Tending Fences

"In appraising the future of a farm, fences were reckoned a prime necessity. Almanac after almanac starts the month of March with, 'Look to your fences.'"

Eric Sloane, The Seasons of America Past

Even if one doesn't follow the agrarian calendar, this time of year seems a natural fit for projects such as looking to one's fences. The planting and harvest seasons are just too busy! Early spring is a good time, because the weather is starting to get mild and it's a joy to be outdoors again after a long, cold winter.

If you've read my blog over the years, then you know we've had a terrible problem with old pine trees taking out our fences.

This is all in our woods, and we've patched the damage as best we could. There are enough of those trees still standing to make us wonder when it will be safe to replace the damaged fencing. Probably not this year, so this year we turned our attention to fencing repairs closer to the house.

The first project was the hedgerow we created four years ago in our front pasture (see "Forest Garden Hedgerow: Fenced, Gated, & Planting Begun"). Planting it was one of those one-step-forward-two-steps-back projects, because most of what I planted didn't survive. I chose drought resistant and heat tolerant species and did not pamper them but they struggled. I replanted pears, mulberries, chestnuts, and aronia several times. None of the flowers and herbs I planted made it. The survival rate was less than 50%, which isn't very encouraging, is it? We definitely don't want to give up, but this year we decided to narrow it.

Last summer.

It was so overgrown that Dan decided to remove the bottom fence to let the bucks graze it down first. It became their favorite girl watching position. It's apparently the best place to try and catch a glimpse of the does on the other side of the homestead.

Earlier this month.

They both ate it down and wore it down. Then we got to work. Dan pulled out the bottom t-posts.

Heavy-duty chain wrapped around both the t-post and
the tractor's drawbar make pulling them out a snap.

Then he reset them a little closer to the top fence. I planted the bare area with chicory, clover, and coneflower, and covered the seed with composted woodchips.

Now. We've found that board scraps from the sawmill
help reduce erosion until plant roots are established.

Now we wait and see! Eventually we may move the top fence in some too, but that's for another day.

The other end of the hedgerow was it's own kind of disaster.

Dan backed into the cattle panel with the tractor awhile back and pretty much trashed it. We had to think about what to do with this one. Originally I fenced in a wild rose bush here, but that old bush has pretty much quit producing. So we removed the bent panel and rerouted the existing panels. The fence now goes behind the bush. After the boys clear it out I'll removed all the dead wood.

Colby on brush trimming duty.

The next bit of fencework in this pasture is the front corner.

There used to be a tree and hedge of shrubs there, but these have been removed by the power company and our next door neighbors. This really shouldn't be a problem, but people walking up and down the road have taken to throwing things at our goats. I like for people to enjoy watching them, but I don't get why they want to throw golf balls, beer bottles, and soda cans at them. What's the matter with people?

We've talked about putting up a privacy fence on that side of the property for several years, and in fact bought a number of fence panels for that purpose. We have good neighbors now so there isn't the same sense of motivation to do this, but we would like that corner to not be exposed. That will be the next project of the tending fences list.

Tending Fences © March 2019 by Leigh 

at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Happy Agrarian New Year!

Something that has always seemed odd to me is that the beginning of a new year is in the middle of winter. That isn't strictly true of all cultures in all time periods, but it's been standard enough for long enough that I doubt few folks give it a second thought. When I read Eric Sloane's The Seasons of America Past I learned that the old agrarian calendar began the year on March 25. This makes sense to me! So here I am, wishing you a Happy Agrarian New Year.

The roots of this go back to the ancient Hebrew, Canaanite, and Babylonian calendars, where the first month started in the modern late March. The early Romans celebrated the new year on March 1st, but this was changed in 45 BC with the Julian calendar. It made January 1st the beginning of the new year. The best I can figure out is that this was done because the month's namesake, Janus, was the god of new beginnings. When Pope Gregory XIII had the calendar revised in the mid-1500s January remained the first month. 

The Gregorian calendar is the one we still use today, but March 25 remained the start of the new year in parts of Europe for a long time. England was the last holdout until 1752. According to Eric Sloane, early European American farmers continued to use March 25 as the first of their year, as documented by old farm calendars, almanacs, agricultural manuals, and personal diaries. 

With March as the first month, the quarters of the year make sense because the seasons correspond with the work for that time of year.

• March, April, May - planting
• June, July, August - growing
• September, October, November - harvest
• December, January, February - hearth

As you can see, the rhythm of the agrarian year is set by a relationship with the seasons and with the land. 

Last November I asked my readers to define agrarianism off the top of their heads (that post here). I promised to get back with you on what I thought, so this is the first of a series of posts exploring that. My understanding of agrarianism is that it isn't simply agriculture, it's a worldview.

What is a worldview? It's how an individual perceives the world and the way it works. It answers life's fundamental questions about the existence and nature of God, the origins of the universe, the place and purpose of humans, what happens after death, and how we determine right and wrong. Obviously there are many worldviews. Agrarianism is the one that makes the most sense to me.

The agrarian new year had it's own traditions in the rural US. It was celebrated with mead, and cider and doughnuts. It was the time to begin looking ahead to planting, with one of the first chores of the year being fence mending. It was also time to begin the laying up of the next year's firewood and splitting logs for fence rails. In the north it was (and still is) maple sugaring time.

Dan and I didn't have any mead, cider, or doughnuts, but we have been looking ahead to planning the planting season. Of course that includes the garden, but also we're been planning to expand our hay growing. We're going to work on our hedgerows and continue pasture improvement. Last week he cut the first tree to start curing for next winter's firewood and we have indeed started working on our fences. Some of them are in bad need of repair!

Of course, our spring begins earlier than others. And those who live south of the equator will be in the opposite season! But we all adapt, don't we?

How about you? Do you have seasonal traditions or tasks for March?

Happy Agrarian New Year! © March 2019

by Leigh  at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Carport Repair: Replacing the Old Siding

Ordinarily carports don't have siding, but the builder of ours added a small storage space at the back. Once Dan had the new metal roof on he was ready to replace that siding.

The old siding was some kind of fiberboard.

Old siding removed.

It wasn't a lot to replace, but of course there were hidden surprises to keep things interesting.

Rotted fly rafter

So that had to be replaced. Dan also added gable end studs for support and for something to nail the new siding to.

New fly rafter and gable end supports.

We decided to use the same barn board siding and color scheme we used on the house.

Ready for primer and paint (a warm weather project).

The other place that needed new siding was the gable end in the front.

It came with a surprise too.

Some sort of ridge beam support.

Here's a closeup.

????

The two-by-four nailed to this ridge beam support was apparently only for something to nail the siding boards to. Dan replaced it with another two-by-four and a collar beam.

One fly rafter needed to be replaced and he added a couple of gable end supports too.

Lastly the siding.

Primer and paint will be next, once it warms up a bit.

Carport Repair: Replacing the Old Siding © March 2019

by Leigh  at http://www.5acresandadream.com/