We are clearing a new field on our farm. The field will be about 5 acres when finished. We intend to plant it for organic hay. The field is on a natural shelf near the top of a mountain. The trees on it--red oak, white oak, ash, locust--are second growth. There was a potato field here perhaps 30 years or more ago. The potato rows are clearly visible through the growth (but not in these photographs). The site has at least 12 inches of loam without stones, in some places 18 inches of loam. The piles of brush and small trees will be burned in the winter when snow covers the ground. The larger trees, with at least 16 inches girth, will be cut a couple of months before we build our barn and sawed for barn frame and boards. Then the field will be terraformed so hay cutter, turner, and baler can be pulled over it safely. Clearing such a field before tractors and power saws must have been a heroic ordeal.
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