Spring 2026 What's happening on Grey Woods Farm

 Spring has arrived on the farm and I have been getting a lot of different projects completed. One of the things I

have learned over the years on the farm is anything that needs to be driven, run, or has a motor ends up being on

my list of things to do. It can be cost prohibitive to take a tractor to a shop for tune up, repairs etc. Which means,

part of my work involves research (mostly from YouTube); and learning how to do something that never really

has been my wheelhouse, I am a chef!  Yet, it is exactly what I do, if I want things to run correctly.

This spring is no exception! So far, I have replaced oil filters, oil, hydraulic oil, air filters, grease fittings, and replaced a sensor on the John Deere tractor. Yesterday I replaced a carburetor on a small lawn mower; ethanol destroys the small fuel systems if you are not adding additives or draining them for the winter. I paid that price, and it won’t happen again! The good news on the little mower, replacing the carburetor was a cheap fix, seriously less than $15.00!

In addition to mechanical things, I have been working on building a small greenhouse, and a cold frame. All of the material was either reused from pallets, or other things I have built previously, and recently I came into some greenhouse panels from one of our son’s friends (our friend as well).  This has allowed me to start seeds early and in fact I have lettuce going, spinach going, tomatoes, and brussels sprouts. I am about to get them into the garden in the next couple of days. 

This spring has also presented some challenges with heavy rains, high winds, power outages, and tornados in the area! We dodged a lot of bullets when it comes to mother nature's drunken weather! Thankfully one of the pieces of equipment we have on the farm is a generator; we lost power for twenty hours from one of those storms! 

And yet, retirement has been fantastic, seriously this is the best move I have ever made! Plus one of the benefits has been the class I am taking in Botany, fungi! I just found out my mushroom mycelium is coming today! I am planting this in our gardens to improve soil health and to grow fresh mushrooms!