Well after resting for one, maybe two days, it was back to work for the Wheeler family. While my numb hands were still bothering me from so much building, I went back to milking the goats and doing all the other things that were needed bein' done. We finished the second cut of hay and split some more firewood with the splitter.
After being in beautiful Aroostook county for a eight days, I've been feeling a little "treebound" around our home lately. The wide open sky at the camp simply cannot be beat. We can see the early morning sun as it rises over New Brunswick, Canada and we can see the sun as it sets in the evening. At home, the trees that have been spared my wrath have grown well over the last 16 years and are now stealing the sky that I want to see. I do however have the cure, I'll simply gas up the Husky and start dropping next year's firewood. I hope to tackle about another two acres, I know a big task, but I want more field, I want a view of the eastern sky, and that is what we'll soon have. I am really a tree hugger in a way, I love to hug a big arm load of dry oak firewood and throw it into our indoor wood boiler on a cold winter evening.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Building season for the Farmer
Hello followers. The hot dry summer days seem to have given way to a rainy weather pattern. The fields and gardens were getting very dry, but now there is renewed life with the recent rain. The second cut of hay is all baled and packed away in the barn. We, I mean the Gatherer, has canned green beans, made pickles, blackberry jam along with freezing corn and many other garden items. The squash and pumpkins seem to be ready and most are picked and are stored away for later. We have had some of our new potatoes, a poor crop to say the least, along with some carrots. Overall we have largely avoided the grocery store this summer, except when we run out of peanut butter or toilet paper.
As you may have read in my last post, we were preparing for a building trip to Aroostook County, well it happened. In the middle of August, the Farmer, Gatherer and our four little farm hands headed North for a week of relaxation and oh yea, building our new camp.
Slowly at first, then a little quicker, the camp begun to take shape. With beautiful weather and a spectacular view, we worked from dawn until dusk, and sometimes later.
Everyone helped, when they could, but the Farmer really had to push to keep going. Hey this isn't a blog about the Builder, what do you expect? Well, let's go forward eight days, and look what we built. 
What a marathon build. The camp is a well built 12'x16' closed building, plus an 8'x12' covered porch, including a 12'x12' loft. We hauled about 8000 pounds of lumber north with our truck and trailer and left it there hooked together with about 5000 pneumatic nails. Tired, sunburned and unshaven, we made the 6 hour trip "down state", back to home and the farm. On the next day we rested.
As you may have read in my last post, we were preparing for a building trip to Aroostook County, well it happened. In the middle of August, the Farmer, Gatherer and our four little farm hands headed North for a week of relaxation and oh yea, building our new camp.
Slowly at first, then a little quicker, the camp begun to take shape. With beautiful weather and a spectacular view, we worked from dawn until dusk, and sometimes later.
Everyone helped, when they could, but the Farmer really had to push to keep going. Hey this isn't a blog about the Builder, what do you expect? Well, let's go forward eight days, and look what we built. 
What a marathon build. The camp is a well built 12'x16' closed building, plus an 8'x12' covered porch, including a 12'x12' loft. We hauled about 8000 pounds of lumber north with our truck and trailer and left it there hooked together with about 5000 pneumatic nails. Tired, sunburned and unshaven, we made the 6 hour trip "down state", back to home and the farm. On the next day we rested.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Through the Mill
"This is the story about being through the mill, well my brother and I have been and always will, we gave up guitar playing and riding the range, to go to work in the sawmill for a change." (the late Charlie Ryan)
Unlike Charlie Ryan's 1955 song (B side of "Hot Rod Lincoln") I've never worked for a paycheck in my father's sawmill. From my earliest memories, I was crawling over the mill, climbing on piles of logs and sawed lumber. My grandfather Ervin Wheeler bought the mill, in the 1950's and ran it for many years after that time. My dad, Stanley ran the mill, as a commercial enterprise from 1972 until 1979. He added a slab chipper, a board sorting chain and a multitude of conveyors. Many of the features that dad added are now gone, but the mill still saws true.
This summer we are sawing lumber for a couple of farm building projects, an addition to the sugar house and a roadside produce stand, and for our camp in Aroostook County. This day we are finishing up the last of our logs, now we just have to put it on sticks to dry in the mill yard. I've taken the controls of the mill as of late. I want to know how to make the mill work down the road when I may help our children saw the lumber for their own houses. What a great tool this is as we try so hard to be self-sufficient.
Stanley & Gideon (2nd and 4th generation mill hands) wait for the next board.
Unlike Charlie Ryan's 1955 song (B side of "Hot Rod Lincoln") I've never worked for a paycheck in my father's sawmill. From my earliest memories, I was crawling over the mill, climbing on piles of logs and sawed lumber. My grandfather Ervin Wheeler bought the mill, in the 1950's and ran it for many years after that time. My dad, Stanley ran the mill, as a commercial enterprise from 1972 until 1979. He added a slab chipper, a board sorting chain and a multitude of conveyors. Many of the features that dad added are now gone, but the mill still saws true.
This summer we are sawing lumber for a couple of farm building projects, an addition to the sugar house and a roadside produce stand, and for our camp in Aroostook County. This day we are finishing up the last of our logs, now we just have to put it on sticks to dry in the mill yard. I've taken the controls of the mill as of late. I want to know how to make the mill work down the road when I may help our children saw the lumber for their own houses. What a great tool this is as we try so hard to be self-sufficient.
Stanley & Gideon (2nd and 4th generation mill hands) wait for the next board.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Dog days of Summer - Farmer reflects
Farmer takes a knee on way to the office.
With the long days of summer I find myself outside more and at the computer a lot less. That is the best I suppose, there are so many things that have to be done around here. The gardens are doing quite well it seems. After a few days of vacation away from the farm, the weeds were making a good showing. But with a few hours of care, the Gatherer has got the weeds taken care of for now. Now that the vegetables are catching all the sun, the weeds don't stand a chance from here on out. The peas are all gone by, for a couple of weeks now I guess. Its time to till them in and ready the patch for another crop.
Our June strawberries were a treat for the first time this year. Just enough here for cereal and eating fresh. With one early morning picking at a local strawberry farm, we have got enough for a few batches of jam. We're trying to add more fruits here on our little farm each year. Last year we added blackberries, a couple of apple trees and the strawberries.
We had some hard showers tonight and we got 1.5 inches of rain in about 4 hours. It was needed as the garden and lawns were looking dry. Mother Nature is really smiling on us here in Maine this summer, we've had some real nice weather. The corn is shooting up in all this heat, and the cucumbers are beginning to bear their fruit.
The potatoe bugs have found the new potatoe patch in "Ike's Field",at the old homestead, and so have the deer. I'll try the potatoes there again next year, and I'll fence them in if I have to. The old farm has a lot more potential for agriculture. There are about 5 acres of empty fields that need to be plowed and seeded. Dad has always kept them "bush hogged", but they should be growing a crop, something we can use.
"Back 20" at Juniper Hill Farm
I've started clearing about another acre of woods here at Juniper Hill to make more fields and maybe a real orchard. Oh how I would love to have a big farm with acres of fertile fields. But our twenty acres is home to us and our kids, so we'll improve our ground right here. My family has worked the old homestead since about 1820, we've always made do with what we had and worked hard to make it better. I'm real proud that our home and land are paid for, in full, and except for the yearly property taxes, its really a true blessing.
With the long days of summer I find myself outside more and at the computer a lot less. That is the best I suppose, there are so many things that have to be done around here. The gardens are doing quite well it seems. After a few days of vacation away from the farm, the weeds were making a good showing. But with a few hours of care, the Gatherer has got the weeds taken care of for now. Now that the vegetables are catching all the sun, the weeds don't stand a chance from here on out. The peas are all gone by, for a couple of weeks now I guess. Its time to till them in and ready the patch for another crop.
Our June strawberries were a treat for the first time this year. Just enough here for cereal and eating fresh. With one early morning picking at a local strawberry farm, we have got enough for a few batches of jam. We're trying to add more fruits here on our little farm each year. Last year we added blackberries, a couple of apple trees and the strawberries.
We had some hard showers tonight and we got 1.5 inches of rain in about 4 hours. It was needed as the garden and lawns were looking dry. Mother Nature is really smiling on us here in Maine this summer, we've had some real nice weather. The corn is shooting up in all this heat, and the cucumbers are beginning to bear their fruit.
The potatoe bugs have found the new potatoe patch in "Ike's Field",at the old homestead, and so have the deer. I'll try the potatoes there again next year, and I'll fence them in if I have to. The old farm has a lot more potential for agriculture. There are about 5 acres of empty fields that need to be plowed and seeded. Dad has always kept them "bush hogged", but they should be growing a crop, something we can use.
"Back 20" at Juniper Hill Farm
I've started clearing about another acre of woods here at Juniper Hill to make more fields and maybe a real orchard. Oh how I would love to have a big farm with acres of fertile fields. But our twenty acres is home to us and our kids, so we'll improve our ground right here. My family has worked the old homestead since about 1820, we've always made do with what we had and worked hard to make it better. I'm real proud that our home and land are paid for, in full, and except for the yearly property taxes, its really a true blessing.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
"Tell me a story Daddy"
As I close my eyes I see the narrow dirt road lined with weathered old sugar maples, the worn wheel tracks with grass pushing up in the middle. I see a pair of stonewalls that begin at the edge of the woods and lead the way to the north, to the old homestead. The old homestead, bought when land was nearly free, or so it seems, and kept through the generations. The old house is in need of repair, it has been for some time. The dark damp cellar with rock foundation just big enough to keep the produce through the cold winters. The white clapboards, now more paint than wood, but still holding out the rain, or most of it. I see on the lawn a little girl, waiting there for daddy to come back from town. So small, but such a big part of the growing family.
The main house, not big by any standards, but big enough for a warm living room, a couple of small bedrooms, and a parlor that we never use. The ell is my favorite place with the enamel cook stove throwing heat throughout the kitchen, keeping the family warm. One step out of the kitchen into the cold shed, a good place for the "two holer". A few more steps and the smell of hay tickles my nose. The barn, post and beam of course, holds the winter hay and the livestock which provide for our family. The milk cow, and her young calf, some sheep and a pig. Just enough, but not too many for what the land can provide. I look into the blue sky and I see lightening rods point high from the tops of every roof. A neighbors fire was lesson enough to make the sale when the dealer stopped by, nearly three generations ago now. The house is not big, its not fancy, but it surely is home. Great-grampa replaced the roof back in the 40's, maybe a little pension money, maybe the sale of a prized bull, but he found a way. Dad kept the old place looking good, but there is more to do.
A short walk behind the house and I see the old shed, weathered and gray. I see the vegetable garden, no chemicals used here. We didn't know it was organic, but it was always that way. I see the hayfield with raspberry bushes pushing on it from all sides. Beyond the field I see the old pasture, then down the hill to the meadow. I hear the groan of an bullfrog in the watering hole, I see the barn swallows dip and dive at their evening meal. I stand there for a long time.
The old tom cat rubs past my leg, he's looking for a cup of warm milk for supper. The cow hears me enter the barn, she's ready for the evening milking. I do the chores, alone tonight, talking to the animals, listening to them eat their hay. The barn becomes quiet, the swallows fly in through the broken window and into their nests for the night. I wait there, looking out the back barn door. A doe and her fawn steps into the field, their field. All this is too much for one man to own. I'm just the caretaker really, just for a short time, then maybe my son, maybe my daughter will take over the old home place. Either way, I've taught them well, they know that this place is their home.
The main house, not big by any standards, but big enough for a warm living room, a couple of small bedrooms, and a parlor that we never use. The ell is my favorite place with the enamel cook stove throwing heat throughout the kitchen, keeping the family warm. One step out of the kitchen into the cold shed, a good place for the "two holer". A few more steps and the smell of hay tickles my nose. The barn, post and beam of course, holds the winter hay and the livestock which provide for our family. The milk cow, and her young calf, some sheep and a pig. Just enough, but not too many for what the land can provide. I look into the blue sky and I see lightening rods point high from the tops of every roof. A neighbors fire was lesson enough to make the sale when the dealer stopped by, nearly three generations ago now. The house is not big, its not fancy, but it surely is home. Great-grampa replaced the roof back in the 40's, maybe a little pension money, maybe the sale of a prized bull, but he found a way. Dad kept the old place looking good, but there is more to do.
A short walk behind the house and I see the old shed, weathered and gray. I see the vegetable garden, no chemicals used here. We didn't know it was organic, but it was always that way. I see the hayfield with raspberry bushes pushing on it from all sides. Beyond the field I see the old pasture, then down the hill to the meadow. I hear the groan of an bullfrog in the watering hole, I see the barn swallows dip and dive at their evening meal. I stand there for a long time.
The old tom cat rubs past my leg, he's looking for a cup of warm milk for supper. The cow hears me enter the barn, she's ready for the evening milking. I do the chores, alone tonight, talking to the animals, listening to them eat their hay. The barn becomes quiet, the swallows fly in through the broken window and into their nests for the night. I wait there, looking out the back barn door. A doe and her fawn steps into the field, their field. All this is too much for one man to own. I'm just the caretaker really, just for a short time, then maybe my son, maybe my daughter will take over the old home place. Either way, I've taught them well, they know that this place is their home.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Summer begins
Tomorrow is the longest day of the year, what a treat. Let's hope it is a day that is worth all the hype. As summer is about to begin, I begin to think about all the things around here that must be done before the changing of the next season. Firewood to finish, haying to get done and gardens to tend and harvest. Summer is usually the busiest time of the year here on the farm and off the farm. The hottest days are often filled with haying and then a quick trip to the lake. We all know that within two months the lake will be cooling off and we'll be thinking once again about school, local country fairs and Fall.
Isaac loves the water and is always ready for a trip. On those days when we are just too busy to leave the farm we take a quick dip in the brook in the back woods. No matter the extent of the summer heat, the cool brook will always do the trick. No hot car ride, no waiting, just a short walk and into the brook for a refreshing dip.
Before the days of indoor plumbing many farm families relied on a bath in the brook during the summer months. There is nothing like the the cool fresh water of a fast moving brook to wash away the dirt and sweat of hard summer work. No pool to clean, no dress code and no travel time, what a great spot. Yes there are a few mosquitoes and maybe an occasional leech, but its all good. So go have some summer fun, we are.
Isaac loves the water and is always ready for a trip. On those days when we are just too busy to leave the farm we take a quick dip in the brook in the back woods. No matter the extent of the summer heat, the cool brook will always do the trick. No hot car ride, no waiting, just a short walk and into the brook for a refreshing dip.
Before the days of indoor plumbing many farm families relied on a bath in the brook during the summer months. There is nothing like the the cool fresh water of a fast moving brook to wash away the dirt and sweat of hard summer work. No pool to clean, no dress code and no travel time, what a great spot. Yes there are a few mosquitoes and maybe an occasional leech, but its all good. So go have some summer fun, we are.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Welcome rain
With most of our garden planted, the warm rain falling today is a welcome sight. The pond was drying up and the soil was powdery dry. Our hay will also get enough water to continue to grow, awaiting our next cutting, hopefully in the next week or so. I've started cutting the small back field, a little each day, and I feed in green to the goats and lambs. The goats give more milk when they are eating the best green feeds.
For those who might carry clippings and brush to their goats or other livestock, caution is important. Any black cherry (and possibly other fruit trees with pitted fruits) leaves, whether fresh or wilted must not be fed to livestock. At best you'll have a very sick herd, but more likely you'll have dead animals. I buried one goat and three nice lambs a few years ago from black cherry poisoning. You can read in any good livestock book about this problem. But I'm always surprised how few people have heard about this hidden toxin in our pastures. We also take the time to walk the pastures after a summer wind storm, in case a cherry limb may have broken off a fence line tree. My dad lost a real nice riding horse back in the 70's, killed by black cherry leaves, so we are evermore careful.
For those who might carry clippings and brush to their goats or other livestock, caution is important. Any black cherry (and possibly other fruit trees with pitted fruits) leaves, whether fresh or wilted must not be fed to livestock. At best you'll have a very sick herd, but more likely you'll have dead animals. I buried one goat and three nice lambs a few years ago from black cherry poisoning. You can read in any good livestock book about this problem. But I'm always surprised how few people have heard about this hidden toxin in our pastures. We also take the time to walk the pastures after a summer wind storm, in case a cherry limb may have broken off a fence line tree. My dad lost a real nice riding horse back in the 70's, killed by black cherry leaves, so we are evermore careful.
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