Jeff really kept us busy this weekend! The work is rewarding, if exhausting. I will tell you some back story. We have lived on these 5-1/2 acres for 2-1/2 years. The land was thickly forested when we got here. In that first year, we had some logging done. We are benefitting from opening up our land to the sun. But unfortunately, the person who did the logging was not very careful, and many young trees were damaged in the process, without regard for Jeff’s instructions to stay clear of them. In addition, logging leaves a huge mess. This is the mess we’ve been cleaning up since that first year.
After this weekend, we can say that most of the mess is gone. Sure, we have some slash piles remaining. Most of them (there were at least 30) we burned. Of the remaining piles, Jeff has already shaped some into habitats for mammals, amphibians and reptiles. There are a couple huge piles that he just won’t burn because they are too close to good trees. (No more damage is his motto.) They either need to be relocated for burning, or shaped as habitats.
Over the past weekend, we cleaned up the hillside to the west of our house. It is quite steep. I got so I could hardly walk up it, my legs were so tired. Jeff cut down spindly and/or damaged trees with the axe. We hauled them over by the fires so I could de-limb them with either the saw or the loppers. The kids carried and piled umpteen branches and sticks over to the fires we had going. We decked all the de-limbed trees as 12 foot logs. We are keeping most all logs from trees that come down, whether they are spindly trees or more substantial in girth. And we all did a little bit of everything, too, as it was needed.
Jeff is carrying some Douglas fir limbs to put on the fire; Naomi is peeling the bark off a mardrone log (just for fun because madrone wood is smooth and cool).
Haniya worked so hard. I am so proud of her work ethic! She would not stop; we had to make her take breaks and/or call it quits.
Jeff, the kids and I have cleared so much brush! Last night I went to bed with visions of sticks dancing before my closed eyes.
Recent Comments