The Riddle

How do you make a meadow where there once was forest? This thought has caught my attention in the past when I've found a stonewall in the middle of the woods. I wonder about the focus and fortitude of generations past who would envision a homestead of their own, find an unclaimed spot, and then devote their lives to removing trees and rocks, till the soil, plant the seeds and create some of the beautiful farms we see in our countryside today.
Richard and I aren't envisioning beef or dairy cattle, nor are we planning organic farmland large enough to finance all our operations here. We are however, working toward getting a garden put in this spring and that's what prompted us initially to consider taking down some of the giant pines around our house... to create space without impinging on the already established lawn and perennial beds. Preservation of the house and roof also came into conversation, and though we started talking about taking one pine down for the garden, it soon became clear that we wanted to take down the other large pines surrounding the north side of the house.
We managed to contract with a really thoughtful and considerate young man to cut the trees... he will have as many trees milled into boards as possible, and then take the rest for pulp. This made the transaction affordable for us, and feasible for him. He'll return to walk the property with us, and give us his ideas for managing the acres behind the house.

What we have now is open space for a nice sized garden, an area to work into a truck trail around the back of the house, and a place for a meadow and eventually a barn. Very nice! The remaining trees in this area will be trimmed, cleared, and encouraged to grow to their potential, and we'll be able to manage them much better... this should make for healthy trees!
We'll post more photos as this project evolves. I know we won't be working with the same crude and slow implements as pioneers years ago, but we will be working as thoughtfully as possible, using some good old back and elbow grease!
The Riddle is a tune we heard recently at the Thursday jam in Pownal. It can be found in Along the River. It is really fun to play!