Farm Updates

A lot has been going on around here. We’re preparing to extend the driveway into the backyard to the barn, tear down the old barn, and have a new barn built. This is only in the preliminary stages. No construction has actually been done yet. The new barn will house our travel-trailer, lawn mower, and the truck, among other things.

In order to extend the driveway, some trees needed to come down. The huge silver maple by our driveway needed some branches removed. A precariously leaning pine tree came down. Two apple trees (both sickly anyway). And a crabapple tree. It’s amazing the difference it makes. Once the stumps are grinded (which will happen in the next week or so), we will have a clear path for the new driveway out to the barn. Also, I now have a large pile of wood chips — and I really needed that mulch!

Then we had a tree decide to come down (somewhat) on its own accord. It’s the Bradford pear in our front yard, so I’m not mad about it. As pretty as Bradford pears are in the spring when they’re in bloom, they are incredibly invasive. Ohio banned stores from selling them just this year. I’ve been wanting this tree gone. A significant part of it came down overnight Saturday-Sunday, and we spent four hours on Sunday cleaning up the mess and cutting firewood. These trees are structurally weak, so I think it just couldn’t hold its own weight anymore.

I think this will be the next tree on our list that’s slated for removal. God, I hate it so much. (And we have three or four more in the backyard in one of our wooded areas.)

OK. Enough about trees. Here are some photos I’ve taken recently from around the farm.