If you haven't been following my “East Coast 2009” journey the past few weeks then “WWOOF” may make no sense, and therefore the photos below will really make no sense.  (To find out more about “WWOOF”, click: HERE).  The farm in Maryland that I'm spending the next 2 weeks isn't your typical “farm”, rather it is home to all things wood – from tree to finished product (including lumber, firewood, as well as some incredibly impressive furniture).  An on-site mill, a plethora of equipment, as well as woodworking shop is located right here on the farm.  The reason it meets the organic criteria is that all the wood is reclaimed wood, meaning wood that would otherwise end up in landfills.  Yeah, that's right, over 3.8 billion board feet of lumber annually ends up in landfills.  Municipalities and local waste managements around the country can only handle so many downed logs (primarily as a result of storms); what they can't chip goes to waste.  I've always been interested in wood and woodworking.  In the last few years I've wanted to learn more and more about ways to create a more sustainable and healthier environment in which we live.  This WWOOF opportunity seemed like a perfect fit, so here I am on the other side of the country from my main garage deep in sawdust and living with some very, very cool (and ultra-talented!!) folks.  I'll be writing a full report on my experience here, but for now here are some of the photos I've taken over the past 3 days!  I'm having a blast and learning a lot! AGirl Day 1: Sawmill First time I'd ever seen bread baked on a stone: Day 2: Heavy rain had us in the shop today.  I spent all day shadowing Chris, who is an ultra-talented woodworker (he'll tell you he “simply makes big things into small things”).  He also happens to have about 100 different skills that'd I'd like to have (more on this later).  He showed me how to make my own knife handle on a lathe! Plans for an old church's doors Chris is working on: ...and the doors of the church: Ten minutes, an old lawn mower blade, and mad skills can produce a knife apparently if you're Chris! Chris prefers hand tools for his type of work: Chris had me practice on the lathe... ...because he said I was going to make my own knife handle tomorrow (eek!). Day 3: Making my knife handle! I decided to practice more on the lathe with a piece of Poplar: Here's the progression of my Black Walnut knife handle: Chris securing the blade into the handle: Leaving it to dry overnight so it can be finished tomorrow! Day 4: My finished knife! (is this cool or what?!): On to wooden spoons! Here's Chris making a spoon in about 20 minutes! The carving begins: Chris' carving tools: The finished product (I was drooling while he said it was just a quick example to show me how to do it): The start of my spoon: ... I think it's going to take me at least a day and 20 minutes!  He also does cutting boards: The kiln (a converted insulated trailer) for drying wood: A meter to test the moisture content in the wood: Day 3: Morning on the farm, which consists of 175 acres (mixed use): The day started out beautiful, but then the weather started turning: Yeah, really turning ugly (or beautiful depending on your stance on thunderstorms): While it dumped buckets of rain outside, I worked inside the woodshop on my spoon: More of Chris' carving tools: The following day I was able to get out and ride some of the nearby roads, which were quite lovely.  I quickly learned that as long as I didn't head in the direction of Washington DC (which is 40 miles from the farm) that I could avoid all forms of traffic...except maybe for a random John Deere here and there.  I didn't stop to take many photos, but these certainly reflect the area roads: Of course, I found a Scenic Byway!: A stop in Point of Rocks, MD: Somehow I ended up on the White's Ferry again thanks to my GPS believing that an actual road exists going across the Potomac River: Even found some nice gravel... Back at the farm, Pat (Chris' wife) showed me part of her garden.  I think she grows everything and anything.  Here are a few pics that a friend of mine in AZ will be quite interested in.  Blueberries: I'm told they will be ready soon: Gooseberries: Pear tree: Asian cherries: They even grow their own Shiitake mushrooms via a process by which logs are innoculated (more on this later): Cheese wax to seal: Back at the sawmill with Chris and Buzz (another local woodworker who is trading Chris labor for wood): Cherry tree in the process of becoming cabinets: When a log gets to this point it's referred to as the “Cant”: Boards are strapped and ready for the drying process: Chris found a deal on a 105 gallon diesel container so I joined him in going to pick it up.  We stopped first at what I'm told the locals refer to as “the mall”, which is the local store: We picked up the tank and then went to fill it with “Off Road Diesel Fuel”: I guess since I've never had need for the off-road diesel that I never before knew anything about it.  My understanding now is that the biggest difference is fuel tax is not charged on the off-road stuff.  Also, more sulfur is in the off-road version as well as a red dye is added for the purpose of allowing those who are checking on the cheaters (those running off-road diesel in an on-road vehicle) to bre quickly determined (and heavily fined) I also joined him to pay one of his loggers a visit for a few logs, after a close inspection process of course: The entire time I kept thinking about how people managed all this timber before machines: I feel like a kindergarten student running around with graduate school professors when it comes to life on the farm.  These folks are simply AMAZING...their skills and knowledge is freakin' unbelievable!  My updates are coming slow due to the recent heavy storms (lost my WiFi connection in town) and frankly because I'm trying to absorb as much as I possibly can while I'm here.  I'll be leaving on Sunday (6/6) and heading up to see my friends “the Oldgoats” in Montreal for a couple of days, then I'm off to ride the Gaspe of Quebec.  No idea what my web access will be like but hopefully I'll find something to post up photos at the very least.  Thanks again for all the support! 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