Converting blackberries to play field

When we moved to this property, only the area closest to the house was landscaped. The other five or six acres have been left more or less natural; as natural as it gets when a Christmas tree farm is left alone for twenty or more years. That's right, the property used to be a Christmas tree farm. Now, most of the property is trees, ferns, scotch broom (more on that later) and wild Himalayan blackberry.

For those that do not know, in Oregon blackberry is essentially a noxious weed that quickly grows into a very thorny thicket. It can grow several feet in just a few weeks. Yes, we can get sweet berries toward the end of summer, but most of the year blackberry is an impenetrable tangle of canes that can take over any space it can.

In one section of the property, blackberries had covered about 6,000 ft^2 to a height of over 6 feet. We decided this space would be better as a play field for future grandkids. Worried that I would need to tackle this project with nothing more than a machete and weed eater, I started looking at tractors. Pretty big lifestyle jump for a suburban guy.

Fortunately, my neighbor explained that his John Deere sat immobile for 340 days a year, and I was free to borrow it any time. I had never been on a tractor. Little did I realize just how much could be done with heavy machinery and several gallons of diesel fuel.

Started off just running over the blackberries with the bucket down; squishing the canes down. Then, I ran over them again with a field mower attached to the back. A few weeks later, I pushed the dried canes into a big pile and had a huge Bon fire. My wife suggested I needed a fire extinguisher on hand. Based on the 20 ft flames shooting from the top, I feared I would need a helicopter with a water bucket. The fire burns to an ashen heap in less than an hour.

Next, I attached a rototiller to the back of the tractor (man, I am grateful to my neighbor and the use of his tractor) and slowly ran back and forth. After one or two very noisy and dusty hours, the area is starting to look like a field.

Cut a month or two later, and the blackberries star to reemerge. Unbelievable. What other plan can you cut, drive over, burn, ridicule over, never water, and basically abuse, and it comes back again and again?

This weekend, I completed the final tasks for the year turning a big, wild patch of blackberry into a future play field. First, i got out the gas weed eater and cut the emerging (canes up to 4 feet long already)down to ground level. Again using the tractor, I hooked up a box scraper and ran back and forth, dragging the ground more or less flat-ish.

With rain expected to start up this weekend, I bought a big bag of pasture grass seed and a big bag of 16-16-16 fertilizer. Used a walk behind spreader and got the seed and fertilizer down a few hours before the rain started.

By early Spring we will see if any of this does any good, or if the blackberry wins over the grass seed.

We will see if any of this does any good

Country Living Must Haves

Shortly after moving we contracted with a landscaper. Even though only the area right around the house is officially ‘landscaped,’ at 6.2 acres and no one living in the house for 20 months, there was more landscaping recovery work needed than I was going to be able to do. Our landscaper grew up in the area and seems to know just about everything. A few weeks after move-in, he sent me an email to get me started on the right foot.

The subject line was “Country Living Must Haves.” I still have the email.

Here’s a list of stuff that I’m sure you’ll find very helpful while living at your new house.

Hand saw- Corona 13 or 14 inch razor tooth saw

Loppers- Bahco, they come in all different sizes (I think bigger is better)

Hand clippers- Probably not a necessity but they’re nice to keep in your pocket to cut branches and blackberries up to 1” in diameter.

Sprayer- Solo 4 gal. piston pump backpack sprayer

Weed killers- Round-up (cornerstone is the generic, same exact thing and cheaper), Crossbow will kill blackberries and small brush but not grasses.  Buy at least 1 gallon of cornerstone and 1 quart of crossbow.

Weed eater- Stihl straight shaft dual line cutter head.  They will have a few different models that fit this description.  Of course the more power the more money.

Chain saw- stihl 290, they call it a farm boss.  It’s a great bang for the buck saw.

                          

You can get all of the power equipment at __________.  Ask for Craig and he’ll help you out.

The rest of the hand tools and chemicals can be bought at _______________

The list should provide an indication of what I got myself into. This is not the typical ‘home starter’ kit for suburban life. A suburban starter kit might include items like a set of ratchets, cordless drill, power edger, nice walk-behind mower, or perhaps a power-washer. What would I have done with a 4 gal backpack sprayer in the neighborhood?

I bought everything on the list exactly as recommended. Here are my comments 1 year later:

·         Corona hand saw --- awesome tool for cutting through branches up to about 6 inches

·         Bahco loppers --- unbelievably useful and strong for trimming up tree branches

·         Hand clippers --- already had them, but I use the loppers far more at this stage in the clean up

·         Sprayer --- feels foolish to wear at first, but it really is the best way to spray gallons of weed death. I need to be more careful to match the liquid to the job to avoid unintended results. More on that later.

·         Weed killers --- see above. The labels are very small, very technical, and they assume you know what you are doing. I did not.

·         Weed Eater --- This thing is a monster. I got one where you can attach a spinning blade to saw through brush. Should not be used by children or small teens. Way, way more brutal than the electric one I used in the ‘burbs.

·         Chain saw --- buying it was an interesting experience (for another day). Using it requires respect.

Becoming Semi-Rural

People who know me well know moving “into the country” represents a break from long-established patterns. I grew up in suburbs. My earliest memories are of the tract home, sidewalk, school down-the-street, mall just-over-there kind of living that defines suburban living. In fact, until 8^th grade, I lived what may be described as the *model* of suburban life --- Southern California; first in Orange County, and then San Diego Country. Beginning in my 8^th grade year, the family packed up the tract home and moved across the country into another tract home into what was then the outskirts of Washington DC, with more sidewalks, schools, malls, etc…

After getting married, we lived in a few apartments while finishing an undergraduate degree. We lived in a 4-plex in Utah, but, anyone would agree that Provo has certain suburban characteristics. Our first house, while not a tract home, was in a tidy neighborhood where people mowed their lawn, installed trampolines, talked about neighborhood activities, and did all those things you’d expect from a suburban neighborhood. Life felt very much like what one would see on TV most nights at the time, though I think one neighbor had a few chickens in the back yard. He was one of the first residents of the block, so we figured he was the last of the rural.

Over the next ~20 years we moved twice. First to Illinois to a tract home in a tidy neighborhood with sidewalks, swing sets, and commuters headed to work every morning. Leaving Illinois, we moved to Tigard, Oregon; on a little street where we lived the suburban dream. Life felt very “Leave it to Beaver” with neighborhood parties, snowmen, 4^th of July kids’ parade, walk to church, and let the kids ride a bike to school on warm days.

The point I want to make is that, at no time, ever, growing up did I live on a farm or spend summers on a relative’s farm. We visited some distant relatives one summer before my last year of highschool. If memory serves, they lived off a dirt road. They threw horseshoes. They talked excitedly about going to the county fair at the end of summer. At the time I was already wearing a tie at my summer job. I felt very little in common with these country people. I was city people.  The first time a rode a horse was in my 30s. I have never owned a gun. I have never been a fix-er-up kind of guy. I take my car to the shop. Mr Middle-Class White-guy Suburban.

That’s me.

It was me.

It might still be me.

But, last year I moved out of the suburbs and into a home off a dirt road with 6.2 acres or trees and blackberry bushes about 15 miles outside what I would call ‘town.’ It’s not really ‘rural’ where people live miles from other homes and everyone has crops and farm animals; but it’s definitely not the old neighborhood.

I should have started this blog right when we discovered the property to record everything right when it happened, but I didn’t. Instead, you’ll get a stream of events and stories in no particular order. Some will be recent, while others will be from our first year of living semi-rural. We learned a lot in the first year, and I am sure there is much more to learn. It has mostly been fun, though there were some negative surprises. I wouldn’t change the decision and I’m really, really happy where we are, but it is a bit different than how I grew up.