Hundred Acre Wood

Having decided to focus on fencing the perimeter this spring/summer, we planned to walk it again this week. So, the perimeter of 100 acres is about 1.6 miles. Easy. I called Terri, new neighbor, to invite her to walk with me, as she’s interested in the fence from her side. She brought Darwin, a gorgeous husky, and we set out from just west of the barn. What with being a dog, Darwin is not beloved of Larry, so he, Larry, declined the invitation to join us.

Oddly, the property between our land and the neighbors’ on Bell Fountain belongs to Benton County. It is, I’m guessing, 50 yards deep and runs the length of our western boundary. It’s a nice buffer between us and the rest of the world, but is not maintained by anyone. Which means that trees growing there reach across the fence to poach our sunshine; berry brambles likewise. Limbs fall, water seeps, but surprisingly, the fence is intact. We make the turn and walk along the south border. Between us and the neighbors is a row of trees, mostly oak. Huge trees. But there are two fences, nicely containing the row. So, hmm. Whose trees are they? Which fence is ours?

We note that should dispose of the old tires someone has dumped across the fence. We’d already taken a load of them early days, and learned that it costs five bucks or so to offload old tires. We see why someone tossed them over to us in there first place. Well, farming is tough, so we have to forgive whomever.

Here’s a surprise: a granary tree!

Acorn woodpeckers excavate holes in a given tree into which they stuff their winter supply of acorns. These birds are listed “of concern” in the Willamette Valley, as their favored habitat, oak savanna, is so depleted. Obviously we’re pretty excited to see this activity, although this tree doesn’t look very full of acorns. We’re told there’s another, active granary in the copse, but we haven’t been able to find that one.

We found a recently fallen oak, and thought it might be the one Martha heard one stormy night, but Larry says no, he’d observed this one earlier this winter. Whatever. More firewood!

Speaking of which, Larry and I spent this morning clearing an oak just outside the orchard. I had gotten the idea that I should get GPS on my phone, and then photograph and identify the larger oaks on the property. While fallen limbs, and even whole trunks, make good bird habitat, they also make excellent berry, thistle, and tansy habitat as well. But we are old people, and this is hard work! Nonetheless, I wanted to document our progress. Here you go. Before:

After:

Okay, I know you are wondering about chickens. Are we or aren’t we? Talked about it today and said, yeah, we should probably go ahead. Larry spent some time shopping on line for coops, but does not report any success. We’ll all have to wait and see.