We started early tearing out a tree I wanted removed 3 years ago. Low and behold, we found an old drain tile underneath it! Jack tore that tree out in less than an hour, ran to get some solid wall tile to patch the line and we were off to the next project.
My load of number 4's showed up and I had the driver spot the pile near the fence row in a low but dry spot. Any left over gravel will help fill the spot.The driver was a really rough looking character but a really nice guy. "He doesn't look like he's from around here." We talked about retirement and grandkids then he was off on his way.
One tile blowout turned out not to be one. It was an old flat stone laid up hand dug well! It is dry now so we dumped some number 4's in it and filled it back up. Maybe it will show up again but it was not a tile line blowout.
I took our Mule to scout tile hole repairs and marked them as I went. There is one big blowout near the creek and I am not sure what we will get into on that one today. There are a few more lesser blow outs in the same line towards the hill to the west.
The Emerald Ash Borer dried out some of those logs too quickly and they should have been burned last year. We got sawdust in our eyes loading the wood. The borer holes aerated some of the ash a little too quickly but it will still make a good fire.
The boys and I unloaded the wood and we loaded another load of seed. Soon we will have several pick up loads of big cut up logs to split. We have 4 big loads in a pile now and Graham said that was the biggest pile he had ever seen. Me too except for piles where guys sell firewood as a business.
It was just a wonderful day but I was so busy I didn't get to appreciate it like I would have liked to. I could have just sat there and watched everything going on but there was too much to do.
I am very thankful for days like this and very thankful for my friends.
It was a wonderful day in a pretty wonderful life.
Ed
I used to cut timber and grow Christmas trees. I know what you mean about being too busy to enjoy it. It doesn't seem possible to be in the middle of it and not enjoy it, but I know it IS.
ReplyDeleteGuess what, Gorges, a good neighbor left us a bag of water, pop and snacks for us to enjoy there!
ReplyDeleteHe is quite a guy, he asked one day if he could pray for my crop and I said of course, it needs help.
He laid his hands on me and asked the Lord for a good crop and I got one!
I sure could use you and your chainsaw on that farm, Gorges. I have at least 1000 smaller trees around 30 feet tall that need to come out.
But those giant thorn trees, you can't get near 'em!
Ed
You still have elms around? They've long been gone in Europe, except for some rare trees that escaped the elm disease. Not the same insect as your ash borer, but I suppose it's the vector of the same fungi.
ReplyDeleteI remember eating the young elm's seeds as a kid, the whole bunch of seeds and the green leaf-like bag that contains the seed. It used to be the most common tree in Paris. That's one experience new kids will miss.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Illustration_Ulmus_carpinifolia0.jpg/386px-Illustration_Ulmus_carpinifolia0.jpg
We lost a great timber too, many Norman manors have elm beams several centuries old.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Olmo.jpg
All these ancient pruning techniques like pollarding every few years to reinforce the timber are barely used anymore now. Elm and ash used to make great hay for livestock too. I remember reading about ash silage centuries old that they found in caves, buried under stones and dirt, to keep the oxygen from reaching it. It was supposedly a way to provide feed during the winter, when dead tree leaves could not be used as feed.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Arbres_%C3%A9mond%C3%A9sTaille_dure.jpg
The only way to keep elms from the disease is to prune them every year, as for a hedge: There's no old bark for the insect to feed on, so no contagion.