Feed Me Seymour

Like those cute little houseplants that rise up to eat you as you sleep our new property is totally out of control. It's one of the things we like most about it. The wildness of it, but we also struggle with its trashy past.

The west side of the property.

 It's history is sketchy. Owned by a bank who repossessed it from an unknown resident it went on the market in Sept. 2013. We experienced a short bidding war with another interested party but because our realtor accidently wrote our bid $2000 then what we verbally told her, we got the land just a few days after it was listed.  We are thrilled about her mistake to this day.

But, no one had lived here for a very long time and before that the acreage had not been cared for. Piles of garbage was everywhere with the oldest trash on the far edges and the newest garbage closer to the house which was built in 1868.  We have literally removed truck loads of junk. Last spring we did several controlled burns and were able to visualize even more garbage. But now new grass has come to life and due to the recent frequent rains we've had the whole 7 acres is quite jungle like.

But, in our fourth week of homestead residency, we are making progress: beating back the bush, trimming the trees, slaying the ticks the size of a kindergardner (I'm not kidding, we saw one wrestling with one of our 40 pound feeder pigs just this morning,) and in general taking back the land.

Never underestimate the power of a pigs nose

Not all of it though. In fact the last thing we plan to do is get into that old mowing trap. Nope. This farm will be different. Which is why many family members have yet to visit. Oh well. Instead we are using the livestock to do the majority of the work. The pigs, just two as opposed to the 60 or so we used to raise, have completed their circle and had their pen extended. Keith assists with the excavation pulling out the glass, tin cans and keys...yes a whole set of keys..the pigs have unearthed.

 

 

A new neighbor told us this property may have been home to a "Chop Shop"
several years ago. Seems likely.

The steers, we have 9 here that have already been pre-sold and two for ourselves, are doing an excellent job on the east side of the property. It's easy to see the grass they have eaten on the left and the grass untouched on the right.

Our sheperd/huskie cross, Ashland, stands in the pasture area the steers will be rotated to tomorrow. We generally leave them in one area two days and then move them, so within a couple weeks they will have grazed the entire farm and we will have picked up yet another ton of trash. Another ten years or so and we will so be in control of this land.