A Second Year of Bumbling Along

We have begun to realize that not having any prior "real" farming experience is at times a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because we are more likely to research, take advice and use best management practices because we don't have a preconceived knowledge of how it was once done. At the same time it is a curse because...well...we just don't know any better. Often jobs are completed by pure stubbornness and refusal to quit. I recall our final week of fencing when Jim was digging post holes with an iron bar because the tractor auger wouldn't work because the ground was too hard. Jennifer was helping by scooping the hole with a post hole digger. The temperature was around 97 degrees. Rusty (local NRCS official) stopped by and seemed puzzled by our lack of sanity. Steve walked up saying it was "just getting hot enough to get some work done" Rusty just laughed and shook his head.

Fencing
During the months of June and July over 26,000 linear feet of barbwire was installed. This installment also included driving T-post, digging and installing line post and H-braces, clearing brush, trees, and log piles and fighting off ticks and bumble bees. We found (thanks to Thomas Kail) that talk-a-bouts worked real well and saved many steps on long fence pulls. A local dog would come help and we nicked named him Maynard (1). Steve is renowned for his unique ability to lose things and demonstrated this skill by losing a brand new talk-a-bout in a high grass portion of fence line. Before even discovering the talk-a-bout was gone, Maynard came up to Steve with the talk-a-bout in his mouth and dropped it at his feet. From that point on, we assigned Maynard as Steve's service dog for finding his lost items. We would like to thank the following people for helping out with the fencing: Ben &Jennifer Newton, Thomas Kail, Tony Jordon, Dad, Beth and the girls & Chuck.

Equipment and Repairs
A major challenge for the year has been mechanical issues. Jim over-hauled the engine on the John Deere 110 lawn tractor. On its first weekend at the farm, Jim was driving it across a field and it threw the gen/starter belt. Without thinking Jim turned the engine off which resulted in the engine being unable to start. The non-starting tractor had to be left in the field. A rain storm occurred that night and filled the carburetor and part of the crankcase with water. A new lesson learned....the hard way!
The head mechanic (Jim)has learned a tremendous amount of trouble shooting and problem solving skills while involved in the repair and maintenance of the equipment. Most of the equipment used is 40-60 years old and each has their own unique engineering quirks. Gas tanks are metal with gas flowing to the engine by gravity. Engine electronics are the old points and condensers of yesteryear. Most engine issues are addressed by the "Fuel or Fire " troubleshooting method. Currently Fergie 2 is undergoing an engine rebuild for her debut at farm.

Native Warm Season Grass, Timber Management, a New Pond, and a Horse named Gypsy!

Timber has been selectively harvested and thinned at the advice of Rusty Walker (Giles Co. NRCS) and Donnie Barnett (Timber Mgt. Consultant) in preparation for continuation of fencing improvements. The logger was Billy Bivens from Revilo in Lawrence County. We were very pleased with the Donnie's valuable guidance and Billy's performance in the logging even though we were hindered by wet weather.

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Billy used his bulldozer to dig a new pond in the back hay field. This is part of our NRCS contract. At the moment the pond water level has stabilized. It may take some time for the clay to totally seal. A small diversion has been cut to begin to divert field runoff toward the pond.

The new access road into the "back 40" has been seeded with KY31 and creeping red fescue. The road/trail is part of our longterm management plan and has given us the ability to manage and monitor the timber/ wildlife areas of the farm (about 75 acres).

• 900 seedlings have been planted between Feb 15th and March 25th. 300 walnuts, 100 yellow poplar, 500 white oak.

• Boy Scout Troop 514 from Clarksville spent 2 days working on several environmental oriented merit badges. The scouts were able to experience timber cutting in full operation. They thought the knuckle-boom was cool. 300 white oak seedlings were also experienced by the Scouts using dibbles. (A dibble is a small shovel designed for seedling planting)
  

• We have acquired a single point plow which will be valuable in creating drainage ditches and water diversion terraces. Pond terrace repairs will continue to be an emphasis due to ongoing drought conditions.
  
• We have completed about 2/3 of the 900 foot contract section.
• We have plans to continue on the contract fencing the first week in June. (20 rolls of barbwire have been purchased.) Plan of attack is to do the perimeter fence first and then come in and section it off.
• Jennifer did a good job sowing fescue on the pond over spring break. As of May 25th the grass is coming in nicely.
  

• Our contract with the NRCS calls for planting four acres of native warm season grasses(NWSG). These grasses that are beneficial for wildlife and for managed grazing. We have planted Eastern Gamagrass and Cave-in-Rock Switchgrass which we bought online from sources in the midwest.
  
• Eastern Gama grass. (Let it be said that we do everything the hard way.) We could not swing a corn planter and our planting window was quickly closing. As an alternate solution we ripped a row about every two- three feet with a middle buster plow and planted the gama with a garden planter. Steve bought some peroxide(35% which he diluted to 15%) online and soaked the seeds in the solution for 18 hrs and we started planting the first week in April. We planted one acre the first week and 2 acres of switch grass. The second week we finished the gama grass. We planted both the gama and switch grass in some of the logging areas. Due to the rain amount this year, we are going to have problems with weeds. As of May 25th the Gama was popping up in rows. (A quarter in foreground for scale)

• The switchgrass has tiny sprouts which are difficult to distinguish from fescue. They have started slowly to appear. We are hoping for more germination with the warmer weather.
  
• Spraying -The entire farm has been sprayed for weeds by a professional sprayer. This includes the Joe Newton portion. This combined with the spring rain is going to have a huge impact on the rehabilitation of the grazing areas which have seriously deteriorated over the last decade or so.
  
• Rotational Grazing - We have been rotating the grazing for a year now. This was a lifesaver during the drought last year and is another big factor in the rehabilitation of the pastures. For the moment we have less cattle on the fields and a lot more grass. Hopefully the grass will soon be cut for hay which will be a hedge against drought this summer should that occur. It is our goal that all hay used on the place be cut from our own fields to avoid the importation of weeds which has occurred during past seasons of mismanagement.
  
• Lime- Bennie has collectively applied 90 tons of lime to our pasture and Joe's pastures.
  
• Fertilizer- Jim spread a small amount of ammonium nitrate fertilizer on the hay field ridges in hopes of enhancing the forage and hay production.
  
• Pond- At the moment the pond water level has stabilized. It may take some time for the clay to seal. A small diversion has been cut to begin to divert field runoff toward the pond.

Jennifer now has a horse named Gypsy! She is a very happy and excited girl. We expect she will want to spend even more time at the farm this summer with her horse. Gypsy is the first family owned horse on the farm in almost 60 years. Happy Trails to Jen and Gypsy!

• This completes the spring update. Temperatures are expected in the eighties for the entire week and it looks like summer is upon us as we enter the Memorial Day weekend. We will get back in a few weeks, hopefully with word of lots more progress.

Novice Farmers: The First Year January 1, 2008

The Newton family has just completed their first full year in management of the farm since acquiring access in late October 2006. The first year has been a journey from a state of overwhelmed apprehension and ignorance through the early stages of developing a long term management plan and vision for the farm. The learning curve has been steep, but we've come long way. While there is an even greater awareness of the tremendous task at hand, the family has begun building a level of confidence in its ability to manage the place and even restore it to the point that it can continue to be a blessing for this and future generations.

Jim has become the initiator and leader for improvements to the farmland, farm processes and procedures. He has spent countless hours on the internet, on the phone, and in personal discussions researching , learning , planning and seeking information and resources for improving the place. His obsessive behavior has caused the rest of us to label him as an "agri-holic".

Melba, Logan, Beth, Pam, Janine, Jim, Steve, Fred and others have provided furniture. appliances, window treatments, linens and bath towels, food and provisions, and other things to make the place more livable and comfortable.

Steve, Jim, and Fred have been the primary communicators and co - ordinators of the work with the Giles Co. NRCS, Tn Div. of Forestry, the purchase of equipment and materials, and contractors for repairs and other work.

Jennifer, Jim's daughter, is definitely a farm girl. She has visions of keeping a horse or horses on the place eventually. She is an expert at clipping fence wire to T-posts.

It has been especially great for Beth and her 3 young girls to be able to enjoy the farm this year as they live in Clarksville while daddy Cameron is in Afganistan for a fifteen month tour of duty. Cam's mother Myra has enjoyed visiting as well and used the phrase "enchanting " to describe her first visit.

The farm has experienced a period of exceptional drought, with a deficit of more than 50 inches of rainfall over the past 2 years. New practices of rotational grazing enabled by the new fencing has helped to avoid further loss of pasture and has helped sustain the cattle herd better than many and much better than would have been otherwise possible.

Janine deserves extra kudos for putting up with Jim's agri-holic obsession, and for all the unbelievable work throughout the year painting, fencing, and being den mother. She gives new meaning to the phrase "Git-r-dun".

Jim and Janine had Jennifer's Girl Scout troop spend a weekend on the farm and Jennifer had her birthday party there. Pam and Logan took a group of Logan's friends (Jase, Clayton, and Daniel) for an overnight stay. They enjoyed the tractor and driving and swimming in Sugar Creek.




The following list is a summary of work accomplished since acquiring access at the end of 2006.

Main Farm House

• Replaced HVAC system and added LP heater in kitchen
  
• Painted interior ceilings and walls.
• Installed new laminate floors in Kitchen, Den, Living Rm, and Bedroom
• Repointed and repaired Stone Chimney and interior of Fireplace, new flashing
  
• New keyed alike locksets and deabolts on all doors
• Insulated ceiling over den
• Removed two brick chimney flues in attic
• Fixed roof leak and patched ceiling
• Cleaned front gutters
  
• Begun furnishing and decoration
  

Little House

• Repointed chimney , placed new chimney cap and flashing
• New lockset and deadbolt on doors keyed to main house
• Primed walls and ceiling for painting

Pastures

• Installed almost 5 miles of barbed wire in 4 & 5 strand fences.
  
• Pastures bushogged twice during year
• Spot sprayed to begin weed control
• Bushogged top of back hillside field that will become planted with warm season native grass
• Worked with Bennie to develop hay storage and feeding system that is less damaging to pastures during winter feeding season
• Placed gate between big pond and field behind barn
• Began rotational grazing system for optimum pasture management in April

Ponds

• Scraped and cleaned around ponds at low water level
• Girdle cut to kill trees on pond dam to reduce water loss and avoid damage to dam
• Planned location for new pond at back hay field to be installed in 2008.
  
• Began restoration and repair of water diversion terrace system to both ponds where damaged by silting and erosion
  

Timber

• Met with Tn Division of Forestry / Donnie Barnett to begin Timber Management plan
• Purchased 500 walnut trees for planting in early 2008

Barn

• Cleared hay from loft and moved loft floorboards that were getting rain damage
• Replaced rotten post at side shed to and fixed shed to allow for tractor storage
• Sprayed weeds around barn and cut back overgrowth to allow use of rear and side barn lot.
• Opened access gate behind barn
• Prepared north shed for use in cattle feeding and shelter
• Placed gate to separate front and rear barn lot for hay storage

Other

• Replaced/refurbished front gate
• Replaced gate access from yard to north pasture
• Cut path through thicket to hollow field
• Built new Insulated pump house with concrete foundation and two doors for access to valve and pump control apparatus. Installed thermostatically controlled heat lamps to prevent freezing.
• Purchased additional 1952 Ferguson TO-30 tractor to use with the loaner & to learn about with coaching from Dan Melton
• Acquired 1940's or early 50's John Deere Van Brunt mechanical seed drill for reseeding pastures.
  
• Acquired '67 John Deere garden tractor for general fencing , spraying, and miscellaneous tasks.
• Acquired 5' bushog and blade scraper to use with Ferguson tractor