Reclaiming a long-lost field

[AchingBack]

The clearing resembles a chewed upon oak leaf. Very artistic. What are you going to create next?

 

[dave1949]

The clearing resembles a chewed upon oak leaf. Very artistic. What are you going to create next?

:laughing: I would have preferred a more regular shape.

When I flagged out the tree clearing I followed the old stone walls and terrain of usable ground for the most part. Along the right side, in the image pic, there are areas that could be expanded into. The blackish area at the top of the pic is a beaver bog and the land falls away down to that area. On the left side is a natural drainage trough with steep sides and boggy ground at the bottom.

An old neighbor, who passed away two winters back, told me he made hay here as a teenager. He later became a very successful early adopter of the "grass farmer" concept. There used to be a good bit of agriculture in this area. Apple orchards, sheep, cattle, etc. That dwindled quickly in the early 1900's when the railroads and the Erie Canal made shipping farm products from the Ohio River Valley and further west feasible.

 

[EddieWalker]

Interesting project. I'm enjoying the pics and following our progress.

Eddie

 

[square1]

An old neighbor...told me he made hay here as a teenager.

I don't think he meant what you think he meant

 

[dave1949]

I don't think he meant what you think he meant

His widow is still here, I could ask. :laughing:


Here are pics of the slope that will likely become a stump repository.



The rock wall along the right side is typical of this area. It probably dates back to 1870-1900. Would have been a tough life. There are 2-3 miles of such walls on our lot. Most have been run over by log skidders over the years.

 

[forgeblast]

Some permiculture sites will put trees/branches etc down and then cover with soil and then plant on top of it. There is also a garden form called a stumpery ( i saw it on victory garden), they plant a lot of shade plants and use moss all over them. Its really something.

 

[dave1949]

Some permiculture sites will put trees/branches etc down and then cover with soil and then plant on top of it. There is also a garden form called a stumpery ( i saw it on victory garden), they plant a lot of shade plants and use moss all over them. Its really something.

Thanks for the suggestion. I suppose it would be an interesting project to make a stump garden trail in the woods. I think I have enough on my plate for now. My stumps don't have more than 6-8 inches of log stem since they were cut for chips as close to the ground as possible. That sort of detracts from their look in a garden.

I bet the weasels would love a pile of stumps. I saw a fisher cross near the edge of the clearing yesterday. I hope it has been cleaning out a few porcupines.

 

[oosik]

The adjoining acreage has massive(8' wide x 4'high) dry stone rock walls. The rancher has indicated that the original homesteader & his four sons cleared some 240 acres and built those stone walls. This would have been done in the 1880's with a rock sled and team of horses. I occasionally obtain large rock off these walls for use on my property and each time I see these walls - they go on for miles - my back aches. However, I must admit - there are some very nice fields and pastures on his property.

 

[dave1949]

The adjoining acreage has massive(8' wide x 4'high) dry stone rock walls. The rancher has indicated that the original homesteader & his four sons cleared some 240 acres and built those stone walls. This would have been done in the 1880's with a rock sled and team of horses. I occasionally obtain large rock off these walls for use on my property and each time I see these walls - they go on for miles - my back aches. However, I must admit - there are some very nice fields and pastures on his property.

Ditto on the back ache. Same here with rock sleds and horses, or often they used oxen. They still have oxen pulls (like horse pulls) at the local county fair.

People put a lot of sweat into the land here from the mid-1800's through about 1920 or so, then it was mostly abandoned and went back to woodlands. There are only about half as many people here now compared to the peak when there were many small farms and wood turning/lumber mill operations. I don't think it was a hard choice to leave for greener and warmer pastures with a longer growing season, more fertile soils, and less rocks.

The nearest cluster of homes here is West Mills which grew up around a place in the stream that could be dammed for a mill pond. That allowed saw and grist mills to operate. It was a thriving little community with a school and a few stores. All gone now except for the dam. Just a crossroads with old houses and mobile homes these days. There is a house built in 1812 for sale on the corner there. Been for sale for 2-3 years now. That pretty much typifies the current state of rural northern New England.

I'm in wait mode now on the field. The excavator will show up in the next couple weeks I think. He had a few jobs to get done before he comes here.

 

[scott_vt]

I'm in wait mode now on the field. The excavator will show up in the next couple weeks I think. He had a few jobs to get done before he comes here.

Good Evenin Dave,
Boy I thought we had rocks ! :laughing:

Huge undertaking, now you can realize how much work land clearing was years ago, talk about labor intensive...

Any idea how long it will take to turn that into a quality hay field ?

As I said in an earlier post, will be following your progress !

 

[dave1949]

Good Evenin Dave,
Boy I thought we had rocks ! :laughing:

Huge undertaking, now you can realize how much work land clearing was years ago, talk about labor intensive...

Any idea how long it will take to turn that into a quality hay field ?

As I said in an earlier post, will be following your progress !

Scotty, I have never done anything like this. It could turn out sort of well, or it could be a fool's errand. It's going to take a couple years I'm sure. I figure it can't be any worse than buying an old sailboat no matter what happens. :laughing:

I am curious to see what I will be starting with once the clearing work is done. I'll take soil samples of course, but I can imagine lots of lime and nitrogen building is going to be needed. I might need to begin with a good heavy York rake to clean-up stones and woody debris in the top 3-4 inches.

I have found several old broken off spring-tooth harrow tines here and there. Apparently someone in the past did try some tillage, but I don't see a plow ever working well here. I am thinking along the lines of a disc harrow, set to cut not too aggressive in case it hits rocks, followed by a spike-tooth drag harrow.

 

[jeff9366]

Apparently someone in the past did try some tillage, but I don't see a plow working here.

If your top soil is thin, you do not want to disturb the subsoil too deep. However, if you decide plowing might be useful, say to turn under a cover crop or two, consider a Disc Plow. Disc Plow is NOT a Disc Harrow. Monroe Tufline still manufactures Disc Plows. I also see "Dearborn" (Ford) Disc Plows fairly often on Craig's List and eBay.

Advantage of a Disc Plow is that it TENDS to roll over roots and rocks, which would stop a Moldboard Plow or possibly break/bend the points.

Disadvantages of a Disc Plow is that it tends to leave plowed field rougher than a Moldboard Plow and the furrows are often a bit wobbly, the more roots and rocks, the more wobbly the furrows.

Agriculture TDP Disc Plows - Monroe Tufline

Used Dearborn 2 Disc Turning Plow 3 PT Hitch We SHIP Cheap and We SHIP Fast | eBay

Ken Sweet usually monitors T-B-N closely, but he still farms so may not be as active here in the Spring. I have purchased from Sweet Tractors and found their refurbished equipment accurately described and Ken helpful after the sale with instruction if needed.

 

[dave1949]

jeff9366, Thanks for that info. Looks interesting. The top soil is thin and quite variable in depth here, and what's below it is very poor seed conditions and infertile. In places where the subsoil has been exposed nothing, not even weeds, can get started without some mulch cover. Having grown up in NW Ohio, it still amazes me to see a patch of bare ground that stays bare.

There are some hay fields around me so I know it's possible. I think it takes some soil building to get started. Red clover likes to grow here. Some clover and timothy growing, some steers eating and pooping, I think that would be an ideal way to build up some soil fertility.

 

[dave1949]

It was a bit of a wait but the field clearing began today.

The morning was taken up with pulling some stumps in a small clearing near the house and cleaning up the sides of the lane going back to the field.

This afternoon was when the field clearing got started. Step One is to go completely around the perimeter in a band about 50' wide cleaning up and straightening the edges a bit by ripping out trees that are sticking out. The stumps and general tree trash are being piled for later moving to the the stump dump area.

We also picked a location for a rock dump. Plenty of rocks. The contractor has a use for the solid (good condition granite, not flakey shale) 3'-5' boulders in a lakefront shore stabilization project. He has been collecting rocks here and there this summer from various projects. I told him take all he wants and I'll throw the good riddance party. :laughing:

I'll get some pics tomorrow. Feels good to get started.

 

[dave1949]

The next week or so is going to be a lot like below. Dig and pile stumps, rake with the dozer pushing the debris to the piles. (Deere 450) The piles will get loaded on a truck and driven across the field to the stump dump area, dumped and then roughly graded with the dozer.

This area was mostly clear before starting.


Lots of piles of roots an stumps.


After first bulldozer pass with the rake on the blade. The stones on the right are where the rock dump will be. I need a place to put rocks, 'cause I will be picking them for the next several years no doubt. Some rocks will go in the stump dump too. I asked that they be near the bottom of the pile as much as possible. That would put them 10'-15' below the finished stump dump grade--never to be seen again--by me at least. :laughing:


Example of cleaning up and straightening edges. Have to watch for yellow jacket nests, they love edges. Two so far but no stings.

 

[Larro Darro]

Looking good. Are you going to plant grass when this job is finished? Hay or just graze?

Very nice looking hills in the background. I bet your legs are in good shape. You have more rise in about twenty feet than I do in my whole quarter mile.

Larro

 

[dave1949]

Looking good. Are you going to plant grass when this job is finished? Hay or just graze?

Very nice looking hills in the background. I bet your legs are in good shape. You have more rise in about twenty feet than I do in my whole quarter mile.

Larro

My goal at this point is grass hay, which I think goes with developing healthy pasture. The hay around here is mixed grass hay for the most part.

This is new to me and I have tons to learn, so feel free to chime in with ideas.

I have a lot rock picking and smoothing with a drag to do before spending a lot on seeds. I need soil samples and amendment recommendations from the local extension agent once I have the soil test results. Guessing from what and how I see stuff growing now, it needs lime and nitrogen. Maybe the first planting is primarily a soil builder and time for the lime to do its thing before planting the desired crop.

The top of the knob behind the excavator is 1,480' above sea level. The field is about 600' elev. We spend most of our time within 50' elev. of the field on a fairly flat section of ground. Legs are not good. :laughing: From the back of our lot, it begins sloping up that hill. The hills do make a nice back drop. We considered building in that area but it would take a longer driveway than we wanted to deal with in winter, plus getting power back there would be expensive.

To see the hills requires a large opening or the trees hide them. Boy does the winter wind howl across that opening some days. The trees seem to funnel the wind through the fairly narrow entrance lane too.

 

[Larro Darro]

I have lots of hay and grass experience, but I doubt I know anything about what it would take up your way. I had a hayfield that has since been planted in pines that had a little sandstone. That is about all the rock I have ever had to deal with. And that was just on the sides of a big depression where there had been erosion.

Larro

 

[dave1949]

Some update pics of the stump dump area. It's going to be a tight fit to get them all in one area. I think it will go from being a dip to a mound. I have hopes. :laughing:

This is the stump dump area before.


About the same view now with some stumps added.


From the side near the top of stump dump area.

 

[dave1949]

Part of my rock collection. There is a 1/2 acre area that was never a field because it was full of these. There are some that won't be dug out because they are too big.



This roughly 1/4 acre corner has always been a wet spot. I don't know if it is just the water collecting after draining down off the higher area, or it is being helped by a seep. In many places the ledge (bedrock) isn't very far down, so water is trapped on top of that and drains down slope more than just straight down.