now, that i'm over my little self pitty this morning, how and where do i start clearing this land, i have lots of tools, shovels, rakes, pruning shears, loppers ,and yes i have a chain saw, wheel barrow what do i do with what i take down. can not have it cleared for profit with out going through father's siblings, not a option and no extra money to have it done, what is the safest and easiest way for a mom and two small childre to do this, will be enlisting my 23 yr. old sons help whether he likes it or not
The easyest way to do it is to mow or weedeat sections down, have kids rake the stuff up and bag it or pile into compost pile.Then take loppers to things that were to thick for mower/weedeater.
After my divorce , this place got out of hand and overgrown. What works for me is to mow the hay and clear the brush on a 20 by 40 foot section at a time. I then load the cleared waste onto my trailer and take it to the outside boundary to 6 inch mat layer it over the overgrowth there. This way Im cutting back from my house, killing back next seasons growth from my property lines, establishing worm beds for two years from now, making garden compost and topsoil, getting excercise , cleaning up my place and most of all making steady progress that I can see from windows.
(this is a double post because I think you might have left the other thread) I built my garden by hand, but saying "one foot." Every day my goal was to turn over one foot of a raised bed. Between the rows I put down newspaper, dog food bags, anything that would block weeds, and anything that would hold it in place. Most days I did more, but in a couple of days I had enough space to plant lettuce.. then spinach, then carrots... gave me a real feeling of control over what was going on. I found that really regimenting my day also helped to keep things moving, on track, and kept me from getting too overwhelmed and depressed. As did breaking what seemed like an impossible task (turning over a garden by hand) into little manageable bits. I actually closed doors to rooms in the house rather than face them all at once. Every day I'd deal with one small piece of something. It took a while, but it did start coming together. But the most important thing is to not get too tired and run down. It is the best advice I can give you. If you were lost in the woods, the shortest way to turning a situation potentially fatal is to exhaust yourself. So take a break a few times a day to sit down, have a pot of tea, nibble on something, and just sit. It will help keep you motivated and from collapsing! If you start feeling too overwhelmed and shakey, chances are you need to take a time out, drink something, eat something, and just breathe.
I went through a similar situation and just started working from the house out. I also found if I used a kitchen timer and set it for an hour's work and when it "dinged" I would take a break or go on to something else I was able to pace myself and I figured then and still do that I can work for an hour and not get real tired or bored and still see progress. Use sticks, limbs, small trees for wood fires in or outside, start a compost pile with everything else - get 4-6 free pallets at the lumberyard to build an enclosure and just have the kids start piling stuff in. As you are clearing, weedeating, etc. survey the "weeds" Might be something useful there i.e. herb stuff. Crushed plantain leaf is excellent for stopping the itch of chigger bites. just crush in the palm of the hand and rub on the bites.
I've cleared a large part of my place on my own too. Took loppers to the blackberries and anything under a couple of inches. Piled them up and burned them. Didn't cut them in pieces - folded the ends in as the middles burned. For the 2-5 inch saplings - tied them to a truck and pulled them out by the roots, then piled and burned. Mowed with a string trimmer first, then a regular mower. Any knoxious weeds (thisle, tansy) I bagged up and carted off, the rest was mulched in. It's starting to look very nice! I didn't kill myself doing it. Work a while, then take a break. Paced myself so I could work throughout the days both days of my weekends off. It's doesn't look like much at first but cummulatively it all adds up as others mentioned. I am putting in fence 50-100 ft at a time as it fits in. In between I painted the house and raised a whole bunch of poultry!
