This project was about 8 years in the making. I cleared the land for our humble homestead 10 years ago. Many hours with a chainsaw and many brush fires to start. Then I rented heavy equipment to dig, pull stumps, grade, etc. The area behind the garage was slated to be our garden. I cut the trees and burned the brush. But I didn't have a way to pull the remaining stumps. So it sat untouched for the next 8 years. Sucker shoots from the maples, alders, and raspberry took over and became a 10 ft high jungle of pool cue sized poles spaced tightly together.
So I got out the lopping shears and cut the poles. I made a big pile in the middle and burned them. After that it was tractor time. I scraped the rooted up topsoil off with the FEL bucket and went to work on the stumps from the trees I had originally cut 8 years prior. The Mahindra 1626 was a champ.
I used an old pull behind spring tine cultivator on the plot to rake out the majority of the remaining "rope" roots before going at it with a 3 point tiller. Two passes with the tiller left a fluffy seed bed. I planted 25 # of forage oats and 25# of rye. That will give the deer something to munch on in the late fall and early winter. Next spring I will till it under as green manure, fence it off, and start our long awaited vegetable garden. Looking forward to all the fresh veggies on the table!
So I got out the lopping shears and cut the poles. I made a big pile in the middle and burned them. After that it was tractor time. I scraped the rooted up topsoil off with the FEL bucket and went to work on the stumps from the trees I had originally cut 8 years prior. The Mahindra 1626 was a champ.
I used an old pull behind spring tine cultivator on the plot to rake out the majority of the remaining "rope" roots before going at it with a 3 point tiller. Two passes with the tiller left a fluffy seed bed. I planted 25 # of forage oats and 25# of rye. That will give the deer something to munch on in the late fall and early winter. Next spring I will till it under as green manure, fence it off, and start our long awaited vegetable garden. Looking forward to all the fresh veggies on the table!
