If my back can hold out (probably not, but I'll deal)
1. Polymer my seeping pond with TJ's help and some neighbors.
2. Get a cabin-style screen porch built for mosquito-free dining in nice weather. Should have been started a year ago, but last winter ate into my choice contractor's available time. I am hoping to help him to learn a little more about construction in apprentice style.
3. Clear about 4 acres of grape-vine and sumac-infested land.
I really wish I had a tractor when we moved here, but a push mower cannot keep up with it all and it got away from me. That is all I had when we move here with mo money and too much wishful thinking. It is now a huge undertaking that a smaller tractor and a zero-turn cannot handle. It was great for wildlife and beautiful when it was coming in, but now it is a knotted mess. Sumac, when it dies is like a bunch of enormous deer antlers. It doesn't stack well, refuses to pull though other brush, and ties like sailor knots with grapevine. It is like working on fence hedgerows. A nightmare.
I don't want to bulldoze it, but to weed it lake a garden in a sense. I want to leave desirable saplings behind like maple and oak so I can get shade, yet occasionally mow between them to promote wildlife without chopping it all up.
At least it burns well! So I stack up the dead stuff into especially knotted areas and let it rip. When sumac burns, it pops and banks like firecrackers, and burns fast and hot. Kind of fun, but a lot of work. Especially since my little guy is unwilling to help. Stupid video games...
