Farm Life Week 1

 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 bunches in the front of the property. We unplanted the saplings, separated them and made our way to another section of the property. When we arrived, we cleared brush, trees and leaves with rakes, weedwackers and chainsaws. We plotted the land in 6 by 6 coordinates, dug holes and planted the saplings. This task took many days because it was labor intensive and time consuming to cover the section of property with trees. There was a lot of satisfaction when we reached our final goal and saw all the planted trees. The task was rewarding. As we conversed with Trask, we talked about how Christmas trees are becoming one of the most profitable crops. It felt good to be able to help out the farm in a way that would be majorly successful for them in the future. 

In the last few days of the week we have started a new project. We drove up to another area of the property in the Kawasaki, following Trask in the tractor. We reached a roadblock and set out on foot up the mountain to the property line. We bushwhacked for a few miles and eventually reached the site. We pinned the location and looped down to the vehicles. We will be clearing a trail up into the maple grove to begin the sugaring process. The farm has never fully located the maple grove and only knows it exists. We will help them to make it accessible and locate the grove for them to begin production. 

This week we will talk with a guy who has a PHd in chemistry. He will inform us about the soil and how that can contribute to the maple production and how to identify it. We hope to have a fully paved trail to reach the trees and make it much more accessible. It has been extremely fulfilling to help out on the farm. Trask and Mel have a lot of animals on their hands and it is rewarding to help them out and help them expand their farm to become more profitable.