January -Farm chores in winter

We've been busy doing farm things while we have excellent weather this month. Today topped at 70 degrees and you just can't beat that type of weather. Hopefully the weather will hold so we can finish cutting up two of the trees we've taken down this winter. 2 Walnut trees (English Walnut, we think) have not shown foliage or production this year and the previous year was limited. It was time to take down these two hardwoods and use them in a variety of ways.

1. We are using the smaller branches and twigs for fire starting. 2. We are using some of the shorter lengths to heat the house. 3. We are using some of the longer throws of straight branches for the posts for the garden cover. 4. We'll be delivering some of the walnut to dad to burn for his heat (we will bring a trailer full to Sante Fe the beginning of next month Dad!). 5. 1 inch size branches can also be used for some other fencing projects we have in mind.

It's amazing how big these trees were and how the wood has dried out in such a short time. It's good to be able to use some of the pieces for our other projects. 4 x 4's do get a bit expensive and they never sell the exact size you really want, so you either end up cutting some off or you bury the excess or leave it up. Personally, this is not easy soil to dig in, I'd rather not have to go deeper than necessary. I think our real crop is rocks.

This is a couple of the limbs from one of the trees that we took down this week. More work on the garden area.