Farm Life

 5-23-23 Today looked a little different than most days. We spent most of the morning cleaning up the house. We wanted to leave the space better than we found it. At 10am we went to help Trask with one last task. He wanted help moving the cows from their pen to a new pasture. Cows do not like humans tell them to do things. It was a big challenge and we had to get creative to get them to move. We managed to corner them and get them out. It was a challenging task but we were successful at the end. It was a good closing day!  Today Hours: 2hours Total Hours: 59.5

 5-22-23 Marking our territory. With all of the work we have put in clearing the area on the property, Trask had asked us to create a sign. We took some time to brainstorm but quickly remembered that Proctor has a laser cutter. We made our way to campus and went to the wood shop. We found some beautiful wood. We then discussed what we would put on the sign. We created a few ideas to present to James and Spencer. Unfortunately they were not in their office but we hope to get the sign completed tomorrow. Today looked different for us work wise but it was enjoyable.  Today Hours: 1.5 hour Total Hours: 57.5

Farm Life Week 2: Granite Rooster Ranch has been an amazing place to work these past two weeks. We have completed many tasks in our time here. This past week has mostly consisted of the same task. The task was clearing out a path up to the edge of the property. We wanted to make it accessible by mule and tractor. This meant we needed to clear out the trail up to the stone wall. The stone wall marked the property line. We used chain saws, clippers and our hands to make a trail. However the work did not stop once the trail was made. We came across an area that was full of baby trees, brush and large pines, oaks and maples. Our goal was to completely clear the area. We planned ideas for the area. Some of those ideas were, a space for large hammocks, a small grill, tents for camping and a possible outhouse. This area would be a great space away from the chaos on the farm. Over the week, we completed many of our goals. We cleared the space, created a brush pile at the stone wall and made th

 5-20-23 Today I chopped down my first tree with an axe. It is quite impressive to see the amount of improvement we have made on the area. The space looked completely different when we first arrived compared to now. The new axe has made a big difference. The boys have been so excited to use the axe that I have mainly focused on clearing the area of small brush and the trees that they cut down. However the calluses on their hands got the best of them and the axe ended up in my hands. It was a workout but I got a significant sized tree down and yelled "timber" as it fell down the hill. It feels very good day after day to go back into the area and see the amount of space that has been cleared. It would not be a day at Granite Rooster Ranch if we didn't spend some time with puppies. There have been a few new litters and the yellow labs are very adorable. We were tasked with feeding the baby chicks today. It was not a super challenging task but one we had never done before. Th

 5-19-23 Today we picked up right where we left off in the woods. We cleared more brush and then were greeted by trash in the tractor. He used an attachment on his tractor to help us pick up the brush to put in the big pile. The attachment was very helpful and he could pick up the large trees we chopped down with the axe. Augie was very excited to have a new axe and cut down many large trees. We made significant progress on the property. We headed down to go pick up a puppy. Her name is Ziggy and we are giving her social experience on campus. It is necessary for the dogs to have that experience while they are being trained by Mel. We spent some time planning and working on the sign we are creating. We want to mark the trail we created and hope to use the laser engraver to do so. Today was a great day and tired us all out.  Today Hours: 8hours Total Hours: 53hours

 5-18-23      Mmmmm waffles and fresh strawberries for breakfast. We woke up and had a yummy breakfast before getting to work. We made our way out onto the trails. When we walked up to the Kawasaki, we discovered a flat tire. We had to unload the mule and brainstorm another way to get into the woods. We decided to go on another path and use the Jeep. We had to get creative but we found another path on the other side of the property that the Jeep would fit through. We arrived at the trail and had to hike our way in. We walked up to the plateau and began working. We were able to clear all the way to the stone wall which marks the property line. We moved our previous brush piles into one big one pile by the wall. We made significant progress on the area. I then left for school to get back for a tennis team dinner.  Today hours: 3 hours Total Hours: 45 hours

 5-17-23 Today we continued our work in the woods. We cleared more of the plateau. We have made significant progress on this area. Trask was able to fill in the beginning of the trail with sand. This helped the mud to settle to so we could get up to the top easier in the mule. We used the chainsaws to clear more brush and smaller trees. We hope to clear the area so the view over the cliff is available. We then made our way to school for sports. The boys went to KUA for their last lacrosse game and I went to Exeter for my final tennis match. Today was another great day working on the farm. Today Hours: 3 hours Total Hours: 42 hours 

 5-16-23 We tracked up through the thick mud following the new path we have cleared. The day began with some waffles with peanut butter and bananas. We took the Kawasaki up into the woods to begin work. We were greeted by some stray pigs along the way who were grazing the fields. We passed by and drove up into the woods. The beginning of our trail was caked in thick deep mud but my knee high rubber boots had no problem passing through. We walked up to the section we would continue clearing. We chopped down trees with hatchets, clipped excess brush and cleared it out into piles. Trask stopped by on the tractor and was pleasantly surprised to find that we had cleared a successful driving trail all the way up to the plateau. We began clearing it out to create a large open space. We started planning areas for hammocks, a grill and tents to be placed for a nice hang out spot away from the farm chaos. This plateau is the area where we will access the maple grove. As we made our way back towa

 5-15-23 Today I was up early and on the road towards campus at the crack of dawn. When I arrived at Proctor I headed towards the admissions building to meet Claire and Kerry Shea. They are family friends from Steamboat. I was thrilled to see them and show them around the place I have been able to call home for the past three years. Claire was super excited to see Proctor and loved the school. We spent lots of time catching up, walking around campus and asking and answering questions. Many hours were spent on campus and when it was time to let Claire get to class, I headed back to the farm. I got back to the farm and got straight to work. We met the piglets who were born yesterday. We marked a piglet with purple paint and got her to her mom to protect her from being neglected further. We then made our way to the trail and cleared the path toward the maple trees. The day ended and we went to Proctor for practice. Today Hours: 6.5 Total Hours: 31

  FARM LIFE: Week 1 Granite rooster Ranch has welcomed us onto their property. They have over 300 acres of land with piglets, pigs, chicks, chickens, goats and a horse. Alongside the multitude of animals, they breed lab and pointer puppies. We have been lucky enough to spend lots of time with a mixed puppy named Lily and she has come to Proctor with us. The puppies are adorable and brighten up our lives daily.  Today wraps up week one of being on senior project. We have spent many hours working on the farm. Our week began with clearing trees, dead branches and overgrown brush from an old dog pen. The farm wanted to make the pen accessible and safe for the dogs to be able to roam and have outside time. We were able to successfully clear the area and move the excess branches to a burn pile. After we completed that task we went into the kennel for some puppy love and got to meet many puppies.  Our next task was planting a Christmas tree farm. The saplings were previously planted in bunc

 5-14-23 Today I was unable to work on the farm in the morning. I had to get to Proctor early to head out for tennis championships. We drove to Brewster and spent many hours playing tennis. We weren't crazy successful but Emma Harrell and I were able to win a consolation match and had lots of fun while doing it. We arrived back at campus pretty late and I headed back to the ranch to get some sleep after the long and exhausting day. I will pick up work on the farm this week and put in extra hours to make up for the day I lost to tennis. 

 5-12-23 After a big breakfast we set out on the farm to work. We had a big goal in mind of finishing the Christmas tree farm and we completed it! We finished up our planting and had a big rush of satisfaction after completing a large task we were challenged with. We met back up with Trask and he led us to our next challenge. We followed him in the mule behind the tractor around the property. We arrived at a road block and we set out on foot on our journey up the mountain. We walked a long ways on unpaved trail, bushwhacking our way through. We reached the site at the top of the mountain and worked our way down mapping the new trail we will clear. We pinned the location so we can return in future days.We will begin mapping the trail to find the grove of maple trees. The sweet taste of maple syrup was in our minds as an end goal for the farm. We then headed back for lunch and off to school for sports! We were excited to find out that our new best friend (puppy Lily) would be joining us

 5-11-23 On the phone with Trask..  “ ummmm so all the pigs escaped, what do we do?” We started the day at 9am working on the farm. As we drove up in the Kawasaki we ran into a road block. Some pigs were loose on the grounds and we had to tackle getting them in. We corralled the 6 pigs and 2 goats back towards the pen, shut off the electric fence and lured them in with a big bag of food. The pigs thought it was a fun game so lots of time was spent chasing pigs around. A serious comedy show was in action. We managed to get away from the bacon without any further disturbances and only one goat lost its horn. We continued our trip to our mini Christmas tree farm. We dug right into the dirt and planted many trees. As we walked away, my hands were caked with dirt and sweat was beading down my face. A sign of good hard work. As we approached the house, Mel asked if we wanted to bring a puppy to school. The obvious answer was yes so we loaded up “Lily” the pointer lab puppy into the car and w

 5-10-23 Today we arose out of bed at 8:45 and got to work on the farm at 9. We set off to continue our process of growing Christmas trees. We stopped by for some puppy love with the new pointer puppies. We traveled in the Kawasaki to the other side of the property where our saplings were waiting for us. We continued the process of plotting and measuring the land, planting the saplings and watering them. The job is tedious and has taken us a few days but we were able to make some significant progress on the land today. We traveled bad to the house to pack up and head to school. We went out separate ways to play tennis @KUA and lacrosse @Tilton.  Today: 3hrs Total:11.5 hrs

 Day 2 5-9-23 Today we woke up at 8:45 and headed out to work at 9am. We headed into the garden where the Christmas tree saplings were planted. We carefully dug them up and separated them into the individual saplings, cleaning off the roots. We transported the saplings across the property to the area we cleared yesterday. We measured plots 6 feet apart and began digging holes. We then planted 40 of the saplings in the plot and watered them. A few puppies joined us in our process and  gave us some puppy love while we worked. After the long 4 hours in the sun with the trees we headed back for lunch and then to school for practice.  Time: 4hrs Total Time: 8.5 hrs

  5-8-23 Today we woke up and started our work at 9am. We began clearing brush and debris from an area where the kennel dogs will be able to roam and hang out outside. We worked on clearing out the area and the dead trees for a while before we moved to a different section of the 300 acre property. We began planning the area for planting Christmas trees. We cleared out lots of brush and trees and achieved a clear space to plant in the next few days. We had to take many trips on the tractor to clear the brush to different locations where we saw the multitude of animals. The ranch has pigs, goats, chickens, horses, cows and puppies.  Time: 4 1/2hrs Total Time: 4 1/2hrs