Taming the Forest

While I'm waiting for parts to fix the bulldozer I've been catching up on other mini-projects such as finishing the treehouse, planting grass in the cleared areas and surveying the barn site to make sure it's level.

The pic below shows the tools-of-the-trade we hauled down on Saturday to work on the projects.  Grass seed.  Check.  Goat feed.  Check.  Cooler with Diet Coke.  Check.  Lumber. Check. Football.  Check. Transit.  Check, check and check.

From 2012-09-14

I'm a sucker for gadgets so as soon as I heard about a quad mounted harrow, it moved to the top of my "must have" list.

Since a tractor would be overkill at this point (plus I don't have anywhere to park it) I needed something to break up the topsoil in the cleared areas so we could start planting grass.

The harrow worked great at tilling up the top layer.  Well worth the cost and a lot more fun than getting beat up by a rototiller.

From 2012-09-14

One of my goals has been to get grass growing in and around the pond, so the water won't be so muddy from runoff and erosion won't wear down the dam.

From 2012-09-14

It's tough to disc the side walls so I went as high as I could with the quad without tipping over, then covered the rest with straw to help hold the seed in place.

From 2012-09-14

Unfortunately we had a huge rainstorm the day after I put the straw down.  It was great that the pond was filled up (to the the burned stump in the foreground), but bad because there were about 3 strands of straw left when it finished.  I guess we'll just have to try again.

Fall Is On It's Way

The subtle signs of fall are starting to show. The brush and undergrowth are getting a bit thinner, the leaves are getting just a little less green and the days are getting a just a bit shorter.

All this means that it's time to start planting grass and getting food stored away for the animals for winter.  Also, now that I have a full year of caring for the herd under my belt, it's time to start fixing all the mistakes I made in the first year and making big plans for year 2.

One big mistake I made was intentionally putting gaps between the boards on the side of the shed so they'd have airflow. At the time I built it, the temps were roasting hot so all I could think of was how hot it would be and thought airflow would be a good idea.  The picture below shows Sadie enjoying her airflow.

From 2012-09-10

I didn't realize that the heat isn't a problem as long as there are trees for shade. The real problem is cold. They need protection from the winter winds and airflow isn't a good thing.

Luckily for all, I figured this out before winter and put some tarps around the shed to keep the wind out, but it looked ugly and so I took some time last weekend to fix it.

From 2012-01-03

I think it looks a lot better now. It's not as airtight as it was with the tarp, but it should be good enough.

Our big plan for year two is to increase the herd size.  We're planning a play date for the goats with a billy in October in hopes of having some babies in the spring.

This is a big step and so I want to make sure to fix all the little things that I've let slide like the shed and gaps in the fence etc.  With any luck, we'll have a lot bigger herd next March.

From 2012-09-10

Here's a closeup of the boards.  It looks pretty wind proof.  I guess we'll find out this winter.  If not, I still have all the tarps.

From 2012-09-10

I had a few boards left over so I decided to put them on the tree house. The big question is do you level them with the earth or the tree. Hmmm.  In this pic, they are perfectly level according to the level, but they seem a little slanted to the eye.  Just another reason I avoid finish work.

Below the treehouse is our growing pile of hay.  I'm going to have to get a couple big 5x5 bales to add to the collection.  I really need a barn!

From 2012-09-10

Too Hot to Work

It's been so hot and humid the last couple weeks that I've found it hard to do more than putter around or run the bulldozer.  I'm at a crossroads where the projects are getting big enough that I have to really put some thought into how they are going to fit into the big picture.  Some of the things I'm noodling are:

1) Bringing in electricity.  It looks like I'm going to need at least three poles and maybe up to five (or more!). I'd like to trench it but the engineer seemed to think that might not be doable because of all the rock.  I need to meet up with him and see what my options are.  Hopefully that will help me decide where to put the transformer.

2) Planting grazing grass.  I'd like to put in a big field of Orchard grass but I'm afraid it's going to take a lot of soil amendment to get it to grow.  Need to get the soil tested and find out how bad it is.

3) Build a third corral.  I'd really like to get some Alpacas but if I do, I'm going to need electricity and water as well as third area to separate the males and females.  It'd also be necessary so they don't overgraze. Alpacas aren't as tough as goats and so they'd need grass forage as well as the brush.

4) Building a pole barn.  I'd love get the barn built but I have to lock down the electricity question before I build.  Also need to lock down the orientation.

There are also a million other little projects such as maintenance on gates, fences, trails, equipment, etc.  For example, one of my gates started leaning real bad because the original fence builder didn't put support wire on it, so I ended up having to go back and do it after the fact (pic of tools below).  It helped a little, but the post is cracked so it's not a final solution.  I'm wondering if I have any recourse with the builder after several years?

From 2012-08-27

Another ongoing maintenance project is trail repair.  Since we cut almost all the trails out of raw forest, there are still a lot of stumps, rocks, high spots, etc that need to be smoothed over.  One effective method I've found is dragging logs and tree tops down the trails.

They have a lot of weight and do a great job of smashing the high spots and smoothing it.  I just chain them up, hop on the quad and start riding.  Usually I use three treetops or three logs, but on this particular day, I just used what was laying around.

From 2012-08-27

Another continual source of maintenance is the bulldozer.  My latest mystery is how the fuel filter keeps getting plugged with dirt.  It would appear that someone has dumped dirt in my fuel tank, but for the life of me, I can't figure out the motive.  The dozer is usually parked along the trail somewhere and it would take a fair amount of work just to find it.  The picture below is of the second filter I've replaced in a month.  The first looked as bad as this one.

From 2012-08-27

I scraped some of the mud away to show how thick it's packed around the filter.  That's all I need is some vandal creating havoc.  Maybe my next project will be to string up some "Hunger Games" style booby traps for the interlopers.

From 2012-08-27

Getting Ready for the Bow Hunt

It's that time of year again.  Time to get ready for the bow hunt.  This year we've decided to scout out a couple new locations in some nice hardwood stands towards the back of the property.  Here's my friend Dan demonstrating his tree climber on a nice hickory along a heavily used deer trail.

From 2012-08-27

Tree climbers are probably the best kind of stand to use.  They can easily be moved, are more comfortable and are great for adjusting to local conditions.  About the only drawback is climbing one up a tree in the early morning before the sun comes up.

From 2012-08-27

up we go.

From 2012-08-27

getting higher and higher

From 2012-08-27

Viola!  Ready for some deer hunting.

From 2012-08-27

View from my treestand.  notice the feeder on the right, haning from the tree.

From 2012-08-27