Opening Weekend of Lake Fishing Season

April 27^th and 28^th. Opening weekend of fishing season. In another life, I would have been out the door Saturday morning on my way to some likely lake. In this life, I spent the early morning putting out a few minor fires like resetting a rototiller belt. However, I was able to hang out with my wife and daughter for an hour or two before heading to the farm to work. This is okay by me. I got to spend at least a little time with my family and maybe sometime in the not too distant future, we will again partake in the opening of fishing season.

After the usual morning dog walk, I had planned to do some minor repairs on the tractor fuel line then harrow the field, fix some fence and start to work on cutting and splitting the big maple tree.

The “minor” repair on the tractor fuel line ate up a most of the day so I didn’t get started on the field until late afternoon. By this time it was raining, not a downpour but showers of steady soaking mist. I had hoped to be finished in the morning before the rain came.  

I always try to harrow or “drag” the field after the cows are moved off it. The harrow breaks up the cow pies and spreads the nutrients they contain out more evenly over the field. It also scratches and aerates the upper soil layer. Both of these actions help increase grass growth. I ordinarily harvest hay from this field for winter feed for the cows but the soil is depleted and it needs to be limed and fertilized. I don’t have the time or resources for that this spring so I will need to buy hay this year. In the meantime, spreading the nutrients out will help a little.

The field is very bumpy. The tractor has a loader cobbled on to it that it wasn’t meant to have, making the ride even rougher. It was nearly dark when I finished harrowing the field. I was cold, wet and stiff from an hour and a half of pounding around on the tractor. The wet was my fault, I kept holding out on putting rain gear on because I hate trying to move around in it and the rain never developed into a full-blown downpour.

It was hard getting out of bed Sunday morning. I didn’t get up until a little before 7:00 a.m. I got more done this day. I did some minor repairs on the harrow and stowed it. I worked on the tractor fuel line a little more and got the Stump Farm fences fixed. In the afternoon I worked on the big maple, getting some small logs cut up and getting one of the big rounds split up. I was pretty tired at the end of the day.

Cow pie one to two weeks old.

Older cow pie dried out and faded. This is basically the same material as a buffalo chip, used for millennia for fires on prairies where no wood was available.

Some composting and nutrient spreading is done even before harrowing. This cow pie has been picked apart by birds for worms and other macroinvertebrates (animals without backbones that can be seen with the naked eye) that are in the process of breaking down the cow pie. It is mostly robins that I see doing this, though crows also frequent the field. Not all the cow pies are picked apart. Some seem to remain untouched. Whether this is because no worms or other macroinvertebrates occupy them or because they are simply missed I don't know.

Dragging the chain harrow out of storage. It is rolled up and stored out of the way in the field. It is important to do this and to know where the harrow is if you are working the field in the tall grass because the spikes on the harrow will destroy tractor tires. 

The chain harrow is fairly heavy but lifting and swinging one end at a time is manageable. I could use the tractor loader but it is quicker and easier by hand, at least at my current age and physical capabilities.

Reattaching some of the hooks that connect the harrow to the drag bar.

Unrolling the chain harrow. This is usually good for a few pinched fingers. I could help myself out by wearing gloves but only use them for a few applications because I find it harder to grip things.

Attaching the chain harrow to the tractor's draw bar.

The chain harrow is designed to drag around the field clockwise. The hook that attaches it to the draw bar is off center to the left side, leaving more room for turns to the right. 

Vashti observing.

View from the tractor seat. You have to constantly check behind you to make sure everything is operating properly.

Two tone field created as the harrow pushes the grass down in the direction of travel. The grass in the light colored part of the field is pushed down away from the observer while the grass in the dark colored part of the field is pushed down towards the observer. Years ago when I was overseas in the U.S. Navy and wanting to buy some Chinese and Persian rugs, an old timer advised me to look at them with the knap laying toward me (making it look lighter) and then with the knap laying away from me (making it look darker) because this would radically change the look of the carpet. This is an example of the same affect though the pasture isn't as intricate or pretty as a Persian rug. 

Results of harrowing. The cow manure is spread and the turf ripped for aeration. 

One of the obstacles I had to dodge. This is a "bull hole" or wallow several feet deep that the cows dug in order to dust themselves for protection from flies and other insects. We always called them bull holes but the cows do just as much digging as the bulls do.

Beginning of the maple splitting project. The mushroomed metal on the heads of these wedges is very dangerous. I know of at least two people who have had one of these pieces of metal fly off and penetrate their rib cage. They can also easily put an eye out.

The problem is solved by grinding off the mushroomed metal. 

Starting the first wedge. I don't have a log splitter and I couldn't lift a round this large anyway. My dad taught me years ago how to handle a large, tough round like these.

The wood fiber where I started was too wavy to penetrate so I started from the other side of the round. The wedges are aimed toward a natural crack emanating from the center of the round.  

The round was too big for one or even two wedges to split so I had to use several and follow the developing crack, driving new wedges in where the crack was just beginning to open. 

With the round split roughly in half, I used several wedges to split one of the halves.

Wedges were need for the bigger parts of each quarter though I could usually knock small pieces off without a wedge and only a few blows from the splitting maul. The small piece to the left of the main block was split off this way.

Note the twisting grain of the wood which made splitting difficult. 

More twisting grain. Note the wedge is actually moving at an angle and not straight up and down as it follows the grain of the wood.

I had to come in from the side to split this block. 

Pictures of Week 4.26.13

Somewhere in North Cascades National Park, summer 2003. It took me about 6 hours by trail and another 3 hours off trail to get to this spot. 

Somewhere else in North Cascades National Park, summer 2003. It took me almost 2 days to walk to this spot, about half of this was off trail. 

Same place as above a little later in the evening. 

Red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa). These are beginning to bloom right now.  Though they are members of the honeysuckle family the flowers smell pretty rank though they are pretty.

Some red elderberries are yellow rather than red. The berries are edible after cooking but should never be eaten raw. Jelly and wine among other things can be made from elderberry. The leaves and bark of this shrub contain cyanide compounds and are poisonous to humans. However, many herbivores including deer and cows love fresh elderberry growth, which has the highest level of toxins in the plant. These herbivores have toxin neutralizing enzymes in their saliva and their livers and other internal organs are designed to filter poisons. This was a very easy concept for me to pick up in wildlife biology class. I had long known the leaves and bark of this plant were poisonous, having been told this at a young age by my parents. Yet for years I had watched deer and cows eat them with no ill effects. When the poison neutralizing adaptations of the herbivore digestive tract were explained to me, it all made perfect sense and a long standing question of mine was answered. 

Red elderberry at the height of the firewood bloom. 

The Big Maple

The large bigleaf maple grew just behind the old house. I kind of hated to take it down because it was like an old friend. I had spent a lot of time under it as a kid. It had watched me grow up.

It provided good summertime shade and let sun through bare limbs in the winter so rather than cut it down completely, my dad cut the top out of it about 40 years ago. Unfortunately it was too close to the old house. During the last several years it became apparent that the tree was rotting out where the old top had been. This would have made an excellent wildlife tree in the future as the center rotted out creating a cavity. Unfortunately, wildlife trees don’t mix well with buildings. The rotted area created a weakness in the tree which could result in a large limb breaking off and crashing through the house.  

I traded a friend a cow and calf for some work with his bucket truck. He took all the limbs off, then we fell the remaining shortened trunk.

The tree was spalted from the rotting  old tops all the way to the roots. Spalting is created as a fungus inhabits the wood and begins to decompose it. Spalting creates interesting colors and patterns. These colors and patterns often occur while the wood is still quite sound and if it is dried and preserved before it gets too punky, it makes a very beautiful wood to work with. The spalting in this tree didn’t appear to be the most impressive and I talked to a number of people who work with this type of wood but none were interested. Finally I talked to another friend of mine, Dan, who has a sawmill. He thought there was enough potential to take a risk on a time investment to cut it into lumber rather than me cutting it into firewood.

Dan came over Sunday and we spent the day ripping the log into quarters and chipping the limbs, getting soaked from numerous rain showers. 

The start of the process. Unfortunately I don't have a before picture of the tree standing. I took about 5 hours with the bucket truck to reach this point. Note the rotted old tops in center of clump of branches.

Large limb pile generated in taking tops out of tree. Limbs on the far side of the log were dragged out of the way to create a working space on that side of the log. 

View of the butt end of log showing spalting.

The start of the next step which will be cutting up the log. 

Beginning the cut. I wanted to cut the top out so my friend Dan could see how much it was spalted or rotted at the top of the log, the part closest to the old rotting tops. 

Going over the top with the cut. I have to be careful because this log and the top I am cutting out is big enough to crush me if it rolls on top of me. I have left a number of large limbs on the log so it will be less likely to roll. 

Getting the bottom "corner". I want to make sure the cut is all the way through on the bottom so my saw won't pinch. I  also want to make sure this area where I am in an awkward position is cut all the way through so I can be in a better position when I finish the cut.

Finishing the cut. I am in a better position to get out of the way if the log should roll when I finish the cut. 

Firewood rounds cut all the way to the part of the log to be sawed for woodworking. I ruined a saw chain on a nail and porcelain electrical insulator on my second cut here. 

My friend Dan inspecting the end of the log. The firewood rounds have been moved out of the way. 

Starting the first rip cut. Note the large limb left on the log for stability to my left. 

Dan starting on the butt end of the log. 

Rolling the log to finish the first cut. 

The saw cuts didn't match exactly so we drove wedges into the log to split it apart. 

First cut complete. What this doesn't show is that the wedges weren't enough so I had to cut a little more with the saw. I expected the log to fall apart but it happened so suddenly that I couldn't react. I took a little ride bouncing off the flat slab and onto the ground straining my ankle slightly in the process. Fortunately neither me or my saw got smashed and I didn't land on top of the running saw or some nearby dog doo doo. 

View of the grain and spalting in the vertical slab. I dulled a saw chain on a nail in the black spot near the center of this frame on the left edge. 

Dan ripping the log into quarters. 

Loading quarter onto trailer.

Dan hauled two quarters to his place while I ripped the remaining slab into quarters. 

Starting to chip the limb pile.

Chipping job finished. It took three or four hours to get all the limbs and brush chipped. Don't let the sunlight fool you. It was dark and rainy until about a half hour before this photo was taken. We had both shed our raingear at some point and were soaked. 

Photo of site taken Monday morning. 

The remaining logs and rounds will be one of my projects for this coming weekend-cutting firewood.