Losing track of time and how the hell is it already near the end of July?!

 It was inevitable. If I don't blog within a few days of being on the land, I'll lose track of what I've written about. Working 7 days a week in some capacity, and having my hands in many pots will do that. Even as I sit here typing this, I am up and down doing a few other things! So I had to look back through my pictures to kind of refresh my memory. Oh, okay! Now I remember!

We were taking the youngest boy to Das Zem on the latest trip. Hubby was going to teach him how to use the tractor, and I needed to be elsewhere because I was nervous about that! But I also wanted to check out the prairie, to see what I should save or harvest before it got mowed down. As much as I grappled with myself about just wanting to leave that prairie as it was the first year we owned Das Zem so I could see the stages it goes through and what all grows there, I understand our need to take it down and to see what kind of an area we were dealing with. 

So I ran out there while the guys got the tractor ready and began to harvest some more mullein blossoms. I really wanted to dig out the plants so that they were less likely to seed the area around them, but there wasn't time for that. As it was, I barely had time to save this beautiful spider that I found on one of the stalks. Not sure what she is, maybe I nursery web spider? Whatever she was, she was fast. I ended up cutting the mullein stalk and moving that whole piece, with her on it, to an area that wasn't getting mowed.

I took some old lavender cuttings with me to burn to help keep the mosquitos and flies away. With all of the rain and humidity, I knew they were going to be a problem. Burning old lavender cuttings smells amazing, they still have a lot of oil in them! But as you can imagine, they burn quickly. There is something to raw and spiritual and right about doing this on my land. (Don't worry, no wildfire hazard here, plus I burned a very tiny pile on sand and had a shovel nearby to smother it with more sand).

 I could hear the tractor coming! I grabbed a couple of yarrow too, most of which are nearing the end of their bloom cycle. And all of a sudden there was my boy coming on the tractor with my husband walking beside him. He looked so comfortable, unlike his mama (see previous post about my panic attack). He proceeded then to practice mowing on the prairie, and also knocking down an autumn olive that was out there. The tractor doesn't go fast, and I was pleasantly surprised that he was okay with that! Once he was done, we finally got to see again how the prairie looks without all of the growth. It had been months, and it still even then had the brush of the dead and dormant growth in the Winter. 

As of right now, our thoughts for this piece of land, that is not on any programs, is to dry out the wood from the trees that we take down. Eventually, we'd like to plant a pollinator garden (thought they do have a lot to choose from in the meantime on Das Zem!), a regular garden (I'd really like raised beds. My knees and hip are really acting up this year!), a well, an outdoor shower next to the well and I'd love a platform eventually where I can put all of the bones and rocks that I find out there! It would be a great spot then to meditate or do yoga. We'll see what of that list pans out over the years!

Although I really didn't want ANY Mowing down across from the prairie on the land that leads down to the pond, it really was getting too overgrown. Hubby and I agreed on ONE path, the width of the mower and that was it. I showed him where not to mow, and reiterated ONE path. That one path was going to wipe out a lot of the native blackberries that had just started to ripen, but I am trying to get better at realizing that I can't save everything. 

The guys moved the boat that is on the rack they built and a field mouse scurried out. The smell of urine was SO strong on that boat! I believe it could be the same mouse that's living in the fishing shack. Cute, gray, and pudgy. I marked more of the blue vervain and we talked again about what is getting mowed and while standing there, a Monarch lands on the blue vervain!!!

THIS is why I do what I do. THIS is why I continually fight the hubs and try to educate him that we don't need to go and clear everything. I also found another honeysuckle blooming along this strip of land in an area that we will be going to town clearing out and hopefully soon. But I planned on harvesting the blossoms in the meantime and hubby offered to mow up to it. That didn't happen, but he did mow a SECOND path on the part that he wasn't supposed to, because, that's what he does. *sigh* But I continually digress..

While the guys moved on to other projects, I decided to walk the path that had been mowed by hubby the first time he was out on the tractor. I wanted to see how it held up with all of the rain, how much it had grown back, and just wanted to observe and listen. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it hadn't grown a foot (or really at all) and was only holding water on one little spot where it normally does and is of no consequence. I found more bee balm/wild bergamot, I checked the milkweed I could reach for Monarch eggs (didn't see any, but I'm not well-versed in that), flicked off the phragmites and MFR (multi-flora rose), and checked the elderberry. I managed a shot of this little friend too.

I would stop every so often and look around and listen. I cannot believe that this is mine to care for! 

Looking over the second ditch at the watershed preserve like I did the previous time I was there, I made the final decision to try and reach it. I really want to see what all is growing! It is so tempting to try and traverse this part of the ditch, but the water is high and I am not dressed to go in water (found a pair of waders for sale at work and grabbed them! Can't wait to try them out!) It's always my fear too about mucky bottoms and getting stuck. Until we get a bridge built going across here, our access is super limited and super difficult.

So I turned around and figured I'd go to the spot where the ingress/egress comes off the main path and enters the watershed. I had the heavy duty mosquito spray on, surely it will hold up? I make my way back, enter the overgrown access point and am immediately greeted by Brunhilda mosquito and her very large family members. 

OMG, I had somehow left Das Zem and entered an alternate realm that was straight out of the Twilight Zone where the insects were super-sized and I was clearly outnumbered and had no defense against them! They were attacking my ears and face, trying to fly up my nose! I turned-tail and got out of there fast, but not before I noticed more horsetail plants by where I dug some others out. I'm just going to have to be okay with seeing the native wildflowers from afar fright now and chipping away around the edges of the entry point when we can.

This was my haul for the day! Yarrow, catnip, mullein blossoms, honeysuckle blossoms, and bones.

Woodchuck had to follow up with the USDA the next day about the land we want to remove from the CRP program. There has been a bit of confusion about how to draw the boundaries for the piece that we want to remove and it seems that we learn something new each time we interact with or about Das Zem. What he learned was that the strip of land from the edge of the front CRP forest to the road that the land sits on is also part of the CRP program! We had no idea! It was not disclosed by the seller, nor seemed to be indicated on satellite or aerial views of the land.

The seller was supposed to have planted that strip with trees approved for the CRP, and didn't. Our plans for that strip may have changed now with this new knowledge! We were going to remove all dead and non-native trees from right at the edge of the already verified CRP and then plant rows of sunflowers there for some color and to add some more privacy from the gaps in the forest. We were also going to use that strip as parking for when we have family get togethers, and we were toying with the idea of having a small produce and soap stand once we are living out there. Not only does this new information potentially change those ideas, but my interactions with the public the past few months really have me questioning if I want to deal with sales there. That land is sacred to me, it's going to be an emotional and mental reprieve for us, and to have anything other than peaceful interactions on that turf is not something that appeals to me/us.

Luckily we don't have to make a decision now, and need to wait anyway to hear from the USDA about the land removal, etc. (hoping to have the answer by the end of the month). It's been a nice year of just kind of going with the flow and see where things land. Our plans and lists are already made for the next time we get out there! And yep, you guessed it, it's going to be hotter than hell again after some more rain a day or two before. Note to self: fill up the kiddie pool and chill some beer. Prost! ("cheers" in German!)

Oh and keep an eye open for a quick, cute little story about the name of our land, Das Zem (The Earth or loosely The Land) and the adorable, elderly German customer that came into the store I work at!