Breaking Ground

This summer has presented many unexpected challenges and many opportunities to roll with it as farmers must, while we get Spring Forth Farm off the ground (or into it). After the record June rainfall, the ground finally dried out enough for the equipment to be able to get in to pull stumps, the day before we left on a 2 1/2 week vacation months in the making. Once the stumps were carried off, we started breaking sod with a tiller we rented… until it developed a fuel problem and conked out on us.  We will be ready to tackle the tiller again after a much-needed getaway, and we are excited about bringing you beautiful cut flowers and fresh veggies as soon as we’re able.

Clearing land at Orchard Hill Children’s School.

The land cleared, with a few stumps to pull out and some tilling to do.

The land, ready for stump-pulling.

Finally, the stumps were knocked over…

The backhoe made quick work of the stumps.

The roots came out easily.

…And carried away, leaving the land clear:

With the stumps pulled, it started looking like farmable land.

We were able to do a first pass with the tiller before it conked out:

Once the stumps were carried off, we started to till. It was tough work to break the sod layer.

Here’s how the land looked when we left. Most had a first pass with the tiller, but when the tiller conked out, we called it a day, too.