Working the Land

Ha ha. no guinea hogs are a kid of pig, really. Guinea pigs are a rodent from south america typically kept as an indoor pet. Although in south america they are eaten, as rabbits are eaten here. Their actual name is cavy.

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One thing to consider is that trees actually pull moisture out of the ground and make it drier than it will be without the trees. You could remove the trees only to find out the ground floods. I've seen it happen.

A good low input way to get rid of stumps is to drill holes in them to collect rainwater and pile manure on them. Let the fungus do all the work and if you're lucky you might get some edible mushrooms as a bonus. The maple stump in front of my door produces oysters and honey mushrooms as it's decaying.

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Our property was completely surrounded by forest, actually we are right in the middle of thick forest. When we moved here in 1999, we knew we wanted gardens and a place for horses. So my husband started clearing the land. The forest almost came right up to the house. He did it slowly, just using a chainsaw and we used the wood for heating.

We eventually, got our garden in, our barn built and our horses. Right after we brought our horses home, six days later actually, we had a tornado that took down over 300 trees on our property. That helped him clear it faster, but I don't recommend it! Never used any other means, except him doing it by hand, with no other equipment other than a chainsaw.

As someone else said, the trees hold the moisture so the area doesn't flood. Worse than that, was having horses in the paddock in or after the rain. That makes it muddy. But we deal with it.

The last 3 years or so, our paddock has been growing grass. Before that it was mostly dirt. The stumps? Some are still there, but every now and then my husband will go out and work on one or two to remove. If I posted a photo of before and after, you would see a big difference. Just takes hard work and patience.

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Solar Baby
Reflections of katlupe

That is pretty much the approach I plan to take. I don't plan on clearing large amounts of land, nor do I intend to completely clear it. I just want some cleaned up fenced in areas where goats, hogs and who knows what else will be able to comfortably live. I mentioned that where I have cleared some wide paths into the property, the floor grows back with wild grasses and moss. In fact, I like the idea of my mini-farm within the woods as opposed to wide open pastures. Thank you all for all of the advice and info - some great things to take into consideration... I think this Spring my chainsaw, bushwhacker and clippers will be my best friends!
Steve

I like growing moss, but not in livestock pasture. You need to get your soil analyzed.
Put some lime on the land that will be grazed.

Why, what does moss signify?

i always try to put 3 young pigs in my small 18 X 30 garden for 3 weeks to a month/ I use post hole diggers and dig a hole a good foot deep, and then fill it 1/2 full with shelled corn. They will bust up an area around 3sqft around that hole All roots, stones, slugs, ect come to the top. Then I just dig another one 6ft away, and continue to do so until they have torn up the whole garden Then I just move them to the hog lot, and its time to plant.

Moss indicates the soil is acidic.

It sounds to me that you are trying to turn this ground into something it can't become.

Our forest has moss growing in it. But once various areas were cleared, it didn't grow anymore. There is absolutely none in our yard, gardens or paddock. I believe once the areas are out in the sun, the moss doesn't grow. Must be it likes shade.

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Solar Baby
Reflections of katlupe

You are aware that there is a whole slew of goat breeders over on the goat forum, and we may just call you out for besmirching the good name of goats everywhere, aren't you?

Enggass, come over to the goat forum. We will get you addicted - er, I mean, we'll help you get set up with some lovely land-clearing animals!

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My father-in-law has moss growing almost everywhere.
Ph is important.
My land is next to his, with no moss on my pasture or planting area.

Thanks for the invite...! I shall be there! Goats are on my list, but I am getting some Guinea Hogs first this coming Summer/Fall. Goats to follow. Not sure what breed yet. Boer? Nubian Pygmy? Cashmere?

P.S.
A few goats are a true burden ,eh ..I mean to say, a boon to any homesteader!!

Unequivocally-Nubians!