Verdant Aerial View

I’d like to offer a hat tip to our neighbor, Cole Trager, for mowing much of Rosslyn’s backland in recent weeks. Although the verdant aerial view below conceals most of Rosslyn’s meadows, you can just barely make out the nearest, located behind the carriage barn, garden, and orchard. And while this photograph dates from August 7, 2021, the lush growth is omnipresent year after year.

In fact, I just spent 40 minutes inspecting his progress. I decided to mow a couple of areas while I was back there, but after 10–20 minutes on the tractor I broke a shear pin on the brush hog. It was a timely reminder of how grateful I am that he’s recently undertaken this task (including replacing plenty of shear pins) instead of me. Always nice to skip a little aggravation!

An exceptionally rainy spring, summer, and fall last year challenged our ability to mow. Plus we spent virtually the entire summer completing the icehouse rehabilitation. So, the fields and trails were neglected. It’s starting to witness how much the fields and brush exploded!

And this season has been wet again. Normally, we would’ve completed our first mowing a couple of months ago, and we would be planning for another mowing starting in about a month. Instead, everything is a bit of a jungle right now. Cole has done a remarkable job of opening the meadows up, but now I need to 1) fine tune some perimeters so that he can finish mowing the two remaining meadows; 2) mow some of the trails with which he’s not yet familiar; and 3) remove multiple trees felled across fields and trails by the tornado-watch-turned-windstorm earlier this summer.

Soon I’ll launch my drone to document an updated series of verdant aerial views showcasing Cole’s recent accomplishments. But first, it’s time to change over from the brush hog to the offset flail mower which will allow for greater precision in the next phase of mowing. I’m hoping to make that swap the next chance that Cole is free from his responsibilities as the Agriculture & Local Food Team Leader for Cornell Cooperative Extension, Essex County. A busy man with bountiful energy a lots of agricultural experience.

Thank you, Cole!