We tend to post the photos that are aesthetically pleasing, but behind the scenes is often not very pretty. That one "Kodak Moment" may have taken hours, days, maybe even months or years of behind the scenes preparation that the public never sees. Much of the work we are doing now (at both farms) isn't exactly "picture worthy" but I have not shared an update on the grounds and out building restoration in Laurel Fork for several weeks.
Mike continues to sneak a few minutes here and there to work on the inside of the barn. We still have a crazy amount of work to do in there before it is operational but other things have taken priority as the weather cooperates. We can't actually move the animals until we have adequate fencing and the fencing project has been delayed time and again for various reasons. We got some estimates on building fence and decided it just wasn't going to fit into our budget to have all of the fence built by a contractor. Then we needed to decide what part of the fence we were going to build ourselves and what we were going to contract out. We are having some difficulties with that decision and that has been a part of the delay. Seems like an easy thing to decide but we have other issues involved as well which will determine what part will be board fence (Mike will build) and what part will be woven wire fence (what a contractor will build). The perimeter fence around the back of the property, we will repair/replace as needed ourselves. Several issues are affecting our decisions on fencing. The more we involve ourselves in the care of this land, the more we want to work with the land and preserve it for future generations, rather than just graze our cattle and live there indiscriminately. The area has a crazy amount of springs and land that remains mostly wet. Due to the steep terrain, we also are dealing with erosion in certain areas. We decided it would be advantageous for us to have a talk with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and try to develop a plan that will work for us as well as help to maintain the land for future generations. We are slightly delayed with planning as we wait for our scheduled appointment with Tim from NRCS on the 12th of this month. Tim will come out and take a look at our situation and offer suggestions. What we decide to do with the areas that are either full of springs or eroding, will determine some of our fencing decisions. We may fence off areas that are eroding to keep the cattle from further adding to the problem. While the place has not been occupied in many years by a farming family, the land itself has been rented out to other farmers who didn't have a personal interest in the land. Many years of cattle running up and down the sides of eroding, mountainous terrain have exaggerated the problem. We are hoping to be able to fence off that area and perhaps plant trees. We will "lose" some of our grazing land, but in the end, the land will benefit and that is what is most important. Rather than think about what suits us at the moment, we are trying to look to the future and what is best for the land.
While we "wait", Mike has been tearing down old fencing and we have been clearing brush. In addition to the brush that already needed to be cleared, the last heavy snow fall brought down a lot of large limbs. One area that we have been concentrating on is adjacent to the house where huge vines have wrapped themselves around a fence meant to bring boundary to the back yard and at one time kept cattle out that went down to the stream on that side to drink. That fence is no longer needed and I like the idea of having the back yard flow right into the forest that begins with a grove of pines as the edge of our yard. Clearing those vines has been next to impossible, but slowly, Mike has hacked away at the tangled mess and I have tried to help him haul the debris to the burn pile.
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| Mike started clearing this section of fence and the vines with the loader. He had to stop after getting down the hill because it just became too steep. In addition, we had a major mechanical break to the loader and we are waiting on the part. |
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| The work resumed by hand. It is slow work. |
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| The pictures don't look that dramatic but the view from the kitchen is so much better with each section that gets cleared. Where I once could not see up the banks, I now have a much cleaner view of the mountain pasture. |
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| This picture shows how much cleaner the line is between the yard and the woods towards the top of the hill. Eventually, those old electric poles will come out as well as those wild cherry trees to the left of the picture. When we first bought the property, the Maple at the edge of the yard was completely covered by vines that hung to the ground. Slowly, Mike has worked to free the Maple of the twisting vines. |
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| A virtual jungle of vines. |
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| The grass is starting to come up around the back of the house. |
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| A large brush pile representative of some of the brush we have dragged up the hill. |
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| Tearing down old fence in preparation for new fence along the driveway that goes past the house and up to the barnyard. |
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| Fence coming down. Love the Mountain Laurel and the old trees on this property as well as the groves of pines and forested areas. My Appalachian Roots have found a home in these mountains. |
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| These are a few of the branches that fell during the last snow storm. These fell across the power line and onto the roof of the chicken house. Mike sawed the limb and I moved the brush up the hill to the brush pile. This photo also shows the original fence in this area which has now been removed. |
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| Limbs that fell on the chicken house. |
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| This picture shows a bit of the incline. The area to the front of the photo will be fenced off with a deer fence and we will put a garden here. This is where the original family had their garden and while it is not level at all, it is really the only option for a garden. We are going to put in raised beds since we don't plan on growing enough produce to feed the community like we have done in years past. We will still have a large garden area with a section 50 x 75 feet fenced off. Approximately where the pine is to the right of the photo will be a cross fence that will separate the garden from the pasture. |
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| The debris on the ground here was storm damage. This picture continues to illustrate that we have no level ground, strictly mountain land. The tree to the left is the one that was completely covered in vines. The previous picture I posted shows how much of it Mike removed just in the last week. I wish we could top the tree which would clear more of those vines and allow it to experience re-growth but that may be cost prohibitive and we definitely can't do it ourselves. There are so many things I want to do to make the land better and preserve it for future generations. One step at a time. |
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| Here Mike is removing old fence. Beyond him is where we drag the brush. Again, a good picture to show the terrain. |
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Closer view of fence removal.
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It's a lot of work and perhaps hard to illustrate in photos, but we are doing what we can! We are older and slower but eventually, we will get there if we keep plugging along! We feel incredibly blessed to have this opportunity.
