in September 2018. Note the date as we will be having another “party”.  But we are doing prep work now. Ron has plans for 6 rows of 25 juneberry bushes.  This time we are doing what we can to get rid of the weeds before hand.  Hoping that it will make it easier when actual planting time comes.   We are not planning any more rock picking parties in the near future.

Once again we got busy with the brush hog, cutting down a strip of  the wheat.  Ron then got out the string, the measuring tape and more rebar.  He ran the tape out 200 feet and then we laid out the first row of landscape cloth.   We used more wood blocks and spikes to tar the row down.  Next we measured 10 feet sideways from the middle of each row, hammering the rebar in it at beginning and end and then ran the string along the middle of the next row.  Ron had hopes of leaving it growing between the rows, but that did not work out.  In order for us to lay the rows out with the plants being 10 feet apart, all of the wheat had to come down.

Jo and I were in charge of rolling out the cloth and it was an adventure of its own.  The wind had picked up and the cloth was just not staying nicely on the ground.  We were trying to keep the middle line lined with the string as we unrolled he cloth.  Not an easy task.  And it was hard on the backs.

After we had unrolled not only two rows on this project, but uncounted rows for the elderberries, pawpaws, pussy willows and lavender, Ron finally had a brain storm.  To run a double length of the string through the roll which would allow Jo and me to pull the roll instead of pushing it.

Of course, I came up with brilliant idea of  tying string to piece of rebar and then dropping it through the tube.

So much easier on our backs, and easier to keep it lined up.

Ron kept mowing as we went while Jo ran the string along the 200 foot length.  I tried to find some larger rocks to toss along each strip to help hold it in place .  Surprisingly, not have much luck.  Lots of little ones though.  They won’t do much good.

We ran out of steam and long enough pieces of cloth at same time.   Three rows done but the next row will have to be done piecemeal (I am not about to waste anything in this project) and then we will have to order some more.

So much for our stakes and rocks.  The wind just twisted the cloth into knots.  It was a job and a half to get it laid back out correctly and then we had to get more stakes hammered in.  Those staples that are supposedly designed for use with landscape cloth are less than useful. They either refuse to go into our rocky ground or simply pull out when the wind get under the cloth.

We got the fourth row set up and we are done for now.  Ron has to order more cloth and buy more stakes and then drill out more holes in his blocks of wood.  Did I mention that those blocks are the same ones that he and brother in law Doug spent hours cutting out so he could use them a “mulch” for a ginseng growing attempt.  That did not work out so well but luckily he has found another use for them.  I am rubbing off on the man.  Frugal is the best way to go.

Those of you who have been following us since our 2014 beginning will remember what our field looked like when we first got started.

Thank goodness and lots of work, that is no more. Ron had a vision from the beginning.  He started out by reaching out to our farmer friend, Dick Crane to have  cover crops sown, season after season.  It is amazing to see how much good a few months of winter rye and buckwheat can do for the health of a piece of ground.   Not only knocking down the golden rod and other weeds, but adding nutrients to the soil.  And Ron was just getting started.  Since my plan to hire a small herd of goats was just not going to work as they would eat everything in sight, it was left to hard work to get our field ready to use.

Our first clearing efforts were done in order to plant garlic.  Lots of tilling and rock picking involved with that effort.  Then came yards and yards of landscape cloth and rows cleared for pawpaws and elderberries.  More rock picking.  Tired of that already.

Two rows of Ron’s pink pussy willows were the next thing we planted, but the largest project measured by field space was prepping for and planting our lavender plants.  This time Ron wanted to do all he (we) could to cut down on weeds between the rows of lavender.  So we put down 12 foot wide landscape cloth for the planting and then 4 foot wide cloth between those rows.  So, hopefully no weeds.

It will be a few seasons before we see how successful we are.  Both in growing lavender and keeping the weeds at bay.

Then it was time to tackle the weeds growing around our fruit trees.  We had left over cloth from the lavender project and decided to put it to good use.

Back to the parking lot and we used the chalk line to mark 1 foot squares, which we then cut out.  These were going to be used under the holes we had cut in the large pieces of cloth but had no plants on hand to fill them.  If we left things as they are, we would have weeds popping up through those 57 holes.  We cut enough to use around the pawpaws and pussy willows too.  Even though we had the cloth and lots of mulch, weeds are relentless.  They find any possible hole and just start growing.  And right though our layers of mulch too.

Ron cut a slit in each square and we fit them around the plants and tacked them down with staples, pulling all weeds as we went.

Signs of life from our pawpaws.  We decided to remove their protective cages now.   And hope for the best.  First sign of any deer chewing,  and the cages might make a re-appearance.

It does appear that a few of them did not survive the winter, but of the seven we have been keeping an eye on, three now have tiny green buds showing.   As this whole project has forced Jo, Ron and me to learn patience, we will bide our time and see what nature provides.

Ron has also decided that Jo will now be mower in chief.  And once again he is in his best role – instructor-in-chief.  He does love telling people what to do.

but trying to get over  300 lavender plants into the ground is not.  Ron, Jo and I were out at THF about 730 Saturday morning.  We needed to get all the equipment set up and ready before Jesse, Don and John arrived.  Ron and I had spent an hour the night before, laying out a guide line and then putting down the first length of landscape cloth.  Now all we had to do is put a chalk mark per Ron’s chart.  One plant every three feet down the length and three rows across for a total of 57 plants.  Jo and I took care of that part while Ron got his handy dandy torch up and running.  His plan was to burn a hole in the cloth.  When we planted our elderberry bushes and pawpaws we had cut the cloth but it ending up fraying more than we liked.  The holes ended up bigger too, which let in more weeds.   He was confident it would work.  After all he watched a YouTube video of a guy doing exactly the same thing.

Unfortunately his plan did not quite work out.   The torch was not doing what he needed it too.  A new plan was obviously needed.  Jesse arrived just then and the two of them started brainstorming.  What they needed was a metal can that could be heated up and used to burn the hole. The only cans we had on site were the old rusted ones left behind by the previous owner.

They dug through the equipment we had on site and then Jesse thought of the poles from our crunched tent.  They are metal, round and we certainly aren’t using them for anything else right now.

When Jesse ended up with was the support end of a pole.  It had a three inch piece of pipe attached to a triangle shaped piece.   He is an original outside of the box thinker.  There are times when the boys come with an idea that just blows me away.    Other times they simply scare me.

He was able to hold onto it with a pair of vise grips while Ron hit it with the torch.  It got hot enough to burn through 4 or 5 holes after each heating.  That gave him the chance to make a quicker job of it.  After all we had 57 marks on each sheet that needed holes cut.

Don hauled the propane tank down the line with Ron manned to torch and Jesse did his best to dodge the heat.  From the smell of singed hair, it was clear he did not always succeed.  In short order they had the holes burned out but now the hard work started. John used the heavy duty drill Ron bought to drill out the holes.  Not as easy as it sounds.  Do you remember all my talk about the rocks we have?  There are still there.  Our lovely wheat filled field was just an optical illusion.  Once we cut it down, they all came back into view.  John had to maneuver the drill through the dirt and around the rocks.  Holding on to the drill was a major job too.  It had some serious kick.

Then Jo and I got started with the actual planting.  We started with the bare root plants as we had 150 of them.  We stuck one plant in each hole, then poured in some sand and backfilled with dirt.  Made sure it was firmly planted and then moved on to the next one.  Repeat. Many times over.  Thank goodness I remembered to bring the kneepads this time.  It was a long day moving from one hole to the next.

While John, Jo and I worked drilling and filling the holes, Don, Jesse and Ron laid out the rest of the sheets.  We had decided to lay all 8 of them out, even though we didn’t have lavender to plant in all of them.  That job sounded easy enough, but not with Ron involved.  They all had to be two feet apart and even at top and bottom.  This meant measuring tape, marking string, stakes, staples and lots of tugging were part of the job.  And it was surprising hot.  Not only was the sun out, but the black sheets reflected the heat back at us as we worked.  And I had forgotten my hat.   What we really needed was a magic umbrella to follow each of us around.  It was only in the mid 60’s but it felt much hotter.  Especially after we had worked through the morning.

Ron headed to the grill and got the burgers started.  We stopped for lunch and cooled off in the shade.  The boys tried to figure out just how many more holes needed to be prepared.   We were going to plant what we had and then wait until next year to order more and fill in what remained.

Break over and we got back to work.  I got the Transit keys from Ron and went looking for a hat.  The back of my neck was feeling roasted.  And I found my hat.  My lovely floppy hat that does such a great job of protecting my face and neck.  Suddenly I felt much better, having gotten a second wind.  Next time I will remember to bring the sunscreen.

Ron got the water tank up and running as we needed to water in our new babies.   We are still doing the fill the water pitchers and walk up and down the row bit.  Someday we will come up with a plan to make this easier.  Soaker hoses maybe?  We shall see.

By 3 pm I was done and I told Ron we needed to think about packing it in for the day.  We still had 96 more plants to get planted but we were all beat.

They don’t look like much right now, but they all smell good.  Even the bare roots ones.  And I have high hopes for next year.  We picked up all the equipment and all of us headed home.  Tick check and then showers all around and we were done for the day.

This morning, Ron, Jo and I went to The Corner Diner for breakfast and then headed out to THF to finish up.  It was immediately the math skills were seriously lacking yesterday.  Because just after 9 am we finished planting the last lavender plug and had 15 empty holes left in the sheet we were working on.  And an entire sheet with holes burned in to it but nothing to plant.  The last sheet hadn’t been touched yet.  That is when Ron got his great idea. He was going to call Jeff in Rochester and see if he could get us more plants.  Just when I thought we were done with this project.   Another 130 more plants to get into the field.  Oh my aching knees.

And we are in crunch mode.  May 20th is coming up fast and as usual we have lots of things that need to get done before we can actually plant our lavender.
One of the most important things we need to get done is cutting down the winter wheat that is currently growing in our field. While it looks lovely, it has to go. No way for us to just lay the landscape cloth on top of it and mat it down.
Ron and Jo had already gotten the brush hog out of storage and out to THF. Again our fabulous trailer making it all possible.
We had made plans on Tuesday to meet after work at the farm. I brought my work clothes with me so I could change on site. Of course I got hit with computer issues just as I was trying to sign off and was delayed. Sent Ron a text telling him this (Yes, Julie, we have become texters after all) and headed out as soon as my computer finally shut down. I have a hard fast rule about not checking my phone while driving and had assumed that Ron would not even read it. Expected he was already busy mowing. He gets out of work an hour before I do. But I got to THF and no Ron. In order to park, we have to drive past our entrance to the next road and turn around. I then pulled over to call him. He had responded after all telling me he was at home.
I was slightly dumbfounded, but we decided I would head home and we would come back together.  Which was fine.  I had left my boots and camera at the house anyway.
We got back to the farm and walked in to get started with our project.  The brush hog started right up and Ron headed to the field.

We measured out just over 130 feet out from our pussy willow row and Ron started mowing.
Our machine does a great job cutting through whatever is the in way.  My only concern is that we are left with 3 inch high plugs. And they are tough.  I think we will have a bit of a fight between them and the landscape cloth.  We will just have to hope all the walking around we are going to be doing will help knock them down a bit.
Ron took a few trips around our planned field, just to give it shape and then I took over.  I had a good bit of experience with the brush hog from last year and it all quickly came back.

Turns out I like to use the thing.  It does shake you up a bit and is hard on the hands.  You have to hold the lever down in order to make it go.  Ron has rigged a bungie cord to help him with that, but I didn’t try to figure it out.  Next time for sure.  We still have a massive amount of mowing to do.
Ron took over and I went to work checking our measurements.  Using flags to mark 4 foot sections and then 12 foot ones.  We are planning to lay down landscape cloth in between each lavender section.  Trying very hard to keep the weeds down.  Less mowing can be a very good thing.  It was more difficult than I thought to get the measurements right when working by yourself.  But by the end I had figured out the right way to do it and all the flags were in place. Not up to Ron’s specs by any stretch, but close enough for government work.

Field looks pretty good, doesn’t it?  In a few years no one will recognize the place.  We will have our trees and bushes growing and rows of lavender and other flowering herbs.
Did I mention the next project is getting ready for 2018 juneberries planting? Maybe 5 or 6 rows, Ron isn’t yet sure just how many.  But they will each be 200 feet long.

Where do I submit my resignation?

My Mother’s Day involved outside work. As usual.  Ron started this tradition  years ago when we first bought our house. The birch tree in our front yard had taken a hit during what is remembered as the Labor Day storm. This before we moved in. Very sad it looked too, poor dead tree. Ron decided it needed to be replaced over Mother’s Day weekend in 2000 so we dug it up and then as we were left with a large hole, headed off the a local nursery.

We bought a pretty tree, had it loaded into our pickup and headed home. Only to discover the two of us were  not strong enough to get the tree down into the hole.  Thank God our neighbor spotted us struggling and came to help.

This Mother’s Day was much easier on me.  And of course involved THF.   All I had to do was help Ron roll out and cut eight 60 foot lengths from his 250 foot rolls of landscape cloth.  We loaded up the trailer with the two rolls, measuring tape, chalk, scissors, knee pads, chalk snap line and headed to an open parking lot.  We chose a good one.  The parking spots were nicely marked and we were able to use those lines to keep a straight edge and our cutting point of 60 feet.  Got an early start as we were not sure how long it would take us and weren’t sure what  the neighbors would think.

The hardest part was actually lifting the rolls off the trailer.  They has some serious weight.  Then we lined the edges up and rolled it out.    Then we got out the chalk line and snapped away.

Ron, of course got the one with red chalk that ended up all over my fingers and pants. I was in charge of the actually cutting.

We cut and folded and rolled and marked again and again.  Not sure what the people walking by thought but they all waved and said good morning.    Sooner than we expected, we had a pile of eight sections ready to go.  We unroll the last bite from each roll and folded them up.  Ron will find a use for them somewhere.

Loaded everything into the trailer, making sure we left nothing behind.  We are seriously into not littering.   I thought my day was over.  And it being Mother’s Day that I would now  have some me time.

Ron had himself a better idea.  Our second hand lawn mower had seen better days.  Now the self propelled drive had died.  Made it much harder to doing the mowing so it really did need to be replaced.  He had already talked  himself out of getting us an electric model.  He was worried about getting it repaired.   So off we went to Lowe’s in Oneida.  Unfortunately they did not have the model he wanted.  We headed back to the Transit and made the drive to Rome.  They had a better selection and we found one with all wheel drive and made in America.  To top it off, I had a $250 Lowe’s gift card.

We got back home and grabbed a quick lunch.  Then headed out to get our new lawn mower set up. It was pretty easy.  Cut open the box, dropped the back and pulled everything out.  We had to tighten a few parts and add the oil.  Two pulls on the cord and Ron was off and running.  He took a couple of  passes and then handed it off to me.   The machine worked really well.  Jo will love it.  She is after all our official lawn mower.

Ron has been telling everyone that he bought me a lawn mower for Mother’s Day.  But he really got it for Jo.  I bet she cannot wait to try it out.