It's the beginning of August and so far, it's been the summer that wasn't. Our weather has been peculiar this year; LOTS of precipitation, overcast skies and cool. It truly felt like fall a few days ago. They say that farmers garden vegetable sales are off by 30% this year due to the weather. I know that many of my vegetables have been languishing due to lack of heat and sunlight. With these conditions, harvesting wood has been a challenge. I'm glad the person harvesting our wood is sensitive to our needs; I have asked him not to cut when the ground would get ruined and he hasn't.
We have removed about all the pine I have flagged with tape; there is one more truckload to be picked up. We will begin to harvest fir next hoping for at least a load or two. Fir is worth more for pulp wood I guess.
I have been slowly cleaning up brush piles, using a machete of all things to remove the pine boughs from the branches. It is efficient, quicker than a chainsaw and gives me a nice workout. I spend a few hours each day doing clean up. I pile the brush in a row on newly cleared areas. At the end of my few hours, I run it over with the bushhog leaving me a nice smooth mulched area and with a nice sense of accomplishment for the day.
I've finished up around our second field and am now finishing up around the back field. I still have yet to finish the cleared hillside but this is next. I have left a legacy of pine poles stacked in piles around the property. I will chip these when all the brush has been taken care of.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Our First Harvest of Old Field Pine
We had planned to remove some of our old field pine this past winter. In our neck of the woods, forest products are pretty big. The downturn in the economy caused the mills in our area to slow down and subsequently the bottom fell out of the softwood pulp market. So, our plans for harvesting this winter came to an abrupt halt.
Our neighbor and part-time logger flagged me down about two weeks ago and said that the market had opened up a bit and that his hauler could take a load a week out of our woods. We decided to start at the back field and remove all the field pine on one side. There is a nice slope here and I thought it might be a good spot to eventually plant some blueberries. At the bottom of the slope, there is a hollow that may eventually become a small pond.
A brief aside about field pine. Field pine is white pine that has naturally colonized on old farm field areas. On our property, in most cases, this pine has been attacked by weevils. Pine weevils destroy the tip of the tree (the apical meristem for you biology types). Without a leader, one of the side shoots (which would normally become a branch) takes over as lead and you get a jog in an otherwise straight tree. Weevils will continue to attack these trees and you can end up with pine trees with multiple trunks and multiple jogs. Needless to say, there is no straight board that can be cut from these trees. They are usually not very healthy and at between 15 and 20 years, they begin to die and fall down or get blown over.
Harvesting field pine doesn't put much change in the landowner's pocket by the time your logger has taken his cut for taking the trees down and cutting them up and the person loading and hauling your twisted trees to the mill gets his. But, it will help put a few more loads of gravel on our road at least.
It's truly amazing to watch a skilled logger take down trees and cut them up. As just one person with a chainsaw and tractor with an old logging winch, ours is a one-man marvel. I am very pleased that there is so very little damage to the ground where the trees have been taken from and to where they have been dragged. In my opinon, there is little need for the type of heavy equipment that has been created to support the logging industry if you use selective cutting with small equipment. Yes, it's hard work. But, it is good work made easier by the use of a tractor which does minimal damage to the forest floor.
What's left when the wood has been taken? Therein lies the rub. Some folks would burn the branches, others would leave them to decay. If I had a large industrial chipper, it would be easy to just pitch in the remains and watch the chips come out the other end. But, I don't have an industrial chipper, just the one that attaches to my tractor. Running whole pine branches full of pine needles full of pine pitch doesn't work well as the pitch gets all over everything inside and the exhaust chute continuously clogs with needles. So, I will slog my way through all the brush, cutting the small branches off from the larger. The smaller branches with pine needles will get piled and run over with my field mower, the larger pine-needle less branches will get chipped. Yup, it's pretty tedious. However, the remains are fully usable as mulch and this mulch also decays much more rapidly than the larger branches due to the smaller pieces. Much will be spread over the cleared area and left to decay naturally adding to the tilth of the soil.
What will be left? A nicely sloping hillside populated with red maple and wild apple trees. The thin, smaller maples will be removed, the clumps of larger maples thinned and what remains will be a nice partially shaded hillside.
Next, we will move on to some selective cutting. We have a nice 7 acre strip of white pine that runs from one side of our property to the other. Some of this pine is in fairly decent shape, some is not. This thinning will open up the pine stand allowing the better trees to stay and perhaps allowing us to plant some pine seedlings next spring.
Our neighbor and part-time logger flagged me down about two weeks ago and said that the market had opened up a bit and that his hauler could take a load a week out of our woods. We decided to start at the back field and remove all the field pine on one side. There is a nice slope here and I thought it might be a good spot to eventually plant some blueberries. At the bottom of the slope, there is a hollow that may eventually become a small pond.
A brief aside about field pine. Field pine is white pine that has naturally colonized on old farm field areas. On our property, in most cases, this pine has been attacked by weevils. Pine weevils destroy the tip of the tree (the apical meristem for you biology types). Without a leader, one of the side shoots (which would normally become a branch) takes over as lead and you get a jog in an otherwise straight tree. Weevils will continue to attack these trees and you can end up with pine trees with multiple trunks and multiple jogs. Needless to say, there is no straight board that can be cut from these trees. They are usually not very healthy and at between 15 and 20 years, they begin to die and fall down or get blown over.
Harvesting field pine doesn't put much change in the landowner's pocket by the time your logger has taken his cut for taking the trees down and cutting them up and the person loading and hauling your twisted trees to the mill gets his. But, it will help put a few more loads of gravel on our road at least.
It's truly amazing to watch a skilled logger take down trees and cut them up. As just one person with a chainsaw and tractor with an old logging winch, ours is a one-man marvel. I am very pleased that there is so very little damage to the ground where the trees have been taken from and to where they have been dragged. In my opinon, there is little need for the type of heavy equipment that has been created to support the logging industry if you use selective cutting with small equipment. Yes, it's hard work. But, it is good work made easier by the use of a tractor which does minimal damage to the forest floor.
What's left when the wood has been taken? Therein lies the rub. Some folks would burn the branches, others would leave them to decay. If I had a large industrial chipper, it would be easy to just pitch in the remains and watch the chips come out the other end. But, I don't have an industrial chipper, just the one that attaches to my tractor. Running whole pine branches full of pine needles full of pine pitch doesn't work well as the pitch gets all over everything inside and the exhaust chute continuously clogs with needles. So, I will slog my way through all the brush, cutting the small branches off from the larger. The smaller branches with pine needles will get piled and run over with my field mower, the larger pine-needle less branches will get chipped. Yup, it's pretty tedious. However, the remains are fully usable as mulch and this mulch also decays much more rapidly than the larger branches due to the smaller pieces. Much will be spread over the cleared area and left to decay naturally adding to the tilth of the soil.
What will be left? A nicely sloping hillside populated with red maple and wild apple trees. The thin, smaller maples will be removed, the clumps of larger maples thinned and what remains will be a nice partially shaded hillside.
Next, we will move on to some selective cutting. We have a nice 7 acre strip of white pine that runs from one side of our property to the other. Some of this pine is in fairly decent shape, some is not. This thinning will open up the pine stand allowing the better trees to stay and perhaps allowing us to plant some pine seedlings next spring.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Spring in the Woods
I've been very preoccupied with our business since January. Trying to grow a business in this economy is very much a challenge. I've also been doing a bit of restoration work on an old (circa 1800's) farmhouse down the road. Another past life skill brought to the present by necessity. So, my time out "in the woods" has been much less than I would like, but necessary.
When we last visited my folks, I managed to glean some raspberries from the edge of the row where they were creeping into the rest of the garden. I also clipped and dug some rooted concord grape vines whose arbor had long ago fallen. The vines had partially rooted under the tangle of grass. These I brought back to Maine, nestled in soil, waiting for me to figure out where to put them.
I've been clearing more of the back field. Above the mostly flat
grassy area, the ground slopes upward to ledge. The popple and fir have been removed here leaving a large maple, a clump of two white birch and 5 or so wild apple trees. The trees themselves have been cut into 4' lengths and stacked for firewood. The branches chipped into a pile for mulch and the brush and small branches shredded via field mower. This time, I raked the shredded brush, leaves, etc into piles and relocated them to the top of a decay pile at the lower edge of the field. The area I've cleared looks very garden-like; but that's kind of the idea.
I admire the concepts underlying permaculture. If you like to garden, it's very much worth reading about. They advocate working "with" nature and the "lay of the land" to grow things (like edible crops). So, that's kind of what I am after. Last year, I planted some hearty walnut and pecan trees in some clearer areas of forest (admittedly, they aren't looking so good right now but there's hope). I also planted some edible/cider apple trees that look much better than the nut trees.
This year, the raspberries and grapes are being planted as sort of a replacement understory in the latest area I've cleared. The raspberries were planted a week ago in soil mixed with rotten horse manure (they supposedly like this). The grapes were planted in compost two days ago before the latest rain. Both are planted in rows awaiting the setting of support poles and trellis wire. With luck, they will both grow and we'll have a few red raspberries and concord grapes by next summer.
It's mid-spring for us and the blackflies are a nuisance. They like to swarm around my head and inhaling one isn't uncommon (ick!). They seem to bother me less each year but I still get bitten up and down my arms. I've placed bird houses hoping that the inhabitants will consume the little buggers. I really need to get my bat house up! Bats are supposed to be the best at natural insect control.
The wild apple trees are beginning to bloom. The flowers don't smell yet but the bees have found them and the buzz from the trees is very audible. I also noticed a hummingbird the other day. I hadn't thought about it before but it makes sense that they would be working the trees also as apple blossoms would be one of the first sources of nectar in spring.
My chipper is fixed. It fell apart after three years of use. Not only did one of the hopper hinges break clean off but there were a myriad of cracks where the bottom of the feed chute meets the chipper housing. I'm glad I can weld and that my neighbor up the hill has a welder. 6 rods later and my chipper is better than new. Reinforced hinges and filled cracks will hopefully last another three years (it better!).
With things the way they are, I can't help thinking (alot) about Scott and Helen Nearing. They were interesting folk, back to the land-ers and considered themselves "living the good life" (read the book of the same name). They lived on a farm here in Maine not too far from us. From reading their book, it was obvious that they thought and planned their life very logically. They had a daily schedule of work. I was fascinated that, as they worked around their farm, they would come upon rock (in Maine, there is more rock than soil). Over the years, they would gather the rock they deemed usable and place it in specific piles.
It was piled by size. It was also piled by how many good "faces" the rock had. One pile for one "good" (flat) face. Another pile for two adjoining faces. Down the road, when the time would come to build a foundation for another building, they could go to a particular pile of rock and fill a cart with it, knowing that it was already sorted as rock that would be used in the face of a wall or that it would make good corner pieces. When you are building a wall, there is a science to it and the shape of the rock you use does make a signficant difference.
For me, this story advocates for an interesting and sensible way to approach life. We as a society have become so entrenched in thinking about the present and the short term, we neglect to view life (in the future sense) as an accumulation of years. Perhaps if we re-adopted this "colonial" approach to life, our view and manner of life would take shape much differently.
For example, what if you froze all your "credit card" purchases until their debt was paid off and at the same time you paid into a "savings" account that was to receive the same amount as your credit card payment? This would pay down your debt at the same time it allowed you to create savings. You would also benefit as it would force you to think about how you spend much differently.
What would our roads look like if we had to "save" to buy a car with cash instead of using "credit" to get what we want now? I'm willing to bet that the focus we place on what matters in a vehicle would change as would the focus of the business of making and selling the vehicles.
There seems to be to be a mindset that exists about how we consume and that this mindset is driven by credit. Where did credit come from? I hope you can figure that one out!
When we last visited my folks, I managed to glean some raspberries from the edge of the row where they were creeping into the rest of the garden. I also clipped and dug some rooted concord grape vines whose arbor had long ago fallen. The vines had partially rooted under the tangle of grass. These I brought back to Maine, nestled in soil, waiting for me to figure out where to put them.
I've been clearing more of the back field. Above the mostly flat
grassy area, the ground slopes upward to ledge. The popple and fir have been removed here leaving a large maple, a clump of two white birch and 5 or so wild apple trees. The trees themselves have been cut into 4' lengths and stacked for firewood. The branches chipped into a pile for mulch and the brush and small branches shredded via field mower. This time, I raked the shredded brush, leaves, etc into piles and relocated them to the top of a decay pile at the lower edge of the field. The area I've cleared looks very garden-like; but that's kind of the idea.I admire the concepts underlying permaculture. If you like to garden, it's very much worth reading about. They advocate working "with" nature and the "lay of the land" to grow things (like edible crops). So, that's kind of what I am after. Last year, I planted some hearty walnut and pecan trees in some clearer areas of forest (admittedly, they aren't looking so good right now but there's hope). I also planted some edible/cider apple trees that look much better than the nut trees.
This year, the raspberries and grapes are being planted as sort of a replacement understory in the latest area I've cleared. The raspberries were planted a week ago in soil mixed with rotten horse manure (they supposedly like this). The grapes were planted in compost two days ago before the latest rain. Both are planted in rows awaiting the setting of support poles and trellis wire. With luck, they will both grow and we'll have a few red raspberries and concord grapes by next summer.It's mid-spring for us and the blackflies are a nuisance. They like to swarm around my head and inhaling one isn't uncommon (ick!). They seem to bother me less each year but I still get bitten up and down my arms. I've placed bird houses hoping that the inhabitants will consume the little buggers. I really need to get my bat house up! Bats are supposed to be the best at natural insect control.
The wild apple trees are beginning to bloom. The flowers don't smell yet but the bees have found them and the buzz from the trees is very audible. I also noticed a hummingbird the other day. I hadn't thought about it before but it makes sense that they would be working the trees also as apple blossoms would be one of the first sources of nectar in spring.My chipper is fixed. It fell apart after three years of use. Not only did one of the hopper hinges break clean off but there were a myriad of cracks where the bottom of the feed chute meets the chipper housing. I'm glad I can weld and that my neighbor up the hill has a welder. 6 rods later and my chipper is better than new. Reinforced hinges and filled cracks will hopefully last another three years (it better!).
With things the way they are, I can't help thinking (alot) about Scott and Helen Nearing. They were interesting folk, back to the land-ers and considered themselves "living the good life" (read the book of the same name). They lived on a farm here in Maine not too far from us. From reading their book, it was obvious that they thought and planned their life very logically. They had a daily schedule of work. I was fascinated that, as they worked around their farm, they would come upon rock (in Maine, there is more rock than soil). Over the years, they would gather the rock they deemed usable and place it in specific piles.
It was piled by size. It was also piled by how many good "faces" the rock had. One pile for one "good" (flat) face. Another pile for two adjoining faces. Down the road, when the time would come to build a foundation for another building, they could go to a particular pile of rock and fill a cart with it, knowing that it was already sorted as rock that would be used in the face of a wall or that it would make good corner pieces. When you are building a wall, there is a science to it and the shape of the rock you use does make a signficant difference.
For me, this story advocates for an interesting and sensible way to approach life. We as a society have become so entrenched in thinking about the present and the short term, we neglect to view life (in the future sense) as an accumulation of years. Perhaps if we re-adopted this "colonial" approach to life, our view and manner of life would take shape much differently.
For example, what if you froze all your "credit card" purchases until their debt was paid off and at the same time you paid into a "savings" account that was to receive the same amount as your credit card payment? This would pay down your debt at the same time it allowed you to create savings. You would also benefit as it would force you to think about how you spend much differently.
What would our roads look like if we had to "save" to buy a car with cash instead of using "credit" to get what we want now? I'm willing to bet that the focus we place on what matters in a vehicle would change as would the focus of the business of making and selling the vehicles.
There seems to be to be a mindset that exists about how we consume and that this mindset is driven by credit. Where did credit come from? I hope you can figure that one out!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Ah, Spring in Maine....
Ah, these first glorious days of spring in Maine! The snow is gone, the ice has left the lakes, the ground has un-frozen and the bugs have not yet hatched. We have a few weeks yet till the blackflies begin their month-long search for blood. Unlike mosquitos (which come after the peak of blackfly season), blackflies are gone by the time you realize you've been bitten. Best not to dwell until the season officially arrives though.
The weather this past week or more has been unusually beautiful. There's been no rain at all and the days have been warm and sunny. Tilling the garden last fall gave me a jump on spring. I was able to put compost on a few rows and turn them in using just a fork. It's still early to garden but I've been experimenting with season extension to get more our of our garden. It's not too early for peas, so they are planted as are carrots and beets and chard. I've covered the rows with remay this year to keep more of the days heat in the soil, we'll see what happens. Every year, I try something new.
Last year, I had such great success with lettuce in a simple raised bed covered with a tunnel that I'm doing it again. The "bed" is bordered with a box made of 2x8" boards, screwed together at the corners. U-shaped electrical clamps hold 1" pvc pipe sections to the inside of the box. 1/2" pvc "hoops" slips into the larger pipe sections when needed and plastic is clipped to this with garden clips. These cool clips snap over the pipe to secure the plastic to the pipe. With the plastic on and the hoop house closed up; it gets real hot inside during the day. So, in the morning I undo the top of each end piece to let the heat out and close it back up at the end of the afternoon to keep the heat in overnight. The theory is that this gets the soil warmer than it would be at this time of year and allows whatever is inside to germinate and grow. When my lettuce gets going and the weather gets yet warmer, I will replace the plastic with remay to reduce the heat and keep the bugs out. I am contemplating the construction of a larger hoop house to extend the fall season. We will have to see if I have the time (and funds) this year to construct one.
To my wife's delight, I have removed the plant starts from our bedroom window and brought them down to the walk-in cold frame I built last spring. The thermometer I placed there for the last week has shown that it gets no colder than 40 degrees in there at night (and about 60-65 during the days), perfect temps to get the starts hearty before garden planting later. It's about time to transplant the tomatoes into larger pots anyway. This year I've started broccoli and eggplant in peat pots so I will see how transplanting them pot and all, compares to removing them from plastic trays and transplanting. I'm also going to start melons and a first planting of cukes in peat pots to see what happens.
I've been spending less time over at the forest since January of this year. We've been trying to grow our business (with success) and I've been spending much of my time sitting at the computer, reworking things, reading and learning about marketing. I have managed to clear another portion of encroaching forest, turning it back to field. I've left and pruned the apple trees in this portion as well as left a few larger maples and an oak. So, it's not quite 100% field space but it's been opened up significantly. The soil has dried out enough that I was able to put the field mower on the back of the tractor and shred the many brush piles created from de-branching popple and balsam fir. Once I weld my chipper back together again, I will chip the poles. I'm more than a bit annoyed that a $5000.00, 3-year old chipper, used infrequently is falling apart. I would not recommend a Wallenstein chipper for anyone out there looking for one. I'm glad I learned to weld last year.
I have a few stacks of popple firewood to move, more poles to add to my corduroy road and a few larger trees to remove and I will be done clearing this area. The shredded and chipped tree material will be left as erosion control and to decay for a year or two. As the natural grasses start to grow, this will be my hint to seed. I use Conservation Mix from Agway that is a clover/grass seed mix. I also have yellow clover that I seed with. According to what I have read, this clover is deep rooted, bringing minerals to the surface, is loved by bees and increases the biomass (organic material) significantly. I'm glad to be done with most of this major work before the blackflies come; maybe they won't be bad this year.......
The weather this past week or more has been unusually beautiful. There's been no rain at all and the days have been warm and sunny. Tilling the garden last fall gave me a jump on spring. I was able to put compost on a few rows and turn them in using just a fork. It's still early to garden but I've been experimenting with season extension to get more our of our garden. It's not too early for peas, so they are planted as are carrots and beets and chard. I've covered the rows with remay this year to keep more of the days heat in the soil, we'll see what happens. Every year, I try something new.
Last year, I had such great success with lettuce in a simple raised bed covered with a tunnel that I'm doing it again. The "bed" is bordered with a box made of 2x8" boards, screwed together at the corners. U-shaped electrical clamps hold 1" pvc pipe sections to the inside of the box. 1/2" pvc "hoops" slips into the larger pipe sections when needed and plastic is clipped to this with garden clips. These cool clips snap over the pipe to secure the plastic to the pipe. With the plastic on and the hoop house closed up; it gets real hot inside during the day. So, in the morning I undo the top of each end piece to let the heat out and close it back up at the end of the afternoon to keep the heat in overnight. The theory is that this gets the soil warmer than it would be at this time of year and allows whatever is inside to germinate and grow. When my lettuce gets going and the weather gets yet warmer, I will replace the plastic with remay to reduce the heat and keep the bugs out. I am contemplating the construction of a larger hoop house to extend the fall season. We will have to see if I have the time (and funds) this year to construct one.
To my wife's delight, I have removed the plant starts from our bedroom window and brought them down to the walk-in cold frame I built last spring. The thermometer I placed there for the last week has shown that it gets no colder than 40 degrees in there at night (and about 60-65 during the days), perfect temps to get the starts hearty before garden planting later. It's about time to transplant the tomatoes into larger pots anyway. This year I've started broccoli and eggplant in peat pots so I will see how transplanting them pot and all, compares to removing them from plastic trays and transplanting. I'm also going to start melons and a first planting of cukes in peat pots to see what happens.
I've been spending less time over at the forest since January of this year. We've been trying to grow our business (with success) and I've been spending much of my time sitting at the computer, reworking things, reading and learning about marketing. I have managed to clear another portion of encroaching forest, turning it back to field. I've left and pruned the apple trees in this portion as well as left a few larger maples and an oak. So, it's not quite 100% field space but it's been opened up significantly. The soil has dried out enough that I was able to put the field mower on the back of the tractor and shred the many brush piles created from de-branching popple and balsam fir. Once I weld my chipper back together again, I will chip the poles. I'm more than a bit annoyed that a $5000.00, 3-year old chipper, used infrequently is falling apart. I would not recommend a Wallenstein chipper for anyone out there looking for one. I'm glad I learned to weld last year.
I have a few stacks of popple firewood to move, more poles to add to my corduroy road and a few larger trees to remove and I will be done clearing this area. The shredded and chipped tree material will be left as erosion control and to decay for a year or two. As the natural grasses start to grow, this will be my hint to seed. I use Conservation Mix from Agway that is a clover/grass seed mix. I also have yellow clover that I seed with. According to what I have read, this clover is deep rooted, bringing minerals to the surface, is loved by bees and increases the biomass (organic material) significantly. I'm glad to be done with most of this major work before the blackflies come; maybe they won't be bad this year.......
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Spring, at last!
I was hoping that Spring had arrived on the first technical day of Spring. I heard (and saw) one lone Red-wing Blackbird in the treetops next to our driveway. We still had a bunch of snow and we were well into mud season; that most wonderful of times when the frozen ground thaws but has not yet dried out. It takes a while for mud season to abate. But here we are, freshly into April. The snow is about gone, the treetops are filled with a flock of squabbling Red-wing Blackbirds, the Robins have lazily returned as have additional small birds like Chickadees, Goldfinches (not yet gold) and Sparrows. I even heard a Killdeer yesterday. Maple syrup season is waning if not done as the temps during the night have been above freezing for a few days now. I've even seen a few flying insects and also pulled my first tick of the season off my shirt. Of course, it is still early and we could see snow yet again. A cruel yet not unheard of trick played by Mother Nature.
Over in our forest, the creek is full and happily bubbling under the new bridge. The small pond constructed a year ago last fall is full and the snow has melted off of the access road. I've been working lots less there this year as most of my time has been spent trying to hone our little company into a sustainable business. But, I have managed to clear back a bit more of the encroaching forest in the back field. The balsam fir poles are stacked in piles, ready to add more length to the corduroy road. Popple has been taken down, cut into four-foot lengths and stacked to dry for firewood. Branches have been piled together ready to be ground up by the bushhog and the smaller poles stacked for chipping.
We were hoping to get much of our field pine removed this winter but the sagging economy took most of the profit out of harvesting for pulp. The trees will wait till next winter. I will continue to prune and clear branches out of our harvestable pine stands as well as working on clearing a path that allows us to walk the perimeter of our land. Soon, the blackflies will hatch reminding me once again how bittersweet spring can be here. They too are a part of our landscape and a small concession we make to be able to live here.
Over in our forest, the creek is full and happily bubbling under the new bridge. The small pond constructed a year ago last fall is full and the snow has melted off of the access road. I've been working lots less there this year as most of my time has been spent trying to hone our little company into a sustainable business. But, I have managed to clear back a bit more of the encroaching forest in the back field. The balsam fir poles are stacked in piles, ready to add more length to the corduroy road. Popple has been taken down, cut into four-foot lengths and stacked to dry for firewood. Branches have been piled together ready to be ground up by the bushhog and the smaller poles stacked for chipping.
We were hoping to get much of our field pine removed this winter but the sagging economy took most of the profit out of harvesting for pulp. The trees will wait till next winter. I will continue to prune and clear branches out of our harvestable pine stands as well as working on clearing a path that allows us to walk the perimeter of our land. Soon, the blackflies will hatch reminding me once again how bittersweet spring can be here. They too are a part of our landscape and a small concession we make to be able to live here.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Fierce Sledding and Snowplay
When you live in someplace like Maine, you just gotta like winter. It's usually about this time of year when I get the itch for spring and warmer weather but on days like today, I don't mind winter. Two days ago, we got nailed. Again.
The kids stayed home from school as we watched over 16 inches of the fluffy white stuff accumulate. It tapered off during the late afternoon and I had enough time before dark to fire up the tractor and clear the drive. Again.
Having a tractor is nice. I can pile the snow up really high. Kids love snowbanks! Before I even started clearing the driveway, there were small bootprints all over our snowbanks. With the latest bit of snow, our snowbanks are about 7 feet tall. Again.
Kids also like sledding. Fast sledding. Fierce sledding. We have a small hill next to our house and, after it snows, I slog out there in my Sorels and my snowpants and stomp out a good sled run down the hill. Again.
It takes me a while but its worth it for the 20 minutes of fierce sledding we do. Of course the kids are 5 & 7 and I am sure that their expectations for fierce sledding will grow as they do. But, for right now, our little hill is just fine. I love seeing their small red cheeks and noses, peeking out from under their snow covered hats as they trudge up the hill, through the snow, ready for another run. Again.
When the novelty of sledding wears off, we retire to the snow forts and tunnels. Seven foot snow banks are great for building things. I shovel out the fort I have been building since January and dig out a little more of the snow cave. The kids either help me or each find their own thing to do. When they finally tire, get wet or get cold, we go in to warm up and drink hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. Again.
I strapped my cross country boards onto my feet this morning and went for a ski on our 55 acres. The fields and forest were pristine and the new snow twinkled in the brilliant sunlight. The air was a crisp, fresh 16 degrees and the only other tracks besides mine were that of 2 to 3 deer, wandering and looking for eats. It's been a nice winter for cross-country skiing. Again.
I know winter can't last too much longer. The likelihood is that it will begin to disappear in the next few weeks. It is the beginning of March after all and time for the sap to run and the snow to melt. I've begun to start the garden plants in our bedroom window; the onions are up, the second round of seeds planted and I need to start the tomatoes soon. Before we know it, they will post the roads and mud season (our prelude to spring) will be here. Again.
The kids stayed home from school as we watched over 16 inches of the fluffy white stuff accumulate. It tapered off during the late afternoon and I had enough time before dark to fire up the tractor and clear the drive. Again.
Having a tractor is nice. I can pile the snow up really high. Kids love snowbanks! Before I even started clearing the driveway, there were small bootprints all over our snowbanks. With the latest bit of snow, our snowbanks are about 7 feet tall. Again.
Kids also like sledding. Fast sledding. Fierce sledding. We have a small hill next to our house and, after it snows, I slog out there in my Sorels and my snowpants and stomp out a good sled run down the hill. Again.
It takes me a while but its worth it for the 20 minutes of fierce sledding we do. Of course the kids are 5 & 7 and I am sure that their expectations for fierce sledding will grow as they do. But, for right now, our little hill is just fine. I love seeing their small red cheeks and noses, peeking out from under their snow covered hats as they trudge up the hill, through the snow, ready for another run. Again.
When the novelty of sledding wears off, we retire to the snow forts and tunnels. Seven foot snow banks are great for building things. I shovel out the fort I have been building since January and dig out a little more of the snow cave. The kids either help me or each find their own thing to do. When they finally tire, get wet or get cold, we go in to warm up and drink hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. Again.
I strapped my cross country boards onto my feet this morning and went for a ski on our 55 acres. The fields and forest were pristine and the new snow twinkled in the brilliant sunlight. The air was a crisp, fresh 16 degrees and the only other tracks besides mine were that of 2 to 3 deer, wandering and looking for eats. It's been a nice winter for cross-country skiing. Again.
I know winter can't last too much longer. The likelihood is that it will begin to disappear in the next few weeks. It is the beginning of March after all and time for the sap to run and the snow to melt. I've begun to start the garden plants in our bedroom window; the onions are up, the second round of seeds planted and I need to start the tomatoes soon. Before we know it, they will post the roads and mud season (our prelude to spring) will be here. Again.
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