All the fingers and all the toes are still on!!

Outward Bound 101…or how to get a handle on a treed lot
Every day is a new adventure on the land. Buying land with no amenities gives us all an opportunity to learn through each stage of the process. First order of business—surveying the land. If we know where the four corners of the property are, then we can begin to figure out where the various buildings go.
 
It was a cold, rainy day, but the surveyors came out and figured out the four corners…

 
Dan rented a brush hog to clear out some of the brush and start making a pathway where we could begin to work. 
 

 
After that I was introduced to a skid steer made by Bobcat. They make a small job of getting rid of smaller sized trees.
 

 
Before I knew it, I was getting skid steer driving lessons: pedals to manage the bucket, handles to push and pull for forward and backward, how to turn it—handles in opposite directions, and when in doubt you can always turn the key off!
 

 
So far so good! My son and his girlfriend came over last weekend and were super excited about learning to drive it, so off we went for nighttime skid steer lessons. Erin was a champ and was driving up a tree learning to fell it with the Bobcat. David went next and snagged his very own tree himself too! That was a fun evening. It made us all re-evaluate what we’re currently doing for a living!
 

 
Dan picked up a couple of culverts to help with drainage at the place where we are making a driveway entrance.
 

 
We ordered a load of gravelly sand to lay over the culverts to start to make a driveway and allow for drainage in the little ditch that is under what will be the driveway.
 

 
Seems pretty loose and squishy. I think we should get something to pack it down with. I’m thinking it looks too loose and we could easily get stuck… What if we bought some plywood and placed it on top of the sand for a while while we drive on it to pack it down…
 
Moving the RV there… well, let’s just say we’re still working on that! Those boards might have been a good idea…
 
Onto selective felling of trees. We like that there are trees, but to put up the work structures some of the trees will need to be felled to make room for the buildings. Dan knows what he’s doing when it comes to cutting down trees, but how about the rest of us?!
 
When I rented the chain saw with the skid steer, it was $55 a day. It wouldn’t take too many days of renting one to cover the cost of buying one. Off to the local farm supply store we go. It’s getting to be my new best friend. After doing some comparison shopping at the local big box store, we learned the farm supply store is competitively priced on this item. We ended up with the 455 series chainsaw by Husquavarna. It’s supposed to be a better brand than some of the others and we didn’t want an ‘e-series’ one—short for economy (read cheap). We have a lot of trees to be felled and cut; we need a machine that will do the job.
 

 
Danny had the task of reading the Getting Started Instructions out loud, while Dan got it started for the first time, putting in fuel and oil and then pumping the bulb a number of times to purge the air out of the engine. He had to pull the starter rope quite a few times before the engine engaged, but we met with success.
 

 
Ready for the first lesson… basic chain saw cutting… Don’t sway the chainsaw back and forth; let the saw cut through the tree—like cutting soft butter—it can do it easily.
 

 
Then log cutting… Make each log only about 12-14" long so it’ll fit into a fireplace or fire pit easily.
 

 
Now it’s my turn to practice cutting logs…
 

 
Ok, I’ve got it… Danny…. your turn to learn how to cut logs…
 

 
Looks like he’ll be able to cut logs from now on…
 

 
Now that we each know how to cut logs, let’s have a real lesson in felling trees! I learned that first you figure out which direction the tree grows naturally—that’s the direction that it will want to fall. If the top of the tree is reaching to the east, then you’ll need to cut a wedge, or a notch, into the east side of the tree. I started with a horizontal cut about a third of the way into the tree. 
 

 
Then cut straight down to the notch making a notch. The bigger the notch, the easier it is to turn the tree the direction you want for felling. Here’s a close up of Danny making his front notch.

..
 

 
Once the front notch is cut, then make a horizontal cut on the back side of the tree at least 1 inch above the bottom cut of the front notch. 
 

 
Be very aware at this stage of the tree felling process because if you need to retreat quickly go about 45 degrees back from the direction of the fall—not directly back and certainly not in the front of the tree. This mistake could cost you your life. Here’s where you truly need to be careful because what you are doing is certainly taking risk!
 

 
With the tree down, the next thing is to cut the small branches from the trunk… of course, Dan made it look more like cutting butter again!
 

 
Then he started cutting logs…
 

 
We’re back to full circle now because we already had the logging lesson…
Oh, time to take Danny to his piano lesson. I’ll be back afterwards. Be careful Dan…
 
Here’s a snap of the twig pile and the wood pile Danny and I worked on while Dan was cutting and logging in another area of the woods.
 

 
When I got back we had some strategic product placement… That Husquvarna gets the job done!
 

 
Look at the size of that tree…!
 

 
Today, we decided it was a good day to construct a fire pit/cook stove. We gathered 14 blocks and 6 of the little flat ones… They cost about $18.00 at the big box store, but I had 8 from home. Purchasing 6 of each type.
 

 
We placed the six flat ones three wide and two deep encasing them with six blocks and then stacking up from there…
 

 
Last week at the farm supply store we purchased a little rack ($12) to use on the cookstove. I placed it on top of what we had so far and with a few minor tweaks, we were good to go. For $30 we have a fire pit/cook stove that can work well for a long time to come. Living frugally gets the job done and can be fun!
 

 
Next up, let’s gather some dead wood and get something easy to start the fire with. The box for the chain saw could be used as starter fuel and then we’ll see if we can get the wood to light. I happen to have some lighters in my car… Having lighters was no accident. Stocking up on lighters when you’re making fires frequently seems like a pretty logical thing to do.
 

 
I retrieved a newspaper from the car too. It helped get the fire started because it’s easier than cardboard. Note to self: Keep some newspaper in the car for starting fires.
 

 
When getting a fire started, it’s one thing to get the kindling to start… but will the big logs catch fire is the real question.
 

 
With the big log lit, it’s time to bring in some campfire furniture…
 

 
In high school, that would have been a fellow football player he was carrying. With a bit of seasoning, he’s directed that strength to carry wood blocks…
 

 
With a couple of these in place, we sat by the fire and watched the birds… we saw robins, bluebirds, cardinals, a meadowlark, sparrows, and geese. It was comforting to see and hear so many birds flying and flitting and singing their songs. At my house, I don’t see so many birds. It concerns me because I wonder how many are left and how many have died off because of the toxins killing off so many species.
 
At the end of the day, it’s good to practice fire safety and put out the fire. We happened to have a jug of water nearby… off when the fire!
 

 
We stacked a few more logs on the pile… not bad for a first effort… there’s enough wood stacked to get us by for six months…
 

 
Meanwhile back at home this morning… inside the hoop house the temperature was 51 degrees and the veggies and greens where growing strong…
 

 
I picked three grocery bags full of greens and veggies this morning…
 
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Check out these organic multi-colored carrots… growing away when most days hover around freezing…
 

 
Check out the harvest… kale, spinach, cilantro, carrots, onions, lettuce, swiss chard, arugula…
 

 
I made a fine lunch of fresh salad with a balsamic vinegrette dressing with pinto bean hummus, deviled eggs, tortilla chips, and sweet and sour pickles from the summer.
 
Bon appetit! at Chez Kansas… : )