The months roll by on the Bluecircle and soon the last of the Fall colors will be under the first blanket of lake-effect snow.  Mowing is almost done for this year and both the machine and mower are ready for a break.  The red oak grove and Douglas firs pictured here hide the spruce and pines behind, but the last leaves remaining at the top of the poplars show them towering over the field.  After six years of planting, sun and rain this area of the farm is beginning to mature.

North Watervliet Road at the bottom of this hill marks the east edge of the property.  Two-year tulip poplar, maple and oak seedlings here will eventually define a path into the older plantings above.   White plastic “grow tubes” around some of the maples are needed to discourage grazing by the doe and fawns that traverse this entrance to the farm.

Looking northwest over a recently cleared and planted area with hybrid poplars and tiny pines in the foreground.  Taller Scotch pines and wind-bent poplars are beginning to hide the storage barns.   Behind this clearing rows of white and blue spruce seedlings will mark a corner of the Bluecircle.