Spring 2009

Winter and early spring has been a time for clearing brush piles and planting American chestnut trees in coordination with the Tennessee Chestnut Association. Almost 100 trees were planted, with about a tenth of them being "control" species from a nursery in east TN, and half of the remaining being descendants from a surviving tree in Marshall County and the other half descendants from a surving tree in Sumner County. Trees have been marked according to geneology and will be bred for blight resistance in the hopes of developing a blight resistant strain of native American chestnut in Tennessee. Check out the website for the TN chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation: http://www2.volstate.edu/tnchestnut/Jim%20Newton%20Giles%20County%20Orchard.htm .

Chestnut trees have returned to the farm for the first time since being eradicated by blight in the 1930's. The trees were planted in a ridgetop clearing near the Smith's property boundary. Most of the clearing took place during a cold weekend in January with the planting in late February. Jim, Steve, Jennifer (and friend Hannah), Janine, and Clint Neel worked on the planting. Hill Craddock from UT Chattanooga brought the trees and got the planting started and Jim, Ben, Clint and Steve did the planting.

The cattle and Gypsy have made it through the winter with a minimum of hay. Grazing was feasible for most of the winter months by the use of rotating paddocks and the grass emerged fairly early with some warm days in February and March.

The new pond is filling up nicely. It is probably about a foot or two below the spillway after a lot of rain in the past week or two. Some additional length in the water diversions should help keep it filled. It will be a great asset for grazing in the back pasture areas and the setting is really nice below the NWSG field border and above the hay fields.


Jim, Fred, and Steve and Jennifer were there on Palm Sunday weekend with Beth and her girls (visiting from Kansas on Spring break). The girls had a great time roaming the fields and hills, and Taylor got her feet wet on a hike with uncle Steve.


With the wet weather, we started burning the fallen hickory and oak tree piles between the house and the road. Jim stayed all week taking care of the cemetery , relaxing, and tending the fires, which have just about taken care of the logs and the stumps. Good Friday was a day of severe weather with extremely strong winds which indicated shear markers shortly after passing over the farm. These storm produced pea to marble size hail. Joe Newton's barn along with several others were destroyed or damaged in the community.

The winter and spring has brought some new opportunities to enhance the farm and connect with the community. Hunting season produced some nice bucks for Tanner and Chip with rifles and Chris with bow. The wildlife management strategy is to create an area of sanctuary and cover with stands on the outer perimeter in the lanes of travel. Turkey season is now underway.

The native warm season grass seems to be progressing as intended. Jim mowed the area of gamagrass and new shoots are already appearing through the thick dormant bermuda that was present previously. This in encouraging since the gamagrass seed had just been put into the ground at the same time last year. The bermuda was not eradicated last spring because it was still dormant when the field was sprayed prior to planting the gamagrass. It is expected that the gama will shade the bermuda as it grows. Controlled burning will also help control the bermuda and weeds once the gamagrass is more established. The switchgrass is also becoming established even though weed competition exists. Controlled burning will help these areas as well.


The ponds are in good shape thanks to Jim's maintenance work on water diversion and clearing combined with heavy spring rains. The main pond is running over at the spillway and the surface area of the little pond is much larger than recent years. The new pond in the hayfield should be a real asset for maximizing the rotational grazing this season.

Jennifer (with Jim's help) is doing the yardwork and maintenance at the Noblit Cemetery. She is planning to use the money she earns for a horse corral. Gypsy has made it through the winter nicely staying in the front pasture area with access to the pond and the barn shed. Jennifer has had several friends spending the weekend on a number of occasions.

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
  

Hello and Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the Newton Family's blog for the Newton Farm at Puncheon in Giles County, Tennessee. We will try to share pictures and stories, and experiences from this beautiful country farm, which has been in our family for nearly two hundred years. Thanks for reading!