Nether’s Farm Trip Sept 24, 2023
Sept 24, 2023 19:13:10 GMT -5
broseph82, HankRocks, and 5 more like this
Post by therockapprentice on Sept 24, 2023 19:13:10 GMT -5
Hey everyone. While in Ohio this weekend I decided to take a trip over to Nether’s Farm and see if I can find any treasures to cut and polish. I was really surprised to see so many changes since I was last there in February 2023. I had read some of the threads where the grandson said that they were a bit frustrated by all the garbage and lack of respect for their property, privacy etc. Well Here is the new letter on the front porch:
I have a feeling that Mrs. Nether’s health may be declining and the family is very appropriately asking all visitors to not intrude in any way on Mrs. Nethers or her property. I really respect this and this is the way it really should be.
The disappointing part for me is that they filled in most of the pits. There used to be one at the front just as you enter the woods, and several on the left as you go back. The one closest to the front is completely gone and no one has tried digging in that area. There are a couple that appear as if people have started to dig them out but the walls are mostly comprised of packed tailings and dirt. When the pits were open, I felt like I could get in there and sort through tailings etc. that napper’s etc. had chipped out of the walls, etc.. What makes this challenging now is that the pits are now full of loose tailings all buried in dirt and as you try to dig them out they are so covered in dirt etc. that you can’t really tell if it is a good piece unless you remove almost all the dirt. I had a spray bottle but not nearly enough water to try digging into the soil and cleaning off pieces. So I was left to scan what was already on the surface and had been cleaned off by rain etc.. The good news is I still feel like I found some nice pieces but didn’t see many large pieces, which is Ok with me because I don’t own a slabber. I really struggled to find any color at all except for dark and light great. I was able to find a few striped pieces. I feel like it took me longer to find a few pieces, but still happy to get 10 lbs to work on.
I have feeling that as long as people keep going to the pits and digging, there will be more and more tailings created and the pits will form again. But it may take a while.
I also noticed that they have put some small garden ties that stretch across the entrance to the road/path to the pits, so no more driving back there. I never drove back so no big deal for me, but a family with two large Jeeps arrived as I was packing up and were quite disappointed that they could not just drive back to the pits. There is little larger parking area on the West side now between the garden ties and the road. They have a port-a-john at the entrance and they have a chained barrier blocking the back driveway to their farm so that you can only park on the West side of the road. They no longer have the analogue bath scale on the porch but now have a small digital one but big enough to get your bucket on it. Note the comment on the instructions that says to gently press your foot on the scale to get it to turn on…be patient it takes a while for it to turn on. They have new envelopes with peel and stick adhesive seals and they ask you to fill in quite a bit of personal info on the back of the envelope (Date, Name, Car type and model, weight of rocks, total $$, etc…), which didn’t bother me, but to be honest, I did not fill in all the sections. Based on the letter I provided, I have a feeling that we will all be weighing rocks, and leaving our money on the West side of the street, which again, is fine with me.
I did not see any trash, which is great! I was there right at 9AM and by the time I left, there were about 6 cars most with couples and a few with kids. So pretty busy for a very nice fall day.
I hope you find this update helpful and happy hunting if you decide make the trip to Nether’s Farm.
Tom
I have a feeling that Mrs. Nether’s health may be declining and the family is very appropriately asking all visitors to not intrude in any way on Mrs. Nethers or her property. I really respect this and this is the way it really should be.
The disappointing part for me is that they filled in most of the pits. There used to be one at the front just as you enter the woods, and several on the left as you go back. The one closest to the front is completely gone and no one has tried digging in that area. There are a couple that appear as if people have started to dig them out but the walls are mostly comprised of packed tailings and dirt. When the pits were open, I felt like I could get in there and sort through tailings etc. that napper’s etc. had chipped out of the walls, etc.. What makes this challenging now is that the pits are now full of loose tailings all buried in dirt and as you try to dig them out they are so covered in dirt etc. that you can’t really tell if it is a good piece unless you remove almost all the dirt. I had a spray bottle but not nearly enough water to try digging into the soil and cleaning off pieces. So I was left to scan what was already on the surface and had been cleaned off by rain etc.. The good news is I still feel like I found some nice pieces but didn’t see many large pieces, which is Ok with me because I don’t own a slabber. I really struggled to find any color at all except for dark and light great. I was able to find a few striped pieces. I feel like it took me longer to find a few pieces, but still happy to get 10 lbs to work on.
I have feeling that as long as people keep going to the pits and digging, there will be more and more tailings created and the pits will form again. But it may take a while.
I also noticed that they have put some small garden ties that stretch across the entrance to the road/path to the pits, so no more driving back there. I never drove back so no big deal for me, but a family with two large Jeeps arrived as I was packing up and were quite disappointed that they could not just drive back to the pits. There is little larger parking area on the West side now between the garden ties and the road. They have a port-a-john at the entrance and they have a chained barrier blocking the back driveway to their farm so that you can only park on the West side of the road. They no longer have the analogue bath scale on the porch but now have a small digital one but big enough to get your bucket on it. Note the comment on the instructions that says to gently press your foot on the scale to get it to turn on…be patient it takes a while for it to turn on. They have new envelopes with peel and stick adhesive seals and they ask you to fill in quite a bit of personal info on the back of the envelope (Date, Name, Car type and model, weight of rocks, total $$, etc…), which didn’t bother me, but to be honest, I did not fill in all the sections. Based on the letter I provided, I have a feeling that we will all be weighing rocks, and leaving our money on the West side of the street, which again, is fine with me.
I did not see any trash, which is great! I was there right at 9AM and by the time I left, there were about 6 cars most with couples and a few with kids. So pretty busy for a very nice fall day.
I hope you find this update helpful and happy hunting if you decide make the trip to Nether’s Farm.
Tom