Hello Folks,
I am starting this blog at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, and the sun is just poking its head out onto a very frosty landscape. We got a good frost last night/this morning and what is now called a “freeze.” The chickens were like, “what is this?” as they picked up their feet to get away from the frosty ground. Other than that, the critters don’t seem to notice the change in climate.
Yesterday, B and I attended the annual Field Day at the property of the recipient of the 2018 NH Tree Farm Award. This year, the spread, and I do mean spread, as in roughly 1800 acres, was in Springfield, NH, which is just outside of New London. Star Lake Farm, owned by one person but the property has been put into a Delaware corporation, was this year’s winner. The land is in a conservation trust, meaning it can never be developed and broken into house lots or other development,
As you may recall, B and I often attend these yearly field day events, as we both like to hear how folks are managing their property. We often see the latest in logging equipment and/or go for a nice hike. One time, one of the events was offering a canoe ride around a beaver pond. And, no, Karla did not tip over the canoe, although one lone gentleman did tip over his canoe! Often a session involves a visit to the home property’s maple grove and sugarhouse. There is always a walk and discussion about how the winner is managing their forests.
The field day consists of usually two events, unique to the property, in the morning, then a catered pork/chicken barbecue under a tent, with raffles and a silent auction. There is usually an afternoon event after lunch. This year was no exception. However, this year, the day dawned rainy and cloudy and COLD. We went wearing four layers each, but soon realized we could have stood a fifth, sixth and seventh layer! It is was rainy and did I mention, COLD??? When we drove through Sunapee, the bank clock said it was 40 degrees. An all day event held outside and rainy and cold. Well, you take what Mother Nature throws at you and make the best of it.
We arrived right around 8:30 (events start at 9:00) and were told where to go to park. B casually mentioned to me that he and his dad, back in the 90’s, had come to some place very similar, if not the same place, to view his dad’s grandfather’s farm. They hadn’t been able to get in because the owner had put up a gate to keep people off the (public) roads going into the area. This was the first I had heard of this. Meanwhile, we parked along a narrow dirt road and began to hike. Did I mention it was raining???
After parking, we were asked if we wanted to ride up to the event’s registration tent and where the action begins, but B says, “No we will walk.” The guy says, “Are you sure? It is quite a hike up the hill.” B says, “Yes, we are fine.” Huh! B is fine, Karla is not. We walked and I huffed and puffed my way up the hill and I do mean hill, folks. No little rise or knoll, a genuine hill, in the rain. Anyway, once at the top and the plateau, we reached the registration tent, got our meal ticket and name badge, had some coffee and waited for the first event to start. There were hay wagons and vans ready to take us on our adventures, but this type of event also requires lots of walking, so you best be prepared. It is not for the faint of heart.
Down the hill from where we were and off to a side, was an old set of buildings; beautifully maintained. In fact, on our drive in and our walk we saw a total of 3 sets of buildings. All very well maintained. We also drove through a lovely gate. Yes, you can walk the roads, but you must stay on the roads and you can’t drive in at all, other than for this special event. The property, all 1800 acres, is posted and not only posted, but according to the signs, it’s patrolled, too. Meaning; walk, stay on the road, and do not think you can deter. Okay.
While we were waiting for the event to start, B got to studying a map of the property that was posted in one of the tents. He was pretty miffed that it showed three once-public roads going through the property that had been taken over by the owner and made part of the property. In fact, when the person from the land trust monitoring the property’s conservation easement was giving a presentation later in the morning, B brought up the question of how the owner had pulled that off. The reply was that the owner had said he would only give a conservation easement on the property if he was given the roads, and apparently the Springfield voters approved it. There’s also a 65 acre lake on the property that, even though it’s over 10 acres and thus a NH “public water”, it’s also off-limits.
We elected to take the maple sugarhouse and logging tour first. Did I mention it was raining??? We walked to the events. The farms forester, the county forester, and several guys from the UNH cooperative service were all there to talk to us about the forests and the logging operation. Meanwhile, the first stop was the sugarhouse where the caretaker told us about the operation. They make maple syrup and sell it, but it is by no means a thriving business, but only a side job. They do not tap all the maples every year, but keep it to about 700 taps. It is mostly done by tubing, and the sap is boiled with wood, so that means the farm help is also keeping the attached woodshed filled throughout the year.
There was also a guy representing the maple sugaring business in NH. I had no idea NH made such a small amount of syrup compared to Vermont. We think he said Vermont makes a million gallons a year and NH makes 100,000 gallons. He also noted that there are about 500 people boiling sap in NH each year and most of these operations allow visitors. We have no large conglomerates here in NH. Relief. People asked the ordinary questions about tapping trees, how many gallons of sap to a gallon of syrup, etc, etc. It was clear this property didn’t do anything much for profit.
Then a short walk to the logging operation. Along the way, the foresters talked about the forest management and the invasive species and how this particular property is controlling the pests and invasive plants, etc. We always pick up some interesting tips and learn how different properties choose to eradicate pests and invasive plants, or at the least keep them at bay. Some places are more aggressive about eradicating invasive species problems than others. This one is kind of taking a “wait and see” attitude with pests and minimal control of invasives, but with 1800 acres to maintain that is probably the best way to handle things.
Once at the logging site, the logger was there and demonstrated his fancy dancy equipment that cuts, removes stems and branches and cuts the logs in one operation. This is always fun to see. Right now, the logging operation on this property is to thin out white pine so that the undergrowth, which appears to be hardwood, can be allowed to grow. Some logs were going to the pulp mill, some to a white pine facility to be made into planks. They were also thinning out hemlock and that is a coveted wood for cabinets and flooring. At this time, only 6-7 acres are being logged.
Then it was into the heated van (yeah!) and over to the second session of the morning, the cattle barn. First, two local county foresters told us about the process of conversion from forested land to fields. This is, as we learned, neither a cheap nor easy, nor even a very practical solution in many cases. We will not be doing any such conversion here! Plus it was wicked cold, and so they did cut their talk short so we could get into the metal cow barn.
This wasn’t your typical cow barn either. It is mostly used for veterinary work and did have a few stalls for the mamas when they are calving. They raise Scottish Highland cattle; mostly for show. They had a world class champion cow, who was in one stall with her rather large baby, who was born in the spring. Mama was not happy and kept rattling the cage with her long horns while the woman (part of the caretaker family) was speaking! She was very rude!
They now, as I mentioned, raise cattle for show and for breeding only. They used to raise cattle for meat and it was sold locally, but it proved to be more costly than it was worth doing. The farm staff travel all over the US showing their prize-winning cattle at shows and also are leaders in embryonic work and other breeding right at the farm. It was all very interesting to us.
By now, it was just showering and Karla suggested we ride back to the tent in the hay wagon instead of the nice, warm van. Aha. Well, upon returning to the lunch area, our rears were also wet from the wet hay,. We were, in a word, frozen. B shook so much while eating that I was concerned. I was not visibly shaking like he was, and what was available for drinks??? Cold water or lemonade! No coffee!! No hot tea!! No hot chocolate!! The lunch was delicious as always as it is catered by a restaurant in Newport as it has been for the last 4-5 years.
As a side note, there is a guy who has been roasting a pig at these events for decades! He sets up and gets his grill started the day before the event. So the restaurant provided their own grills and grilled chicken giving us an either or both choice.
Did I mention they also had a variety of homemade cookies??? Once lunch was over, they did the raffles and the silent auction winners are announced. We did not win anything on the raffles, but I did win the yearly silent auction for Sunday brunch at the caterer’s restaurant. I had to pay more for it this year, but still less than it costs to purchase at the door.
Finally, the showers/rain let up and streaks of blue sky and some slivers of sunshine came through, but it was too late for us. We were still cold and damp. The afternoon event was a tour of a local sawmill and not an ordinary sawmill, but an extraordinary sawmill if you ask me.
The caretakers (also the farm managers and the head of the sugaring business) along with the farm forester, accepted the award for Tree Farm of the Year for the owner, who did not show up. B tracked down the caretaker after lunch. B wanted to see if he could find out which property his great-grandfather might have lived in. Wow! Was B ever in for a surprise!
You know the set of buildings near the tent that I mentioned? Well, it turns out his great-grandfather wasn’t a caretaker, but owned that farm and it still goes by his name! We were delighted to learn this! On our way back to our van to drive on to the sawmill tour, B got some great pictures of this place, which has not only been maintained, but kept in pristine condition and, we suspect, built onto. It is now used as a “guest house” for the property. The owner’s house and the caretaker’s house are further down the road, nearer the entrance. Here are a couple of photos. Note the condition of the sky!
The tour of the sawmill was interesting. They only work with white pine and only make 4/4 (1″ nominal) boards, making their operation cost effective and streamlined. Besides selling lumber, they also sell shavings and wood pellets. Wood pellets are the latest addition to their mill. We also got to tour the new pellet making building. Since the season is a bit slow right now, no one was working. so we could hear the tour guides better, although we didn’t see any lumber flowing through the plant. It is quite the operation! The size of the machines and the saws was incredibly large. It’s all very highly automated. Some of the jobs we saw being done by hand at a smaller mill we toured a couple years ago, like board grading, were all done by machines here.
Due to a fire last January, the planing and storage building, all 785 feet of it (180 feet wide!) had to be rebuilt and is just about ready for the new season. There is another building similar in size that we also walked through that handles the actual sawing into boards. They also had a couple very large drying kiln buildings. The tour guide said their bottleneck for the finished product in the kilns, as the boards have to remain in there about a week. That is a lot of square footage, my friends! It all was quite amazing and made my head spin a bit.
Then it was time to get back in the van, run the heater at top speed, and head for home. Quite the day!
Stay well.
The Clampetts 