I hope that this post finds everyone well and that you are staying cool through this very hot spell! The heat index today will be about 110 degrees, so the summer heat is certainly on. The rains have been plentiful this year at Bundoran Farm, providing good conditions for the pastures and orchards. Additionally, a small vegetable garden that we planted this year is thriving in these conditions. In fact, we presently have plenty of fresh organic cucumbers available for Bundoran Farm owners and nearby neighbors. So if you are in the area stop by the Baldwin Center and help yourself to a few. We also have a few zucchini and yellow squash available to the first few that arrive. Later in the season we will have some corn, sweet peppers, green beans and plenty of vine ripe tomatoes.

What a great way to enjoy and appreciate the bounty of the land.

Below are a few picture of our small garden and our recent harvest.

This morning we started an hour late since everything was covered with
ice…and then a lot of the ice turned to water and mud–shorting out
extension cords and generally making a mess.  Then it mercifully got
quite warm so I sent one of the crews up top to work on the cupola
roofing–which they were able to finish this afternoon…with one left
to go since we had to wait half a day for the ice to melt.

This was the first day I realized how much of a tapestry we are….woven
into all the other trades and their schedules as well as our own.  I
knew this was the case but today I could not go past where they had to
stop…kind of like running into a wall at high speed–and simply the
nature of a large project with a lot of coordinated interests.  While it
was hard0–i was glad i could see this for what it is….that we are all
in this together….and when I got back this evening–one of the
blockading trenches had already been filled.

Best of all–there was a great sunset at Bundoran Farm….it is always beautiful.

george abetti – geobarns

Seeing it come together over this five/six time frame has been an
emotional experience–to say the least.  We have battled some extreme
weather conditions with below zero wind chills, heavy rains and more
recently snow….not to mention the omnipresent red Virginia mud in
between all the above…but throughout this first leg of the odyssey we
have seen the beauty of what we are privileged to create, experienced
the warmth of our clients’ appreciation, one another’s encouragement,
camaraderie and support that has made even the hardest days worth the
effort.  The building gets bigger every week and we have not even
started on the tasting room on top of the massive foundation just
poured–which will be over 40′ tall from the basement up.

It is very humbling to think of a project not in terms of this being
just like another structure so at least we know where we are headed–but
rather risking doing something so much bigger and complex that every day
is a taste and test of a new venture.  We are simultaneously both
exploring and discovering what we can do –and with this awareness comes
an extraordinary sense of gratitude to our clients–and each other–for
entrusting us with something that is both an awesome privilege and
responsibility.  While I believe with all my heart that this will turn
out well–the journey has already been a blessing beyond
measure–something undeserved and unexpected–and filled with grace in
allowing us to be a part of something this challenging and
overwhelming–something I can only see as a gift.

I am listening to George Winston playing Pachebel’s Canon–which at its
time was the first syncopated music of its kind–daring to tread into
unknown territory–and has always deeply moved my heart.  As
builders–Pippin Hill has already given us a taste of being a part of a
beautiful project and place at Bundoran Farm….somewhere we are humbly
learning to go with no little awe and a sense of joy….even at just
this beginning.

My best wishes and heartfelt prayers for a blessed Christmas and New
Year….and looking forward to coming back from France in a couple of
weeks for our next effort.

george abetti – geobarns

Also included in this list is the Lewis Residence at Bundoran Farm that was designed by Sunbiosis and built by Shelter Construction.

To see these any other projects on Google Maps, go the Low Impact Development Projects.

Rain Dog Designs specializes in sustainable landscape and low impact development design and construction, rain gardens, pervious pavement, detention cisterns

Here are few quick snapshots of the Bundoran Farm landscape sent to us by Dorothy Tompkins that were taken from the front of her home over weekend.  With dramatic views like this, who needs anything else

Carduelis tritis

American goldfinches delight us with their beauty in the spring and summer, with their affinity for our feeders in winter and throughout the year with their songs and calls.  They are vocal little birds with six different types of calls.  Goldfinches appear to continue learning calls into adulthood and paired birds assume almost identical flight-call patterns.  This suggests that calls are important in pair recognition in this mostly monogamous species.

In winter the male goldfinch loses his bright yellow color but is still distinguished from the female by his brighter yellow throat and blacker wings.  Both males and females have distinctive wing bars all year.  Their non-streaked olive-yellow breast and the wing bars distinguish them from other finches at the feeder.  They are smaller than the purple and house finch, but about the same size as pine siskins.  Pine siskins and goldfinches also have smaller beaks than the red finches.  I have had all four of these species at a feeder at the same time.

Goldfinches are gregarious seed feeders; even in the breeding season they often feed in small groups.  In winter flocks may have 200 members.  Their preferred habitat is early successional growth, especially if there are plenty of plants in the Asteraceae family.  Their fondness for the seeds of Asteraceae (formerly Compositae) flowers accounts for the frequency of goldfinches in gardens.  They also love the seeds of poppies and of the native Agastache.

Goldfinches breed in early August, late compared to other birds.  Their breeding appears to coincide with the appearance of seed development of Asteraceae, including thistles.  Their spring molt requires considerable energy expenditure which may also affect the timing of egg laying, the biggest energy expenditure of the season.  The nest, built by the female alone, is lashed to supporting twigs with spider webs.  She then builds up a cup of rootlets and various plant fibers shaped to fit her body.  The lining is of soft “downy” material, often from Asteraceae plants but may be from man-made fibers.  The nest is so compact it will hold water.

Goldfinches, like all birds, spend considerable amount of time preening.  They are very dependent on their feathers for stable flight as well as warmth and protection from rain.  Most of the time preening is spent on the head, neck and wings.  In winter we can see them preen in trees close to feeding sites.  During fall and spring molt they spend up to a quarter of their time preening.  In winter goldfinches often roost communally in conifers, especially our Juniperus virginiana.

Dorothy Tompkins – Master Naturalist and Bundoran Farm Steward

We got terribly cold as the sun started to set and called it a day and
ran from the wind into whatever shelters we are fortunate to have–even
if one of them is a Winnebago that rocks in the wind with no insulation
other than multiple quilts on my bed….when it gets too cold I just
start the engine and warm up a bit….the space heater just does not
keep up on a night like tonight.

george abetti – geobarns

The bridal loft floor system is done and flooring has started–and we
began framing the walls of the venue center with some basic tutorials in
diagonal framing technology for the new guys on the crew…22-1/2″ OC,
nailing patterns, turning corners which changes the triangle plane,
etc…the walls will be complete eye candy within a couple of days…

And then there were adventures with the forklift–booming out a clip of
2616′s (189 of them/unit) over the tops of several others on the
courtyard side–and before I go it far enough to lower the machine just
went up on its front wheels with the back in the air.  It was actually
fun–I was wondering what it’s 42′ boom could go to with a full
load–and now we know it sure isn’t 42′…:-D …but iti makes a great
story.

I cannot wait to see my beloved Susanne very late tonight/early this
morning–and wish all of you a filled with gratitude Thanksgiving.

george abetti – geobarns

After going to bed well past midnight–the howling winds roared up the
hill at 4:30 am in the morning–and took off a lot more of the tarps.
Mercifully there was no real rain….but the wind was like a banshee and
sleep was impossible.  Of course this was our day to set posts–along
with 2x12x18 sisters which do not do well facing high wind–so the only
reasonable alternative was to ask half the crew to work elsewhere while
we would do our best to stay busy running more sills and putting up a
few of the shorter posts.  It was a terribly hard decision–only
exceeded by how much worse it would have been to have two full crews
with not enough to do with unsafe post raising wind conditions.

it stayed gusty until mid to late morning–and while breezy this
afternoon–the three of us there really went after the posts and got a
lot of them up this afternoon.  A few times it was tough to hang on to
them in the wind–but with Thom at 6’10″ high–we had a little counter
leverage.  We were also blessed that Matthew and Ben did such a superb
job precutting and notching (for the front porch girders) all the posts
yesterday afternoon–so we  had almost no prep and just focused on
postal production….ending up having a very good day.

The weather sure has an impact–any time I have the illusion I am in
totally in charge of my life–it reminds me that some humility is in order.

george abetti – Geobarns

On a trail up Israel Mountain the fall colors were spectacular in the late morning sunlight. Spicebush, hickory, birch and others were bright yellow with black gum and maple providing bright red. The forest has many chestnut oaks and mountain laurel, reflecting the underlying quartz rock foundation. One small American Chestnut reminded us of what used to be the predominant tree.

Asters and goldenrod blooms, bright green Spotted Wintergreen (Pipsissewa), Spleenwort, Christmas, grape and cinnamon fern added color to the rich colors of fallen leaves in the under story.

Leif explained how the forest is managed: when there are many mature trees some are carefully selected for harvesting during the time of the year least likely to cause damage to the remaining trees. Some of the best trees are left to provide seeds to replace trees that are removed. A year after the “harvest” the forest looks as if no one had been there doing the removal. After crossing several small streams and they hiked up to the ridges which provided a look at the different microclimates on one mountain side.