Making it look Pretty

We spread out wood chips, that we created, along with straw and good compost on the bare spots to fortify the soils and suppress weed growth this Spring. This should keep things looking pretty before we start the excavation of the new home.

Then we put up a storage tent to keep the tools dry and a place to hang out.  I will have to get some electrical stubbed into it for the coffee pot!

A Native Tradition

Cheryl's friend Nancy, a fellow Master Gardener, came by to show us how the Native Americans harvest the bark from Western Red Cedar trees to weave baskets, hats, purses, etc.  It was harder than it should have been because it was too early in the season.  Traditionally this process is done in the Spring so the sap is running and the bark peels off more easily. 

These strips will be soaked and used in the Raab Park children's summer program.

Clearing the Land

Boy oh Boy were there alot of invasive blackberries on the property! We spent 4 days cutting them down and putting into huge piles to haul off. Some canes were 15 feet long!


Next on the list are the trees, but first a blissful moment to enjoy the sunrise across Eagle Harbor that morning- Beautiful! 

Now, its time to get to work removing these four trees.  The excavator was so powerful that it could simply push them over- they were no match for this brut!

The limbs were trimmed off and sent through the chipper to create piles of chips to then be spread on the land where the balckberries once were. This will suppress the berries return and any weeds. Nothing goes to waste on this job!

Then the roots were cut off and sent to the wood recyclers to be ground up into mulch. 

We even coaxed the workers into cutting us some large rounds for future use as patio table tops!  Aren't these beautiful?

Sadly a Lawson Cypress, the one tree that I had hoped to mill into lumber, was so badly diseased with rot in the base that it won't yield much.  Still a good thing that we chose to take it out as this had a high possibility of failure in the near future.

We all worked hard that day and took a moment to sit back and enjoy the beautiful sunset!

  

Interesting Find

Here is a very interesting look at the past...  During the deconstruction of the Old House we discovered between the layers of walls several old copies of the Seattle Sunday Times!  The word is that newspapers were often used for insulation. Great re-use but wouldn't pass today's code!  Here is one from March 1, 1936.   Headline article demands the Nation put finances in order! Ha, looks like we haven't learned much since then. Woolworth heiress gains strength after giving birth to son. Interesting to read back through the news of the day...

More interesting stories, read the one about the bachelors!  Check out the advertisements...  Ranges for $79, radios for $45, $19 for hand sewn women's suit! and dining set for $49 and two for one dental plates, and 1936 Ford V8...