Family Roast over Firepit

Today all four of us headed out to Die Weide with two projects in mind - build a fire pit to cook lunch over and finish the short side of the fence.

First, Dig, Dig, Dig

Now it's time to transport stone.

Laying out the Pit!

Strenuously Gathering firewood (okay, she was asked to get some kindling.)

Fire! (Third time was a charm)

Roasting sausage & Hot Dogs over the Fire Pit

First Fire & Fencing

Sunday, Inge, Melissa, and I went out and with the 12 1/2 gauge wire tackled the post bracing and we stretched the long stretch of fence. Following a suggestion from Kenneth, our NE neighbor, we used the come-along with the bolted 2x4 (Thank you Kenneth!) and two chunks of chain to stretch a short section around the curve, then we pulled the long straight section from there. Everything came out very well, but we did find out that the rain Friday loosened some of the posts.

Monday, after getting a couple bags of gravel from HD, I picked up my brother for more fence work. Using the gravel and tampers we reinforced all the posts, installed a new post, and on the curve, following a diagram I saw online, reinforced the weakest post with a diagonal brace post. It looks great and the fence is very taut.

We also installed the gate, though one of the top bolts was missing washers which I'll have to install Thursday when we get out there next.

When I arranged for my brother to come out and help with fencing, I mentioned that we'd need to bring sandwiches for lunch. However, as we drove out there he suggested, instead of ham and cheese, why not stop at the Taylor Meat Market and get some of their green onion sausage. He then suggested we build a fire and roast the sausages up for lunch. Well by any measure, that idea beat ham and cheese sandwiches so we stopped at Taylor and grabbed the sausage and after we got to Die Weide we dug a fire pit with a generous border to protect against grass fires. I gathered a bunch of dead mesquite limbs and for the first time, we built a fire on the land. For our cooking forks, we grabbed and trimmed a couple of green branches and made sausage-on-a-stick. And let me tell you, those Taylor Meat Market onion sausages are supremely delicious when roasted over a fire built on your own land.

Another Spectacular Bird!

As we drove away from Die Weide, we saw a large bird standing next to the road. Thinking the usual vultures, we saw it fly off and realized it had markings I've never seen. Large and distinctly black and white! We wondered if we had seen a bald eagle, but I never heard of a bald eagle with white tail and wing tips and the head wasn't solid white. As I drove on, I saw in the rear-view mirror that the bird landed again next to the road so I impulsively made a U-turn and headed back where we got a good look at the bird and its mate. It was a large, eagle-sized bird with a white head with black cap on top and red around the beak. When it flew off again we saw white markings on its tail and wing-tips.

On our return home, I went to identify whatbird dot com and chose the bird features that lead to the identification of the Crested Caracara (Mexican Eagle).



Two totally new and awesome birds spotted near our land. A person could get addicted to birding like this!

Posted! Fencing Continues - and more Nice Neighbors!

Two more days of fencing work. First, my brother and a friend, Tyrone, joined me in another day of hole digging. With three men and a sharp auger bit, we knocked out the dozen post holes and drove the steel T-posts for the fence. I only took one picture because I was so busy I didn't think of the camera.

The next day we set out to install cross bracing at the ends and gates. However, I found out that 14 guage wire isn't strong enough for cross bracing. So we were left with little to do but unroll the wire. Here's Inge and Melissa unrolling wire.

We also had the good fortune to meet more of our Neighbors. I went around to the property south of ours to ask permission to tie into his fence. I was greeted by a small, very happy black dog escorting the property owner. He was very nice and offered to loan us a fence stretcher when I get around to putting up the barbed wire.

Later, we saw an SUV plowing through the tall grass across the road and he stopped and we had a nice long chat. He has a cabin that sounds similar to what we want to build and has worked livestock, horses, and appears share an interest in hunting. I can't believe how incredibly friendly all our neighbors are. I have in mind a plan to build a permanent smoker so I can whip up some briskets and ribs to invite neighbors for a welcoming feast.

Fencing Begins

Our sometimes green pasture isn't green at all in December. But, it is a pasture best used for grazing animals and thus regain our agricultural tax status. To do this requires fencing around the entire property and although three sides are fenced, the front is open. So, to put the property into working order, our project over the Christmas break is to install the fence across the front.

We rented an auger with a 6 inch bit and took turns riding the beast into the hole. Here is Melissa and Inge taking their turn. Because it hasn't rained since September, the soil is very dry and hard, which means a lot of grunting and straining to get it going. Fortunately, we didn't encounter any rocks. These augers don't have diamond bits for drilling through rocks.



After dropping the post into the hole I work to make sure it's seated. Then we back-fill dirt and tamp the dirt to compact it next to the post to make it firm. Farm fence installation doesn't require concrete if the dirt is thoroughly tamped and packed in next to the post. Melissa asked for a turn tamping dirt.









Here we are, after four hours of work with two posts installed and two holes dug about half-way. We were too worn by the shaking, twisting power auger to dig any more.

Fall in Die Weide - Archery and Trail building

Today we visited again after another way-too-long two week hiatus. I'm building a cabinet for our 85 year old next-door-neighbor and I've been working like crazy to try to get it done before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I was defeated by the weather, of all things. It has been super humid the last week and the finish I'm using on the cabinet takes a lot longer to dry in this humidity. I'll have it done next week though.

Anyway, about the land - We took along our recurve bow, which is set up at 24 lbs so both my wife and I can both shoot it. I had in mind to buy at least 35 lb bow, but when I tried it at the bow shop, I found it a bit tough to draw for me, which would have put it out of reach for Inge. So for now, we'll practice and build our strength with it at 24 lbs. After we get relatively proficient I'll buy the recurve arms to bump to 35 lbs. Originally I bought 6 arrows, of which two were lost in the tall grass the first time around. However, Inge's coworker said he had lots of old arrows and he gave us a bundle of arrows. Not ten minutes after arriving at the land, I looked down and spotted both of our original missing arrows buried in the grass. Now we have 20 or so arrows, which makes it fun to shoot a lot before going out to gather arrows. Inge and I both hit our box target reasonably well. I shot a lot less than Inge because my shoulder is still giving me troubles from the accident.

After our bow shoot, we went into the woods to trail blaze. We hacked brambles and small shrubs to clear a trail through the woods. It's a bit easier to work through in the fall with less foliage to deal with. In the long run we plan to have several trails through the forest, but it will take a long time and we'll always be battling the brambles. We saw boar and deer sign in the woods though.

On the Penny, puppy front, we arrived and walked out to look around and no more than 5 minutes after we arrived, she was off like a shot for the neighbor's to visit her siblings and mother. We never saw Penny again until we dropped by to leave. She is staying with the neighbors for the holiday weekend as we're going to visit Melissa in New York City.

Fall Grass - Natural Decoration

As you can see from the photo, Inge gathered a spray of tall grasses to place in a vase in the house. She did the same last week and it really adds a nice touch to our house - and it's free!

Our visits to the land of late have been a bit sporadic due to the accident on Oct 6th. (I suffered rib injuries when my truck was totaled by red light runner.) Although we went out last two weekends, this weekend was the first time since the accident that we could clear fence line again. I had to give up after only an hour due to rib and shoulder pain. We cleared abut 200 feet because there were long stretches without brambles. In the last two months we've cleared 600 feet along the north fence with about 325 feet to go. A lot of the rest is in the deep woods though. Once the North fence is cleared, we'll be done clearing fence because the West fence is in good shape and needs no repairs. Both the north and south fences need work to repair wire that has become detached. The choice I get to make is repairing wire, or stringing electric fence. We won't mess with it until the East fence and gate is installed. I really hope we can get that done in December. I think we have budget for fence, but the water harvesting shed may need to wait until next year. I had really hoped to build the shed this year.

Westward - Ho! Cool water for hot days.

No, this is not Die Weide - we took a trip west to the Llano River west of Llano for some kayaking, swimming, and fly-fishing. A nice way to beat the 100 Degree heat wave.




This is a catfish caught on a white and yellow wooley booger fly I tied. I caught it at a point just before where the river rejoined itself around an island. I cast the fly next to a stone in the river, let it sink, then gave it a twitch or two then let it set, then bam! Fish on! Catfish can fight!














Another fish on. Feisty little bream.

Critters on Die Weide

Penny Puppy Ears
Originally uploaded by johntestsgo

Sunday we encountered our first snake on Die Weide. Inge and Melissa were clearing brush from under a copse of trees when Inge saw the snake right in front of her. Melissa and I saw it too. It was rapidly departing down a hole when I saw it and I only saw the last half or less of it. It had horizontal black and red stripes. The red was in two shades of dull red and the black was dull too. Coral snakes have red, yellow, and black stripes and are brightly colored so the snake we saw wasn't a coral snake. I looked online and the closest I could find was a non-poisonous corn snake. It was about as thick as my big toe.

As you can see from the picture, Penny, our Chocolate Lab puppy gets the run of the land. She doesn't run much though. We also saw Longhorn cattle that our southern neighbors graze on their land. There weren't as many birds as usual - perhaps they were subdued by the heat too.

Century Daze - Temps that is..

Another visit to Die Weide today. Forecast temperature 103 F (39 C) in Austin. I don't know if it reached 100 F at Die Weide, but it sure felt like it. Today Inge and I headed out to the North fenceline to begin clearing. We got there late - 9 a.m. and it was past 10 a.m. by the time we unloaded and I mowed around the Picnic Pecan so it was brutally hot by fence clearing time.

We started in chopping brambles and had several yards of easy going before we hit a thick patch that surrounded a deceased Mesquite Tree. Mesquite trees don't normally grow very tall or thick. Before this one had died though, it had a tree trunk bigger around than my waist. It still wasn't tall but it was thick. I've noticed that there are about 8 to 10 of these dead, but very thick mesquite trees on the property in the pasture area. I think someone poisoned them because several years ago Mesquite trees were considered pests to be eradicated. As a woodworker this makes me sad because Mesquite wood is exceptionally hard and has beautiful figure. I would love to craft Mesquite into extremely beautiful wood items. Interestingly, when I cut a limb from the tree, I found that it still had very sound wood inside - a statement about the hardness and durability of Mesquite. I hope I can salvage some Mesquite from the property - even if only for pens and bowls turned on the lathe.

We bramble-hacked an hour before the heat took its toll and forced our surrender. We joined Melissa under the Picnic Pecan and sat and rested in the shady breeze. To me it was very comfortable - yes it was hot, but the shade and breeze made it pleasant to me. We enjoyed sandwiches and fruit for lunch, and lots of water to drink. By 1 p.m. though the ladies had reached their heat tolerance and we packed up and headed home. I found it odd that I was comfortable under the shady breeze, but really noticed how hot it was once I fired up the truck's air conditioning.

Stalking Rabbits with Camera - of knowing and seeing.

This weekend I traveled alone to the land to explore - no real work planned. One thing I know from neighbors is that rabbits exist on Die Weide. Not only that, when I walk around the pasture and the many brush-pasture edges, I see signs of rabbits - droppings and paths and such. But to date, I've not seen a rabbit.

I arrived about an hour after sunrise, a bit late for rabbits, I know. Then I set out around the pasture at a very slow pace with my Digital Rebel XTi in hand. Three, four steps, and pause and look around. I know, from my farm living days, that I should look for the little black eyes. But I've not seen one yet. I wonder how long it will take for me to reconnect with nature in such a way that I see what I know to be there? What I know is that I will see my rabbits eventually. Then I will replace the camera with a 22lr will re-acquaint myself with Hasenpfeffer. Yum!

Closure - Official ownership established

Yesterday the mailbox delivered up a package of signed and sealed documents attesting to our ownership of 10 acres (described in attached metes and bounds).

And now the real work begins! An orchard is slated for next spring with a shed whose roof will be used to harvest water to irrigate the orchard. A cabin for weekend stays is slated for the 3-5 year time frame. Otherwise, a lot of brush busting and bramble removal is in the future.

Accidental Birding

One last post for the day. After all the work, I took my folding chair and set it in the shade of a runt oak and with my 10x binoculars set up to see what I could see. Eastern Cardinals abound on the land and their beautiful song echoes from side to side as the males compete for attention. I'm used to seeing flashes of red as they flit by.

Today however, I saw a new shade of red, tinging to orange. A new bird! The orange was so unusual and he kindly alighted on a treetop where I could observe him with the binoculars. Longish beak, round head with a crown flowing back to nape splashed in brilliant red-orange. I could only see his head and white face and long beak, but nothing more of his body except a hint of gray or brown through the leaves. When he flew off I was surprised that he was pretty large and my initial impression was that it was the size and shape of a woodpecker - but I've never seen one with that much color before.

So when I got home I googled Central Texas bird identification and found to my surprise that I had spotted the Red-bellied Woodpecker. I've never been into birding, but it sure was a joy to see a bird I've never seen before. According to the range maps, this area is about as far west as they get so it was a special treat!

Good Neighbors and Measuring Lay of Land

IMG_9776
Originally uploaded by johntestsgo

Even better than the picnic pecan is our neighbors. The first day I visited the land I dropped by the neighbor's house and asked them about water, electric and what they knew of the history of the land. They were as friendly as Texas! And ever since we make it a habit to drop by and say hi. They even invited us to a BarBQ with even more neighbors in attendance. I can't wait to put on a brisket feast in return. (More future plans...) Anyway, the photo is of our neighbor shredding about 1/2 acre in the South East corner where we will be planting the orchard.

After shredding and in addition to chopping vines from a copse of trees, I made the first measurements of the slope from the planned water harvesting tank to the orchard. The land slopes away in all directions from the SE corner. We will build a water harvesting shed with a 1700 gallon tank which will service the orchard of a dozen trees with some left over for some garden use. I needed to know if the slope is sufficient to generate enough head for drip irrigation without the need of a pump.

With a 50" board, a level and a tape measure I took measurements of rise over run every 10 paces from the point I staked out as the likely water tank outlet. The average was 4.75":50" which gives about a 9.4% slope. I sketched this out and calculated that we have a 4' 8" drop at 50' which is about where the 1st row would be. The tank will be elevated on a pad which would give almost a 6' head which results in 2.7 psi at the first row. This is a bit low for drip irrigation where the recommended minimum pressure is between 15-30 psi. It looks like I might need to investigate a pump for the system too.

The picnic pecan

One of the pleasant discoveries on Die Weide is a native pecan tree in the pasture. We guess it's native because the nuts are a bit on the small side for a cultivated pecan. However, what's odd is that pecans usually grow near streams and rivers and this one is in the middle of a pasture on a hill.

So, taking advantage of this tree's size and location, we moved an unused picnic table from home to under the tree. This has become our base of operations and the pecan tree will anchor the orchard we will plant, hopefully starting this coming spring.

Texas Veteran's Land Board Bid

My how time flies! Several weeks ago we submitted a bid for 10 acres in Milam County that the Texas Veteran's Land Board re-possessed from a non-performing VLB loan. Only Veterans are eligible to bid and I've been on the lookout for a piece of land worth bidding on for several years. (And waiting for sufficient budget for the down payment and closing costs.)

After my wife and I looked over the land we knew it met our needs. About 1/3 native pasture, and 2/3rds woods with "wet weather" creeks. So we talked it over and decided to bid on the tract. We went over a bit to be sure to win, and on April 27th they read the bids at the TVLB offices, which I attended since we live just outside Austin. I anxiously listened as our bid came up and as each envelope was opened and bid read, sweated that someone would outbid us. But ours was the only bid so we won by default.

So this week, Tuesday, we will close on the land and it will be officially ours (and TVLB on the loan.)

The (sometimes) Green Pasture

"Die Manchmal Gruene Weide" describes the 10 acre piece of land we are in the process of buying in East-Central Texas in Milam County. For years I've had a dream of owning a piece of land on which to grow an orchard, a decent garden, and re-connect with the hunting I grew up with. As the mood strikes me I will share with whomever is interested the progress we make in the purchase and development of the land.

Currently the irregular shaped layout consists of 3.5 acres of unimproved pasture with native and invasive grasses and forbes, and 6.5 acres of woods that is connected to a broad swath of woods across several miles of adjacent properties. within the woods I have seen deer and boar sign. The property is fenced on three sides. The fourth side will require a short stretch of fence to enclose it all. Because proper care of native pasture requires occasional controlled burns or grazing, I intend to fence the open side and allow our neighbor to infrequently graze the land.

For the orchard, it is my intention to build a shed from which I will harvest rain water into a tank to water the orchard with drip irrigation.