Winter 2015

Cold morning!  We are at 5 degrees this morning.  This is our third single digit morning this month.  We did not get our first frost last fall until November 1st.  I can never remember a late frost like that.  By November 18, we were at 18 degrees.  What a fast change.  I am hoping we don't get too many single digit mornings this winter as this is hard on everything: people, animals and plants.  We are busy pulling, packing and shipping seed orders.  We ship twice a week, every Thursday and Saturday.  We use the USPS and have always been very happy with their service.  We also still have some beans to shell and art slowing getting these finished up.

We have been asked about progress on the barn renovations.  It is a slow project.  In the winter, I do not even try to work outside so the barn work is usually early spring and late fall.  One part of the barn had a corner post completely rotted away along with extensive roof damage.  The corner post was replaced with a salvage post from a local barn of similar age that was torn down.  Reconstruction of that part of the barn was finished complete with new rafters, skylight and new storage loft.

We are slowly working on the next section.  All the footings on the barn are stacked rock and have sunk over the past 115 years.  I am jacking up the posts to their proper height, cutting off the rotten bottoms, digging and pouring new footings and building a raised block above ground to complete the height difference.  Since all of the original spans are 12 foot, I am adding additional support posts.  Finally, much of the barn is getting new stringers and barn siding (local sawn oak).  I will have the south side of the barn finished this year and will start on the north end this coming fall.