Posts Tagged ‘wood chips’
Trail Upgrade
One of the best purchases I have made since we moved here is that wood chipper that runs off the PTO of the diesel tractor. Not only has it given us a way to get rid of the never-ending accumulations of tree branches, it is also providing a treasure trove of wood chips for landscape projects and trail maintenance.
I had a large pile of chips in the back pasture last fall that didn’t get distributed before it got buried in snow, and I have wanted to get it moved ever since it reappeared this spring. The recent rains have turned areas of our trail through the woods into swamp mud and we’re hoping a covering of wood chips will make it much less messy to cross, so that is providing additional motivation.
Yesterday, I landed a perfect combination of being home during the day, while it wasn’t raining, with time available, when the ATV was in working order. I made 3 trips from the pile to the wettest spot in the woods before switching to other more time-sensitive jobs.
Like mowing the grass. It has doubled in height in the 4 days since I last cut it. With rain predicted for today, I wanted to have that mowing completed in advance, to avoid it doubling another time before I could get to it.
There’s still half a pile of chips left, so I plan to return soon to covering the muddiest sections of trail with that, until it runs out. At that point, I will need to get out the trusty chipper again and make more piles of trail cover out of the multiple collections of branches that lie in wait.
It’s definitely a win-win situation!
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Expanding Storage
Earlier this year we began removing the cinder landscape blocks Cyndie purchased to help us mark the labyrinth path, replacing them with rocks we have collected. I reused the cinder blocks to create a nook for staging composted manure. 
Yesterday, at Cyndie’s prompting, we finally got back to removing the rest of the blocks. I had no idea there were so many remaining.
We decided to use the additional cinder blocks to expand our materials storage, creating another bay for staging wood chips.
It is a wonder to see how quickly we can convert an overgrown natural area into a manicured space with a new function. Now, I need to find time to get back to grinding up the many piles of brush I have created in the last few weeks.
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Relative Something 