Firewood

Firewood is name of the game. With propane prices already outrageous, and still climbing, wood heat is the best option for us. Wood heating will be very time/ work intensive, but we can cut all wood from our wood lot, meaning its cost less $$, and trees are a renewable resource. As for cutting trees, we have only cut trees that were already dead, or needed cut for safety reasons(like in previous Blog Post). With help from Concord Family and Friends we cut and hand split of 75% of our wood this year (roughly 3 cords). The rest was split with a log splitter at a communal wood cutting/ splitting party at my neighbors, in which we all got a share of the wood (Wood hauled home on the hay wagon, load x 2). We will soon find out if 4.5-5 cords of split wood will last us the winter, setting our base line for coming years. The Farmers Almanac has predicted a harsh winter, Warm wishes from our family to yours! Below are some pictures of our wood cutting adventures. Yes even Concord Baby helped.

Wood Stove

Have you taken a look at the recent propane prices? Outrageous! Thats why we have chosen to heat our home with a wood stove, supplementing the propane furnace. We purchased the wood stove last February, actually before we had our current home. The stove is a Buck Stove Co. Model 21 (link: http://www.buckstove.com/wood/model21.html ), with a heating range of 800- 1800 SqFt. We chose this stove out of oppertunity, it was listed Craigslist, and we dealt the seller down. Where to place the stove within the house was a difficult decision, but we found we liked the way it looked in the living room corner, not to mention it is a central location in the house.

To be safe, and meet insurance requirements Concord Family built an elevated corner hearth pad. The optional side and rear heat sheilds were also intalled on the stove for close clearances, so no wall protection is called for. The platform was designed and built custom by us. This pad was made of recycled bricks that we dug up on the property and washed. Then we mortared in the bricks. Let me say, wow, I sure am glad I am not a brick mason, and I'm sure others are too, what a tough and tedious job this was. I think the inexperience and "custom" looking job is what will make this project so memorable. Thanks Justin. Below are pictures of the process Part 1( Yes I know, the stove isnt centered yet). Part 2 to follow at a later date.---J

New Herd Bull

After along search and much contemplation, we have found a new herd bull. This bull "Travis Hollifield" of Hollified Farms in WV, will be a great sire and hopefully serve os well. Travis is a PDCA registered, DNA tested, Non-Chondrodiplasia, Red Dexter bull. Travis was born on Sept 24, 2007, So he is just now at breeding age, and he is peforming well so far (LOL!),(he will be larger). Now, the next step is to purchase registered red cows. Pictures below.

Concord Baby's Room

Concord Baby's remodel is complete! Concord Grandma and Concord Mom painted the farm mural on Concord Baby's bedroom walls (Looks Great!). We also sanded the original wood floor, stained and polyurethaned it. Pics Below. Thanks to all who helped!

Summer time business

Wow, what a busy time of year this has been. Life has taken a change, Concord Mom is still in school, Concord Baby is crawling at mach speed (almost walking) and I have yet another job under my belt, I am now a Firefighter- Paramedic for Jackson Twp. Fire Dept in Grove City, OH. And, now for home life: baby to coral, house to child proof and keep clean, much laundry as sweaty summer days prevail, Fences to build, cows to move, shed to build, fire wood to split, and as if thats not enough, Morgan our black lab is due for puppies any time!

Concord baby is growing by leaps and bounds. He is such a social butterfly! The boy is exploring big people foods like Mac and Cheese, Cheesy Puffs, Raviolis, Spaghettis and much more. Bottles are nearly a thing of the past as he has taken to the sippy cup during the day, with much encouragement from Concord Mom and Dad. As for the crawling, no hiding place is high enough, he is starting to climb.

The farm is growing tremendously. We have lost all of our chickens. One evening while at work racoons got into the chicken coop and ate a few, well the next night, I tried to close the coop up, but, the chickenn were so scared they wouldnt go in there, so the hid places like on the wood pile, in the tree, and on top of vehicles. Needless to say they all met they're demise in 4 nights. Two fool hardy chickens suvived, only because they moved to the neighbors back porch (LOL!). And Joe didnt like them so he gave them away. (To the same guy I was giving them to, but, he caught them first) Next year our chickens, will be in electrified fence and be locked up every night!

As for our cows: all are on pasture. Which have been grazed very well, and rotated to keep it in good shape. Hopefully we can get the cows bred for spring calves but were running out of time, its looking like we'll have fall calves next year now. And, Im prospecting buying some cows that are bred to spring calve. We are building a hay shed (Pics above) and will also be building a cow shed, onto the front of the corn crib. Well, hopefully I ll start updating more often. Until then check out our pictures on Flickr.

The Tree

When we bought the place, we knew that tree had to come down before a storm dropped it on the house. With a month of talking and planning, the day finally came windier than we liked but here. Andy (Concord Father-In Law & All around great guy) and I pre planned, sharpened and tuned the chain saws, gathered a plan and cut. This was the process: 1. Prepare Equipment 2. Plan 3. Cut limbs (only ones that need cut high and low) 4. Drop half thats leaning toward house (used cable to pull as I cut) 5. Drop main portion (Also had saftey cable)

The almost finished product. This wood will go to great use: our wood stove. I still have some cutting to finish, then lots of splitting and stacking, so it can season before winter.

The Swing

Yesterday was a day of construction. We built Concord Baby's Swing. The rough frame of 4x4's is large enough to support 2 swings so another will be added soon. Concord Baby recieved his swing form Grandma and Grandpa for Easter, but finally the weather has broken long enough to get the thing put up.