A day of smoking

Today we helped check off an item on our neighbor's "bucket list." He has wanted to cure and smoke a pig. We built an old fashioned smokehouse from another neighbor's old barn boards.  The cured pork belly, hams, and shoulder roast -- in addition to some cheese -- went in this morning.  We built a fire in an old cast iron stove.  The cold smoke worked its magic for 6 1/2 hours.

We tested the cheese mid-afternoon.  It was yummy! The coup de grace was bacon as part of dinner. Everything was better than we imagined.  We'll definitely do this again next year.

First snow

The earliest first snow on Hardwood Hermitage started to fall overnight after a lot of rain yesterday.  Pics taken early this a.m. due to expected high of 50 degrees.

Post-peak color

 With most leaves already down, the peak of foliage season did not last long, although the intensity of the yellow, red, and orange were wonderful this year.  An afternoon walk this afternoon proves plenty of grand sights are still to be had.

Stump sprout carnage

 An area overrun with red maple stump sprouts was thinned out this morning.  Two tanks in the little saw were necessary.  Several preferable species (the birches, sugar maple, and red oak) will greatly benefit from the decreased competition in the area.  The cluttered forest floor will be cleared out before snow, then some seeding will be done in the spring.  

Here are two before pictures, followed by evidence of today's work.