Here at my Bedford, New York farm, even rainy days can be extremely productive.
Whenever it's stormy outside and my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew are unable to work in the woods or gardens, I encourage them to take stock of the equipment, clean everything, and then organize all the tools and supplies. After I bought this property, it became quickly apparent that I would need a large building to store equipment. The structure is about 40 by 120 feet, with a substantial amount of height. It is where we keep our mowers, blowers, tractors, tools, and other pieces of important machinery. Yesterday, while it rained for hours, my foreman Chhiring Sherpa cleared the space, cleaned, organized, and inspected every item before returning it neatly to its spot, so everything is in good order and ready to use. Keeping things well maintained and properly stored will always save time in the long run.
Enjoy these photos.
I wanted this Equipment Barn to be an attractive structure in an easy-to-access location. This building is just off the carriage road next to my Pin Oak Allée, hay barn, and vegetable greenhouse. This is one of two giant sliding doors – one at each end.
On top of the standing seam aluminum roof, I have three lead-coated copper finials. In winter, these can be seen clearly from across the paddocks.
Inside, the Equipment Barn is well lit with these big overhead lamps. I use very utilitarian lighting and fans where I can on the farm.
Natural light also comes through these windows.
In the back corner, we have this bank of lockers for the crew. Everyone has their own set of lockers where they can store safety equipment, extra shoes, clothing, and other personal items.
Each set of lockers is labeled. Safety helmets are kept on top for easy reach. There’s plenty of room for everyone.
On this rainy day, I asked that the equipment barn be well organized. All the pieces of equipment are brought out onto the driveway for inspection and cleaning.
Chhiring makes sure each piece of equipment is in perfect working order. Then, using a power washer, he thoroughly cleans each piece, so it is ready to use. This is my Kubota ZD1211-60 zero turn riding mower. It has a 24.8 horsepower diesel engine and a wide mower deck.
Once it is cleaned, Chhiring parks it back in the barn, in a designated spot, where it can easily be driven out when needed.
We have a fleet of Kubota mowers. They are used almost daily during the warmer months.
Our blowers are made by STIHL. We’ve been using STIHL’s backpack blowers for years here at my farm. These blowers are powerful and fuel-efficient. The gasoline-powered engines provide enough rugged power to tackle heavy debris while delivering much lower emissions.
This is STIHL’s backpack battery and hand blower. The backpack battery eliminates the cost of fuel and engine oil and can be used with several other useful accessories.
STIHL’s most well-known tool is the chainsaw. STIHL designed and built its first electric chain saw in 1926 and 94 years later, it is still one of its best pieces of equipment. The chainsaw has soft grips for comfortability and secure maneuverability.
Ladders of various sizes rest against one wall close to one set of large barn doors.
All the garden tools – hoes, spades, shovels, and rakes are hung on sturdy hooks.
On this section of wall, we hang all the leaf blowers, long handled hedge trimmers, and weed-whackers – also by STIHL.
This is our wood chipper – an important piece of equipment at the farm. I am fortunate to have this machinery to chip fallen or cut branches and then return them to the woodland for top dressing various areas. It has a special parking spot in one corner of the space.
I keep this vintage Allis-Chalmers tractor from the 1940s in this barn also. It reminds us how much these farm pieces have evolved over the years.
These broadcast spreaders are cleaned and then suspended on hooks, so they are out of the way.
Blowers, tillers, edgers, walk behind mowers, and generators are all parked by type and frequency of use.
We even have an area to store spare tires.
Once everything is back in place, the rugged cement floors are all blown of debris, swept, and washed. At nght, this barn also accommodates all our farm vehicles. So much can fit into this Equipment Barn, especially when it is clean and all the tools are properly put away.
Soon, my growing turkeys will move into a beautiful new coop.
Here at the farm, my property manager, Doug White, and Pete Sherpa from my outdoor grounds crew, have been working hard to complete the structure located at one end of the chicken yard. The 10-foot by 10-foot coop has windows on all sides for proper ventilation. I also wanted it to be tall, so it could house a ladder upon which the turkeys could roost. At the front is a large and very practical sliding barn door, which slides open and closed easily, stays put, and is out of the way. And on one side, a turkey-sized hinged door, which will offer the birds another way in and out of their new home.
Here are more photos, enjoy.
On this warm, sunny day, the framing is all complete and the walls are all going up, plank by plank. Window openings are also framed out on every side.
Fernando Ferrari has been working with me a long time. He does a lot of the painting here at the farm. Our favorite color – Bedford Gray, of course. Here he is starting on the back of the coop’s exterior walls.
From the inside of the coop looking up, one can see the horizontal slats on one side along with the shingles that are secured to the slats.
There are still a lot of shingles to put up. We’re using cedar shingles for the roof of this coop. Each piece measures about 16 to 18 inches long and about four to 14 inches wide. Wood shingles can last between 15 and 40 years depending on the climate, exposure to the elements, and the slope of the roof. As a rule, the steeper the roof, the longer the material will last because rain won’t pool on it and ice and snow won’t accumulate.
Batches of shingles are placed on the roof, so they are easy to reach.
Here’s Pete putting up the shingles on the south side if the roof. Each piece is hand-selected, so it fits perfectly.
And here he is working on the ridge of the roof. The roof ridge is the horizontal line running the length of the roof where the two roof planes meet. This intersection creates the highest point, sometimes referred to as the peak.
Down on the ground, Doug works on the casings for the windows.
I brought these windows back from Maine. They are from an old house I took down on my property next to Skylands. They are perfect for this project.
Fernando cleans the front window and prepares it for painting.
This window is repurposed as an awning window – hinged on the top, so it can easily open and close with the turn of a handle. It will provide plentiful light and ventilation into the space.
Here is a look from the inside.
More windows are installed on the sides.
On this day, the process was interrupted by a brief rain shower. Doug and Pete tested the coop and stood inside for the duration of the rain – no leaks anywhere!
On the back is a door just for the turkeys. They will be able to walk in and out of the coop through this smaller doorway which will be connected to a ramp.
Here are some of the parts of the sliding barn door. These are the rollers, part of the tracking system. They will go on the door rails and be used to slide the door open and closed.
Here, Doug measures where the rollers should be installed.
Here is the barn door rail – stainless steel which is good for both interior and exterior use.
Doug installs a piece of wood over the rail to further protect it from the elements.
Here it is complete – a small piece of wood on the right stops the door from sliding off the rails. Everything will be painted Bedford Gray.
The turkeys are all waiting so patiently for their new home and yard. I know they will love it.
The latest building project here at my Bedford, New York farm is nearly complete - a new coop now designated for 13 growing turkeys.
The poults were incubated and hatched in the feed room of my stable, where they remained until they were big enough to move outdoors. But turkeys grow fast, and I decided they needed more room and a bigger coop where they could live, roost, and nest more comfortably. My property manage, Doug White, is a very talented craftsman and carpenter. Along with the help of Pete Sherpa from my outdoor grounds crew, the two took on the task of building the structure in a separate fenced in area of the chicken yard. The coop is made from diseased ash trees that were taken down here at the farm and then cut into usable lumber with my portable sawmill. This project took several weeks to complete, but it looks great.
Enjoy these first photos of the building process.
These are two of 13 turkeys I am raising here at the farm. These cute babies hatched earlier this summer. Raising baby turkeys is a lot like raising chickens. Both birds need good quality feed, fresh water, safe living spaces, clean bedding, adequate roosting areas, and nesting boxes.
But they grow very fast. Here they are shortly after they moved into their new outdoor enclosure.
And here they are now. I needed to build them a bigger coop in a larger space.
To build the new coop, we used wood that we already had. We lost a lot of ash trees at the farm due to the emerald ash borer larvae which kill ash trees by tunneling under the bark and feeding on the part of the tree that moves water and sugars up and down its trunk. I am happy we can still recycle and repurpose the lumber.
Pete cut the lumber to the appropriate sizes. This new coop measures 10-feet by 10-feet.
Pete is using this sawmill to cut the wood down to size. Some time ago, I decided to gift myself with a portable sawmill, so I could cut the lumber right here at the farm when needed. It’s a Hud-Son H360 Hydraulic Portable Sawmill.
Doug and Pete already created the foundation on a bed of 3/8-inch native stone gravel.
As with any construction project, there is a lot of measuring. Here, Doug measures the wood for the floor and framing of the coop.
And here’s Pete installing the floor – the two work very efficiently together.
It doesn’t take long before the framing is up for one of the walls. Doug lines it up carefully…
… and then Pete secures the pieces.
Within a couple of days, the duo gets the framing up for two walls. They also put in one of several windows. The windows are from an old house I took down in Maine next to Skylands. They are perfect for this project.
Next, Doug puts up temporary braces to hold the framing together until all four sides are done.
And here is the coop with the framing in place.
Next, the roof. Here, the two stop for a quick photo. Looks good, guys!
Doug and Pete install the joists and collar beams. Here is Doug making sure the eaves are perfectly spaced.
The coop will have lots of room inside for the turkeys to roost on a handmade ladder. It’s now looking more and more like a coop.
Once the entire frame is together, Doug and Pete start putting up the planks for the walls.
Here’s Fernando Ferrari, a longtime member of my hardworking crew. He’s getting a head start on the painting – Bedford, gray, of course.
Here’s Doug at the front of the structure working on the roof. The roof requires many different parts to create a system that will protect the turkeys from the elements. Doug makes sure all the rafters are properly installed. The rafters connect to the ridge board and support the roof. They bear the load of the roof.
Pete installs the horizontal slats on the roof. The shingles will be nailed into these slats.
On one side, a door – turkey sized. In addition to the large barn door in the front, the turkeys will be able to walk in and out of the coop through this smaller doorway and down a ramp. The turkey coop is coming along. Wait until you see the end result. It looks great. Stay tuned.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
