Troutman Snow
Wow, that was a lot of snow and ice on Perry Farms. It has been numerous seasons since we’ve seen 8 ¾” here in Troutman. The kids loved it, not so sure the livestock did.
The winter is upon us fully and we embrace the opportunities to relax more and spend time with the family. The longer nights and shorter days require less work on the farm and enable us to recharge our batteries heading into the busiest season, spring.
One of the projects I’ve embraced is a greenhouse, Karen has emphasized her desire to raise more produce and the best way to do that is start early. A greenhouse will allow us to start our garden from seed during the late winter months and plant in the spring with pre-conditioned, healthy vegetable plants.
Firewood is always an issue on Perry Farm, as I mentioned earlier, we use wood as our primary source of heat for the house and farm. Lately, I’ve spent many hours working on the 7’ wide trunk of an oak tree. Yes, 7 FEET wide! This has become a task now that I’m down to the largest part of the oak’s trunk, and my power saw has a 36” bar. Easy math: a 3 ft bar on a 7 ft tree leaves 1 foot of tree that I can’t cut. Also, due to the extremely large nature of this hardwood, my tractor must be employed to move the massive structure and cut both sides. The task has taken most of the season, but the firewood is excellent and plentiful. BTW, professional loggers were hired to drop this enormous oak tree, NEVER attempt to undertake such a dangerous project on your own. A life or limb is not worth the few dollars needed to hire professionals.
Looking forward, March brings a landscaping project with our webmaster/neighbor Kevin. We spoke of this project last summer, but his major shoulder surgery has delayed the work until this year. Kevin’s lawn improvement will provide us with an ample supply of hardwood to burn and most importantly, opportunity to help our friend.