How Site #1 Nearly Defeated Me Before I Even Got Started - Part 1
You’d think the hard part of setting up a blackberry farm would be, well, planting the blackberries. But no—turns out the Chester blackberries haven’t even hit the dirt yet, and I’ve already been tested in every possible way by Site #1.
It started with the weather (because of course it did). The forecast was threatening snow and freezing temps. I half expected to be planting in a blizzard. But somehow, the clouds cut Rochester off like a sharp left turn and spared the Finger Lakes. Cold? Sure. But not snowing. That alone felt like a small miracle.
Next small victory: I finally tracked down a 10hp chipper and a rain barrel on my drive down. If you’ve ever tried to find exactly what you need last minute, you’ll appreciate the cosmic alignment it took for both to be available and within driving distance. I grabbed them, threw them in the back, and thought—foolishly—that I was gaining momentum.
Then came my WiFi extender debacle. I had it all set, prepped, and installed in a weatherproof electrical box… until the night before I left. I found a box that seemed better suited to my long-term plans, so I returned the original one to Amazon. It was only when I got to the site that I realized the rattling sound inside the return box wasn’t just the mounting hardware—it was also my fully tested, $50 WiFi extender. Yep. Gone.
With that plan on hold, I pivoted to installing the RainPoint smart irrigation hub and the Eufy camera. I need to be able to control and monitor Site #1 remotely when I’m not in the Finger Lakes. So there I was, solo in the woods, on a ladder. Things were going fine… until the ladder started swaying. Not tipping—just bouncing with the tree I was leaning it on. Apparently, the wind had kicked up again and the tree was moving, and the ladder was moving with it. My OSHA brain screamed get down, so I did.
Over the logs and through the woods
I decided to shift gears and haul the chipper through the woods. No tractor, no ATV—just me, dragging this beast over logs, around stumps, and through brush like I was reenacting a scene from Alone: Finger Lakes Edition. When I finally got it to Site #1 and started it up, it ran for all of 30 seconds before smoke started pouring out. I shut it down and walked (again) to get tools.
After taking the cover off and poking around with my very limited knowledge of small engines, I figured out the problem: the belt wasn’t tight, so it was just slipping and burning rubber. I fidgeted with it enough to get it tensioned, fired it back up—and this time, it worked!
Chipping underway! Or so I thought.
I needed to clear more space, so I pulled out the chainsaw. Unfortunately, the blade was dull and barely cutting through anything. No problem—I brought backups. Except they were the wrong size. Too big. Now the chainsaw was out, and the chipper had nowhere to go. Scratch that plan.
Once the wind finally calmed, I got back to the RainPoint system. I mounted the hub and planned to power it with a small solar panel meant for electronics. I set up the Eufy camera, too—but with no WiFi extender, I was working blind. I had no idea if the devices were actually connecting. I jumped online, found a replacement extender that could be delivered the next day, and hit Buy Now.
In the meantime, I grabbed one of our Eero mesh units from inside the house and figured I’d bridge the gap temporarily. Power was the next problem—until I remembered the bistro string lights we had running through the woods. I extended them slightly, tapped into their power line, and mounted the waterproof box with the Eero unit to a tree.
I crossed my fingers and tested it.
The RainPoint hub: connected.
The Eufy camera: no dice.
But by then, I was out of daylight, out of energy, and out of patience. I packed up for the night and chalked it up as a partial win.
No blackberries planted yet. But the infrastructure battle has officially begun—and I’ve got a WiFi extender en route and a whole lot of determination left.
