We have been busy mowing and chipping and clearing the brush from around the barn, and we are finally to the point of barn refurbishment! Our expert Barn Guy, Jeff Thompson of Colonial Woodwrights, has begun removing the rotted side boards, sills, and will replace with locally milled lumber. The small building to the right of the barn was the “stripping shed” and is in pretty bad shape. Jeff (husband Jeff) has plans to rebuild into a man cave for whiskey drinking with Kevin Reid. The wooded area beyond the barn will be cleared, and become pastures for the farm animals.
Farm Dog Ivan, driving the Gator and chasing off the wild turkey from the back yard.
Before the barn lumber was delivered, Jeff Thompson had the use of a Bobcat for a day and cleaned up the collapsed barn that was used for tobacco before the “new” barn was constructed in the 1930’s.Before and after pics – we tackled patches of brush and saplings that grew wild in preparation for spring. We will be destroying some nematodes before we put the grapes in by planting a crop of Canola. We saw this done in Germany every year, fields would bloom with bright yellow flowers, then tilled under before other crops were planted. The “green manure” releases enzymes into the soil that destroys nematodes. Die nematodes.