Yippee!

There was no rest for the weary this weekend.  Earlier this spring, we had seven trees taken down in my neighbor's yard.  Six of them were hardwoods, so we had the tree service leave them and only take the pine.  What they left was stacked fairly neatly along the retaining wall that runs between our yards.  Compared to the mess that is our neighbor's yard, they really didn't make it look any worse or any better.  We have been making an effort to tackle this pile of trees along with all of our other projects, but we had not made it a priority, mainly because our neighbor really didn't care when we did it and it seemed so overwhelming that knocking away at it piece by piece seemed the best strategy for us.  Well, the city cares.  Based on a call about another yard, a city employee was driving down our street and noticed the felled trees.  He knocked on my neighbor's door and told him he needed to clean up his yard, especially the backyard, which was overrun with poison ivy.  He also told him he needed to make some progress on the trees.  Our neighbor then received a letter giving him 10 days to get the job done. 

Not getting this project finished has really been bothering me.  I don't like to leave things undone.  So, I'm glad the city set a time limit for us; otherwise, we would have continued knocking away little bits of it and not making it the priority it should be.  So, this weekend, we tackled the remaining trees and got them all cut up and moved to our wood pile.  Our neighbor's yard looks much better as I knew it would, and I feel relief at having this project no longer hanging over my head.

When we started working yesterday, we knew we had probably a full day's work ahead of us.  The trees has all been cut to length for splitting, but we knew we still had to load the truck several times, pull into our driveway, and wheelbarrow this wood to the wood pile.  I had already filled and wheelbarrowed two truck loads of wood the day before while Nate was at work.  Our neighbor had told us someone was coming to take care of the yard, and as we were beginning work, the yard guy and his son pulled up.  He had been hired to take care of the front and back yards and been told to work around the wood.  While we were loading wood, we overheard him talking to our neighbor about the poison ivy and Roundup.  My heart skipped a beat.  Nate went over and told him we had honeybees and that we really didn't want him using Roundup.  Of course, we can't control what our neighbor does, and he would not back down on the use of Roundup.  This started a conversation with the yard guy about our bees and our urban farm.  They both took a tour of the place and offered to help us with the rest of the wood.  They didn't ask for any payment for helping, but Nate helped with the yard and I sent them home with some jams and honey.  After they finished, the man told me he sparingly used the Roundup and if he saw any type of flower in an area where he was spraying, he pinched it off just in case a bee might want to visit it.  I know he was being paid to spray Roundup, but I certainly appreciate the extra care he took to minimize any damage that might result.  He certainly wasn't obligated to us to take any special care. 

At one point, when his son was looking at the chickens and rabbits, he said, "Y'all are old-fashioned."  I smiled and said, "We are old-fashioned, and we like it that way."  I could tell he said it in awe and not like we were strange.  At one point, he also said our house and yard are his mother's dream.  We have a very humble house by most standards, but that comment made me feel blessed in so many ways. 

So, what to us looked to be a weekend worth of heavy labor ended up being laced with neighborly support and consideration.  They live in the neighborhood next to ours and know our across-the-street neighbor, so in our world, they are neighbors.  The best part is the project is DONE!  CROSS IT OFF MY LIST! 

Happy homesteading,

Candace

Trees Down

Boy have we had so much going on around here lately!  First off, I had seven trees taken down this week, one in my yard and six in my neighbor's yard to the east along our fence line.  They have been on my list for nine years, and I finally had the guts and money to take them down.  It is going to make a huge difference in my backyard and my front one as well.  Of the seven, six were hardwoods, so we kept those for fire wood.  I am happy we can recoup some of the cost back in firewood.  And I'm hoping this will eventually pay dividends in the veggie/fruit growing arena.  Needless to say, we have alot of cutting and clean up to do. 

This is how shady the east side of my backyard was before we took down trees even with no leaves on the trees.  In the summer, the canopy from this oak tree along with the pine tree to the immediate left kept this part of the yard in shade until early afternoon.

Now that the trees are gone we are already noticing a big difference in light in this area.

 












I know my neighbors are hating me.  They probably call me the crazy tree lady, and even one of the tree guys asked, "You don't like trees, do you?"  I love trees, just not ones that keep me from gardening.  Believe me, there are plenty more around my house.  There is no danger of running out of trees in my neighborhood. 

Now, I have a 14'x60' section to plan.  I would love to line the fence with espalier fruit trees, but my worry is when I put raised beds down the section, what I grow in the raised beds may grow too tall and block sun off the trees in the afternoon.  Because of the fence, the trees would not get morning sun immediately, so I would need to depend on the afternoon sun to provide enough sunlight.  Or I can still plant fruit trees along the fence but limit their height by multiple prunings each year.  This method takes more space horizontally, so I eat up some of my 14' when planning out my raised beds.  I definitely need raised beds because I am dealing with solid clay for the most part.  It is rock hard.  I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on how to tackle this area.  I have a blank slate, and I want to plan it right. 

Shockingly, Nate has also offered to rework our sprinkler system in this area.  This whole area is one zone on our system, so I can configure it in any way I want and only use it when I think most necessary.  I generally water my raised beds from the rain barrels, but on occasion, I would like to have the sprinkler system as a backup.  I know I would like to have a connection to each raised bed and to each tree.  I need to research drip irrigation and sprinkler systems.  Any ideas from you on this?

This is definitely a long term project, but the biggest hurdle was the trees in my opinion.

Happy homesteading,

Candace  

Isn't It Ironic?

I spend most of yesterday hauling wood and cleaning up the debris from the tree we had cut down on Tuesday.  That makes the 8th tree we've taken down this year (5 by the tree service and 3 by my dad). 
 
And the shed we painstakingly moved almost single-handedly last week to keep it safe from the above-mentioned tree had a tree fall on it last night during the storm.  It's crushed!  The irony is not lost on me!

I. AM. SICK. OF. TREES. 

Candace

Clean-up Day and Possibilities

A great friend came over today to help us clean up the trees that were taken down this week.  When I say great friend, I mean it.  It was no small task, and he and Nate worked most of the day, along with my help for some of it, to clean up the mess.  We managed to get up all of the small limbs and cut up and dispose of the limbs that the chain saw and the strength of two men could manage.  The thicker sections of the trunks are still there for another day.  I counted the rings in one of the pines, and it had 60, so it was an old tree as were the other two. 
Like I said in a previous post, I hate to see beautiful trees cut down, so I will try to do right by all three and be productive in the area of my yard they were shading.  We did save as much of the oak as possible for firewood, and I've been tossing around some ideas for our yard, but haven't come up with a good plan of action yet.  One thought was an espaliered orchard using posts and wire.  I have two guinea pig apple trees in the front yard that have suffered through my espalier learning curve.  I like the advantages of espaliered trees for ease of harvesting, maintenance and efficiency.  They wouldn't be too tall, so I could harvest the fruit and prune them myself without a ladder.  Plus, I can fit more trees in a smaller space allowing me to meet the cross-pollination needs of each fruit I plant.  I'm excited about the prospects!                    

It's been overcast for several days now, so I really want the sun to come back out to see the effect the missing trees have on the yard. 

Taking Down Trees, Day 2

The tree service came back today for the two pines.  Watching that first pine being topped off was just as nerve wracking as watching the oak yesterday!  With Nate's workshop right beside the trees and the power lines running behind the yards, I marvel at their precision in topping off and dropping each tree.  Even with the day being overcast, I can see how much more open the yard will be, and I'm excited to see the difference it will make once the sun gets higher in the sky.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but that oak cast alot of shade over the yard during the summer.  I hate taking down beautiful healthy trees, but believe me, there are many more you don't see on all sides.   

Here are some before and after photos for your viewing pleasure!

 

With those three trees, I think we managed to open a pretty good corridor through the backyard at least until late afternoon when trees in the other neighbor's yard and along the back end of my yard start to interfere.  There is one tree on the west side of my yard that I would love to take down next, but the budget didn't allow it this time.

This is the mess we get to clean up!  We only paid to have the trees dropped, but not removed.  It was 1/2 as expensive to do the clean up work ourselves.  Good manual labor never hurt anyone, right? 

I guess the bright spot is it smells like pine in my yard.

Happy homesteading,

Candace





Stressful Afternoon

After serious deliberation and debate, we decided to take down four of our neighbors' trees, three in one yard and one in the other.  The tree service came this afternoon and took down one oak and one sweet gum.  Two pine trees remain, but we need to get permission from the neighbor who lives diagonally behind us for the tree service to bring a bobcat into his backyard.  Fortunately we know him, so I'm waiting to hear back about that.  In the meantime, the oak tree was very easy to drop, but seeing if fall put my stomach in knots.  The sweet gum tree was dying and dropping limbs in our front yard and has already damaged my fig tree, so I was happy to see it go.  Plus, it drops the gum balls in our yard, and it's a pain to get those up.  They managed to take down that tree without dropping any limbs on my fig tree.  They moved my potted blueberries for me, and I'm glad they did.  The only almost-heart attack I had was when one guy threw a limb on the onions and then another stepped on my beets while picking up the limb.  I came out of the house like a crazy person when I saw that.  The boss man laughed and told me I could yell at them, but I think after they saw me run at them with fear in my eyes, no yelling was needed.  They quickly retreated to the neighbor's yard to be safe.  Crazy woman alert!  Hopefully the two pines can come down tomorrow.  I'll keep you posted and pictures to follow.   

Taking Down Trees and Blue Moon Cavorts

My dad came over today, and he and Nate took down two trees and some lower lying limbs on various trees in my neighbor's yard. We really need more sunlight in the backyard, and this was the first step. There are several trees that need the touch of professionals, but for now, I think we are moving in the right direction. As the sun gets higher in the sky, I'll be excited to see what effect today's efforts will have on the backyard.

The chicken tractor has been brought off its blocks and out of retirement for the rabbits. It's the perfect structure for them because I can put them in it, one at a time of course, and let them run around with only a little supervision. Blue Moon had the first round, and he was very timid at first and stayed inside for about 30 minutes, but he finally ventured into the run and after about any hour really started to enjoy himself. He was hopping and running around and bucking like a little bull. The chickens were super interested in him and hung around the run watching him. OP2 ventured over to see what the fuss was about and ended up running off with a puffed tail. Even Nate kept walking by and talking to him. I think Nate likes him. Even though he's a puffy pretty boy, he's a boy, and according to Nate, we don't have enough of those around here.

While Blue Moon was cavorting in the tractor, I stepped into the greenhouse and started some pepper seeds, Jalapeno, Chinese 5 Pepper, Chocolate Bell, Emerald Giant Bell, Red Minis, and Yellow Minis. I'm really loving the greenhouse. It's opening up a new world for me since I've never had any luck getting seeds started. The seeds I've started so far have sprouted, which is encouraging, and provided they prosper, will definitely giving me a jump start to my growing season.

What are your gardening goals this year?

Oh, and welcome to Jennifer, a new follower. Thanks for reading!

Happy homesteading,

Candace