<b><center><h2>Curiosity and necessity spurred this task. </h2></center>
___
Right outside the house sits this massive old Fir tree. At some point in its life it was struck by lightning which gave it a streak/split up a large portion of it. Since we have lived on the property, (9 years) the tree has been slowly dying off more and more. Her top was fully dead and the NE side was all that remained alive. A couple months ago I noticed that even those last few branches are now dead as well. 

<center><h1>Not Good!</h1></center>

The tree sits 15 feet from the corner of the house but fortunately it has a slight lean away from the house.

So the other day I decided I would put a horse shoe I found laying around on the tree. I tapped the tree with the horse shoe and a resounding hollow "THUNK" responded. That was NOT what I was expecting to hear. I tapped around the base of the tree some more only to find the hollow sound in more than one spot.  This led me to the realization that I needed to get some cores to check the quality of the wood and the core of the tree. Thankfully I acquired a tree coring tool at some point in time years ago.

<center>![IMG_20180514_171148153.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQmh1eKCLYnS3FdRJ6F7g32qoL2xvBhP5Lt1G9Ak79P6J/IMG_20180514_171148153.jpg)</center>

The coring tool is pretty slick. It all fits inside the handle and is heavy enough to core any evergreen on the farm. I chose spots about 4 feet above the ground to take the cores from.

<center>![IMG_20180513_120312884.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSSieBq9CSAJf1PxuwkvUwzzA4aNnq6TAEu1XS5sE9exs/IMG_20180513_120312884.jpg)</center>

Coring is fairly simple. Screw the tool into the tree to the depth you need then remove the tool. In the end I have the core removal blade that slide inside the cutting bit to remove the tree cores.

<center>![IMG_20180513_115201831.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdrSZqZQjxVgkbjLxE1dUA2kXUkJ3yET9wxDWd4owgift/IMG_20180513_115201831.jpg)</center>

After my first core I realized that I needed a standoff for the tree and tool. A 1/2" drive, 1" socket fit perfect over the bit and gave enough surface to not hurt anything. When I screwed the coring tool down, the handle hit the socket which caused the tip of the bit to spin in place without going deeper, thereby cutting the end of the core at the deepest extent. Doing this gave me another inch of core length.

<center>![IMG_20180513_120648514.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmP8oLkuLdkRwaCJm3oiAcUvF4dtHmxYQNAgnwDVPVtdof/IMG_20180513_120648514.jpg)</center>

The second core was taken in the hollowest sounding area which coincides with the lightning scar. The corer found a significant rotten area just below the bark extending nearly 2 inches before the more solid wood was hit. The worrisome part is the 2 inch long section of highly pitched wood about mid way through the core. This is a weakened section of the tree that has tried to heal itself with sap.  

<center><h1>Not A Good Sign!</h1></center>

<center>![IMG_20180513_120926257_HDR.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmbWYggYFZ5AdyWY56ZcVJVxVG73Jf3ef7jtAC4NSHV7oW/IMG_20180513_120926257_HDR.jpg)</center>

All tree cores laid out. The first core is on top and third on bottom. The first core was on the east side of the tree, second on north side, and third on the west side. The second core being on the north side does bode well for any major mishaps since the likelihood is the weakness will force the tree to fall away from the house. The third core shows mostly a thinner section of rot on the outside of the tree near the surface/bark.

<center>![IMG_20180513_121829206.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmeKpoWNckF5ofNxMufLZxSfhtAVy2hRsmXUuvmCvufzgg/IMG_20180513_121829206.jpg)</center>

I really need to get my ass in my tree gaffs, climb it, and start dropping branches before nature does. If they fall unassisted they will land in the main yard where the kids might be playing. Luckily the branch wood is seemingly still pretty strong. 

<center>https://imgur.com/2w3pnX5.jpg</center>
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<center>**For more information about our farm:
[Fleming Family Farm](http://flemingfamily.farm)
FLEMING FAMILY FARM, LLC
Sustainable & Organic Methods | Heirloom Produce**
###### *All images are original works of Fleming Family Farm unless otherwise notated and credited.*
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<center>http://i.imgur.com/scQMN2U.jpg</center>

<center>https://imgur.com/FF9L6Qd.jpg</center></b>