Today in the orchard
Today was Farm and Homestead Day at MOFGA in Unity. It’s an annual event featuring an assortment of hands-on workshops attended by a couple hundred agricultural enthusiasts of all ages. The workshops are ongoing throughout the day and include scything, sharpening tools, spinning wool, making compost and other useful farm skills. It’s low-key, casual and quite fun. For the past few years I’ve led an apple ladder workshop. This year Skylar joined me and built herself a ladder. Skylar did most of work but I was there to be a guide. Throughout the day, other folks stopped by to watch us work, assist us, or just hang out and chat. It was the perfect way to spend the first day of summer.
Skylar’s ladder is about ten feet long. The rails (side pieces) are cedar (Thuja occientalis), the rungs are ash (Fraxinus americana) that she fashioned on our shaving horse with a draw knife, and the “tongue” piece at the top is apple wood. (Unsure which cultivar!) We use “Northern” White Cedar which is the more common cedar known for making shingles, fence posts, porch decks etc. It is light weight and very rot resistant. We like it for all those qualities, especially the light weight. There is a second “Atlantic” White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) in Maine. Atlantic White Cedar is much more rare.
