what if the Lone Ranger was gay and has nothing to do with my post. The sky is full of stars, it’s a crisp 18 degrees with a steady wind blowing the trees.  The vet came to look at the horses, she said they looked good and their weight was right on track.  White salt lick, mineral lick, oats+grains and lots of hay along with plenty of fresh water seems to cover all the bases.  She has lots of horses too, she breeds Quarterhorses in the next town East.  

Today I fixed the electric fence by untangling it from some trees, fixing some broken connectors and driving in some new stakes. There was some old brittle lattice on the covered patio that had to come down.  An apple tree had a real bad case of “black knot” and had to be chopped down before the disease spread to the other trees, luckily I have two new apple trees on order.

Yesterday I chopped up three trees that had fallen last year on the property line.  When you have this many acres it makes sense to have a wood stove for either the workshop, home or both.  So I’ll be putting up three cords of wood for next winter, just in case the solar home isn’t ready.  A friend said that if you have ten wooded acres you’ll be able to cut enough for your needs each year, granted you have a modest sized home or cabin.  Eventually wood fences and furniture will be made with the special pieces found while out cutting.  And yes I’ll be planting many more trees than I cut and I only cut the dead fall or standing dead timber which is dangerous and a fire hazard.

The barn is now completely free of rotting hay and cobwebs, the yard around the barn needs some work.  There are some areas of standing water that need to be addressed with grading and drainage pipes.  A new double gate will be going in just East of the barn in order for trucks and tractors to be able to access the pastures, new building site and fields.

The ponds will need some major work but I’ve been researching things already and found some  tools like a solar aerator and a windmill aerator that will work well and need no electric connection.  One of the ponds was stocked with Large Mouth Bass but I’ll be surprised if I find anything alive in the Spring.  A fish pond needs oxygen all the time in order for the fish to survive.

I checked Craig’sList for locals who are selling and trading tools and farm equipment and was impressed to see many listings from my small town.  There are lots of people in the area who don’t consider themselves “townies” and who choose to live for the most part off-grid.  I’ll be getting to know them at meetings and events in the coming months and am looking forward to it.  

I found a good grain supplier out of Vermont, they are a third generation business with a good history behind them.  I like that the feed only has to travel a short way and can be dropped off with other shipments in the area.

Researching soil amendments, legumes and proper maintenance of pastures lead me to the most wonderful seed company out of Maine called Fedco Seeds.  You can request their catalog from the website http://fedcoseeds.com/ it is filled with planting tips, background information on the seeds and how they did last year in volunteer gardens. I can’t recommend it enough. They check to make sure no genetically modified material gets into their batches and are always adding new items.

Well, that’s it from Upstate NY except to say now I know why Spitzer wasn’t taking care of the farmers. Peace.