Spring!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, this time of year! The windows are open, blue skies, plenty of sunshine, and the gardening season has begun!  Last year we started using the Square Foot Gardening system by Mel Bartholomew.  We had the best garden we have ever had!  This year we will be adding more raised beds for an even bigger harvest.  This week, I planted beets, swiss chard, and English peas.  I will also be planting carrots, lettuce, onions, potatoes, and asparagus in the next few days. 

Yesterday, Mark had a man come with his big bulldozer and continue clearing off our land.  We spent time this morning walking the property and deciding where we were going to plant the fruit trees, build the goat pen, set up the bee hives, and other various things we have on our "To Do" list.  I'm excited about the possibilities that are open to us.  My intentions are to post before/after progress as it occurs. I'll start with pictures of what will eventually be our pasture.

This is a picture of the land before we cleared the trees.  While I loved living in the middle of the woods, the pines were being infested with pine beetles, and every storm we would lose 3-4.  We decided the best thing to do was clear them while we could still make a little money for them.  That led us to consider what we could do with the land once the trees were cleared and "wah-lah"... turn our land into a homestead!  Thus, the process has begun!

Whoa! Am I at the right house?  It looks totally different now.  It was quite a shock to see the trees cut down, but in my mind, I am seeing our future.  It's going to be quite a journey!