It's coming along...

[noinwi]

...albeit slowly(DH and I are in pretty poor shape). Got my future container garden pad cleared off. It's 11' x 12', plenty of sun although there are ash trees next to it(SE corner)that will come down at some point in the future.

Before...


No longer covered with moss. Shrub is some kind of current. It might survive my severe hacking. Oh, and there's our only girl, adopted after being trapped in our garage a couple months ago. The boys weren't happy and there were lots of fights. She finally resigned herself to not being top cat, that spot is held by our smallest boy.


Some of our lardbutts. The black one hasn't been accepted into the fold yet, but the guys let him hang so they can eat "his" food(same stuff they get inside). He's very sweet(probably a drop-off)but still intact. Hopefully that will change soon.


After cutting down many rugosa roses and blackberry canes I discovered some peonies struggling to come up. Behind them in the plastic-lined cans(bottoms rusted out)I planted some potatoes that were given to me. I was also given some Walla-Walla starts and I thought I'd plant them in the bed in front of the peonies(after some, um, a lot of soil turning). There are several similar low beds between the grapevine and trees, still choked out by blackberries and grass, but strawberries are trying to come up in them. The grapevine(green table grapes)is starting to put out leaf buds. We need to get the blackberry canes out of it soon.


After some mowing you can barely see the pond. Construction on the other side of the road has made the water brown. The larger lilac bush will have to come out after it's done flowering. I love lilacs but it blocks the view and there are others on the property.


Years of work ahead, but at least I'll try to get some container toms this season.

[Redbaron]

Maybe a goat would help clear out all that brush?

[noinwi]

Well, there's a good sized(for a black-tail)buck that was munching away just below the little fountain yesterday, probably on the new blackberry growth. That's the thing with goats though, too. They'll eat the leaves and not the canes. There's six years of BB overgrowth on about 3 once-cleared acres and everywhere a cane touches down, it roots. There are thickets of dead canes below all the new top growth. DH will have to get the track loader running when the soil...um...clay dries out(we're a designated wetland)and hope the county doesn't notice.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by noinwi

Well, there's a good sized(for a black-tail)buck that was munching away just below the little fountain yesterday, probably on the new blackberry growth. That's the thing with goats though, too. They'll eat the leaves and not the canes. There's six years of BB overgrowth on about 3 once-cleared acres and everywhere a cane touches down, it roots. There are thickets of dead canes below all the new top growth. DH will have to get the track loader running when the soil...um...clay dries out(we're a designated wetland)and hope the county doesn't notice.

Be careful, I know a guy in Washington state that messed with his wetland, got turned in and it cost him a few thousand dollars.

I feel that if it is your land do as you wish or be exempt from taxes when it comes to this sort of thing.
Not polluting or anything though.

Worth

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by noinwi

Well, there's a good sized(for a black-tail)buck that was munching away just below the little fountain yesterday, probably on the new blackberry growth. That's the thing with goats though, too. They'll eat the leaves and not the canes. There's six years of BB overgrowth on about 3 once-cleared acres and everywhere a cane touches down, it roots. There are thickets of dead canes below all the new top growth. DH will have to get the track loader running when the soil...um...clay dries out(we're a designated wetland)and hope the county doesn't notice.

There is a trick that used to work. Now mind you I haven't lived out there since around ~1992. But back when I lived in Seattle, I met a guy struggling with ridiculous wetland regs. His solution as he told me was to apply for a grant to "improve wetlands area" (his property)! So not only was he able to fix up his property, he actually got money from the government to pay for it!

I wish I had details, but that was many years ago. The general gist of it was this though. He went and took a picture of a goose or something like that on his property, and submitted a plan to improve the habitat. It included a special breeding "island" safe zone (so chicks safe from cats, dogs etc) in his small pond and "forage areas" that were to be cleared of brush so geese could graze, the forage of course seeded with native species of grasses. He would dredge the pond to build the island had a deep hole for fish and a shallow area for cat tails, and woods bordering one side as well "so forest animals could drink"..in essence he just made a plan of what he wanted to do anyway and put a spin on it so it was part of the "habitat improvement". They bought into it and basically by the end of it all, he had a very impressive 20 acres worth of a botanical garden partly funded by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service! I don't know if they still have those grants. But worth checking it out.

PS Oh and BTW By the time I saw it he had all kinds of birds and other wildlife living and breeding on his property. So obviously it wasn't all spin. He truly did want to create habitat.

[ddsack]

Lot of work ahead, but it's still exciting to get your hands in the dirt and make some changes little by little. Sort of an expanded version of the Secret Garden, if you've ever read the classic kids book.

Good luck, and keep posting pictures of your progress.

[noinwi]

I hear you, Worth. DH and family dug the pond out in the 70s and then the county came in later after the wetland regulations were established and tried to tell them they couldn't use it because it was natural, but they had photos of it being dug. They raised trout in it for several years. There's 15 acres here and just two small areas that are approved for habitation(one area is without access). They've really come down hard on property owners in the area so there's a lot of land that according to the county, is not useable. So they can't use it and no one will buy it, and they have to pay taxes on it. Yet, some large hunks of land are still getting sold to developers and being clear-cut. On the upside, the house site, septic and several outbuildings here are grandfathered in. I think they had the large shop/garage built about 15 years ago and let the contractor deal with the permits. They barely squeaked by with it, but it's here now and the county can't do anything about it. It's a big eyesore as far as I'm concerned but it's very functional and needed for working on the vehicles and equipment. We'll work on making it more attractive later on.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by noinwi

I hear you, Worth. DH and family dug the pond out in the 70s and then the county came in later after the wetland regulations were established and tried to tell them they couldn't use it because it was natural, but they had photos of it being dug. They raised trout in it for several years. There's 15 acres here and just two small areas that are approved for habitation(one area is without access). They've really come down hard on property owners in the area so there's a lot of land that according to the county, is not useable. So they can't use it and no one will buy it, and they have to pay taxes on it. Yet, some large hunks of land are still getting sold to developers and being clear-cut. On the upside, the house site, septic and several outbuildings here are grandfathered in. I think they had the large shop/garage built about 15 years ago and let the contractor deal with the permits. They barely squeaked by with it, but it's here now and the county can't do anything about it. It's a big eyesore as far as I'm concerned but it's very functional and needed for working on the vehicles and equipment. We'll work on making it more attractive later on.

Your place looks fine to me.
By the way I love the fat cats you have around.

Worth

[whistech]

I like your place and I would love to find some garden statues like yours at a reasonable price.

[noinwi]

Interesting idea, Scott. We've actually been trying to figure out how to complain to the county about the silt coming into the pond from the property across the street. It used to run clean, but now it's brown and has been for at least a year IIRC. The stream that leaves the pond eventually empties into the sound, but it's not a named stream. Still, it might support spawning fish. We just don't need the county coming in and snooping around the rest of the property. There's been some junk hoarding going on over the years that we need to clean up on our own without being pressured with fines and deadlines and stuff.

By the way I love the fat cats you have around.

Thanks. They have our number. This area has always been a bad one for drop-offs and they just keep showing up. We've glimpsed two others besides the black one and the girlie on the property.

I like your place and I would love to find some garden statues like yours at a reasonable price.

Ha! I don't know how long those have been there, but they're starting to disintegrate. We've been picking out other spots to place them so we can finish clearing around the concrete pad. The gnome and little man kind of creep me out, but I do like the donkey and geese. There are a couple of resting deer crammed in there too, kind of sunk into the clay. It'll be like an archeology dig!

[kilroyscarnival]

Looks good, Norma! It looks like it's a real quiet spot. I kind of picture Shakespeare's As You Like It being played in that clearing.

[noinwi]

It is fairly quiet except that we're in the flight path of Ft Lewis in Tacoma so we get helicopters and planes going over frequently and can hear military training "booms". Other times it can be eerily quiet...no sound at all but an occasional crow high in the sky.
A funny thing just happened. It's about midnight here and the black cat made the security light come on off the mudroom. I went out and opened the door and he decided to come in and make himself at home. It's the first time he's been(allowed)past the cat door in the mudroom. After the initial kerfuffle everyone has settled down and he is just exploring. Here's hoping he's used a litter box before...