More Track Work

I had to do it...I called in the big guns. 

I had Corey come back with his superior tractor and york rake to do the job Reputa and my toy rake couldn't.  After showing him what I wanted, we both thought we were looking at a couple hours raking up vines and roots, then he was going to start digging post holes for me.  Well, the bittersweet and Virgina Creeper had other plans.

It's not surprising I couldn't tackle them with a garden tractor, now is it?  And look at the vines wound up in the rake! 

After his six hours of raking and probably 25 trips into the woods with equal sized loads of vines and roots, I still have some work to do. 

It's probably safe to let the mules out on this now, because the roots and vines have at least been snapped so they're not a tripping hazard like they were, but I'd like to get in there and chew up what I can with my mower. 

It's really coming together, though.  I love the area beneath the oaks, it's so peaceful and inviting with the shade.  I think the boys are going to really love this!

Track Work

I've been trying to get a little bit of work done on the track each day.  So far, it's been yet another exercise in frustration.  I thought I could use my little york rake to clean up some of the debris left behind, but it's much too light and no matter how I set the depth, it just lifts over anything I manage to rake.  Also, the bittersweet and Virginia creeper vines get all entangled around the teeth, and it takes forever to clear it.  I've changed my strategy and started hand picking the bigger objects; rocks, sticks, parts of logs, etc.  Once I get a section picked up I then run my mower at half height for a while, go back and pull any large vines or pick up any leftover large chunks of branch, then lower the mower to the almost lowest height and drive around for twenty minutes chewing stuff up even more.  It's hard to see the difference, but trust me, it's a huge improvement.

Pre-mowing

Post mowing

It's easier to see the difference in the photo below; the area in the back has been twice mowed, the area in the foreground is untouched.

It's slow going, but I want as much temptation gone before I let the boys out on it.  I also want to be sure to leave a mower's width on the outside of the fence so I can keep it cleared.  I have some pressure treated posts and no climb horse fence ready to put up as soon as possible. 

And Fargo knows what's up - when I'm down there working he'll stand at the fence and bang on it with his foot as if to say, "Hurry up, Ma!".  He's nobody's fool, that mule.

Chainsaw Massacre

As a general rule, I'm not the sort of person who is allowed to use anything that runs off a motor, has more than two working parts, involves propane, or has a pointy end.

That being said, I just treated myself to my very first chainsaw.

It's not a massive "let's clear cut some old growth forest" saw, just a small battery operated rig.  You know, 40volts, 12" blade...this one's for the laaaadieees type of thing.  I'm happy to report after nearly two hours of attending the Rowe School of Toolmanship (thank you, Neil) I cut about ten small trees and was able to retain all my appendages.  Huzzah!

Saturday clearing, now with tree removal.

I'm getting there!  I'm leaving long stumps behind because my very kind neighbor has offered to come over and pull them with his machine.  This way I won't have to worry about them growing back.

The bittersweet vines are a different story.  That line of disturbed soil in the above photo was one long root that I managed to pull by hand.  The vines are laid out along the ground like extension cords leading to an over-lit Christmas tree, and are so entangled in the tree tops that I have to pretty much cut them all out before taking the saw to the trees for safety's sake.

most of these vines are actually rooted into the ground

you can see how thick the vines grow

bittersweet vines will actually kill trees

these are all vines that have grown throughout the tree tops

And my parting shot is one of the brush pile, which is getting a little out of hand.  I guess it's now a natural fence of sorts.  I'm thinking once the pile of topsoil has been used up and the driveway is sorted out, this area would be a nice little paddock extension for the mules.

Yessssss.  You will extend my paddock, human.  EXTENNNNND.

And I'm Off

Off in a totally different direction.  Ah yes, YADD.  Not only is this how we New Englanders pronounce the word "yard", but it also stands for yard attention deficit disorder.  I start one project, get sidetracked, and wind up with ten different projects going at once.  It's a gift, really.

We finally had a relatively warm, dry weekend on the horizon, so I thought I'd work on the tiered garden.  What ended up happening was that my string trimmer was fixed and delivered, and I was also loaned a piece of equipment that would make brush cutting child's play, so I decided to tackle the overgrown bank near the tiered gardens while I had the machine.

I absolutely detest burning brush, and I knew if I hauled brush to the dump I would have about twenty trips ahead of me, so I decided to pile the debris in an unusable corner of the property instead.  I made myself think it was fine by convincing myself the massive piles of brush wouldn't be so much of an eyesore as an exercise in eco management; brush piles create cover for small woodland creatures like chipmunks and rabbits and heffalumps and woozles.  The only problem?  In order to create an area to pile brush, I needed to clear it first.

I can't win.

So I spent a few afternoons making a space for the brush piles.  Saturday came and I began hacking away at the brambles and bittersweet along the bank.  It was a lot more work than I'd imagined.  In a four hour period I only opened up about a 15 square foot area.  But it looked fantastic, and I was spurred on.

These are the only before pictures I could find of the area I worked on.  True to form, I wouldn't be so pedestrian as to start on the END of the area, I had to start in the MIDDLE.  Of course.

And behold, the after photos.

Insanity.

I quickly discovered that the only real way to clear out the bittersweet that had enveloped every single bush, sapling, and tree was to clip it by hand, then rip and pull until about thirty feet of vine was piled at your feet.  What a mess!  Mixed in was some kind of invasive climbing rose that attacked me at every turn, and many of the saplings were young Russian Olive trees with thorns like so many tiny hypodermic needles stab, stab, stabbing.

But it looks so good.  I'm really happy with this excellent beginning, but I was exhausted, so I decided to work on something that was a little easier for a few hours - slicing down saplings.

I spent a few hours cutting and clearing, then mulching leaves with the push mower.  The goal is to clear this section to the stone wall, removing all trees under 6" in diameter.  This was a good start.

So I didn't work on walls, but I did get a lot done.  Sunday I switched gears and installed my mail box at the road, raked the waste hay from the mule paddock, and cut a few small trees on the bank. I'm motivated to keep going with the clearing project, and have put the other gardens on hold for now.

At least until something else shiny distracts me.

Peel Away the Layers

The weather gods have finally smiled upon us and this weekend was a perfect example of the quintessential New England spring.  Sunshine, warm but not hot, people emerging from their homes like bears from their dens to greet the new season.  Raking has been my first order of business, and there's no shortage of that.
Normally I like to "put my gardens to bed" in the fall, meaning I cut back all the dead stems and leaves so the gardens are clean and fresh come spring.  I learned that leaving gardens as they are and letting nature take its course is much more beneficial to birds and insects over the long winter.  I saw evidence of this by leaving my perennial sunflower bed alone - the amount of birds that took advantage of the seed heads over the winter was amazing.  According to what I've heard, the best practice if you're aiming to provide protection for insects and small critters like salamanders is to leave your gardens in their natural state until you have at least two or three days above fifty degrees, to ensure these little guys have woken up and begun moving around, so they can find shelter elsewhere when disturbed.
Thanks to the late snow and undulating temperatures, many of my plants were vigorously growing beneath the leaf litter.  I'll admit I'm not the most gentle of gardeners (I call myself The Savage Gardener because I honestly have no patience.) and I tend to injure tender greens when raking.  I try to get out before perennials get too big, but sometimes that just doesn't happen.  I did pull a few tendrils, and break a few shoots, but more plants than not made it through my assault.
One of the small front gardens revealed more green than I had expected; peonies, daffodils, tulips, foxglove, and horseradish were all working away under that brown blanket.

 

There is still some ice and snow within the leaf litter, so some of the beds are a work in progress.  They should be completely cleaned by this coming weekend.

The main section of my holding bed was also busy, with variegated Jacob's Ladder, tulips, daffodils, coral bells, and more poking up through the ground.  No sign of my trillium yet, but hopefully it'll emerge soon now that the sun can warm the dirt.

I had cleaned off my strawberry bed a little too soon, so I may have killed off my strawberry plants.  Time will tell!  This is also where the perennial sunflowers are thickest.  I used an antique metal weed whacker to hack down the long stems and found that I'm less than proficient with that particular tool.  By the time I was done I had whip marks across my face and hands from the woody stems springing back violently as I swung the whacker back and forth.  Next time I'll use my lawn mower and spare myself the beating.

Next I'll move on to the Pollinator Plus Strip, which is mostly just gravel from the plow truck to deal with, and a few leaves mashed up against the fence.  My goal this year is to mulch the entire bed, which should take quite a while.

The mules are eager for the pasture to be opened up, but they'll have to wait a few more weeks.  The green is coming, but slowly.

After the front yard is done, it's off the back yard.  Never a dull moment!

Yard Therapy

Ahhh, the sore back and arms that come from a day of spring raking.  It feels so good to get out of the house and start on yard work.  I've raked along the outsides of the fences on both sides of the house, cleaned up the main paddock a little, moved some downed limbs and branches, raked the head of the path to the cemetery, and cleaned up around the little stone planter at the corner.  I took it slow and steady, had a few breaks, and am feeling accomplished.  The best part about being out in the yard is all the neighbors who stop to chat when they're driving by, or honk and wave as they pass, or stop to catch up while they're out doing their own yard work.  Every corner of the neighborhood is beginning to stir after a long winter.  The only downside is that we're looking at snow, sleet, ice, and rain for the next two days.  Ugh!  Spring is such a little tease.  At least I'll sleep well tonight, and dream of all the bits of green I've seen poking from under the leaf litter.  Next up, cleaning out the gardens.  I can't wait!