The main task over the last ten days has been pruning and burning. Pruning means cutting off the tall leaders that extend beyond our longest apple ladder, any dead or damaged branches and making sure we can mow between the rows. Almost, one hundred trees generate quite a pile of applewood. Given the fire ban notice, the season started March 15th. we were able to mix the apple with juniper and spruce prunings to create a manageable conflagration, before that date.
The other component was multiflora rose. In the hedgerows, along the field boundaries, multiflora rose can overtop the willow and alder. This invasive species has colonized a number of abandoned fields in this part of the Valley.
In the middle of all this activity, Heather had the opportunity to attend a Winter Pruning workshop offered by the Nova Scotia Nature Trust in Dartmouth. This resulted in super-sharp pruning equipment.
After much deliberation, we have decided to stay home and enjoy the Nova Scotia Spring. The risk of flying from Halifax-Ottawa-Iqaluit was not worth it. These remote communities have limited finite medical resources.
Meanwhile, a new book arrived at the Inside Story. Bokashi Composting by Adam Footer.
This gives us the opportunity to address soil building on our property.
Online, I noticed today that Emergence Magazine’s latest issue is Vulnerability, Community and Connection.
In preparation for our annual trip North, I had signed up for a personal fitness program with Cathy at Healthy Bodies. It won’t go to waste. I can see a lifetime of outdoor tasks around the combined one hundred acres, between Andrew’s property and our own. Yesterday, we walked the property line down from Inglisville Road. There are a number of downed trees from the Winter storms that need to be cleared with the chainsaw.
Acknowledgements
Heather for sharing the Spring cleaning tasks around the property. Edward for his remote input from the South (returning sooner than originally planned).
References
Adam Footer. 2014. Bokashi Composting. Scraps to Soil in Weeks. New Society Publishers.
Emergence Magazine. March 15,2020. Vulnerability, Community and Connection.
Ernest Blair Experiment 