I Was Being Watched

Turner Farm of Old-Note the Walls

History of Turner Farm

The Turner Farm of North Haven, Maine is a historic site in more ways than one and it would require more than some feeble blog space to do it justice, but I will try to give a brief overview anyway. The farm itself was established in 1765 by a man from Marshfield, Mass. named Samuel Thomas. It changed hands a few times over the next few hundred years and ultimately landed in the hands of the Ames family, who seem to have owned it the longest. The restoration of this farm by the current owners and Jen Porter, the farm manager--and we cannot forget the hard-laboring farmhands--is an expressly impressive endeavor and I amazed at how well and how fast they are pulling it all together.
Of course, before the farmers came it was inhabited for seven thousand years or more by the Red Paint People--Native Americans who left quite an impressive shell midden along the shoreline that was excavated in the late 1960's by the archeologist Bruce Bourque. The quantity of artifacts unearthed on the farm is astounding and photos of these finds can be found in Bourque's books on the subject.
I have yet to find any arrowheads--and I have been looking--but I did find a late 18th Century King George lll half-penny with my metal detector, which I like to imagine belonged to Samuel Thomas himself...maybe even fell out of his pocket while he was building the first stone walls on the property.

Some of the Ramaining Original Walls

The Rocks Speak for Themselves

Fox Islands Wind Power in the Distance

A Few More

Views of the Completed First Section

Gateway to the Barn

Greenhouses Beyond the Gate

Too Hot For Swine

Done

First Restored Wall on the Farm

We finished the first stretch of wall leading up to the barn gate this week. It was a productive week--despite the ungodly heat on Tuesday and Wednesday--and we averaged about fifteen feet of wall a day, which is pretty good for a four and a half foot wall. We started experimenting with some of the larger stones and building sections that were more single-stacked in the style of the existing walls on the farm. Some of these boulders were unreasonably heavy, but I really enjoyed fitting them together and making them work. Damon and I were both impressed with the beauty and strength they added to the structure.

Last Existing Structure From Original 18th Century Farm

Suttree and Damon

The Reconstruction Period

During the deconstruction period Damon and I realized we had upset the very well-established homes of a variety of small rodents; chipmunks, field mice, and moles. As we tossed the boulders aside, we felt sorry to see small families of mice scurrying in groups up ahead to the stones we had not yet disturbed, tiny suitcases in their hands, the child mice clutching tiny stuffed people dolls in their gray arms. However, as we started to rebuild we noticed the mouse families returning and reestablishing themselves in their new digs. At times, they almost act grateful, climbing up on the rocks to watch us work. The mice chew on my fingertips and the chipmunk eats from my hand. I have named the chipmunk Suttree, after the character in the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name--he is a goodhearted scoundrel like his namesake. There also green and black snakes, but Damon doesn't like to talk about those.

View From the Gardens

The Other Side

Decisions

Last week we decided to reduce the wall's height by about a foot and add a row of uprights along the top. This coping really brought the whole wall together. It gave it a finished appearance, unified the entire structure, and reminded me of some of my favorite pictures of the sheep walls of Ireland and Scotland. We finally felt as if we were ready to start building.

The Wall Grows

Note New Wall End

Second Wall End

First Wall End

Pile of Stones

Turner Farm Project

Just on the mainland for a night during our second week on the beautiful and historic Turner Farm of North Haven, Maine. Our current task involves rebuilding the collapsed stone walls around the farm in a way that combines aestheticism with utilitarianism. We had a couple of false starts as we got a feel for the different types of stone we would have to work with and tried to establish a style that matched the few existing walls, at least in form. Those remaining walls are tall and narrow and comprised mostly of large, sharp, ledge-like stones chinked up at the sides and corners. However, the rocks that we seem to have the most of are more along the lines of round-rock boulders and a plethora of smaller round rocks and field stones. We finally settled this week on a wall that is four to four-and-a-half feet tall, wide at the base and narrow at the top. It enables us to retain the feel of the original walls, while using what we have to work with. The construction is basically a combination of flat-faced round-rock wall building and rough farm wall rock-stacking, finished with a row of upright stones along the top. Here are a couple of pics of the early stages of construction. This weekend I will post some pictures of the more finished product with the upright coping on top.