I had big dreams; I still do.  When we moved out to the country 3-4 years ago, I had lots of plans, most centered around pemaculture.  If you followed my FB posts back then, you saw lots of swales, hundreds of trees and bushes, and lot of other “gardening” things.  Well priorities happened and several of the projects I started have been left to the wild.

This year I’m taking some of them back.  Not that I really have any extra time, but it was looking like this was the pivotal year for either doing something or losing the effort and money I previously invested in them.

Here’s the brush pile from the projects I’m reclaiming.   It’s 6′ tall in this picture and I added a couple more feet after that.

And here are the projects that I’m reclaiming.

 

#1 is my Kiwi vines.  During our year of house building, this area was a nursery for all the plants I brought with us.   I had it fenced in to keep deer out and the kiwis intertwined in the fence.  Luckily I planted the plants far enough apart that this year I turned it into an arbor using sections of the fence.  When I cleared out the overgrowth, I kept the decorative grasses still there from the nursery and I even found the third kiwi plant that I though was lost.  So I still have my male and two female vines.

 

 

#2 is the frog pond with the honeyberry swale.  There are 5 honeyberry bushes I’m reclaiming as well as comfrey plants and some hostas.  Still have some work, but the thorn bushes are out now.

 

 

 

 

#3 is just where I had a pile of about 15 logs.  The boys helped me cut, split, and stack all the logs.  There were quite a few volunteer trees growing here between the logs, some almost 16′ tall.   As soon as we clear up the junk logs and scraps, I’ll be able to mow this area and get it ready as pasture for the laying hens.

 

 

 

I didn’t get completely finished tonight.  I had to stop due to loss of light and injury.   This thorn doesn’t look like much, but trust me, it really hurts to move your knuckle when there’s a thorn stuck in it.  It’s still sore as I type.

Looking forward to the bonfire tomorrow when I get rid of this brush pile.

-Jason