One Bite at a Time

How do you eat a whale? One bite at a time.

I took another bite out of our blackberries last week.  I had been building a burn pile of scotch broom, and downed and trimmed limbs.  I have a temporary fire site right next to a bunch of blackberries I need to remove.  That way I don't have to carry them too far to get rid of them.

Phoebe has big plans for that little building behind the berries.  It is all clear on the other side, but being eaten on this.

We have oh so many stands of berries like the one above.  They are little islands, with hard dead canes supporting new growth, 10-16' long.

My approach was to slice it up with my brush cutter, then fork it over to the fire.  All I could do was cut up a chunk, pull it out, then cut another.  The eating metaphor felt pretty apt, as I took it bit by bit.

The clear patch just beyond the fire was the mess above.  It is still full of berry roots, but can be mowed or weed eaten very easily now. The old downed cherry tree has a lot of good wood in it, for craft or fire.

And there is the future Art Shack, looking very lonely in its cleared space.  The big old cherry tree on the left, a remnant from Phoebe's childhood, will have to come down soon.  Fortunately, she clipped a few scions from it and grafted them.  

We will likely be planting a lot of trees in this area, including the next generation of her childhood cherries.

It was a big afternoon of work, but very satisfying when finished.

Of course, my indispensable farm helper was with me the whole time, staring at the horse.