Two Barn Farm

Garden Time!

Rich — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:37:38 +0000

I don’t know if you paid attention, but over the ‘off-season’ I replaced the trusty Deere 300 with a 318 that was 15 years newer. Why? It wasn’t as trusty. Nothing major, just little things that kept it from running when it was needed most. Old wires breaking off, carb problems, etc. I choose the 318 because it was still a 300 series, meaning I could keep my existing blade and snowblower. Huge cost savings. However, the rear end was different and I lost the roto-tiller.
To solve this, I added on an aftermarket (you can’t find the factory ones) 3 point hitch. I also got a drawbar/suitcase weight rack with a 2″ receiver for other uses. I finally found an old Sears suburban bottom plow.

And plow it did. It took some setup and adjustment, and some practice, but I was able to get the garden ready this year in about an hour. Once dialed in, It is way faster then the rototiller attachment. Anyhow, Mason got to pick seeds and helped raked the beds smooth and helped plant summer squash, zucchini, butternut, sunflowers, banana peppers, and peas. We have some cucumbers that we should start inside.

Why no Spring posts yet telling of construction? Well……doing construction elsewhere. I should probably document more of that. Stay tuned, I’ll post some hints and photos here soon.

1st mow

Rich — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 02:58:26 +0000

I decided to get my butt in gear this week. Not only did I have a few other project in motion, I thought it was time to get the tractor back to the farm, get the gardens ready, and get mowing. It has been a warm, early Spring here and things are growing.
I managed to move the tractor down to the farm over lunch and got the 1-bottom plow hooked up to the 3 point hitch. I left at 6pm and made a few passes with it. It’s actually very cool and did nice work. The downfall was that my toplink was too long, and my replacement was lost in shipping. I tried to settle with a flat bar I had found. It worked for several passes, but I got too comfortable. With a little more speed, or going deep under established grass, the flat bar finally bent and knocked things out of alignment.

I then switched out to the mower deck and started. I know I mowed a few times with the newer 318, compared to the 300 we had for years. It’s faster, and has a wider deck. Still, I mowed everything existing and was greedy, pushing back tall grass in slow passes, then making 2nd passes to smooth it out. The tractor works well, as the solid stream of green leaving the deck is impressive. I got everything done, with a lot more ‘reclaimed’ and it was only 7:30. WHAT?!

7:30? I left the house at 6:00, used the plow, pulled off the plow and snow blade, hooked up the deck and mowed more area then ever before. Guessing an hour at most for just mowing, that’s still 30 minutes faster then ever before. Holy COW! Well, the cows were out up the street. I had enough time to lazily walk around the property for a while before the sun finally went down. Love those zen moments.

Spring Thaw

Rich — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:25:03 +0000

Thaw…not sure we ever froze this last winter. Still, I always pack up for the winter and don’t get anything done. I haven’t even had a chance to make sure things were still standing after a few of the storms we did have. I remember listening to wind one night and seeing on the news that gusts were breaking 60mph in the area.
I’ve finally made a few trips that way. Nothing wrong this winter. Everything in one piece, not even a limb down. The new roof on the shed worked, as the dirt is nice and dry. There is a little more to be done, but I’m getting dang quick at it. I’d love to pour some footings and replace the sliding doors with garage doors someday.
I did get rid of the tractor and tiller I had, and replaced that 300 with a 318. I found a single bottom plow and am testing fitting that now. We’ll see how well this works!

5 year review

Rich — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:02:27 +0000

This marks the start of a new year, and 5 years of owning an acreage.

What are the biggest points for a review:
-Bought farm, then moved to Jefferson the next fall.
-Poured a new foundation under the crib, replaced slat walls with sheathing, insulation, and siding.
-Got electrical service
-Door and windows on South, East, and west walls
-Staircase to 2nd floor, half of 2nd floor has subfloor
-Most of the bin work has been removed.
-Found shed to be in good shape, and most of the roof has been replaced.

-Camped here many nights
-Grew lots of food, the best crops to remember:
Tomatoes the first few years, huge pumpkins the first year, a row of potatoes, Established strawberry patch, always lots of peas, tons of onions.

RAGBRAI came to town with tornado that took out the matching barn.

Started Greene Bean Coffee

What’s up next:
Replace some brome grass with clover for…
BEES!
More tomatoes, onions, potatoes, cucumbers.
front half of shed roof
Install windows on 2nd floor of crib, add the 2nd floor interior.
Plant trees, bushes, ornamental plants around crib and shed.
Would like to replace large shed doors with garage doors and pour footing across openings. Then fill shed with crushed rock.

Sometimes it seems like these projects take forever, but looking back we have done a lot since this is a spare time/spare money project.

Fall panic(s)

Rich — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:08:32 +0000

You probably caught it the last few years, that I get into a mad panic mode of “get stuff done before winter” This year was no different. What took most of the time was getting a new roof on the shed. Last year I used old shingles to patch holes. Come spring the patches were there, but twice as many new holes had opened up. And I was out of spare shingles. To keep our possessions dry, and the shed from rotting, it was time to fix the roof. This involved stripping 756 sq feet of cedar shakes off the rook, hammering in the little nails, adding new plywood decking, then finally shingling.
I didn’t get it all done at once. In fact I had it 2/3rds stripped when some fall rains started the week before vacation. I quickly got a layer of tar paper up just to keep it a bit dry while we were gone. There were a few rips, but nothing too drastic. Thinking ahead, I had laid a bunch of spare 2×6′s out on top of it. After vacation, I found that the tar paper would rip if you tried to traverse it. So, it was time to shingle what was completed, then finish prepping off the remaining 1/3 at the top. I might have looked odd, but it was far safer and allowed me to work in blocks.
Rick was back on the scene after being laid up most of the summer. He helped clean things up and started opening up the remaining bin walls. It was really starting to look cool. Luckily, the grass stopped growing and I got a John Deere 318 to replace the 300 I have been using.
Yes, the new tractor is 20 years old. However, it is still 15 years newer then previous one. It is in very nice shape, runs strong and can use all the previous implements except the rear tiller. I might sell the old one, as I don’t know if I really need a spare. In fact, I just bolted on a 3 point hitch to the 318 tonight.
The second panic this fall. Well, I should say that I have always heard a squeak in high winds at the farm. Never found it, and I spent a good deal of time staring at the inside of roofs, and at the metal roofing and trim of the crib. I figured it was a loose nail on the metal roofing someplace up high. Just before vacation we were in the crib and it was really blowing and we were amazed how solid the place felt.
Until two weeks ago….
Reagan and I stopped by to pick up something and kinda waste time down there. As soon as we walked up the stairs, there was big squeaking and a worse noise. As we looked up, the entire couple was rocking from side to side, almost 2″ I bet. This was new.
In a panic, we got to work. I’ll explain that the couple is a 6′ by 8′ box that sits above the roof line. The corner supports are 2×6′s that do run down to the top of the bin walls. That’s it, and those were toe-nailed in to the top of another board. Well, sometime in the past 80 years, the middle of the crib settled about 3/4 of a inch from the weight of the full bins of corn. The outside walls did not. The roof never moved, but the floor did. The nails that held these supports were barely touching anymore. I have added a few nailer blocks and toe-nailed a few extra screws into these supports, but never really reinforced them, as that was an area we would be working on later, and that we hadn’t sen any movement there before. Opps.
The first act was to grab any scrap plywood we could find, and nail in large gussets to reconnect and stabilize these 4 supports. Right away, that seemed to make a difference. The north and south copula walls have the corner 2×6′s then just a pair of 2×4 studs in the middle. Both of the 2×4′s were cracked across the entire nail area that held then down. The 2nd phase was to fill the stud bays with blocks running both ways to reinforce this area on both walls. Then connect all 4 studs with a new 2×6. The north side was ok, but only had 1 original nail each. That would lead to flexing too! Now that there was a secure frame around the copula, and a lot more nails, we were feeling ok. I quickly added some scraps to tie the East and West walls down to the joists and one last piece of plywood up on the North wall.
Fast forward a week after a good storm.
Everything was OK! I got some XPS foam insulation and started filling all the stud bays of the copula. From there, both the North and South sides (the axis the flex was on) got sealed in solid plywood. No chance of flex now. We only got 1/3 of the east wall sealed, so I’d like to get a bit more done before Winter really hits. Might as well finish this.

Another Vacation

Rich — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:43:14 +0000

Yet again, We disappeared during September for a trip to Walt Disney World. No work, 90-95 degrees, sun, and very little rain. Reagan parents even came down for most of our trip as well.
Why do we keep going to the same place? Let’s see: It’s fun, it’s a total escape from reality, the engineering is amazing – even the tiny details, and it is it’s own separate magic world. How should we detail this years trip….. How about the food?

This was the 3rd year we got in on the ‘Free Dining Plan’ from Disney. This is a promotion they run now and then to fill in rooms during the lower season. They have tweaked it now and then, but the main two options are: Stay at a value resort, get the quick service meal plan. Stay at a moderate or deluxe resort, get the full dining plan. If you want to enjoy, go for a moderate or better.
You can find food in one of 4 ways at WDW: Snack carts, counter service, table serve, and signature dining. Those signature spots are $$$$ and count as two meals. The way the plans work is for each day you are there, each person gets 1 snack, 1 counter service, and 1 table service – FREE. (value plan gets 2 counter services – no tables) Take it from us, sitting down and being waited on changes your day around. Counter services lend to that get something, find a table and get out rush. Sit back and enjoy and your feet and attitude will be happy.
The only downfall to the dining plan, is that you have to plan it out. Since everyone there is doing this, the table service restaurants fill up. 6 months out from our trip, I went online and saw which park was open later (to resort guests), when the special fireworks or parades were and laid out a basic schedule…aka we want to be at this park on this day to see [event].
From there, we picked restaurants and made reservations right at the times we picked. 1:00 for lunch, between 6-7:30 for dinner is great.
So now you know how this works, let’s start the foodie review. It will go without further mention that the service is always great.

Magic Kingdom:

Tony’s Town Square (table). Great Italian, good deserts with chocolate characters on the plates.

Main Street Bakery (snack). The warm cinnamon rolls are worth not getting breakfast at the hotel. We usually come straight here in the morning.

Crystal Palace (table) – standard buffet, nothing to fancy. Pooh characters are here, so expects lots of little kids.

Dole whips (Snack)- You must get these. Bonus points for getting it as a float.

Colombia Harbour House. (counter) Probably standard fare, but something about the fish and chips and fried shrimp always makes me come back

Liberty Tree Tavern (table) The menu looked great and I really wanted to try the pot roast. But, it was near the end of the week, it was hot and sweaty, and wasn’t ready for a big meal. I broke down and got the only cheeseburger of the trip. It was huge, had all the fixin’s, and was yummy. It hit the spot.

EPCOT:

Fountain View Ice Cream (s) good smoothies, shakes, and they scoop ice cream into a pair of huge cookies.

Coral Reef (t)- OK, eating in a place where one wall is an aquarium is neat. Also interesting that they served a lot of seafood. I’m going to say that the food was good, but didn’t knock my socks off.

Sunshine Seasons (c) Good array of food, always found good treats here.

Mexico – San Angel Inn. (t) Wow. A book we read had bad reviews, but we all found the food to be top notch and tasty. I’m planning on returning. PS: Good margaritas.

China – Nine Dragons (t) Pick a handful of your favorite Chinese places, and this one would fit right in.

Germany – (s) Really, who can’t walk by and get a pretzel and a lager?

Japan – Teppan Edo (t)- Awesome Japanese Steakhouse, you know the kind where you sit around the grill and the chef makes everything there, juggles, makes bad jokes, etc. Very good

Japan – Tokyo Dinning (t) How can you go wrong with tempura?

France – Chefs de France (t) Another WOW. Great food. Very tasty. Remy also makes an appearance.

Hollywood Studios

I’ve never found the quick service places here too good. Very average grab and go stuff.

Sci-Fi Dine-in (t) Great theme. Malts, burgers. A great step up from counter service

50′s Prime Time cafe (t) Good old fashioned food, and lots of fun. Meatloaf, fried chicken, pot roast. All very good and lots of fun.

Mama Melrose’s (t) Another great Italian place, much like Tony’s.

Hollywood Brown Derby (Signature)- Jan and Steve report some of the best food of their week

Animal Kingdom:

Tusker House (t) – Big buffet. Lots of standards, but quite a few African inspired dishes. I kept seeing kids get mac and cheese and pb&j, and not trying anything. Nothing to special. Would rather go to:

Yak & Yeti (t) Great food. I get the steak and shrimp each time. The straws here are paper and can get soggy over time.

DownTown Disney – Earl of Sandwich. (c) WOW. best 6″ subs ever. We went back a second night!

Resort food:

At the food courts: Mickey waffles rule. Each resort has a unique section and the rest is standard. Also watch for the roast beef and blue cheese sandwich – yum.

Caribbean Beach – Shutters (t) Really good food, kicked way up compared to the food court.

Port Orleans Riverside – Boatwrights (t) Excellent food, definitely top notch prime rib, salmons, etc.

Contemporary – California Grill – (Signature) This was our first signature meal – ever. We even had to think ahead for packing as this restaurant had a dress code. We spent the day at the Magic Kingdom and had placed a bag full of clean clothes and deodorant at the lockers up front. The check in desk is on the 2nd floor, and you get on a private elevator up to the 15th floor. This restaurant is that smaller section on the top center of the Contemporary Resort. They view over the Seven Seas lagoon was breathtaking and a great place for a lounge. We got seated in the corner of the VIP room which was 1/2 wine cellar and 1/2 windows over Bay Lake towards Fort Wilderness, and what used to be Discovery Island and River Country. EPCOT could be seen in the distance.

The meal started with a great cheese sampler tray. Mason had a terrific salmon and I had a filet that truly did melt in your mouth. Reagan had a huge sushi sampler from one of the few female sushi chefs in America who had also won many awards. Desert was also to die for! The wait staff here was impeccable and had tons of knowledge.

Now for the bonus that we did not know about. They have viewing areas that dinner guests can use for the night. We decided to check it out after dinner. By viewing areas, they meant balconies. More specifically, there were a pair of 10′ wide catwalks that ran along the top of the pylons that gave the hotel it’s shape. You could walk along the roof line of the hotel, all the way to the end that overlooked Space Mountain. The Wishes firework show started in 90 minutes. Reagan went shopping downstairs and Mason and I returned to the Magic Kingdom to get in a round of Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear and caught most of the Electrical Parade then picked up Reagan. You have to check in again to gain access to the elevator. No free rides up here! We had a great view of the entire Magic Kingdom with the fireworks in front of us. I’m planning on returning here again.

Vacation wrap-up: The Disney Magic ends when you hit the curb at the airport. We had a huge flight snafu which caused an extra day to get home (it helps to have an airplane at the airport the flight is leaving). So, our airline vouchers must be used in the next year. They covered almost 3/4 of the price we paid for those tickets. Sounds like we are going again, and next year they will have direct flights!

Starting to cool off for Fall

Rich — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:17:57 +0000

There has not been too much work done here this summer. Too many instances of ‘life’ happening. Highlights so far include. Better growing season, Strawberries growing strong, got a newer tractor that works with the older implements, strengthened up the shed, framed for windows, and got the back half of it’s roof re-decked. The shingles come next week.
The crib did get new windows on the South side, and we’ve gone down a few times to work out the trim. The upstairs has been getting cleaned out, and parts of the center bin are getting removed. I think once we get some time to work on once specific thing, a lot of changes will be seen.
Not too worried about progress. It seemed that last year the “winter’s coming panic” got a lot of work done. Hoping to do that again this year.

Vacation did happen again here. Trip 3# in a row to Walt Disney World. We’ll get some reviews and pics uploaded soon.

So COOL!

Rich — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 21:45:05 +0000

We got an awesome surprise in the mail today. Pictures of Two Barn Farm from before we got it…..way before.

Seriously?!

Rich — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:55:14 +0000

So after a hot a blistering weekend, I checked the forecast for the upcoming week. Instead of the little icons the weather usually has: Sun, sun/cloud, clouds, rain, lightning bolts. They actually had an icon that looked like FIRE!

Yes, it’s that hot here. Surface of the sun grade heat. The heat index, or “feels like” temp has been starting at 110. 118 I think is the highest I’ve seen so far. And it is not a dry heat. This is full out steam room, how the vegetables feel on the stove humid and hot. How hot is that….

Besides the feeling of your’re going to die when walking outside…
I can’t ever remember not being able to use the air conditioner in the car in normal mode. If we turn of the re-cirulation mode, it gets warm and humid in there. It’s been on re-circ for 3 days now.
If your dashboard vents aim towards the window, water will condense on the outside of the window and stream away constantly while driving.
Sunglasses fog up when leaving the house or car.

I will say, that while being in the mid one-teens yesterday, there was a nice breeze. So, you immediately soaked your self in sweat when walking outside, but the evaporation causes a cooling effect. It was quite nice feeling.

Progress? None! Too dang hot. I’ve been removing cedar shake shingles and replacing the decking on the shed with plywood. It’s about half done, and since I was working in bursts anyhow, I was trying to tuck the upper edge of plywood under the last remaining row of shingles to keep rain from pouring straight in. Needless to say, there are plenty of holes, but I don’t care at the moment. It’s hot and not raining. It’ ain’t leaking right now! It’s going to wait a few days. Just before the heat, I did get some trim on the windows, and here’s a pic.

Finally figured out the windows

Rich — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:36:15 +0000

After finding the new bottom windows a while back, I’ve been looking for the perfect fit for the top row of windows. I finally found something the right size, and cheap. Barn sashes – recycled plastic frames and plexiglass panes. These also fit snugly in the stud bays and were about an inch short of the hole I wanted to fill. The difference was made up by adding a 1×4 to the bottom sill and that got my top edge aligned.

I was on limited time on the day these went in. I need to remove the top 2 boards and get some solid sheathing in there. Then finally, I can finish off some trim around the windows and get siding up on half of that wall. Hurrah!

Also on the to-do list is to re-shingle the shed, and get the old center bin removed so my grand living room can start shaping up. We have been eating lots of peas and strawberries from the garden. The potato bushes are coming up, and there seems to be a good crop of Bok Choi as well.