Filed under: June 2014 | Tags: draft horses, grandpa, grandsons, maple syrup, woodland stewardship
Ruts repaired, erosion minimized
June 14, 2014
A few days ago, I posted a picture of some terrible ruts I made getting our maple sap this year. Well, those ruts are now history! I fretted for months on how to make them all go away. Then I met a man with a small bulldozer who has many hours in the seat. He fixed all those bad places in less than half a day and the best part… it cost less than 300 dollars!
He did an awesome job. He was very careful around the trees. He shaped the roads in places, creating small ditches for the water to drain. I still have some work to do, but what a difference already. I feel much better about my woodland stewardship efforts now. 😮
I can see that maintaining my roads will always take some effort. We are on them during the spring thaw and wet season. Care must be used to protect the streams and woodland, using the horses to draw the sled, has the lowest impact. I have roads we have used for over twenty years with the horses, that resemble hiking paths…the tractor created a mess in just two very short seasons…never again!
Never again will I tear things up like that. I vow to use my horses and horses only. When I am too old to drive them, I will still insist that its horses or nothing…lucky for me I have grandsons 😮 Now, to just get them to think like me… of course my ideas come from my grandpa’s, so there is hope!
Making maple syrup will be a part of this farming operation for as long as I can run it. Using horses will always be part of it too. These two things go together like peaches and cream …they are simply made for each other.
Much Better!
Leave a Comment so far
Leave a comment
RicelandMeadows 