After the melt survey

Just had the family get together yesterday.  All went well except for poor Katherine not being able to attend due to a bad cold.

Anyway, weather has turned warm after a snowy and cold time last week.  Since Friday, temps have gone up to above 40F and 4 inches of snow melted off.  Strong thunderstorms and heavy rains have helped melt the snow and drench the place.  I snuck out between rain showers this morning to survey the farm.  Here are some pictures:

This is the front garden.  The radishes are still alive!  Amazing!

The big patch.  Radishes are in rough shape where I need them the most!  Oh well. 

Notice the erosion?  This is the big patch, just above the clay region.

More of the clay region in the big patch.  The erosion is more apparent here.

The bad region is very apparent in this picture of the big patch.

The 'pond'.  It's actually the old horse drinking hole.  It's finally got some water in it.

Just below the drinking hole.  Still not up to "stream" status.

Pawpaw patch.  Plenty of water here!

This is the lower end of the pawpaw patch.  Seems to be right over an underground stream.

The upper portion of the pawpaw patch.

The front patch, with the pawpaw patch in the background.

Front patch.  Notice the brussel sprout? (I think its a sprout - some kind of brassica).

Movie of the 'elderberry' stream.  It was dried up for past couple of months!

Here is a movie of the underground streams that form near the pawpaw patch and the apple orchard.

The walipini hole.  Holds water surprisingly well!

Bandsaw delivered

I spent most of Friday clearing a space for the bandsaw in the shop.  The lathe was placed a little too close to the doorway so it had to be moved back a bit.  I got some 3/4" black pipe (bought 3 10' pieces at Home Depot and had them cut each in half - so I have 6 5' pieces) and placed them on the floor to use as rollers for the heavy machines.  After cleaning the garage a bit i was able to use the tractor forks to help lift the lathe up onto the blackpipe rollers.  The forks couldn't lift the lathe really, but took enough weight off so that I could use a prybar to work the lathe pallet onto the pipes.

The UPS delivery guy finally got here about 4:30pm on Friday.  He had to call several times to get directions.  He pulled up out front with a full sized tractor trailer.  I took the tractor down to the road and used the forks to lift the bandsaw out of the truck and haul it back to the shop.  The bandsaw seems so small compared to the lathe and milling machine!  I had to move the forks in close together so that I could engage the bandsaw pallet.  Was a bit nervous moving the bandsaw on the forks since the bandsaw is so tall and thin.  I went very slow and didn't make any quick moves taking it from the road and into the shop.

Here is a picture of the bandsaw as it was Friday evening on the shop floor:

Ordered bandsaw and other stuff

I finally got the nerve to order the grizzly bandsaw today.  I bought it off of the grizzly site because they were cheaper and had what looks like a nice wheel base kit for it.

I spent considerable time outside today. Couldn't take this cabin fever any more!  I built a small fire brick version of a rocket heater near the wood pile and started it up.  I am surprised but the thing actually works fairly well.  I would have had to come back inside often to thaw my hands today because it was so cold, but the little fire place did the trick!  I think that if I put a heat deflector over it that I could then use it to heat the little plastic roofed greenhouse I got earlier this year.  After I got the fire going I went to work splitting wood.  I got several large pieces split.  I was keeping an eye out for wood that I could use to make a mallet.  I found a couple pieces that looked suitable and pit them aside until tonight.  After dinner I went out and started turning down one of the pieces to form the mallet head.  I used a technique that I saw on YouTube what a guy uses a router instead of the lathe tools to cut the wood.  I did try using the tools, but because I was turning the wood so that the grain was perpendicular to the rotation axis, the lathe tools were not doing very well.  The router was a little scary to use at first, but once I turned the cylinder down a bit, the lathe ran smoother and I calmed down.  Using the router was great!  It took smaller chips off and cut much more uniform than a larger tool would have.

I didn't take pix tonight, but will add pictures tomorrow when I can!

My Conclusions about my woodworking needs

I have been looking at these portable band-sawmills for years now and after LOTs of consideration and thinking, planning, etc. have come to these conclusions:

1. The chainsaw mills that I have (the mini-mill and the slabbing mill) are ok for what I want.  
2. The chainsaw mills waste a lot of wood and are far slower and harder to use than the band-sawmills, but I have concluded that I am only interested in making beams and cants from trees - not boards!
3. Bandsaw mills work well - but you would need to NEED lots of lumber to make them worthwhile.  I am not going to build a large compound or going into the wood-working business (or running a small lumber mill business).
4. I can probably get by with just the chainsaw-mills that I have for my lumber needs for fine wood IF I get a large-ish bandsaw.  I am looking at a grizzly right now.  Although this model doesn't have a foot brake.  I might get the next model up (with a foot brake).
5. In any case, no matter which mill approach I adopt, I will need a planer and a jointer to do fine wood work.  
6. I think I can get dad's old delta planer fixed up and running with a set of shelix blades - its fairly small planer but I don't plan on making massive pieces of furniture!   The shelix replacement is NOT cheap - about $450!
7. Tony Huffert has a Sunhill SM-204 8" jointer that I can get for $400!  It will need shelix blades as well.  Its model info: Sunhill SM-204 (note that sunhill company is gone and product is no longer supported).  However, there are shelix blades that I can use - for $350). Note that I have to pick up the jointer before Jan 7(?) with my trailer to get this deal from Tony.
8. Other plans I have are to buy all of dad's woodworking stuff from mom.  I have a list that I am making to make sure siblings are ok with the purchase.  The only thing that I really want is dad's planer.  everything else I either don't need or don't want.  Just getting the stuff out of the garage so that it doesn't get lost in the estate.  Also, I think I can get the auxiliary tools for a good price from her, which may save me some time in buying them piecemeal as I need them.

Last harvest of the season

Parsnips!

Soil was actually frozen about one half inch down this morning when I harvested these.

I have never cared for parsnips.  Katherine says they are good roasted. I grew these just to see if she can make something tasty out of them!

more preserving!

I baked and pureed pumpkin today.  I have 8 pints in the freezer and 4 quarts in the fridge.  Katherine made a crustless pie with 2 cups and there is 1 cup left int the fridge to use (I am thinking of making some pumpkin soup tomorrow).   So , all told, about 2 gallons of pumpkin.

Also, here is a link to a recipe for pickled cabbage that we are going to try with the cabbage I harvested from the garden here in silver spring (we got a whopping 5 lbs! - LOL).

pickled cabbage

Leaning maple tree down!

I finally got around to cutting down the maple tree that was leaning toward the farm house.  That same tree was probably the tree that was sending roots into the septic tank.  I climbed up the ladder that I leaned against the tree and used the electric chainsaw to cut off the lowest limbs.  Then, after cutting the lowest limbs off, I pushed the ladder up higher into the tree and tied a rope as high as I could.  Then I attached the rope to the tractor and pulled to put some tension on the tree in the direction that I wanted it to fall.  I climbed up the letter and then cut a notch and then back-cut the tree.  I left a good 2x5 thickness of wood uncut to be sure the tree wouldn't fall before I had sufficient tension on the rope with the tractor.  I got down off the letter went to the tractor started up and pulled very gently until the tree came down.  I did this for two sections of the tree.  Then all that was left was the main trunk which I cut down a couple days later.

Here are some pictures:

I ground up some of the brush using the chipper but a key broke (or was thrown?) on the feed gear and I had to stop.  I got a new key at Ridgeline hardware but I didn't have time to install it before I had to come back home.  The key looks small so I will have to shim it I think or else it will just vibrate out again.

While at the farm I also cleaned up the red barn some more.  I screwed down a lot of loose roofing and installed a lockable hook on the door.  At this point my plan is to make a pair of sawhorses for general use and to make another rolling door so that I can close the barn up entirely.  I am considering putting an electric line out there so that I can use the red barn for wood working and the old garage as my metal shop.  We will see.  I haven't even got the electricity into the two nearby garages yet!

Speaking of electricity installations, I have figured that I need a distribution wire of quadraplex, 2-2-2-4, aluminum - 136 feet for the new garage and 25 feet for the old garage. from article " If you install a 100 amp breaker 240 volt in the dwelling, then you may use a 2 awg four wire URD aluminum cable from that dwelling’s panel to that garage disconnect. "  Each garage needs its own ground rod to which the service ground connects.  The neutral from the service is ISOLATED from the ground in the garage boxes (unlike the neutral in the main box, where ground and neutral are connected).  

Also, a note to myself about the lighting needs:  consider getting LED lights!  They don't burn out as fast and don't have the issues of fluorescent lights!