Post Thanksgiving Hunt + Crafting 2018

Posted on November 25, 2018 by Paul McDonald

We came down Friday to hunt and had absolutely no luck, saw maybe one or two does, and everybody was waiting for a buck. Here are a few shots of the hunters Patrick & Michael.

Michael
Patrick
Hunting Jacket on Mirlo

The weather Saturday turned into a gully washer, it simply rained ALL DAY LONG. Not to worry though, as Patty & Madeline had crafts planned! Madeline made scented candles, Patty made the herbal healing salve from comfrey, chickweed, plantain and another herb I can’t remember. After that we all worked on making Christmas wreaths from a bunch of holly branches we cut from the property. The wreaths were tedious and prickly but I think came out nicely. While we were crafting Patrick decided to do a ‘walkabout’ in the pouring rain, hoping to see a buck, but had no luck.

Some added lights
Rain finally broke at the end of the day
Maddy’s scented candles
Healing salve
First Place Winner
First Place Winner
Display
First Place Winner

Soybean Harvest Time

Posted on November 24, 2018 by Paul McDonald

Watching the farmer harvest the crop never gets boring for me. Having grown up in the suburbs with little to no contact or knowledge of farming it’s all new and very interesting. They harvested all through the day and into the night, trying to beat (which they did) the heavy rains forecast for the following days. As for the production of all the products, they have a bigger industry and production machinery like conveyor belts made with a Urethane Roller that are necessary for transporting products. For harvesting, they also use some new and Pre Owned Farming Equipment like Utility Compact Tractor to assist their day-to-day jobs. Being a farmer is not that easy as you think it is. If you want to know more about food production jobs and careers related to it, visit the site.

The real farmer also hires a company to over-seed the fields with a winter cover crop most years, just a month or so before the harvest of the summer crop. I find it fascinating to watch them dive, bank and turn as they seed the fields.

First Weekend Rifle Season 2018

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Paul McDonald

A nice weekend with my older brother Mark and Patty for opening day Saturday. Started off pretty exciting on Friday with a 6 pointer passing directly below my stand. Decided to hold off taking it as it wasn’t in-season quite yet. Made a nice video of the whole thing though.

Saturday and Sunday were exciting, I took a total of three shots, two at 200 yds and one at 100yds and missed!! Obviously I need a lot more practice. Here are a few pictures I took, it was quite chilly in the morning.

Frosty
Sunup
Brrr…
Turnips
Nothing will get past me!
A salute to Uncle Sonny
Six pointer
Off to the hunt
Ready to go!

Now check out the image from my game camera below. If you zoom in you can see me sitting in the deer stand about 100 yds away…never saw this guy walk by…ugh.

Maniacs Were Here!

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Paul McDonald

My relatives from Maine came down to visit so we took them to the farm Saturday for an overnight. Visiting were my Aunt MaryDonna, John, and my Aunt Jerry, sure was nice to see them all. We visited a few Civil War attractions on the way down; the Graffiti House, and the Wilderness battlefield. Sort of gave a little character to the surrounding area.

Road trip!
Graffiti House
Wilderness Battlefield

Once we arrived at the farm we did a nice long tour in the ATV, gave them all the information I had on the history of the property and what we’ve done since we became owners. We have miles of trails through the woods and between the fields. Mercifully it was sunny but not too cold. Mine Run was running too high for us to get across to see the old Confederate Artillery emplacements.

Patty made a wonderful pork, cabbage and apple roast for dinner Saturday night, very tasty.

Even though it was pretty cold we started one of our signature bonfires and broke out the bourbon.

Mercifully wind stopped blowing
Steve is a pyro…

On Sunday it was quite frosty, but I suspect not too bad compared to what they are used to in Maine. We picked some chickweed and plantain and Aunt MaryDonna and Aunt Jerry helped Patty separate it all. Patty made oils from these and a few other herbs which we will later make into a healing salve.

Chickweed, Plantain, Pokeberry Root
Separating the good stuff

We finished off Sunday with a nice walk and with John and my Dad helping to right a poorly built deer stand that had tipped over in high winds.

Morning walk
John assessing
Poorly built stand came apart

Overall a very nice visit, hopefully more of the ‘maniacs’ will come down this summer.

Garlic Planting Time

Posted on November 3, 2018 by Paul McDonald

This is our first attempt a planting garlic. I pretty much did nothing but prepare the beds with the Wife selecting the type of garlic plants and doing the actual layout and planting. Hopefully next spring it will really take off.

Put in a fresh layer of garden soil
Meticulously spaced
I did help split the heads into cloves
One bed done!

Long Overdue Driveway Overhaul

Posted on November 2, 2018 by Paul McDonald

Have had quite a few problems with the driveway getting washed out this year. Much of it due to the much higher than normal rainfall but also that the ditches on the long driveway really were in need of work. I typically ask Bob the Farmer what he would do and who he would recommend and he pointed me to Brandon, owner of BZ Excavating, a local firm. It was actually a lot more work than I originally had thought having never dealt with anything like this before. They ended up putting in 3 new culverts and replacing two older culverts with a large 30 inch culvert that is 30 ft long instead of the normal 20 ft. I couldn’t be happier with the result. Right after they finished we received at least 2-3 weeks where each week had significant rainfall, some of it in the form of deluges. Never had any wash outs, and the new ditches look and are working incredibly well. Below are a few shots of the project. I highly recommend Brandon, no non-sense kind of guy and very straightforward.