4th Weekend Of Tree Planting

Last big weekend this year of digging holesNot a lot of photos for various reasons.  One was we misplaced our camera.  So I did a weekend without it.  Then I bought another one, which was promptly stolen out of the car while parked in a parking lot while I purchased fencing.  Last reason is we are working too hard to take many pictures anyway.

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So for the last 3 weekends, I have just a few photos, and all from this last week.  Pic above is Nell finishing some pruning in one of the ancient apple trees on the property.  It appears to be some sort of standard apple tree, though we do not know the variety yet.  I thinned it out a lot, as far as I could reach from the ground, with a chainsaw and hand pruner.  The last part was not the wisest decision I have ever made.  Going through old hardwood with a hand pruner was a bit much for me apparently, as I found afterwards that the strain tore ligaments and tendons in my right wrist, which leaves me a one armed man for a while.

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We have been using a trailer to haul things up there, built on an old 1950s front end truck frame, which is nice since we can drive simply highway speed.  Lets us haul up bikes so the kids can explore the neighborhood.  Different than neighborhoods here, as up there, everyone has 40 or more acres, so everyone is at least a quarter mile away from everyone else.

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Kids are getting more daring climbing the windmill.  It is about 50 feet to the top, and Phoebe was the first to go all the way up.  Claire found her comfort level ended at about 30 feet, Nell kept at it until she was going up to the top on a regular basis.

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Every evening has been cozy campfires we cook over, which has been everything from baked pork roasts to fried fish.  Daytime the fire is kept going to burn the brush we have been clearing from the old homestead site.

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It is starting to get light just after 5 am and apparently that is when my body feels it is time for me to get up, start a fire, and get tea going.  Some mornings I am not the only person up that early, but most mornings it is just me, the grouse drumming, and wolf song.

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Pike  has been along every trip.  He even ran a wolf off of the field one morning which scared me a bit as there were more back in the trees, but he circled back when called and did not leave me burying a dog.  Have not had the wolves venture that close again yet.  Hope they don’t.

We have seen wolves, coyotes, foxes, porcupines, turkeys, deer, ruffed grouse and geese out there so far, along with lots of other various birds and small mammals.  No fisher or martins yet.  Nor bears, though we have seen their tracks.

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Did have a loose horse come to visit.  Do not want horses grazing down the 100+ apple and various fruit trees out there, so made a run down to the farm he came from to give him a heads up to come get it.

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Each weekend ends with us packing up and heading home, late usually, getting back down to the cities here close to midnight on Sundays.  This is the only picture, where in the background,  you can really see the sapling fruit trees.  Each is marked with another long cut sapling we plan to tie orange flag tape to so when the local farmer comes by to mow for hay, he does not cut down and bale  up the trees.

So, right now, about 100+ apples, 9 plums, 3 pears, 12 cherries, 4 apricots, 3 kinds of hops, and  50+ apricot seedlings yet to come.  I gave the raspberry crowns back as I cannot get up there for a few weeks.  Those bear quickly enough that I am not as concerned about getting those in as I was trees that take 5-6 years to truly start bearing (some longer).  I will have more of my own grafted trees to plant there next year as well.  Onward and upward.  The first year’s main tree planting is done.

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