I can't believe it's been since last Summer since I've written! I've fully recovered from my shoulder surgery now, but also had two other surgeries since. November 2020 was a hysterectomy and January 2021 was a gallbladder removal. I spent many months sick before that thing was taken out. I feel great now, am 30 pounds lighter, working a new job since my previous one didn't call me back and I've hit the ground running.
Hubby and I recently purchased our retirement property. 15 acres of watershed preserve and CRP forests, with a tiny little strip and large pond that are not on any land programs. I feel like all of the volunteering, reading, and work the past few years have prepared me for this beautiful responsibility and we are truly honored! It's going to be a lot of hard work, especially since the land hasn't been completely taken care of for up to the last 10-15 years, but we are ready! I am no expert, but my heart is in the right place to take care of Mother Nature, and I will document our adventure here!
Yesterday was our first work day at the land as its official owners! Once again the weather was cold. I had 3 pairs of pants, three sweatshirts, gloves, hiking boots, etc. and I was still chilly in the winds! Since we had to stop at the home improvement store for landscaping timbers, I grabbed a hat there. $20, damn! But it had lights on the forehead, and was the only warm hat they had available. Hubby said I looked like Mantis, just with nubs. At some point I think we may need to invest in an old pick-up truck. We used to have one many years ago, but needed the extra cash when the boys were little and we sold it. The improvement store doesn't rent trucks anymore. But for now, we make the cars work!
Then we stopped at a shipping container business to check out what hubby ordered. Why in the world he felt the need for a 40 footer instead of one of the smaller ones is beyond me, but I have to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope that doesn't come back around to bite us later 😉 I really like the teal color....he does not. I feel it is a great compromise! He gets the 40 footer and I get the color I like (not like I picked it, was all they had).
Once we made it to the land, it was time to get projects going. Woodchuck started setting barriers to keep people off of the land. The chopsticks didn't last long and he had to make another trip to the home improvement store.
While Woodchuck was toiling away on his projects, I was hitting the one part of the land not enrolled in a land program. That means I can go in and start cleaning it up without permission from one of the land agencies. The Asian/Oriental Bittersweet, Asian and Bush Honeysuckle and Autumn Olive have taken over.
The thing about Asian/Oriental Bittersweet that is notable is how pliable and flexible it is. Identifiable from grapevine by how it twists on itself, taught to me by a dear friend of mine when I mistakenly identified it as grapevine. Each wrap itself around a tree not just on the trunk but around each branch as well. Invasive plant species compete with our natives for sunshine, water and nutrients, but the light is the winner in most cases. Each plant starts at the ground and reaches for the sunshine and because invasive are so prolific, they will eventually win and kill whatever species they are competing with.
As with most other invasive species, we do have a native one. Yes, there is a native bittersweet, but as the story has repeated many times, we usually only find the invasive one. I do not know with 100% certainty which bittersweet this is, but I do know with 100% certainty that it will kill the birch it is wrapped around, so I am removing it all. Because the bittersweet is so pliable and flexible, I was literally able to unwrap it by hand from the branches. Because I was not able to reach all that was higher up in the tree, I had to leave it for now until I go back with a ladder. The main thing was to cut it as close to the ground as I could, and I get so into my work that I also try to pull the root system. If you have worked with Virginia Creeper before, you know what I am talking about. Here are some close-ups of the Bittersweet.
Since this was my first time out this season, I have to build up my stamina....and eat a bigger breakfast, LOL. I spent many hours working on this corner, though nobody else but me could probably see the difference! It will take years to get the land back to it's healthy, native self. So, after we took a water and protein bar break, we went for a walk! We walk not only to familiarize ourselves with the land and the boundaries, but to also let others know that we are here now, and each time we walk the land we find some thing new!
I had been watching this tiny area of what I was hoping were some native flowers. I have watched week after week to see them progress, waiting to be able to identify them. It amazes me about how on so much land, there can be one tiny spot of something that you won't find anywhere else on the acreage. What was a few plants initially with flower buds on them now is a small patch and they are flowering! Golden Ragwort is what they are, and I'm kind of geeked out about them!
While out on the vast watershed preserve, I found some garbage. Beverage containers and Mylar balloons. Anyone who knows me, or has some of my previous blog postings, knows that I am against littering, and balloons. While I respect that someone is grieving the loss of a loved one, the balloons don't make it to Heaven. They blow, they land and have injured and killed numerous domestic and wild animals. And sky lanterns. Lord, Gawd, don't get me started on those! I made a mental note that any time I go out and walk the land, I will need a bag with me because the garbage is making it into the deepest part of the woods, and out on to the middle of nowhere in the watershed preserve.
You can see that some small animal has been chewing away at this plastic milk container. It breaks my heart to think of what is going on its stomach and how it might be feeling after eating so much of this. And then what about the predator of this animal? It will eat this animal, plus the plastic it has been ingesting. I should only be finding natural things like these shown below on my watershed preserve and in my forests.
Hubby and I had to pass a business in a castle and now I can't get him to stop obsessing about wanting to build a castle in the woods to live in. Um. No. Look, I love castles! But there is something about gray blocks that just don't inspire me to want to live the rest of my days out in them. Now a Fairytale house is more like it! And maybe we could incorporate some aspects of the castle look into one of those. I suppose we should check to see if there are some guidelines about the type of house that county will let us build. But no castle. Just no.
Now I have to figure out how to take care of two pieces of property. Luckily the land I currently live on is less than an acre! But I am still fighting the same non-native invasives and agressive natives here at the homestead that I started fighting last year. Tree of Heaven (my treatment of them last Fall failed), Dame's rocket, honeysuckle, soap wort, garlic mustard. What a complete pain in the ass.
Although there are so many things that I love about my current home, I find myself wondering about the land. So many first to be had there! I stepped outside last night to photograph the moon and pay my respects to her, and found myself wondering what our land looks like under her bright light. I also need to come up with a name for the land. I am sure the more time I spend out there, the more likely a name will come to me. Right now, I just refer to it as "the land". That won't do at all.
