Prepping for a Pole Barn

Slowly but surely we're making progress on clearing an area to build a pole barn.  It's been a long slog, complicated by things like tearing down an old house, clearing enough space to create a burn pile, burn piles that won't light, burst hydraulic lines... the list goes on.

Despite all that, I think we finally cleared enough space after a big burst of work by the boy scouts, who did a service project for us this weekend.  The basic idea was to throw anything that would burn on the bonfire.  That's kind of a scary directive to give scouts, but it worked out well.  No major injuries.

From 2012-05-13

The panorama shot below gives an idea of how big a space we're clearing.  The old house sat right about where the fire is on the right side.  I hated to have to tear it down, but it was falling apart and unsalvageable.  It's a pity, because it was really interesting to see how the old timers built a house out of rough cut cedar.

In fact, the only parts that were bought from a store were the tin roof and the nails.  The rest was either rough cut or milled cedar.  Even the fireplace was built out of handcut limestone.

In the middle of the picture, you can see the old well that they used.  We've set up a crossbar an Amish well bucket to pull water out of it.  Unfortunately, it goes dry pretty quickly and doesn't fill up until we get a lot of rain, so it's not really functional.

I'm currently toying with the idea of calling in a well digger to open it up a bit more and using it for a cistern, and piping all the water off the roof of the barn into it.  It could be an interesting project.

From 2012-05-13

Below is flare up we had from throwing a couple of dried up cedar boughs on the fire.  It's amazing how flammable the cedar is when it's dried out.   It's almost as explosive as gasoline.

From 2012-05-13

The scouts worked hard dragging cut trees to the fire.  It would have taken me several long Saturdays to do it myself, so I'm very appreciative of their efforts.

From 2012-05-13

Brian and Bill were a lot of help.  Here they are showing the scouts the proper way to screw around.

From 2012-05-13

Brian got into the swing of things by bulldozing the forest.  I was a little nervous at first, but he picked it up quickly and was moving stuff all over the place.

From 2012-05-13

By the end of the day, it was starting to look like this crazy idea just might work.  Now comes the really hard part.  How to layout the barn.  East-West, North-South?  What orientation will make it easiest to pull equipment in and out?   I have a lot of thinking to do.

From 2012-05-13

One of our activities was  to explore the sink hole cave.  I'd known the goats liked hanging around it, but I had no idea how much they've taken over until I climbed down in.

From 2012-05-13

It was really cool to come out of the cave and see Gracie sitting on shelf.  They have taken over and made themselves totally at home.

Interestingly enough, I think it's high enough and sheltered enough that they might not need a guardian to protect them.  It would take a determined dog or coyote to get up there.  I'll have to keep an eye on it through different weather cycles and see how it goes.

From 2012-05-13

Working Hard, Playing Hard

I finally got the bulldozer fixed (with the expert help of my friend Kent).  To test it, we decided to do a cleaning session by knocking down trees and popping stumps. Unfortunately, that's the easy part. Cleaning up after is some serious work.

The hardest thing to do is figure out how to get rid of the stumps.  They're burnable if you let them sit for a couple years or if you douse them with $4 a gallon diesel fuel.

Otherwise, it takes three or four bonfires to burn them down enough to knock the dirt off so you can burn the rest of them.

Staying true to our constant experimenting,  we decided to try  burying them, to see how that works.  It could take a while to find out.  Hopefully about 50 years, so it'll be someone elses problem.  I could run for office with an attitude like that.

From 2012-05-03

We had some excellent help this time.  Elders Davis and Dempsey were animals, and dragged logs to the bonfire without rest.  It was great to have some help and we were amazed at the progress we made and very thankful for their help.  I hoped they enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed having them there.

From 2012-05-03

Suz was our dedicated driver.  She'd back the quad in and pull out logs as we cut them up with the chainsaw.  She got pretty good at figuring out how to gun it at exactly the right moment to yank trees out of the tangle.

From 2012-05-03

It was sooo hot close to fire.  At it's full height, it was difficult to get close enough to even toss the brush on.  It's rather unpleasant to get close to an inferno on a hot day.

Lately, Sawyer has this thing where he likes to fall down and pretend like he's helpless and can't get up.  I've taken to teasing him about looking like "Christina's World".  See the picture below and judge for yourself.

From 2012-05-03

From 2012-05-03

I might have to try a new painting called "Sawyer's World".  Maybe it'll make me famous and have people asking, "why is that boy laying there" , and " What is he thinking? " , or "It's so mysterious".


We worked the poor missionaries hard, but they didn't show any ill effects.  They probably could have gone a couple more hours.  

From 2012-05-03

After we finished cutting and burning, we decided to stop and smell the daisies.  It been nice to see all the wildflower patches popping up this spring. It's too bad they don't last longer.  They're very pretty.

From 2012-05-03

After working so hard all afternoon, we decided to take it easy doing some target practice.  The time was finally right to break out the deer target that has been waiting patiently in the garage since christmas.  It was pretty cool using a deer for practice.  I hope the added realism pays off this fall.

From 2012-05-03

The shooting range.  It's starting to look really pretty.

From 2012-05-03

When we left for the night, SuperMoon was just poking it's head out.  I wish I would have had my good camera, but the point-and-shoot did ok.  

From 2012-05-03

The Fence is Finished!

After several weeks of hard work, we made once last push and finished up the new goat pasture.  We ended up closing in about 9 acres of raw forest for the goats to work on.

This area is 100% overgrown and totally impenetrable from March to September.  It's also pretty rough (rough as a cobb, as the realtor liked to say), with sink holes scattered throughout.  We also have a small pond located inside the boundary which will be nice if we ever get  enough rain to fill it up.

From 2012-04-24

By the end of the day I'd end up looking like I'd been in a knife fight, from all the razor cuts from the wire ends.  The ends were so sharp that I wouldn't even notice I was cut until I felt the blood dripping down my hand.

From 2012-04-24

The picture below shows a typical fence stretching arrangement.  It worked great when there was a tree in place that we could anchor to.  Most times we'd get enough tension on the fence that it would be pulled tight as guitar string.

From 2012-04-24

To make the interior easier to access, we tried to put a gates near places of interest or wherever a fence roll would end.  The picture below shows that last post.  It was so nice to get to this point and finish up.  What a lot of work.  I hope it ends up being worth it.

From 2012-04-24

This will be a good reference point for a "before" shot, that shows how thickly forested the pen is.  Hopefully the goats will do their job and we'll be able to walk into the forest by the end of the summer.

From 2012-04-24

It's done!  Time to head to Sonic for a burger and Route 44 Diet Coke!

From 2012-04-24

The goats are very happy now.  They love the sink holes and dance along the edges.  "Climbing like a goat" isnt an empty phrase.  They just love getting little outcroppings on the side of the cliff.  It makes you wonder what they're thinking.

It's also interesting to see where they prefer to roam.  I think they're a bit overwhelmed with all the space since they just seem to be hanging around one little area.

From 2012-04-24

Sadie has already made her patrol path.  Making sure things are safe.

From 2012-04-24