Crazy season at the farm!
We're still here! Been busy with farm life
Thank you all so much for your words of encouragement and appreciation for the “Lessons from Cancer and Nature” series. I’ve been quiet on Substack lately because, well… it’s CRAZY season at the farm! May & June are typically the most demanding months of the year. So, for those who’ve been wondering - the series will pick back up again in mid July :)
In the meantime, here’s some rapid-fire highlights from the farm:
We’ve planted 2,400 more trees this season
We were aiming for 3,200 trees in via mechanical planting. But due to equipment issues and one of the crew suffering from heat stress; the contractor stopped 40% of the way through the job. Leaving about 1,800 trees unplanted. I’ve given up on ~500 of them (the seedlings will sadly be composted); and we’ve been hand-planting the remaining ~1,300. Almost 1,000 done. 300 more to go in the next week!
I am deeply grateful for all the folks who’ve shown up to help hand-plant trees this season. Friends new and old have come to Wildsong and put their hands in the soil together. As disappointing as it was that the mechanical planting crew couldn’t finish the job; it’s also been a blessing to feel the support of our community. And to find little fawns in the field. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
We’ve been putting up fences… in the rain
Well, almost everything this season has been in the rain. It’s definitely the wettest Spring I’ve experienced here, and it’s the no.1 thing all the farmers around here have been talking about! At least the willows and poplar we’ve planted are loving it. Yes, conversations about the weather actually do interest us. About the fence - it’s to keep the deer off the young trees. Well… technically, the deer could jump the fence. But rather than building an expensive, extremely high fence, we’re building a low fence… just enough to keep the dogs in the area. And the dogs will keep the deer out!
These posts are made from black locust logs that have been split into rough posts. Black locust is a pretty amazing local wood that’s incredibly tough and rot resistant. These will easily last 20 years in our moist soil without rotting. Black locust is in the pea family (like sugar snap peas and wisteria), so it fixes nitrogen and improves soil fertility as it grows. Plus it’s abundantly available right here in New York! So it’s both the most environmentally friendly and long-lasting, sturdy way to build a fence in this eco-region. No nasty chemicals from pressure-treated lumber, far lower energy use than metal posts (think about mining ore, smelting and forming metal). And a fraction of the fuel spent on transport.
And, finally… We have ducklings!
I’ll leave you with this video of mama duck and her babies :)
-Bing