Brush Hogging

John's been pretty busy. He has drained the water from around the barn as you can see above. I always thought that the water was from underground springs. It is, sort of. The brooks off of the mountain go underground before they reach the barn and then go underground because of the willows and alders that have grown wildly around the barn and the edge of the small field. John brush hogged the brush and the water began draining through his newly excavated ditches. He is recreating the natural flow of the brooks.

The brush in the photo above obscured the end of the shed at the end of the barn. John has brush hogged the entire barn and about a quarter mile of the right of way that goes up the mountain.

Technically, brush hogging means that you use a brush hog. But the tractor is best for this job because of the size of the brush. John hauls it to the far edge of the property. He got a burning permit from the fire warden and it took a whole day to burn the brush that he pulled in only two days. There is no snow pack now, so unfortunately John had to wait for a snowy, rainy day to burn. He had to stay with the fire the whole time in order to prevent a forest fire. It was a miserable day for him!

Below, John is clearing brush from the upper field. Our views of the field and the wildlife that visit it have been blocked by the willows. John left all of the beautiful tamarack trees, which we both love.

Below is a view from the bottom of the upper field to the barn.

And finally, the end of the barn is nearly entirely cleared. This part of the barn will be detached and rebuilt for a chicken coop that is weasel-proof.

_/\_/\_