Owning a house in true countryside of Poland - stories

Fantastic bravo you, maybe more can follow your example, the world would be a better place if we just start caring for one another.

Our example, exactly. :)

I made a few pergolas for vine around the house. Grapes are a desired crop, of course, but I primarily meant to create mini passages under vegetation. I have been fascinated with the idea since I was a boy - a long dark tunnel tightly covered with plants/trees and me, driving underneath. Does anyone know what it means psychologically???

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Yeah I dont know what it means but for the last seven years I have nurtured two 100 metre tunnels , full of horsefly and komari of course, perfect home for them , shaded , damp. but wonderful to walk through.

Covered by what plants? And why two?

Mixture of oak and cherry trees , I have trained the branches to make tunnels, I have three rows of trees and shrubs hence two tunnels.

Wow, an unusual combination - oak and cherry trees. One day they will grow unsymmetrical and sb will always have to trim them.

I also play with trees, trimming and shaping them.

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I must try and take some pics

But we believe you. Those tunnels certainly look great.

I worry about one conifer which looks dead and everybody who comes and sees it also says so. It is probably false cypress Stardust. It got sick in April, all of a sudden all needles became brownish. I noticed moles made tunnels underneath. I tried to water it abundantly a few times but it didn`t help and now it is fully brown. Needles fall down when you touch them. When I try to break a twig, they snap finally but not like dry dead wood. I still believe it will recuperate next year.

What do you think?

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My typical day on the farm is the following:

I wake up at 7 am and get to work at 7.30. Work till 11 am when we have breakfast. It lasts to 11.45 and then I go back to work, this time with kids - both minor and adult, whoever is with us on the farm. We always work for 2 hours, shorter during scorchers. If it rains, we have English lessons or watch educational films or I read books to them. Lunch at 3 pm. After lunch I go back to work or spend time with the kids, depends on my mood. Dinner/supper at 9pm. I go to bed at about 11.30 at latest.

Of course, the computer is on all the time so I frequently check new messages. hahaha

This past season was busy as usual, but instead of major works like in past years we managed to do a lot of minor jobs and improvements.

We have:

pulled weeds in large areas all over the place
removed a giant branch which broke off the walnut tree and fell onto my neighbour`s plot
planted and covered 40 bushes of strawberries
made an extension to the vine construction in the orchard
planted 5 new mini kiwi bushes and made a construction for them
planted 5 bushes of Pink Lemonade blueberry
replanted 3 old mini kiwi which are male instead of female
trimmed other mini kiwi bushes
covered the area between new blackcurrant and gooseberry bushes with black plastic and straw
replanted decorative junipers in the frontyard and covered them with black plastic
removed dry wood and old straw from the barn
burnt the dry wood and collected the ash
covered the area around the trees in the orchard with the old straw or used carpets
painted the well green
sowed seeds of decorative flowers next to the front fence
trimmed and shaped a few young trees or bushes in the frontyard
replaced the broken well pump
added the missing planks in the barn wall
repaired the blown out back door in the barn
installed a microwave in the kitchen
installed a curtain rail in the hall

Failures - I haven`t cleaned up the mess in the barn - it is awfully cluttered, as usual.
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Thx to Nj law,if a branch falls off in neighbors yard he is responsible,lol cpl weeks back it did in my case but he is out and bank owns it,so I was lucky with no argument and no damage to my fence so I just threw it back in that yard over the fence.Last week just found an attorney on contingency to sue the bank for the trees branches on my side to be trimmed that I would not do when my neighbor was there as courtesy for freaking 20 years.

Do the branches have any black dots?

It's always good to turn the tables on the bank !

But you do like your lawyers and courts Cargo - it's a sure route to heart disease.

Chill out and trim the branches yourself - you can get some fresh air and some exercise at the same time. Get your kids to help and teach them how to use the tools.

NAH!I love my lawyers and courts in USA and in Poland as well.They make me more money legally.I can understand some people dont have patience and cant deal with courts and paying lawyers hurts them,but not for me.They have a legal system in place for disagreements so why not use it.I only use them when I feel I have 75% or more chance of winning and usually its a success.

I rather go to gym or long walks by the beach for fresh air and think of a new strategy:),rest about kids first they live far away and also I like them to be good in there fields then using some tools when they can afford to pay the professionals to do the job.


Yeah reminds me of 2 HELOC credit lines with interest only I have from a bank who by mistake gave me life long line of credit for 400k ,lol cpl years back they offered me 4k each to close it,but I refused except that I cant sell those properties now or I will loose the credit line.

No, the branch fell onto my neighbour`s field which is close to my property. His own house is about 500 metres away. The branch crushed some growing wheat which was still so young it recuparated easily and when I looked at that spot just before harvest, it didn`t differ from the rest.


Nope. I read a lot about possible diseases, fungi etc but found none of the symptoms on the tree. When I try to break its twigs, they are still flexible, like in a living plant, not dry like in a dead one. The showdown will take place in spring next year - we`ll see if it is able to grow new needles.

Probably you have no idea what size those 60 year old walnuts trees are - 15 metres tall at least. The branch which fell down was as thick as my thigh. I had a big problem with lifting it, I had to drag it along. Kids` help with trimming was out of question - but later they helped me to take it to the campfire place.

Yes, last year I did some trimming on another walnut tree whose branches hit the roof during gales. I did it in the early morning to avoid arguments, but my wife has the sixth sense (typical woman) and sensed the situation. She got out and seeing me 8 metres above the ground, when I was sitting on a long branch and cutting off its end, she went a bit hysterical. The mattresses I had put on the ground to ease my possible fall didn`t calm her down. It wasn`t a pleasant situation for me.

Here is the whole story:

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lol and dragging them to the dump.
@Pawian:No,
Did you mean YES as in Polish??

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  This is what I mean.I cant be cutting these tree branches falling on my fence.
  

No, I meant NO. :):) You mentioned neighbour`s yard, so I said no and mentioned the field.

You wish you could go deeper in the bush;)) Psychology one on one, for you, my friend no charge::))

Wow, I am really impressed, it is so true - going deeper into the bush has been my obsession since 12. hahaha

No, I am still a believer.

LOL sure happens in Poland when you are making money and dont have attractive life insurance policy:))))))))) ha ha ha!

Of course, enumerating our jobs this season I didn`t mention collecting crops which is an obvious activity every year.
Here, a load of fava beans to be processed. Altogether, three of them.

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Looking at how small they are, I'm not surprised! Next to useless really. Sitting on a branch you are sawing the end off doesn't sound a great idea to be honest...........

But I said my prayers before so I knew there would be a happy-end. I survived intact, contrary to the house whose roof edge was hit by the falling branch and one tile fell off.

But still much better than sitting at the end of the branch and sawing it in the middle. hahaha I saw it in looney cartoonz with Huckleberry dog or Yogi bear. Luckily, I am not a rightard to do such things.

We are back!

Ptak, I read your Random message about the sick tree - you talked to a Michigan University professor about it. So, a scientists told you to dig it out and burn. But did you forget Adam Mickiewicz`s verses about having a heart and looking into heart? Not all what scientists tell people is always so valid - human knowledge is limited - there are more things in heaven and earth, Birdie, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Still, thank you very much for taking care of the topic of my sick tree.

God must be smiling on you :)


You think they would be that stupid? 😂

Well my hazelnuts have holes and maggots , my walnuts have gone black and shrivelled bugger.

I hope He does. :)

Each year brings sth new. This year we planted string beans - yellow and green. We did it late, in early August coz I got the idea by pure accident surfing the net. And the result is astounding - those bean plants are so low - only about 20 cm tall - but they give so many pods. I already picked about 3 kilos and there are a few more growing. Next year I am going to sow them in spring - the earliest string bean is quite expensive at shops - around 18 zlotys per kilo. Now I see it at 10 zlotys.


Our 3 hazelnuts are still too young to give fruit. Walnuts are healthy but visibly smaller than last year - an obvious effect of the drought this year.

Skies over the farm:

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