Nate’s blog

This week has flown by. I didn't even fully know what I was getting myself into when I first stepped foot onto the Fifel land. We were treated by puppies, pigs, cows, goats, and Nimbway the horse. Trask got us familiar with the estate and we got to work.  Day 1 we began by clearing a patch for dogs to run around in. It was a little overgrown and had fallen branches all over. We got it finished and started on our Christmas tree plot. We dug up about 100 saplings and put them in a bucket of water. We spent a lot of time measuring, digging holes, and planting the saplings. Next, we started to clear a trail to the sugar bush. We go in with hatchets and saws and clear all the trees and brush.  This week has been awesome. We have gotten to know the farm and the animals. I look forward to next week when we reach the sugar bush and can drive the mule all the way there. I don't know what the next project will be but I am excited. 

 Today we woke up and had egos for breakfast. We bought 48 so we had to eat them all. We took the mule over to the trail we were going to clear. The chainsaw wouldn’t start but it turned out it didn’t have any fuel in it. We cleared most of the trail by cutting down small trees and Trask went in with the tractor and cleared the underbrush. We had little brothers burgers for a late lunch.  I got the California brother burger.  Hours today 2 Hours total 26.5

 Today we woke up and finished up on the Christmas tree farm. We planted a total of around 100 trees we then took the mule as far as we could until the path was too overgrown. We then followed Trask as he led us up and around the sugarbush. We dropped some pins so that we could find the path we are gonna clear better. We had hotdogs and tater tots for lunch. We put the chain back on the chainsaw and went out to work a little longer on clearing the path. I had practice and hung out with the puppy we brought back to campus. Lily (the dog) slept on my lap on the way back home. Hours today 4 Total hours 24.5

 We started our day at 9am. I had egos for breakfast and we headed out the door. When we were driving to go plant we saw that the pigs had gotten loose. They had pushed the troff into the electric fence and climbed over. Augie grabbed a bag of food and they all followed him back until he threw the bag into the pen. They went nuts over this and tore the bag open. We then went to clear and plant and we planted 40 more saplings. We got to take a pup to practice even though it was cancelled as we were pulling in. I went to play golf for a bit and headed home. Hours today 9 Total hours 20.5

5/10/23 3 hours 11.5 total  Today we woke up same a usual and had cereal and eggos for breakfast. We drove up the driveway and hopped on the mule. We filled up our cans with water and grabbed our tools. We got to our field and started measuring out the distances for the trees. Augie and I measured and dug holes while Mia followed and planted, Charlie supervised. We planted maybe another 40 saplings and picked up to head over to Tilton for our game. We won.

 Today we woke up and got out of the door by 9. We pulled up clumps of tree saplings and separated them so that their roots wouldn’t tear. We put the them in water and took the mule down to the area we cleared yesterday. We measured and dug holes in the ground to plant the saplings 6 feet apart. Trask will then be able to mow in between the rows and there will be space once they grow. We planted 40 today and will continue to fill up the clearing tomorrow. Lunch was sandwiches and mac and cheese.

5/8/23 1:50pm 4.5 hours today  Today we woke up at 8:45, brushed our teeth and ate some captain crunch. We headed out the door and met with Trask to see what was on the agenda. We cleared out a fenced area of debris and used the chain saws to cut down dead branches hanging over the pen. We took the piles of brush and moved them down to a burn pile with the tractor. After a quick bathroom break we went to clear out an area for planting Christmas trees. We took the brush up the road and piled it onto a different burn pile.