May Field Note
This month we’ve enjoyed the blossoming of our three magnolia tress, as we continue the labor of love that is making Walhalla not only a working farm, but a beautiful place for artists to recharge and create.
The farm was neglected for close to 20 years prior to the Kreimendahl family moving in, and hasn’t been a working farm since the late 1970’s. Needless to say, there were and are A LOT of repairs and makeovers needed! We’ve been working on Walhalla’s structures for the past three years— remodeling the corn crib Cottage, the chicken coop and Sugar Shack, the Studio Barn, as well as slowly working on repairs to the massive Dairy Barn. Cleaning up the grounds from years of overgrowth, fallen trees and invasive plants was a large task all in its own, but the work revealed a beautiful landscape…one meant for creative cultivation.
This spring we’re making huge progress on the grounds! We’ve finished clearing the large field in the front of the property and fencing a new pasture for our growing stable of rescue animals, which we co-own with our neighbors Jenna Worsham and Lucy Thurber. Grass and wildflowers have been seeded around and in the pasture! We still need to clear overgrowth and debris along the creek, but that will have to wait for the dryer summer months.
Now that the overgrowth is cleared, we can see our field for the first time! This means we’ve been able to suss out a few issues. There’s some drainage problems in the pasture, which is also a wetland. The drain-ways are clogged with material, and we need to install a culvert. There’s also a natural pond forming in the center of one of our pastures. We’re talking to regulatory agency’s in hopes that we can put an actual pond in the field! It would help the health of the pasture, enhance the beauty of the grounds, and we know our animals, kids, artists and neighbors would enjoy a pond on site.
We have an amazing community of farmers around us, who’ve all helped in one way or another to look out for the animals. They’ve fallen in love with the goats and cow, becoming just as invested as we are. It was a special day when the fencing around our pasture was completed: everyone showed up to walk the animals down from the winter barn to their new three-season pasture! It was one of those rare communal experiences that can be hard to come by in modern times, and we are feeling deeply grateful to have such wonderful neighbors.
Our kids and their friends look on as the animals inspect the new pasture.
There’s much more happening on the property! Last summer, we restored an old ‘farmer’s road’ by clearing overgrowth and laying down gravel. This spring we finished clearing mountains of eight-inch thick vines, huge fallen tree trunks, branches and invasive wild rose thorns that had gathered around our gorgeous willow trees that line the creek. We then seeded shade-loving wildflowers around the willows, and planted more grass seed in the Dairy Barn’s small winter pasture.
Beautiful willows line the restored farmer’s road that runs along our winter pasture.
The tulips we planted last fall are in bloom and winter is finally over. Our chickens are ready for the open pasture outside their coop. We’re in the planning stages of building a safe shelter so they can join the other animals and enjoy the new large pasture. The chickens will help the health of the field and other animals by eating flies, grubs and a host of parasites. All the animals and their eggs will be better for it!
