Taking a short break from posting to refresh my mind and work on projects on the homestead
Hey folks! It's been much longer than I would have liked to go without posting. But I've been quite busy outside working on some pretty intensive expansions to the homestead grounds. The weather has been so beautiful I can't resist getting an early start and absorbing the sights, sounds, and smells of the forest again for extended periods. I'm documenting the process and will start regularly posting within the next few weeks.
Here are few sneak peaks at what @kokibyivana and I have been laboring away at.
Moving some energy I see, nice! We're feeling it too, got all current garden beds planted and ready for more. Is it pine you've got stacked up? Looks good. I'm trying to think what y'all be using it for. I'll stay tuned for more.
Yep that’s scotch pine. It actually holds decent BTUs for burning. I was hoping to have it milled, for boards. But I couldn’t quite move 8 + feet logs by hand. I’m making sure everything we cut is used for something. I’m dumbfounded on how much wood and energy is stored in this forest. A few trees down and I’m overwhelmed by the work of moving it and stacking it. It’s absolutely mind boggling how they clear cut Michigan within 50 years, most of it within 20 once the railroads were built.
clear cut michigan in 50 yeras.... holy cow... right, on a human scale the amount of effort and time it takes is mind boggling!
Yeah, the MI timber industry was insane. More money was made from MI timber than all the gold found in California. This state was pretty pathetic 60 years ago. All the forests were so young, it’s just beginning to recover, but all the understory species were mostly wiped out. So invasive have been causing havoc in the empty forest floor. I’m going to be writing more on the subject.
gosh, please do and tag @the-hearth if you want so we can share it- though we usually find your posts anyway. really want to educate the public about stuff like that - deforestation, its effects, and what to do in the aftermath. thanks :)
Clearing a path into the woods? You're going to build a gingerbread house?!
Lol, no gingerbread house, sorry 😁. It’s part of a bigger plan to better define my permaculture zones and gain access to areas around my property.
Cool! Well it looks like you've been putting your chainsaw to good use. I could do with one of those...
My chainsaw and my poor back! The chainsaw is my #1 tool. Can’t live without it.
Wow! That is some intense work y'all have been doing! I'm also a little bit jealous that the weather has been nice enough for you to be outside. We've only just started to see the sun here, after a week of ice & freezing temps, and it finally got above, I think, 42 degrees today? Maybe it got up to 45?
times of do, times of don't.... action inaction. circles within circles....big love brother!
Wow, that looks familiar! That is pretty much all I have been doing as of late. I am trying to clear room for a bunch of food-producing trees that I ordered from the Department of Conservation. My days have been filled with cutting trees, stacking usable wood to eventually turn into lumber, and getting rid of stumps (the hardest part). So I feel ya!
Yeah, it’s hard work without a tractor or truck. For the stumps I cut a bit below soil level with a chainsaw, and cover the tops. The pine rots pretty quick. The hardwoods give me a bit of trouble, but the few that I did cut are small enough to not cause too much work. I can usually chop their roots out with a sharp pickaxe.
Nice decking! Firewood or a bigger plan for those logs?
Firewood. I was hoping to make some lumber by hiring a guy with a portable sawmill. But I didn’t have the strength to haul 8 foot logs of this diameter. I don’t have a truck, tractor, or ATV so it’s pretty much all man power excluding the chainsaw.
Sounds like you need a mule ;) I have been so spoiled since getting my tractor.
Saves me from getting a gym membership and hours spent indoors lifting things for no purpose 😁 I’ll be getting a tractor as soon as I can. Hopefully within the next two years.
Nice work!
If deforestation continues unceasingly then this is one of the bad actions.
What exactly do you mean? I am by no means deforesting anything. I have 18 acres of forest that would have went to a developer that would have built 30 plus houses here and removed all of the trees. The paths I’m clearing are just paths through the forest. This can actually spur on growth by the other trees and canopy will close. It’s only deforestation if the ecosystem ceases to be a forest. Where I’m clearing, it will continue to be a forest ecosystem.
Secondly if I remove all the pine (a pioneer species in my climate and soil) the maple and beach understory will take over and move toward a climax forest. I love the forest, it’s the life blood of my homestead and land, there isn’t one tree removed thoughtlessly.
Hope you are enjoying your break from Steemit. I am about to take a 2-3week break also!
Hopefully can come back with a colorful and vamped up @healthy-home
Peace
Yeah..... My break is turning out to be much longer!! :-/
Hope yours went well!
Not sure when I will be back completely.
Peace
I am sorry.... I misunderstood