Birds are among our favorite wildlife at the Old MillPond Farm. In addition to the natural beauty and music they provide, these are insect-eating machines. A forester in the area once commented that the rich bird diversity along our river and forest corridor keeps the insect populations down. An awareness of this concept is an integral piece of the organic farming puzzle. 

I bought this little vintage bird house for Simone at the Alameda flea market in California. Being a bit run down and in need of a fresh coat of paint, it was just in need of  the "right buyer." After hanging it with great anticipation, we watched it for a whole year as it swung back and forth suspended from our front porch...sadly vacant. 

Until finally this spring, we noticed this little songbird trying to fit a long strand of hay through the narrow door. He did all kinds of yoga at all angles until he engineered the correct fit. We knew he would have no problem finding a mate. 

Now he and his wife are busy flirting around the yard and we look forward to getting to know the young family that will call this old house their home.

We will be keeping a list of resident and migrant birds that live on the farm. I think this one might be a warbler. If anyone can provide a more specific ID (literally), please let us know.

One of the many exciting rituals of early spring is planning out the garden for the hot summer days ahead. 

The contrasts between the seasons in Northern New Jersey are very hard to imagine. Gardeners with spring fever beware! Old man winter exits reluctantly from this part of the world.  

The local farmers use old school algorithms to determine their planting schedule....


"...when the oak tree is full of leaves, tomatoes are at ease..."

"..planting after Mother's Day keeps frost at bay..."

" ..May 15'th and after won't be a disaster..."

" Before May's final full moon spells a pepper's doom"

And Simone's dad tells us that in their hometown in Germany (which has a similar climate to NJ), farmers call May 11, 12, and 13 the "ice days."  

Based on such highly scientific data, we exercise patience when planting out our summer crops. These pepper plants, which will soon be growing like weeds in our jungle-like summer, escaped this year's May 14'th freeze. For now they get a pampered head-start inside the barn.

What would we do without our close friend Joseph??!

Thank you Joseph for always lending a helping hand and for the many good laughs during all the hours in the field together.

This tree is the 96th tree being planted, a Baby-Crawford Peach. 

Our friend Pete delivers our first fruit trees and inspects them carefully with our son commenting on his technique.

Digging 120 holes 3 foot deep by hand in one weekend was not an option.
Yuriy's drill took 3 hours instead - voila!

Thank you Yuriy and Andy 
for a beautiful job on 
our fence: 3 sides are 8' black high-tensile wire deer fence with untreated cedar posts. The front is beautiful split rail made from untreated locust and hemlock wood.