Reclaiming a long-lost field

[dave1949]

Time for an update since I probably won't get much more done this year. Need to catch up with some regular chores before the snow flies.

I have about 3 acres, maybe a bit less, yet to do out of the 12 acres. I averaged about 1/4 acre per day it seems. Some go areas faster, some slower of course. I'm sure I will need to cruise the areas that are done now next spring to grab a few rocks here and there.

This is from the entrance lane. Small stoned turn around area on the left.



The area to the left tends to collect water, the rocks are a bit of retaining wall and swale crossing (in progress) for the tractor & walking lane that will follow the edge of the field.



This is about 1/2 to 3/4 acre of area yet to do. That side of the field is very rocky with many bigger boulders near/at the surface. If I dig them all up, I would be in a pit. :laughing: Trying to find the level where not too many are above the surface.

 

[dave1949]

Pics of the areas I worked on and are pretty clean now.

 

[dave1949]

Another cleared area pic.


The green fuzz is Southern States Coop north horse pasture mix: orchardgrass, timothy, ryegrass, bluegrass, and a bit of ladino clover. For a quick test I broadcast a 50 lb bag along with some pelletized lime and high nitrogen fertilizer. Just had to see what would happen. Most of northern Maine set record low rainfall amounts for September. We are very dry but lucky to get some light rain last Saturday and Tuesday, enough to keep seedling grass going.

 

[BlacknTan]

Nice!

Can't wait to see how things look next year!

 

[dave1949]

Thanks. I'm looking forward to that too. It's pretty barren now. In a couple weeks from now when the trees are bare too, it's not going to be pretty until the snow hides it. A carpet of green will make a huge difference--proving that beauty really is only skin deep. :laughing:

I think a spike tooth harrow and a 3pt spreader are going to be the main tools I need at this point. I'd like to level it more but unfortunately the rolling dips and humps are due to the ledge being not far below. More digging begets more rocks, or bare ledge in places. Better to leave those sleeping dogs lie.

 

[PAGUY]

dave - any chance for a pond being dug as a water source?

It sure would look nice and a draw for wildlife in the area.

Just dreaming of how it would add to the beauty of all that open space.

PAGUY

 

[dave1949]

dave - any chance for a pond being dug as a water source?

It sure would look nice and a draw for wildlife in the area.

Just dreaming of how it would add to the beauty of all that open space.

PAGUY

I don't think there is a place in the field that could make a pond that would always have water. That's probably one reason it was chosen for a field or pasture to begin with as it is one of the drier areas on our lot. I think it's drier because the ledge runs close to the surface under much of it. Digging would be impossible to chancy.

Water is a good wildlife anchor as you say; we have some water adjacent to the field.

Our 1/3 acre rain pond is about 100 feet from the entrance end of the field. There is a 20' deep by about 50' wide drainage gully that runs along the field's southwest side that always has some water moving through it plus a few small, shallow natural pools. The beaver bog/pond is about 75' from the far end of the field.

Even after a very dry six weeks the rain pond still has about 6' of water in the deep end and a trickle of water is moving through the gully. The beavers take care of their pond. I could make a deeper small pond in the gully with a dam but that is good wildlife habitat as it is, that would be a shame to mess with.

So, we have water around, but not the human scenic kind.

 

[scott_vt]

Good Afternoon Dave,
Looks like you did one heck of a lot of work to get to this point !

Just think of all the fun you will have haying all that area !

 

[dave1949]

Good Afternoon Dave,
Looks like you did one heck of a lot of work to get to this point !

Just think of all the fun you will have haying all that area !

Hi Scotty,

Ya, it was like having a job again. Not so bad, I'm working on it at my own pace. Probably spend another 3-4 weeks next spring finishing up the rocks and roots. I needed to stop working on the field and do some tree and firewood stuff before winter gets here.

Making hay is still a ways off, won't be next summer for sure. I've been trying to educate myself about hay by reading the Haying Forum section. Lots of good info and insight there.

Are you enjoying your addition? That was a lot of work too.

 

[scott_vt]

Hi Scotty,


Are you enjoying your addition? That was a lot of work too.

Good Morning Dave,
Yes we really are enjoying it !

One thing we found out was that we really needed to put a door in to close off the up stairs bedroom with the wood stove going ! It got unbelievably warm up there without one ! So last weekend I used what V groove pine I still had laying around and built a simple door.

That soapstone stove really heats that addition quite well, actually that stove can pretty well heat the whole house ! Its very easy to fall asleep sitting next to that thing !

To keep this post legal, I am going to be very interested in how your project turns out next spring and summer !

BTW thanks for asking !