Trees have arrived! Last spring Snow?

Spring tree order arrived

Picked them up on the way to the farm on Friday.  This years order:  3 sour cherry trees to replace 3 dead ones (turns out that I should have ordered 2 more I think). 100 elderberries, 50 locust trees, and 50 strawberries.  I have no idea why I order so many elderberries and locust.  I could have cut each of those orders in half and been fine!

Anyway, I got right to work and planted the cherry trees where the old ones had died.

One of the 3 sour cherry trees I planted (well, I replaced 3 dead ones)

Then I planted the 50 strawberry plants in the front patch.  Somehow I didn't get a picture of that..  I put them in a row next to the old strawberries.  I had intended to plant 2 rows but evidently I planted them closer together then I did last year?  Well, I have one empty row left in the front patch now - I think I will put onions there.

Next up was to plant the elderberries.  I started by tilling the soil where the big patch used to be. Then I put in the elderberries between the "new" big patch" and the existing elderberry plot.  Then I extended the rows to even things up on the grass side of the existing patch.  All that used up only 50 of the plants.  I also planted grass seed where the garden used to be.  This should be all green with grass by the summer.

Definitely need to put up my electric fence though - deer have been nibbling on the fresh elderberry sprouts.

Next problem - where to plant the remaining 50 plants!  Oh, and its supposed to snow Saturday!

I decided to take down the rest of the road-side barbed wire fence and plant the elderberry plants down near the sheep!

See the white flakey things?  That's snow!

One row in!  That's 25 down...25 to go.  But not tonight - snows coming down too hard, its cold and windy and I am DONE

 Windy and COLD Saturday night .. The next morning:

Spring?  What happened?

Fortunately, early predictions of 1-3 inches were WRONG - thanks goodness!  Things warmed up and work continued.

After digging in the sod for the first row of elderberry plants, i decided that I would till that sod for the next row!

Planting in tilled sod is MUCH easier! Way faster too!  All 50 elderberries in!

Now for the locust trees!  I decided to remove some more of the barbed wire fence at the top of the hill.  I want to remove it all, but time was running short!

Looking out toward the sheep pens from the top of the hill - there used to be fence here - and shrubs, rose bushes, trees...

Looking toward the mountain from the top of the hill (standing about where the corner of the fence used to be).  That piece of fencing you see there is the LAST!

After I removed the fence, I tilled to break up the dirt and roots and even things out.  Then I tilled a section where I wanted to plant the remaining locust trees.  Ohm forgot to mention that about 9 of the 50 locust tress went to replace ones that had died from last years bunch.

I figured to put the remaining trees on the steep section of the hill.  Once these trees get big enough I don't plan on mowing around them!

Just a shot to put things in perspective.  Those are the black walnut trees on the lower right.

The trees are in!  You can't see them very well here - but they are there!

Other things

I did a few other things this weekend too.  Like knock down this dead tree that has been threatening me while I mowed...

I couldn't drag this thing with my tractor - combination of wet soil, no traction and a much bigger tree than first thought!  I will have to go back with a chain saw later.

Tool post grinder

I finally set up my new tool post grinder and did some measuring.  I also figured out how to adjust it for height - very cool!  The t-nut for the toolpost fits perfectly!  Better then the toolpost does in fact!

I set it up and turned it on - it runs!

I only have 2x #2 and a #4 pulley

Inside diameter of the pulleys is .5 inches

A number 2 pulley - I found two pulleys marked number 2...

The reverse threaded end of the motor spindle.  

One #2 is 1.214 inches in diameter

The other #2 is 1.272 inches in diameter!

I will need to get a spanner to remove this spindle - if I ever want to.  Teeth need to be 1.153" apart

With teeth 0.138" in diameter

Grinding wheel spindle diameter is 0.378" (3/8")

The larger diameter on the spindle is 0.635" (5/8")

The belt is about 22"  Its a flat belt. Not sure what to replace this with.

 I will shop around ebay for some grinding wheels and pulleys and belts I guess.

Spindle thread protector - more work 

Brought the ID to 2.121" (just a number between the min of 2.11" and the max of 2.14")

Got the inside threading tool set up.

OMG - thread takes sooo long!  Still not done!  Also, it looks like I have taken off too much in the ID!  How did that happen?

Suffice to say, I am gaining A LOT of experience doing this inside thread!  Broke 3 thread bits, had to re-adjust the compound and cross slide 2 times (at least) because I did not allow for enough room for the compound slide to complete the cut, and I forgot to tighten the quick change tool post once!  Also, the threading tool needed to be adjusted so that I could get a deep enough thread - 8 TPI is a deep thread and that bit isn't able to handle it with out being tilted in a bit...  I think I will learn to cut my own threading bits for future work.  

Getting the gardens ready - kale, potatoes, and garlic

First, the raised beds and the new starts

I got busy and turned the soil in the raised beds at the "city" house.  Soil is looking much better!  I planted some kale from the seed I gathered from last years plants.  I also planted some potatoes that I saved from last years crop.

There's kale planted in the back 2/3rds of this bed.

All 4 beds turned and ready

This bed is planted full of potatoes.  It has the best soil I think.

The little ones are coming along!  Still no sprouts from bok choy, peppers, or eggplant.

Some barbed wire removed

I really wanted to take more out, but this is a good start.  Maybe I can get more down in the coming weeks.

Removed a good section from down along the road.

Would really like to knock these raspberries down a bit.  They are a bitch to mow around and they are invading my field too much!

OUCH!  I might even get in there with a hand mower.  It is just too hard to get to with any of my machines.

The view from beside the "big patch"/  I would like to plant some forsythia along the road here like on the other side of the driveway, but time is running out this year and I have a lot of trees and things to plant when my order comes in next Friday!

This is where I stopped this weekend.  I got pretty far!

Looking back toward the "big patch"

Deer used to cross here because the fence was down.  They can cross anywhere now!

Potatoes and garlic in the front patch

I plowed the front patch (the fenced section) and tilled it this weekend.  Even though it is plenty early I decided that it should be ok to plant the potatoes and the garlic.  I was upset that my only saved sweet potatoes from ;last year went bad.  I did put one in some water to see if it will form suckers, but I doubt it.  I will have to buy some to sprout I guess.

The white potatoes that I saved from last year are fine!

The sweet potatoes molded! I put the one on the upper right of this picture in some water to see if it will form sprouts.  Its a long shot...

I plowed and tilled this patch this weekend.  Also planted a row and a bit more of potatoes and most of a row of garlic.  I saved the garlic heads from last year!

I put the black plastic down so i knew where the rows where.  Besides, it helps heat the soil and keep the weeds out.

I also weed wacked the weed heads off the strawberry mounds on the left.  I did not see any signs of life in the strawberry patch.  I hope they make it!  I saved some space in this patch for another 2 rows of strawberries that I have on order for next weekend.

There is actually 2 rows of strawberries there - one on each side of the plastic.

New toy!  I got a metal cutting bandsaw!

I have wanted one of these for a long time!  I stopped at Foltz in Hagerstown on the way up on Friday afternoon.  I also got some extra blades and some drill rod for Katherine to make some tooling with. Their prices are actually very good!  I check out this band saw online and the prices were comparable. Of course , buying it local is always a plus - but this one was preassembled and they help load it!  getting it mail order would have taken me awhile to put it together and manhandle it by myself.

I tried it out - OMG!  It is a dream!  I cut off several pieces of scrap angle iron with it.  It cut through them like butter!  Nice cuts too - straight and accurate and clean!

You can also set it up to run in verticle mode if you want to do some fancy cuts, I guess.

Details on the motor.

I like it!  I foresee much use of this baby!

Wait, I thought it was spring...

I was working outside without a jacket on Saturday, and sweating my butt off too boot.  Then the winds picked up Saturday night and I woke to this...

Good thing I got the garden ready! lol

At least it was a pretty sky though.

Not much metal work, but I got a little in.

I managed to get out to the shop Sunday morning and bore out the thread protector a little more.  It's almost to 2" bore now.  It needs to go to at least 2.115" (I think).   I had to readjust the clutch on the apron feed.  I hadn't touched the powerfeed since the big apron cleanup.  I am still not 100% happy with it, but I will keep fiddling with it.  At least it works!  Getting close to doing an internal threading here.  Kinda anxious about that.

Thread protector coming along.  The bore is almost to size.

I also brought up some stuff I ordered for the mill.  I got a wiggler/edge finder and a drill chuck that will fit in a 1/2" collet.  The drill chuck will let me do precision drilling on the mill.