Stepping into Spring...and back into Winter...and is it Spring? or still Winter?

 We have had a couple of Spring-like days, not necessarily because of temps but because of the Spring flora and fauna appearing. What a glorious feeling to walk outside, close your eyes and open your ears to the sounds of so many lives waking up! While I do wish the sun would make more of appearance on our days off, I'll take every little bit Spring that Mother E can offer right now!

And the appearance of Spring had Woodchuck and I going our separate ways for a little bit on the land on our recent trip. It was something to get used to! Including the walkies. He sounded so awkward when he called me on it!

He stayed behind to service the tractor while I went and pulled debris away from the drainage tubes that lead from the back ditch to the pond. We had a lot of rain coming and with the ditch already full, I didn't want to take any chances on leaving it go unchecked.

                                                            

                                                                    ☝Before☝

                                                                       ☝After☝ 

The water began pouring into the tubes with a lot of force and I moved on to my next project of raking up the branch and bush and tree debris left from the invasive removal last year. Walking back to the tube area of the ditch later though, I released that the water level dropped a good four inches!!!! I am so glad that I got this project done!

When I/we removed the invasives along the ditch last year, we would pile up everything to a particular height and then hit those piles with the tractor mowing deck (this was Woodchuck's idea). What I didn't foresee happening was then it would all get broken down into smaller branches and clubs that would roll your ankle when walking on them...and there was a lot of them! 

While it probably would have made more sense to rake them even farther away from the ditch, towards the forest edge, I am not ashamed to admit that I am out of practice on this kind of manual labor and this was the best that I could do! I figured it was a good start, getting everything away from the ditch so it doesn't get washed in, and out of the center of the path so we aren't rolling our ankles when walking. Since it's on our radar to clean up the forest edge this year, and then burn the piles (as long as we don't need fire wood/kindling), the debris will get moved again anyway. While it would be easier for us to burn it right where it's at, there is Muck Soil in them there ditches, and so burning isn't an option. So many things to factor in out there!!! I have yet to find out any information about how far away from muck soil that you can safely burn. So I'm going to just have to figure that the farthest away we can do it is the best.

Once I finished raking, I headed back to Woodchuck and showed him some large pieces of wood in the ditch coming off of the pond. I feel bad now, because when I saw them on another trip out, they were in the more shallow part of the ditch and where the banks weren't steep. Because I didn't say anything then, and they floated down towards the culvert pipe, this made it much more difficult to get them out. 😬

We tried numerous tool to pull them out, but everything we had would *just* reach them and not give us enough contact and leverage to get them moved. So there was only thing left to do......Woodchuck put on the waders and went down into the ditch. I have video of it, but it's too large of a file to post here, which is quite sad. But the wood has been removed now and Woodchuck suffered no ill-fates! Note to self: when you see something, say something right away!

We went for a walk before leaving, still looking for antlers in the woods but none to be found. Before entering the woods the blue jays were screaming at me and led me to the spot where one of there own was killed by a predator. (don't worry, I know I can't have the feathers. I gathered them for the photo shoot.) Once I found the feathers, my avian friends went another way. 

 We also have a bonded pair of geese nesting on the main pond. They are protected here in our state, so even though we aren't thrilled about having them, we have to leave them alone. Last year one was killed by a predator...I only found some feathers on a path....and there were no cute, fuzzy, adorable babies to see, so we will see what happens this year. We are also getting the ducks back as well. We don't mind those at all!

                                                            ☝eggs (goose) on the nest

The juniper tree that led to us finding out that Woodchuck has macular degeneration has its new growth now! What a good tree <scratching under its chin>

Have I mentioned at all that we met the person that bought the house next door to the land that we wanted to buy? Sure did. Only time will tell how that will all turn out. For now I am keeping my hopes up and my head down and "my hip into wind as always." 💚

Another milestone!

 Now that all of the blueberry bushes are trimmed, we could move on to the next milestone of owning Das Zem! Removing the invasives from the watershed. Woot! Woot! This task has been nearly two years in the making and I can't believe that it's finally time to start it. 

We didn't have high hopes for the weather in the sense of temperatures. It was cold. And windy. So we bundled up, him in his coveralls and me in a very thick pair of fleece-lined leggings under a pair of jeans, a zip up hoodie, a cotton long sleeve shirt, and a fleece lined oversized work coat. Oh, and we had hats on. True to nature, once we got out on the watershed, it all changed. It's like a whole other world out there. The sun bakes on you, and winds go away. It wasn't long before I was drenched in sweat, but dreaming of picnics out there on a blanket with my love. It would have to be soon, before everything starts to wake up. And what a wonderful way to welcome in a new season, don't you think?

Woodchuck handled the chainsaw, while I handled the treatment chemical. My shoulder was hurting really, really badly and I could barely use my arm for anything. Although he had a shoulder issue he's going through physical therapy and getting a lot of relief from it, so he gets the more manual labor right now. 

The first thing to do was open the entryway to the watershed. I figured making it wide enough for our tractor to fit through was a good width. We won't be taking the tractor out there, but it allows then for the possibility, and comfort of two people side by side and pulling a work cart, etc. We only had to use the loppers and pole saw in this area. Pictures above are the before and after.

I was SO excited to see that the pussy willows are getting their catkins!!! And I just found out last night about something called Pussy Willow Water. What?! I have to check into that more!!!

If you remember, we marked a lot of the stuff to come down on our last trip out there. It made it super easy and quick to see each spot to hit. Woodchuck would cut, I would pull the branches out a little bit from that stump to clear up the rest of the area he needed to cut, and then I would treat the cuts while he moved on the to next one and we continued that way for at least 10 massively overgrown invasive plants. We decided to leave them where we cut them down, to provide hiding for small wildlife, birds, nutrients for the soil as they decompose and to disturb the ground less since we wouldn't be taking the tractor out there. Since the plants don't have their berries right now, it was a good option to just leave the debris where it's at. 

I noticed that the bulk of invasives are on one end of the watershed, so that at least made it easier to not be traversing over a 5 acre span! The thorns on the Autumn Olive were insane! Woodchuck also thinks that we may have some hawthorns out there too, but I don't know yet. I DO know that the thorns on the AO range in size, but are all intense when they get you. Of course we always wear eye protection out there. 👀😬

We spent a few hours out there cutting and treating and sweating...Woodchuck even fell once while holding the chainsaw (it wasn't running at the time) and we were getting tired. There seems to only be a few left now to take care of on our next trip out there tomorrow. If we can get those down quick enough, we'll also finish marking the boundaries. We have already agreed to take our walk in the woods BEFORE we start working! We always want to get right to work and say we'll walk afterwards, but then we are too tired and next thing you know it's been months since we've walked in the second CRP. 😧

We took a look at the second ditch, which we have to walk right past to get to the watershed. It is completely full of water again and the drain pipes were working well! I can already see though that there's debris we need to shovel away from them. All of those little branches that we couldn't get out of the ditch after we worked on clearing it of vegetation have now flowed down the pipes.

When we were done, we decided to take a rest on a spot right outside of the pole barn, in the sunshine, and looking at the spot where we may one day build a house. Snuggled up to him in the sunshine, dreaming of what the future might hold for us. A perfect way to end the trip out there. Only time will tell where this will all lead us! 💖

What does the future hold....besides trimmed blueberry bushes?

 Well, it is officially done. All of the blueberry bushes are trimmed...at least the ones we could get to. There are two or three that are just in too much water for us to bother with. We noticed that the land around them has become even more wet, and I wondered if it was the bushes, and the land, responding to the situation and changes we have initiated. 

As always, we swooped in to help, and now we must step back and let the land and its plants respond. I can almost envision the blueberry bushes stretching and enjoy their new-found freedom. They aren't perfectly trimmed, by any means, but I feel everything out there understands our intentions and responds in like energy and giving us a little grace in being less than professional in our understanding of how to handle all of the things out there that we do.

It was so warm and perfect on this trip out. No cold wind, and a warm, enveloping sun. I was able to take my long sleeves off, not caring that the thorns would attack.

 I had just had two days of allergy testing (revealing no reactions, mind you) and was willing to add to the marks. I'm a girl who doesn't care about scratches anyway. To me, nature is like a cat when it lashes out a bit. They are just doing what they are designed to do, and it's nothing personal.

While Woodchuck worked on trimming the bushes, I worked on cutting down, and treating the stumps of the invasives and aggressive plants. Some times too a plant can be native, but volunteered to grow in a less than ideal location. When we say a plant "volunteers" that means it wasn't planted where it is growing. Carrying around a pole saw on dry, firm ground is a task for me. The saw is longer than I am tall, and it's heavier at one end. So I look like a clown on a high wire trying to balance it, with a bum shoulder. Trying to do that in wet and muddy conditions could be dangerous, so I had to go slow and deliberate. In those moment I always think of a friend of mine who I learned a lot about invasives from, and how she is so tiny but wielded a chain saw with strength, grace, and deliberately. I always remind myself that if she can, I can. I just have to be smart about it.

This river birch pictures above had a lot of crap growing around it. Brambles, crap tree starts, the red twig dogwood (that is native but FAST growing and takes over VERY easily and quickly!), etc. This is one of my favorite trees, with a colorful peeling bark of what looks like sheets of paper. I left a little oak tree next to it for now. When I don't know how natives will interact together, I leave it and watch. Soon enough their interactions and relationship will be revealed to me and I can make better, informed decisions.

The mud was up to my ankles again. I've had to learn the proper way of walking in mud this deep! It's all about releasing your heel first when you go to take a step! Don't twist your foot to change directions until the heel is released or you will sprain your ankle...or worse!

This tiny oak tree was being taken over by more brambles, and a grapevine that was twisting around it. I had to be very careful right here! The tree is on a little mound, surrounded by water on nearly all sides. I freed it from its captor and told it that we will be working on the pond this year and can hopefully save it from a watery grave.

                                                            Hang in there, little oak tree!

It is so open now that you can see the start of the watershed immediately on the other side of the bushes (pictures above). A tiny white sign to the upper right of each picture marks the boundary. Once the NRCS comes out this month I will talk to her about the amount of the red twig dogwood on that section. I don't want to clear so much out that I take away natural habitat and cover for the wildlife, but clearly these native are incredibly fast-growing trees and have not been kept on for the better part of ten years or more. I need a better understanding of what I should do with them.

We walked back to the front and I picked up garbage along the road while Woodchuck fired up the tractor. I am always observing the nature around me, watching and listening. I found many, many dead trees in this area that would be great to cut down now before everything on the understory wakes up and makes it difficult to get in. The goal is that once we have cleared out the non-natives and dead stuff, we can make a plan to then replace it with new, native stuff. 

                                                            Old ear fungi on a dead tree.

Woodchuck has really been wanting to plant sunflowers up front, but is thinking they won't do well there because they wouldn't be in full sun all day. Honestly, where I had them here at our house, they weren't in full sun all day either, just many hours of it. I think it would be worth a try! Speaking of flowers....

The faery lillies and daffodils are coming up! I heard my first red-wing blackbird and the doves and robins are all over the place now. Once Spring gets here, I hope it slows down. I would love a long Spring, Summer, and Fall this year. 

Now for the second update about the place that went up for sale next to the land. Woodchuck thought hard about what I was saying, and how I was feeling at the prospect of another infringing and less-than-neighborly-neighbor moving in so close to us at the land. I refuse to spend my retirement fighting the same battles that I have spent fighting here for the past 23 years. And the more he thought about it, he agreed and felt the same. So he contacted the land owner and asked if there was a way to work something out, only to find out that after just a few days on the market, he sold it already. Someone offered him cash, though a little less than he was asking for it. 

So, we are moving forward on the land as planned, getting things back to native and healthy, while we wait to see how it goes with whomever moves in. We have to come to grips with the idea that we might eventually sell the land and start our search over again. It's not ideal in the least, it took us over 20 years to find the land, and with Woodchuck being four years away from retirement, time continues to tick away. But we are letting this unfold and be what it is. We will continue to love and care for the land in the meantime, and are blessed by it no matter how we have to move forward later on. 💚