Farm Photos

This is a quick photo from the front of the property, before the leaves fall. Our house will be visible from the road in about 2-3 weeks when all of the leaves have fallen. I'll post more photos in the days to come as the leaves continue to change.

The Drought

Not much to report on the farm in September. The drought has really hurt our pumpkin crop and now the fields are not growing either. Our creek has never stopped running, but it certainly has slowed down. We had planned to plant grass seed this month, but with no rain on the horizon, we'll have to postpone until October.

I did manage to pick a few pumpkins, however the dogs decided that they did not like them on the porch and have scattered them all over the front yard. It looks like a Halloween pumpkin/egg hunt.

Fencing

We are fencing. This is a massive undertaking that could not have gotten this far without the help of friends and workers. We began our fencing project in December 2006. It's a great winter project because of the hard work and the fact that the leaves are off the trees. In order to clearly define the property line the first step has been to clear the perimeter of the property.

There are two types of fence that we are using, board fence, and netwire. The board fence is more decorative, but will be effective in keeping in large animals, such as cows and possibly horses. Netwire is not very decorative, but very effective in managing small cattle such as goats and sheep. The photo shown here is taken from the front of the property, at the entrance to the farm.

We started with the board fence, using an auger to dig holes and manually tamping each fence post (see photo auger). The auger was an attachment for the Bobcat.

As we progressed with the fence, we switched to the post driver and this helped the process to move quicker. The we switched to the netwire, which does not require as many wooden fence posts, as metal posts are used in between.

4/21/07 - Currently the fencing on the perimeter of the property is completed. However, with a recent windstorm we have some repair to do as about 2 dozen trees either fell on the fence or lifted the fence posts out of the ground. Once the fence is repaired, we will install electric fence to create multiple paddocks. This allows cattle to feed on certain fields while the others have time to recover.

Welcome to Black Oak Farm

Welcome to the Black Oak Farm blog. In our excitement about establishing a new farm, we want to share our experience with you. Over the next few months, we'll post articles, photos, and farm experiences etc. to show you the transformation that has been made on our land. Please visit from time-to-time to see what's new.

We purchased our land in 2003 in Central Virginia. At that time it was 46 acres of wooded land and an abandoned tobacco barn. Today the farm consists of at least 30 acres of cleared land with a stream, farm house and 1 out building.