Monday, June 9, 2014

The past week resulted in excellent progress on several projects.

Bobby and his crew finished replacing the siding on the west face of the Grigg barn and began work on the north end and roof.

The landscaping crew was here on Thursday and completed their mowing, trimming, edging and blowing of all lawns and walkway areas.

Cipriano was here later in the week to consult about work to be done on the fish pool adjacent to the parterre garden, and a craftsman has been located to re-work the cobblestone apron around the pool as part of the re-conditioning process.

Sherry, Kyle and Geo were here, Sherry working inside the houses and Kyle and Geo outside.

The Central Virginia Builders crew completed work on the south portico of the Estate House, and by the end of the week, the scaffolding which has screened the porch for months was being removed.

Stephen and I spent Friday morning and early afternoon planting the new vegetable and herb garden.   The garden now includes transplants of heirloom tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, Swiss chard, and lettuce, along with seeds planted for Blue Lake bush beans and additional lettuce.  We added herb transplants of basil, oregano, dill, cilantro, sage, thyme, chives, and lavender, planting them in proximity to their "companion" plants in order to fend off unwanted insects wherever possible, and then to enjoy them along with their neighbors at harvest time.  We planted marigolds and calendulas at the ends of the beds, also to help with insect control, but the blooms of both these flowers are also edible, and are wonderful added to soups and salads.  Calendula has also been used as a medicinal plant for centuries, useful in skin care and healing preparations.

Surprised little toad found between the oregano plants while
transplanting.  We hope he finds a home in the garden somewhere
so he can help with insect control.

Friday afternoon we went to Milmont Greenhouses in Stuart's Draft and I purchased additional herbs to create a "kitchen garden" in one of the raised beds created by the old greenhouse foundations.  It will probably be the end of this week before this garden is in place, but it was wonderful to be able to find the variety of beautiful plants we needed, including marjoram and lemon balm.  We highly recommend a visit to Milmont Greenhouses--it's about 15 or 20 minutes west of Ramsay, and is located in a beautiful portion of the Shenandoah Valley in a Mennonite community.  The quality of their plants is unrivaled, and their prices are very reasonable.

On Saturday morning, we replaced the plantings in the urns at the front gate with new ones we had found at Milmont--Stephen did all the climbing and planting.  We then added a few additional heirloom tomato plants I had found at Milmont to the garden, and topped all the beds with hardwood mulch to complete the planting part of this project.  The fence is still a work in progress, so it will be developing as the garden grows.

The chickens continue to thrive in their aviary.  They are very friendly and also very curious, hopping up to see what I have in my hands if I come in bringing feed or water, and then into the coop while I'm cleaning it, I guess to make sure I'm doing a satisfactory job.

The horses are doing a good job of keeping the grass cut in their paddock.  It's a sure sign of summer to see horses with fly masks on, which they need only when the weather gets warm and stays that way.

The "greenhouse garden" is thriving, and I saw a pair of bluebirds scoping out the birdhouse.  Maybe they are a couple who has used the house before, as I understand bluebirds frequently return to former nesting sites each year.  We do know the bluebirds stay in our area all year, and like the goldfinches, their colors are somewhat muted in winter.  But bluebirds don't visit our feeders as the goldfinches do in cold weather, so it's nice to see them near the house again.  They were too camera-shy to capture for the blog this time.

Monday, June 2, 2014

We finally received some significant rain mid-week last week, which slowed down some of the work here at the farm, but was wonderfully beneficial to all the garden and pasture areas, as well as to the newly planted/transplanted trees.

Some highlights from the end of the week:

Bobby and his crew continued their work on the Grigg barn, having begun replacing the siding on the west face after work on the cupola and the roof.

Beginning...   (Photo by Stephen)

Sunday afternoon (Photo by Susan)

Painters were here on Friday and are here today, repairing/repainting where needed.

Mike and his crew were here Friday and Saturday putting in the posts and support rails for the picket fence to surround the new vegetable garden.  Planting has been on hold now for two weeks, awaiting completion of the fence.  We are hoping to have plants in the ground by the end of this week, but the weather may have an effect on whether our intentions are realized.

(Photo by Susan)

Donnie's crew has begun cutting the first hay of the year.  As of yesterday, they had mowed the southwest field, the small field just beyond the gate, and part of the northwest field.  The weather today and tomorrow looks perfect for baling, so we expect to see them here again soon.

Southwest field

Mid-way field (just past the gate at the end of Farm Lane) (Photos by Susan)

Stephen acquired a load of wood to replenish the supply for the fireplaces, and Geo, who was between jobs, came on Friday and did the splitting and stacking.

(Photos by Stephen) 

Kyle is mowing, trimming weeds and grass edges, watering on days when it hasn't rained, and helping maintain newly cleared areas in the woods, among other sundry tasks.  Stephen is maintaining mowing to be done with the big JD tractor--the new paddock and all the paths through and around the fields and the woods.  It is like keeping your house clean--by the time you've gotten everything done, it's time to start over.  But the results are beautiful.

View north from the south end of the new paddock (Photo by Susan)

Sherry completed cleaning and laundry for the Cottage and the Estate House last week.

We hosted a birthday party for our younger son, Lindsay, and about 25 of his friends, on Saturday afternoon on the lawn of the Farmhouse.  We had a perfect day, weather-wise, and everyone enjoyed seeing the estate and learning about its history.  Ramsay won many new fans.

Lindsay and his friend Jess, whose birthday is the day after Lindsay's, with
her 3-month old daughter, Kiera Grace.

The hens have adapted quite well to their temporary "aviary" in the former dog pen.  They spend most of their day stepping around and scratching in the grassy, dappled shade of the pen, and reliably put themselves to bed around  8:45 or 9 PM.  We are still shutting the doors of the coop once they are inside for the night, to protect them from intruders.  They require less daily maintenance now, since their new space accommodates a larger water tank and feeder, so fewer refills are required and they can't walk on them or turn them over.  "The girls" are producing a reliable four eggs per day.

The garden area in the greenhouse beds is burgeoning with annuals which have appeared in a rain-forest-like profusion.  Since this is my first spring/summer of being on the property full time, I don't recognize some of these plants, but will discover the answers as they bloom, I suppose.  Here are a couple of new inhabitants I saw yesterday while I was deadheading marigolds in the neighboring bed.

After some cloudiness mid-afternoon yesterday, the sun re-appeared, resulting in some beautiful views around the property.

View north from beside the Carriage House

Toby and North Star

In the grass near the barn...our lucky day! 

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Another busy week of building, mowing, poultry management, inn-keeping, and maintenance!  My apologies for not having posted for a week--my time for contributing to the blogosphere has been limited by good weather, lots of jobs to do outside, and tiredness at the end of long days.  Most workers weren't here on Friday or Monday because of the holiday, but the place is hopping today.

Some highlights:

We've had no rain over the past week, so Kyle has spent the first part of each day watering the new trees along the driveway and the ones which were transplanted to Cottage Lane.  He's also been maintaining the clearing done in the early spring by Geo as the undergrowth has been coming back with a vengeance.

Kyle and Stephen have completed the raised beds for the vegetable garden and we have been holding off on planting because Mike's fence crew was hoping to be here at the end of last week, but is now scheduled to be here tomorrow.  In the meantime, all the plants are flourishing in the greenhouse garden.  We hope to begin planting tomorrow, fencing crew or not, and depending upon the weather.

Six guests stayed from Saturday to Monday in the Cottage.  They had planned their activities well, and went to Charlottesville the first night for dinner, but otherwise visited local sites including wineries, bike trails, and running routes.  As part of the "first morning" breakfast setup, we gave them eggs from the Ramsay hens, which the guests appreciated very much.  On the first night, one of them called to ask for help finding a taxi to and from Charlottesville for dinner, as all the commonly used ones were booked solid.  None of us had a vehicle large enough for a driver and six people, which meant finding a van.  Fortunately, I did find a Crozet service which took them, so now we have a good contact for guests who need help with transportation. Stephen gave the group a tour of the farm, and they loved visiting with the horses and later touring the Estate House and hearing about the history of the estate and the area.  They enjoyed the outdoor fireplace and made their own dinner there for their last night rather than going back into Charlottesville.  They gave the accommodations and the hospitality wonderful reviews, and are planning to make staying at Ramsay a habit.

(Photo by Stephen, used by permission of the guests)

Stephen and I went to Countryside Organics in Waynesboro and to Augusta Co-op on Saturday for feed for chickens and a larger feeder and water tank for them, then to the grocery store for "first morning" breakfast for the Cottage.  Stephen spent a lot of the weekend constructing a temporary chicken garden in the former dog pen so that we could move the coop from the Farmhouse lawn and give "the girls" some room to roam.

We have made a tent of bird netting using the big tree for support as well as some very temporary framing.  Yesterday, we moved the coop into the dog pen and let them out for the first time since they arrived here.  They are so happy!  I stayed and watched them for a while to see if they would find anything dangerous (which they didn't), and they seemed to enjoy having room to stroll or run around, and occasionally stood up tall and flapped their wings, just because they could!  Last night at 8:45, we went to put them to bed, and they had all already gone to roost back inside their coop for the night, so we didn't have to chase chickens in the almost-dark.  Smart girls.  Today I've found that they come to me when they hear my voice, which is great in case we do need to catch them.

The local blue jays are going to be sorry we've moved the chickens because each morning they would clean up any spilled feed or other goodies from the place where the coop had been before.  So now they can concentrate on cleaning up all the bugs from our front porch which are drawn there and die each night because of having the porch light on.  I imagine all the other lights on the property are attracting the same bugs, so our blue jay flock is well provided for!

Bobby and his crew are working on the barn again today, focusing now on the cupola.  Stephen saw Bobby taking a large black snake from the barn to the woods this morning.  I hope the snake comes back once the commotion of restoration is done, as black snakes are great at catching rats, of which we know there are a few in residence there.

I took this picture from our deck this morning--the workman on the roof isn't Bobby, but is one of his helpers.  Bobby was below, cutting boards as the man on the roof called down dimensions.  I had seen Bobby earlier as he did the initial assessment of the damage and what would need to be done to fix it.  Obliviousness about heights must be a prerequisite for this type of work, just as claustrophobia would be a contraindication for being a plumber.

The landscaping crew is here today mowing, trimming and blowing away clippings.  Rain is in the forecast this afternoon, and they should be done before it gets here.  It's been quite dry for this time of year, so we've been placing sprinklers wherever we can for bedding plants and flowers and hand-watering other areas and containers.  The garden in the greenhouse ruin is flourishing and growing inches per day, apparently.

The hedges are now full of honeysuckle in addition to blackberry vines and poison ivy, so the fields and woods smell wonderful!

Donnie has moved his haymaking equipment here in preparation for the first cutting of hay from the fields.  The grass must be three or four feet tall in the northwest and southwest fields, and slightly less tall in the other areas.  Some good hay in the making!

The rain is descending upon us now, and there's thunder rumbling.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

By the end of the day yesterday, good progress had been made on the work on the barn as well as the planning for the garden fence.

I brought home 160 pounds of compost from Countryside Organics and purchased all of the plants we still needed for the vegetable garden at Milmont Greenhouses in Stuart's Draft (http://www.milmont.com/).  The only requested vegetable I didn't find ready to transplant was the green beans, so I bought seeds for the Blue Lake variety there at Milmont.

Loading up at Milmont on Monday

Plants from Milmont in their temporary quarters back at the farm.

Plants from Turnip the Beet Farm awaiting transplanting.

Today, Kyle and Stephen added the compost to the raised beds along with more soil, and the landscape cloth will be laid over the beds tomorrow.  I will be in Richmond tomorrow, so we are hoping to be able to plant on Thursday and Friday, depending upon the weather.

Beds with compost, ready for landscaping cloth,
 which is a natural way to prevent weed growth.

Sherry was here this morning, doing laundry and cleaning in the Cottage.  The weekend guests were here until yesterday late-morning.

Bobby and his helpers were here early and made more progress on the barn.  Sagging is gradually being replaced by straight and true.

Piedmont Irrigation crews rolled in around 11 AM and by 1:30 PM, all lawns were mowed, all edges trimmed, and all walkways and driveways blown clean.

The representative/technician from our wireless internet service provider was here midday and has replaced and relocated the dish with one which is smaller and is now attached at the south end of the barn.  Stephen checked our signal strength in the early afternoon and it was over 3 times what it has been in the past at its best.  We were the only ones on the property using the signal, so it will undoubtedly be less strong when others are here and online, but it was a good sign.

Karen and her landscape painting class were here in the morning, with artists set up in various locations in the vicinity of the main house, and all doing beautiful work.

Our son and daughter-in-law and our granddaughter (who will be 3 in October) were here for a visit.  She got to meet her first chickens, helped water the flowers, and drove her own mini-John Deere around on the parking lot--undoubtedly the youngest JD driver on the property.  She has grown so much, we think it's time for a larger model!

Monday morning, May 19, 2014

The length of time since our last blog post reflects not neglect, but high level busy-ness here at the farm!

Here are some highlights of last week's activities.

--Sherry was here to clean all residences and prepare the Cottage for weekend guests.

--Clay stopped by to pick up the body of the carriage.

--Steve dropped off the plans of the elevations he had measured the previous week.

--Grelen Nursery workers were here to take down the mostly-dead maple tree behind the workshop.

They also felled some of the "weed" trees at the western edge of the field beyond the Grigg barn in order to create a better line of sight for the wireless reception for the farm.

--Kyle was here all but two days.  He spent part of each morning watering the new trees on the main driveway and also the trees that were transplanted from the main driveway to Cottage Lane.

--Patsy and Louis were here to weed and dead-head the gardens around the Estate House.

--Topsoil was delivered to fill the new raised beds for the vegetable garden in the field just beyond the Grigg barn, and Stephen and Kyle moved it into the frames.

--I completed a plan for the new vegetable garden by using the Garden Planner on the Old Farmer's Almanac website, based on the owners' requests for particular types of vegetables and herbs.  The plan can be viewed here:  http://gardenplanner.almanac.com/garden-plan.aspx?p=545422.

--I corresponded with Shane and Beverly at "Turnip the Beets" farm about purchasing organically-raised starter plants for the vegetable garden.  They reviewed the garden plan and called me on Friday to let me know which plants they could supply.  We made arrangements to pick up the plants at the Nelson County Farmers' Market first thing Saturday morning.  Here they are at the market with some of their beautiful produce and plants for sale.  They had our order all packed up for us and ready to bring back to the farm.  We now have healthy starters for heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, Swiss chard, lettuce, bell peppers, and a variety of herbs from this wonderful couple and their farm.

--I did the "first morning breakfast" grocery shopping for the Cottage on Friday morning.

--Stephen arranged for the landscaping crew who does the lawn mowing to come on Tuesday instead of Thursday because of the weather forecast, which included torrential rains and flood warnings for Wednesday night and Thursday all day.  It was a wise move, because the forecast proved to be completely accurate, and by the time the weather changed for the better on Friday, everything was ready for Graduation Weekend guests at the Cottage.  Some shadows on the carpet-like lawn in the paddock around the barn...

--The storm on Thursday did little damage, but there were some limbs down and clumps of leaves on the lawns.  Stephen and Kyle had everything cleaned up quickly.

--The chickens are doing very well, and are laying four eggs per day.  There is one hen who is on a later schedule, as there are three eggs usually by mid-morning, and a fourth one in the early afternoon.  I let them out and feed and water them in the mornings usually by 6:30.  They go to bed by about 8:45-9 PM, so I go out then and close their door so they will be safe for the night.

--Stephen has been mowing the pastures, with some help from Kyle and Billy, and he is also keeping a pathway around all the fields clear to provide access to all areas as the grass grows, apparently inches per day.  These pictures are taken from the middle field between the first gate and the northwest field--such a huge difference from ones I took in the snow from this same spot in March.

--Stephen met the Cottage guests on Friday and provided orientation and local information.  He kept the outdoor fireplace stocked and a fire laid, and everyone seemed to very much enjoy the space.  They are scheduled to leave today.  We're glad everyone had such a beautiful weekend for UVa's 2014 Graduation.

--Yesterday, Stephen went with me to drive the farm truck for the first time, so I will know where all the bells and whistles are.  Today I need to pick up some organic compost from Countryside Organics in Waynesboro (using the truck), as well as a few more vegetable plants and some seeds from Waynesboro Nursery and the Mennonite nursery in Stuart's Draft.  There's so much going on here this morning that Stephen won't be able to leave, so I'm helping out.

Once the compost is dug into the raised beds, we'll be ready to start planting, and this week's weather looks perfect for it.  Last week's storm saturated the beds and caused further settling of the soil, which has worked out well because now we know how much more to add as we turn in the compost.  At the moment, the garden plants are waiting inside the old greenhouse foundation where they can get some sun and be watered while they wait for the beds to be ready.

--Stephen and Mike are making plans to have the fence built around the vegetable garden in order to keep ground hogs, skunks and hopefully, deer, from eating our new baby plants.  So far, we have had no deer around the "home" part of the farm, possibly because of the scent and the sound of our dogs.

Today, Bobby and his helpers started the restoration work on the Grigg barn at 7 AM.  They have just opened the second floor double doors--here's a view we hadn't seen before!

Karen and her landscape-painting class will be here this week, starting this morning at 9.  They'll be setting up their easels around the property and capturing some of the spectacular views both on the property and in the distance.

So, another week is starting out busy!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

This was a busy week at Ramsay.  The weather was excellent--sunny and warm--until yesterday, when we had showers off and on throughout the day.  We were happy to be receiving rain, as we had been hand watering all the plantings around the houses.

Some highlights from last week:

--Paul, our plumber, was on site to get information to start research on replacing some of the plumbing fixtures in the guest cottage.

--Workers from Grelen Nursery arrived on Monday to move seven of the trees along the main driveway and replant them on Cottage Lane.  On Wednesday, their spade truck was here to enlarge the holes left when the smaller trees were removed in order to prepare for the delivery of larger trees on Thursday.

--Early Thursday morning, the larger trees began arriving on flatbed trailers, and a crane which had been brought to lift them off and put them into the holes was ready for them.  By the end of the day, four new trees had been planted.

The work continued through the day on Friday, with four more trees being planted, and all the workers and equipment were leaving by about 5 PM.  The new trees look quite beautiful and happy in their new home.

--Representatives of Rockfish Roofers were here to continue their assessment of the Philadelphia gutter and metal roof sections on the main house.

--Another accomplishment for the week was the completion of the new cross fence in the southwest field.  Mike's crew was here early in the week to mark the site and drive the posts, then they returned Saturday afternoon and stretched the wire and hung the gates.

--The hens are doing very well, and are now producing three to four eggs a day on a regular basis.  So far, the eggs have been distributed to the main house as well as to some guests at the Cottage, with wonderful reviews for the work of our "girls."

Stephen has cleared the path through the woods in the west part of the southwest field, and I've been enjoying walking there almost daily with our dogs.  The undergrowth is growing fast, and there is a lot of poison ivy amongst all the saplings, honeysuckle and vines.  I'd advise long pants and socks and shoes or boots for anyone planning a hike there.  It looks like this summer will be a good one for making blackberry jam and cobbler.  These blooms, which I saw this morning, are "blackberries-to-be" along the edge of the woods on the north side and on the south side!