The Slowcook at Spydog Farm The Slowcook at Spydog Farm

Make Way for Raspberries

May 21st, 2014 · No Comments · Posted in farming

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Nothing’s going to get between my wife and some juicy wild raspberries.

Armed with nothing more than a pair of lopers and a pruning saw, she’s spent the last several days clearing a hedgerow where numerous raspberry canes have taken up residence. That means hacking her way through all kinds of brambles and vines. She’s between cutting huge vines–some as big around as your arm–that are choking the trees as well. Getting them down out of the tree branches is no easy task. That’s a lot of pulling and yanking.

We now have piles and pile of vines and underbrush to run through the chipper and she is proud of her work. “Doesn’t that hedgerow look great.” Vastly improved, I’d say. You can actually see the old stone wall where she’s been cleaning.

Me, I spent yesterday with a wood splitter rented from the local hardware store turning felled trees into firewood. A big part of a large American cherry had fallen over the back orchard fence. Dennis, the guy who sells us our hay, stopped by with his chain saw and turned the fallen log into 16-inch lengths. Two other pieces of tree were still laying on the ground from last year. Now’s the time to clear them, since they will soon be overgrown with grass.

Funny thing about that grass: You pray for it all winter long, then when it finally arrives in the spring its soon out of control and you curse all the mowing that needs to be done.

By the end of the day we were both exhausted and in no mood to cook. Dinner consisted of queso with chips and steamed broccoli.

Please pass the ibuprofen.

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