My sister is a SLAVE DRIVER!! But we sure do get a lot accomplished when she sets her mind to it.
This was the weekend for us to get routine spring maintenance out of the way. Unfortunately, there is a minor problem with a mower, so some of the grooming didn't take place as Kathy would have hoped. Terry was using the backhoe to push the winter deadfall into piles with the pine still waiting to be turned into mulch for the area around the outhouse when the mower died for the very last time of the weekend. The ground cover is still high close in, but we now have some nice spaces for tent camping that hadn't existed last week. It will be interesting to see what will be sprouting in these brown areas when I get back north in a couple of days. Old pictures of this area are obscured by a series of those "junk trees" (the official name, according to one farmer that used to own this land) that were sacrificed to "hugel beds in progress".
Last year I bought some grafted "5 in 1" fruit trees and set them up in a temporary location. After a lot of consideration (and seeing how many/few survived the winter) we came to a decision on placement. The camp used to have 3 "junk" trees between the firepit and the north drive into the site. That view has been replaced with four dwarf trees; two apple, one pear and one 'fruit cocktail' since it is expected to have plums, nectarines and peaches on separate limbs. This photo is just the bare bones of what we are planning for the area. In another visit (or two) we hope to use tree trunks to define raised beds that will run from tree to tree for the three in the foreground. One bed will be planted with strawberries and the other with cantaloupe (and whatever else I can sneak in ... don't tell!!) The space between the last two trees (where everyone is standing) will be left open for walk space, since it is the direct path from their camper to the firepit.
The area that is hidden behind Kathy and Terry (and Red Dog) used to be an eyesore of "possibles" stacked on top of a trailer I had bought long ago. The trailer was moved, the area raked and mowed as needed, a tarp spread out on the ground and everything sorted out to see what we have to work with. The trailer was stripped down to the metal frame (with slightly bent tongue from that moving incident) and ... It is a dump trailer!! If I had known that, it was forgotten over the several years that it simply served to keep the metal poles out of the grass. The wheelbarrow in the picture is full of marigolds and lemon grass, in hopes of scaring mosquitoes away from the campsite. The galvanized tub has a single tomato plant (at the moment). This was taken before all the sorted stuff was put under wraps.
I hope you are all able to some progress in the journey to your goals! It sure makes a difference when the plan starts coming together.
PS. I see that I neglected to mention Lady, the backhoe riding, champion hole digging, squirrel stalking Lab. Now that is taken care of too.