The Meadows

It is still the middle of winter, but my mind is on spring. Because I want happy, healthy, fast-growing sheep, I need to grow a lot of really good forage. Currently, we have only a couple of good acres of pasture (and even that needs some more work). Starting in the spring, we will begin the work of renovating, reinvigorating and rediscovering the "meadows."

Nate, our next door neighbor, recently moved back into the house where he was raised. He tells us that our property used to have big, beautiful meadows. That was 40 years ago. Now we have a lot of "new" forest characterized by 3-8 inch diameter trees and a lot of undergrowth (mostly 1-2 inch diameter beech trees). There are very few mature trees (2+ feet in diameter), and actually most of those are dead. Around many parts of our property, you can tell when you cross the boundary because you step into a much more mature forest.

This is going to be a multi-year effort. In order to get off on the right foot, we have purchased some of the necessary tools, including a brush hog and a stump grinder. These will be delivered in the second half of March. I already have a chain saw and a small chipper (up to 3.5 inch branches). We are also taking about a tractor - might go shopping for that next weekend.