Thinking more about the strawberries -- the water trough is at least 100 gallons, but it might be even larger. Seeing as though is so large and deep, I'm going to have to leave it outside over winter. Will I have to cover the strawberries with anything over the winter or can I just leave them with a light layer of mulch?

i wonder if you will get more native wildlife trying to make a home in the barn.. now that the horses are gone ...

woodchucks.... raccoons ... skunk .. etc ...

secure all avenues of ingress ... and insure the doors are always closed ...

ken

mxk3, those are BIG changes! I know it's hard to lose the animals that were a big part of your life, but am glad you are able to welcome a future of change. My relatives were/are dairy farmers. I don't know if you worked the same schedule, but I must admit I struggle to imagine a life of rising with the sun EVERY SINGLE DAY to tend to the stock. Don't be surprised if some of us show up with things to stack in the barn. I think we're all reading about your barn with great fires of jealousy lighting up! I don't even have a mudroom. Imagine living in New England without a mudroom, and it ain't for lack of space in the house. Previous owners enlarged the tiny kitchen by expanding into the mudroom. I don't have a barn or shed for my garden/yard supplies, no mudroom (but I do have teenagers who could use a mudroom), life is a mess. Just the thought of your nice power-washed barn makes me happy...and jealous, of course.

Looking forward to updates with photos.

What's a pole barn? Do you store spin or magnetic poles, north or south? How do you keep them from repelling each other?

:-)

You're cleaner than me. Given the most recent exercise craze, I was wondering what in the world mxk3 was doing with a pole in her barn, besides staying young and keeping her core fit. ;-)

omg.. its got a cement floor.. im so jealous ...

Yeah me too! What a great space!

Maybe the birds were trying to tell you something.... like, a few skylights might be nice lol!

:)
Dee

The horse is beautiful!

of course.. no groundhog issues with the cement floor ...

birds are the worse.. in spring.. when looking for nesting sites ... if you can dissuade them in spring .. and they nest somewhere else ... then you wont have them around the rest of the year ...

ken

Wow, mxk3 - very interesting to hear about your property and your horses. Always loved horses, but never had any. I did have the experience of caring for a horse, daily, for one summer. Loved it. Horses are really special and I thought it was surprising how much of a connection they make with people. But easy to see how much care they are. I wonder do you ever watch the show Heartland on Hallmark? It's a Canadian series about a family who owns a ranch and lots of horses.

For a gardener, to have such a great building for storage and garden projects sounds very exciting. Happy for you to have such exciting changes to look forward to this season.

The pole barn looks like it will be a great mega shed! Sorry you no longer have the companionship of the horses, however.

Just a thought to consider in siting your fruit trees . . . In my area planting on the south side of a building means the area warms above ambient temperatures during the day in late winter and early spring, but then temperatures drop when the sun goes down, giving the area a greater swing in temperatures. It can make the fruit trees swell buds before night time temperatures are warm enough, so the recommendation here is to plant borderline plants on the north side of a building to delay ground thawing and the trees waking up, and hopefully avoid blooming before the night time temperatures are warm enough. It may be different in your area, however.

Yes, that is a concern, but of greater concern is the harsh winter winds blowing down from the north = bud kill, so the barn will block much of this. I could also think about planting on the eastern side of the barn, but they would have to be in a straight line so they don't block the vehicle access to the pasture, and not sure they'd get all-day sun because of the size of the barn blocking the western sun -- would have to check by watching the sun pattern.

Sorry to hear you hear you lost your favorite horse.......it’s tough to loss an animal, of any kind. I have always loved horses, but I am a city gal. The photos of them are beautiful! Their coats are absolutely radiant! Good luck with the new plans for the barn and trees.

Now, you must consider an easier animal to care for, or maybe you already some of those?

debra

^^ Dog.