Wednesday, March 21, 2018

First Day of Spring Walk About The Poor Farm


I've always enjoyed it when bloggers can share bigger views of their homes/farms. Everything we see is usually in close ups as if fellow bloggers life in three dimensional boxes or perfectly placed frames. I often do the same, small pictures here and there but not enough of the whole scene. So I followed my own desire and ventured out to the far edges of the property to get some better views for you. 

Actually Keith and I were walking the perimeter of our seven acres checking fences, but lets pretend .it was all of you I had in mind. 

To the left is our metal grain bin house, Just to the right of that is the old 1865 house we'll be tearing down this summer. To the right of that is the old feed shed and the new barn, which is very hard to see, is behind that old feed shed. Then to the farther right is my red and white writers studio. The last dark building is an old pig shed built in the 19th century we believe. 


Above is the same view but moving to the north a bit in order to see our tiny pond which is to the left of the large weeping willow tree. The main road that runs in front of our property is to the left of the pond. One day we hope to dig out that pond and expand it. For now, it houses hoards of frogs which are making a lovely sound in the evenings as they call out for mates. 



Walking south we pass by an area of deadwood which has a charm of its own. The GK's enjoy climbing on the lower branches and in the hot summer it is a cool place to retreat. Future plans include a shade garden here with  Hosta, Lily of the Valley, Astilbe, etc.. and a comfy place to sit.

I never tire of the old wooden posts put in by the farmers who lived here decades ago, wrapped with the barb wire that was used to fence in livestock. The electric wire we use to enclose the acreage  today sits within the old fence, so our animals are not at risk of being harmed by the old barbwire. With every walk though, there are loose pieces to pick up and discard. 


 Here is our cemetery site. A small corner section of our 7 acres set aside for family burials when the time comes. Now,. we use it for pasture for our two steers but future plans include a wind break of lilac trees. To the south and west of our family cemetery is plowed ground owned by neighboring farmers.


This dang green stuff above is Hemlock. Poisonous and invasive we struggle to control it in several sections of our property. Amazing how green it is already when very little else is coming up . 


And finally the view from the other side of the farm where you can see the new and still-under-construction barn on the left , the 1865 house in center and our chicken house behind the tiny blue barrel. The white shed on the right houses our four feeder pigs. The grain bin house is covered by trees. We located all our buildings in the center of our property with the pastures surrounding us. We did that for convenience of chores and for economy in running water and electrical lines. 

Finishing up our third year here, it's obvious we still have a very long way to go before I get the pretty little farm I dream of. But, we've made great progress.  With spring officially here, and about 50 packets of flower seeds on my kitchen table, I have hope we'll make substantial strides towards the aesthetic this summer. 

I have discovered that flowers, like snow, can cover a multitude of sins.

16 comments:

  1. We still have snow, though it has been warm lately & hope it will melt away soon. I am impatient to be planting anything!

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    1. I scattered poppy seeds today. Not exactly "planting' but still...

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  2. In the final picture, the old house looks perfect. I expect you'll miss it when it's gone.

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    1. I have reached an understanding with the old house. If it doesn't collapse while I am inside it, I'll do my best to repurpose much of it.

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  3. A good fence walk. Spring is on its way. -Jenn

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    1. Snow is on its way too! Now we're facing up to 8 inches this weekend, but I don't mind. There is always one last snowstorm in March. Can't blame winter for trying.

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  4. you have a great property there with such potential! i am about to start my seeds. flowers do make everything look better!

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    1. Potential. Where would we all be without that lovely word?

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  5. Replies
    1. From a distance yes, up close...still a work in progress. Thanks

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  6. Thank you for the walk around your property, so much history there, caretakers over the years have left their mark !
    I had plans to work outside today, but they are not to be :(
    Poisonous Hemlock, all green and inviting....oh dear.
    Spring surely is not too far away.
    ~Jo

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    1. The old rusty metal box springs have left their mark in the back 40 as well. Yet, I see those old springs selling on ETSY so maybe one day I'll "harvest" them.

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  7. I live in Florida now, but one of my favorite things to do in Michigan once spring came was to walk my yard and see what was coming up, what needed cutting back and what I could plant.

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    1. We had more snow this past weekend but will be up in the 50's later today. Can't wait to see what's peeking through myself.

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  8. Thanks for the walking tour! It looks lovely. When I do shots of our property it's usually because I'm cropping out some crap in the yard that we meant to pick up/put away and then, well, we didn't. LOL.

    I saw your comment above regarding Etsy. I saw, this week, a woman who I kid you not was successfully selling bags of DIRT. a 2 lb bag of red Georgia soil for $14 plus s/h. God bless her. Perhaps I should be looking at our yard differently.

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    1. My husband once moved a 5 gallon bucket of soil from one home to another believing it's qualities were too good to leave behind, so apparently, there is a market! If I could get someone in Ireland to ship authentic bog peat (reasonably) for burning in my rocket mass stove, I would. That smell is heaven on earth.

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