Feb Farm Projects

          Tile trench to the east of the ditches                 

It's hard to believe that we have been able to get outdoor farm projects done this time of year.  The first weekend in Feb found Dave digging a trench and laying a tile line by the ditches to help keep the ground in better condition no matter the weather and prepares a site for a new Beginner Novice ditch.  That ditch won't be ready until the fall event because we have to level off some ground and push that down to the low spot in front of the Novice and Training ditches and we don't want all that fresh dirt before Winona.  By pushing some dirt into the low spot combined with the drain tile; the footing should be pretty high and  dry.

Draining the ditch jumps and the site of the new Beg Novice ditch

When Dave was done with the tile line he took his min excavator back to the woods to dig some drainage ditches in four of the wet spots and laying 10" clay culverts to essentially make dirt bridges over the wet spots.  I''m glad Kevin was home to help because those culverts were pretty heavy.  The plan is to let things dry out and do the final grading this spring so they will good to go for the spring Hunter Pace. The following pictures show Kevin & Dave setting one of the clay culverts, the excavator giving the culverts (2 -3 150lb culvert) a gentle nudge ti get them in  place, and a look at the whole Dave had to dig to get enough dirt to mound up over a low wet spot we haven't been able to use in years.

The second weekend as cold and snowy but the third weekend, although a bit chilly was good and dry so Dave got the mini excavator out again but this time it was to transplant some trees and bushes.  We planted 4 trees back by the new stadium area so spectators can have a shady place to watch the show jumping or clinics.  I'm afraid they won't provide much shade this season, but hopefully it won't be too long before they are producing enough shade.  As you can see; I am being very optimistic about the weather, plenty of sun.  The way I look at it; we paid our dues with the wet weather last year and we should have good weather this year :)

In addition to the trees, we had to replace two of the tall bushes next to the water jump.  These bushes are a little smaller and in better condition than the ones we transplanted last year so hopefully these will make

it.                                                                                                       

Next on the list is aerating the dressage warm up.  The ground has dried enough to get a tractor on it without making a mess and it will allow the spring rains soak in a little better. Here's hoping that we have normal spring rains this year.  That's it for now.  I hope you all have been enjoying the nice weather we have been having this winter.

Jackie