Beechmere Diary

I finished installing, caulking, and staining the exterior trim for the corners and where the three levels of siding are joined. This leaves finishing the sofits, the upstairs windows, and the overhanging eaves. I don’t expect to do the eaves this year.

The kitchen area now has an overhead light and one outlet. The only remaining wiring will be in the knee wall upstairs at the front of the cabin.

I installed the eight foot long ground rod. I read on the internet that, if lucky, you can dig a starter hole and then pour in water. Then you just repetitively raise and lower the rod and continue to add water. I was skeptical, but it worked. Luckily, there were no stones in the way. So, I connected the ground wire to the breaker panel and the ground rod and carefully covered up the rod and the wire. The wiring code calls for this. I guess it is to protect the connection between the wire and the rod.

Now for the fun part. The next morning, I looked at the ground rod, and the hole and the wire were very neatly excavated. It looked as though I had forgotten to fill the hole. So I filled it all back in again. Again, the next morning, it was again as though I had never filled the hole. So, this time, after filling the hole and burying the wire, I thoroughly watered the area and covered it with 2″ x 8″ boards. I assume raccoons.

While the high temperatures were in the 90′s, the real discomfort was the high humidity. It rained briefly on Wednesday and cooled some. Actually, Thursday and Friday were fairly comfortable with light breezes.

The other discomfort was the deer and horse flies. It cuts down on productivity when you work with one arm and hand and flail around with the other to ward off the horse flies. I still got bit behind my left knee right through my jeans. OFF didn’t seem to discourage the critters. They weren’t a problem when I was working on the cabin, but the pond and driveway were challenges. Fortunately, by the next trip, they should be gone.

I found a multiflora bush completely infected with the Rose rosette disease. So, I cut it up into about thirty pieces and spread this around another area that has many multiflora bushes. It would be great if this works to reduce this invasive plant.

Oxford Mining has re-submitted their strip mine application to re-mine the properties immediately north of our woodlands. I fear nothing will stop this now.

I drove down on Friday and returned on Tuesday. I didn’t get stuck or drive off the driveway this trip. I did have to dodge the ruts, though. There had been a big rain on Monday with 1.5 inches of rain and big winds. The only rain this trip was a bit on Monday about 5:00 pm and then Tuesday morning before 9:00 am.The pickup was at the corner, so other than carrying stuff to the pickup, there was no problem. It was in the upper eighties, but the humidity was very high.

Oh, there is no doubt that the walnut tree on the west side of the cabin can hit the cabin in a big wind storm. Only the drip molding is dented a bit at this point.

The mower started right up with out priming or fussing. But, it would not move at all when I let out the clutch. After poking around, I saw that the belt drive between the engine and the transmission had come off one of the pulleys. It was fairly easy to get it back in place. I don’t know why the belt was off. Maybe pushing the mower when still in gear? I moved the mower to a sunny location and put the solar panel in service.

The wiring is done now, except for the kitchen lights and outlets. I put two lights upstairs and two outlets. When we start placing beds and stuff, I may need to add additional outlets.

I did some more checking to see why I had voltage between the ground wire and the neutral (27 volts) and between the ground and the hot lead (30 volts). When I check for shorts, the aren’t any. When I turn off all the breakers and selectively turn each on at a time, I get a voltage of about 4 volts between the neutral and the ground. As I turn on additional breakers, the voltage goes up. For example: one breaker ~ 4 volts, two breakers ~ 8 volts, six breakers ~ 27 volts. I did some research last night and it appears that there is voltage induced in the romex wiring and this voltage would not be evident if the ground wires were actually grounded. While there is voltage, it seems there is little current. I will put in a ground bar on the next trip.

I started digging a trench above the pond to divert water from the areas where the grass did not take. I used the dirt to fill in several of the holes in the dam. I am not sure the holes are from muskrats, but may have been caused by the plugged drain and the higher water level. I need to figure out how to keep the drain clear over winter. There are still three or four more holes to fill.

I put up more trim on the front, east and west sides. It was so humid that caulking that according to the directions on the tube should dry in two hours took much longer.

I met with an ODNR biologist to consider the possibility of converting the portion of the pasture dominated by reed canary grass to a wetlands and the effect this might have on the Eastern Spadefoot toad habitat.

Since a portion of the wetlands would be in the CRP Riparian project area, we would need to get approval from USDA Farm Services.

Soil testing will be needed to determine the best locations for the wetlands.

The biologist strongly advocated removal of the Autumn Olive shrubs in the pasture as these shrubs are starting to produce seeds which will accelerate the invasion.

He also expressed concern that muskrats may be burrowing into the pond dam. In addition, there are many black willow seedlings growing on the dam at the waters edge. Both of these conditions can damage the dam.

Also on this visit, Chris, Olivia and Sophia came to help with the cabin. We installed the fascias on the north and south sides and partially installed the vents and soffits.

I brought a rider mower and Chris and Olivia mowed the driveway and a path down to the pond.

It is still very wet from the incessant rains. It rained Saturday morning and again Sunday evening.

On this visit, I concentrated on removing multiflora rose and Autumn olive.

This is in response to discussions with the USDA Forester who informed us that the invasives are damaging the native flora. This year’s heavier than normal rain has resulted in lush growth.

The area around the cabin is still too wet to do any ladder work, so I worked on the wiring.

On this visit, I checked all the planting areas. The 2010 Red Maple planting seem to be the most successful at this time. I did not see any deer damage, so maybe deer prefer something else. The 2009 planting at the north end of the pasture is sparse.

I walked through the reed canary bottom land and found that there is at least 12″ standing water over most of this area. There are a few sycamores and rarely a swamp white oak. The grass is about 36″ in height.

I have contacted an ODNR Biologist who may be able to help us decide how to deal with this area.

Sharp’s Fork looks pretty good this spring. Most of the fallen tree debris is gone. Where the fallen box elder tree caused the stream to move into our pasture, the stream is now going around the east end of the tree and a nice sand bar is filling in. So, the stream moved fifty feet into our pasture and now is moving back the other way. It is interesting to see how quickly the stream changes.

I had planned on working on the cabin eaves that are still open. But the soil was so wet that the ladder was not stable and climbing a ladder with mud on one’s boots is slippery.

So, I worked on the wiring. I installed six light fixtures and four outlets.

Some of the wiring required crawling under the cabin. I found several bird nests under the cabin where the posts connect to the floor joists. There are also mud wasp tube nests, and carpenter bee holes.

When we closed up the water system last October, I failed to properly drain the pipes. Thus resulted in two spots where the ice damaged the pipes. Fortunately, I had materials to easily repair the damage. The spring is really flowing this spring.

On Wednesday morning, May 11, we met with Bill, the Forester, Mike, a ODNR wetlands specialist, and two teenage girls. The girls are interested in becoming foresters, so they were observing.

The Tree Farm certificatation interview took up most of the afternoon and involved our describing all of the tasks we have done since we purchased the land in 1975 and our plans for the future.

Bill expressed his concern about the invasive plants, especially Autumn Olive and Multiflora rose. These plants can drive out the desirable native plants. It may be better to leave less desirable trees like Box Elder, Yellow Buckeye, or Elms to keep the canopy closed in order to shade out, or prevent the establishment of the invasive plants. Chemical control of Autumn Olive may be needed. Bill does not recommend any harvesting for at least five more years.

Mike suggested that it may be desirable to construct wetlands in the pasture. There are cost sharing programs and planning support for wetlands. We intend to follow up on this as the tree planting is not working where the Reed Canary Grass exists.

Bill suggested an ODNR biologist can work with us to determine what species of plants and animals can be found on the property. He will get us the contact information.

We now have an official Tree Farm sign.

Later, I walked through where I planted seedlings last spring. I was pleased with the Red Maple planting along the south end of the pasture and the Swamp White Oak that I planted just east of the cabin. These seedlings are now about 12″ tall and have healthy appearing leaves. I didn’t look at the river birch planting along Sharps’ Fork or the Button Bush planting along wet areas. When we walked around the pond, I see that there are many Black Willow seedlings at the waters edge. As I don’t want these on the dam, this may provide a source for transplanting down in the pasture.

On Thursday, we attended a very helpful conservation and agricultural easement education session about protecting family lands sponsored by the Appalachia Ohio Alliance. We met several people that may be able to help us with acquiring the mineral rights.

Probably the most important event on this trip was, on Wednesday, to meet with 30-40 people who are working to prevent the strip mining that is proposed for the property just north of our woodlands.

All of these people live nearby. I was very impressed; they are thoughtful, educated and can effectively express their concerns.

It seems that our pasture may have an endangered species that could be harmed by the mine. Eastern Spade foot toads live in sandy soils near streams and where the area regularly floods. Additionally, they produce thousands of tadpoles that mature in just days, then they borrow into the sand.

On Thursday, two biologists came out to look over the site. It is too early for the toads to reproduce, but they wanted to check the environment. They decided to set up a monitoring program.

I was able to unplug the pond drain. It was plugged with mud and cattails. I will need to come up with some way to prevent this, or maybe an easy way to unplug it. After I cleared the drain, it took hours to bring the water level down to normal. I would guess that water level was 1.5 feet higher because of the plugged drain.

I did some work on the cabin wiring. The fuse box is in and connections to the solar and generator are completed.. I have mapped out how the romex cable will be run.

While I was out with the biologists, we came across a deer carcass with a large set of antlers. I couldn’t see any evidence of the cause of death, but I can guess a hunter shot and wounded it, but didn’t find it.

Wild flowers are starting to appear. The daffodils we planted 30 years ago are in bloom as are Spring Beauties. I saw trillium and Virginia Blue Bells, but these are not blooming yet.

I heard wild turkeys, but did not see them.

I hiked out to check last year’s tee planting. The red maples in the north field from two years ago look good. I didn’t find many from last spring. When the seedlings are small, it is difficult to see.

There was unusually warm weather this week and I took advantage to do some additional grapevine removal, cutting back the brush along the driveway and trail cleanup. I also checked the tree planting from last year.

While I was doing these jobs, J&K Contracting finished sheathing the cabin roof, installing the skylights, and shingling. It is a relief to have the cabin weather tight at last.

I am concerned about the pond. The four inch drain is plugged up and water is flowing out on the sod spillway. Additionally, there are four or five boroughs on the dam surface. I will need to deal with these problems on the next trip.

One of the J&K workers offered to remove the metal remaining from the old camp trailer. So that is all gone now.

While I don’t consider myself to be a bird watcher, I do enjoy encountering unexpected birds.

Earlier this year, a pair of Canada geese discovered our new one acre pond. In early April, they laid a nest with four eggs. But, some creature, maybe raccoons or coyotes, destroyed this nest. So the geese produced another nest and eggs. This time, a single gosling hatched. It was a joy to observe the careful parenting of these geese. I never saw the gosling without both parents on either side of the young goose. Over the months, the gosling grew from a yellow fluffy ball, to a gawky long legged fluffy ball, to a full size goose. I last saw the three in mid July, always together. I will be hoping to see these geese next spring.

In April, I was busy planting button bush seedlings in a portion of an old pasture that is often flooded by a nearby stream. I was surprised to see a Great Blue Heron only about thirty feet away. The Heron was busily feeding. I wondered what could be found in a pasture. What I discovered is that this pasture has a population of Eastern Spade Foot toads. These small toads burrow into the ground. What happened is that, as the pasture was flooded, the toads came out of their burrows; only to become the Heron’s meal.

In July, I was removing grapevines in the back acres, when I was visited by a Scarlet Tanager. What a brilliant, stunning bird!

Then in October, I was working on the solar panels at the edge of the pasture, when I noticed an Eastern Towhee just maybe ten feet away. He just sang away while eating seeds from several sumac trees left for the birds. Another gorgeous bird!

I arrived on Friday afternoon and promptly replaced the solar system batteries, charge controller and re-installed the 1500 watt inverter.

After that, I connected the power to the new cabin.

Chris joined me on Friday evening.

On Saturday, my daughter and grandson arrived.

We installed the four windows on the loft, installed the last of the rafters, and trimmed the rafter overhangs.

Friday and Saturday were unusually warm for November: 72 degrees on Saturday.

Sunday and Monday were much cooler and light rain.

At this point, I am hoping to find a local roofer to do the roof sheathing and shingling

The upgraded solar system seems to be working well. Even though there was little sunshine on Sunday and Monday, there was plenty of power.