Blog Archives - THE FURROW: The online newsletter of Howell Living History Farm

Free Labor

4/25/2012

A group of hard-working volunteers from CA Technologies in Ewing visited Howell Farm today. They were put to work in the woodlot across the street from the farm, where they helped install deer guards around saplings, clear out weeds, apply mulch where needed, and other not-so-glamorous-but-essential tasks to the health of a young woodlot.

The volunteers also helped cut seed potatoes for this Saturday's big potato planting. (All are invited to come out from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to help plant.)

Two of the volunteers made their first-ever rounds with a walking plow under the tutelage of Farmer Jeremy.

Return of the Barn Swallows

4/18/2012

The first barn swallow of the year was spotted at Howell Farm on Monday, April 16.

According to farm records that go back two decades, the swallows return every year between April 9 and April 21. So this year's return date was very middle of the road.

Planting Oats

4/18/2012

The oats were planted today.

Farmer Jeremy finished his last round with the grain drill in the early afternoon amid a few sparse droplets of rain.

Then Farmer Ian finished going over the freshly seeded field with the cultipacker, the final step in the planting process.

Now that the planting is finished, we want it to rain. According to weather.com, there's a 45% chance of rain this afternoon. It's been an extremely dry spring so far.

One way or the other, it looks like relief is on the way. The forecast for Sunday and Monday calls for a heavy rainstorm.

Spring Cleaning

4/10/2012

The chicken house is now sparkling clean -- at least as much as a chicken house can be clean -- after its yearly mucking out.

No barn swallows -- yet

4/10/2012

According to records that go back 18 years, the arrival of Howell Farm's bug-eating air force -- the barn swallows -- usually occurs between April 9 and April 21. There have been no 2012 barn swallow sightings as of yet.

Each spring, the barn swallows migrate from as far as Argentina.

According to the bird-migration tracking website woodcreeper.com, weather patterns have been working against migrating bird so far this week, but conditions are looking to clear up by Sunday.

The Kitchen Garden

4/10/2012

The cabbage continue their recovery from a frosty evening.

The peas have appeared.

Settling In

4/10/2012

After a spring of births and new arrivals, Howell Farm's young and baby animals have settled in well to farm life. Photos below.

The Kitchen Garden and Remarkable Weather

4/4/2012

After record-setting warmth in March, temperatures so far in April have been much more normal. The cabbage planted in the kitchen garden is recovering well enough from a recent frost.

Next up to be planted are carrots and peas.

According to the office of the New Jersey State Climatologist, March 2012 tied for the hottest March on record and was the 10th driest. Perhaps even more noteworthy is that the twelve-month period ending in March ranks as the warmest twelve-month period ever in New Jersey, with records going back to 1895.

Field Prep

4/4/2012

Last Thursday, a tractor was deployed to the future oat field pulling a cultipacker roller. The cultipacker smoothed out large clods of soil, in preparation for horse-drawn harrowing and planting. This is one of the jobs Howell Farm will call in the tractors for. Pulling the cultipacker across such rough ground is a difficult and potentially injury prone job for the horses.

Today Farmer Jeremy continued to plow the rest of the oat field. He reports that his team of horses, Bill and Jesse, are working well and appear to be in good health. Bill is recovering from a recent foot abscess.

Annual Traditions

4/4/2012

At and around Howell Farm yesterday, two annual traditions were observed.

-Farmers loaded draft horses Jack and Chester into a trailer and made the short trip to Trenton. Behind the horses, school children and visitors helped plow a community garden on Chestnut Avenue. During a day of much work, one of the most laborious events was the unearthing of two huge concrete building blocks that were discovered when the plow collided with them. They had to be dug up by hand with a shovel.

-Yesterday was also the start of the annual hen house cleaning. A year’s worth of muck and manure will be removed from the house via pitchfork. Speaking from experience, it is a dirty job.

On almost any farm, of course, there are many, many annual traditions.

About

The Furrow is the online newsletter of The Friends of Howell Living History Farm. We will be updating this site about once a week with crop reports and other insights into life on a horse-drawn living history farm.

Howell Farm is owned by Mercer County and operated by the Mercer County Park Commission.

Funding for the Howell Living History Farm Furrow is made possible in part by an operating grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.

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