Our homestead was in a bit of disrepair when we bought it, an unusual situation brought about by a sudden loss of the prior owner's wife. After her death, the previous owner ( let's call him Joe) just didn't have the heart to continue to live in a home he had built with his wife with the expectation that they had many more years together.

Joe received several offers on the place and signed a total of two sales agreements, both contingent on other home sales that ultimately didn't pan out. In the mean time he remarried and moved in with his new wife, eventually renting out this place for nearly a year, then leaving it vacant for another six months before we came along.

While the grass was mowed and basic maintenance was performed over those two years, when first built this place was essentially hacked out of the woods. Unless one is willing to push back each growing season, the woods eventually reclaims its former territory. And this is precisely what happened over two winters and three growing seasons until we moved in during June of 2013.

We actually closed on the property in March of 2013, but did not want to move in until the child unit had finished school. So during the spring I was traveling the 12-14 hours round trip in order to try and stay ahead of the woods and at least mow what had been cut in the past. Within a month I realized that many areas would need to be hacked back over the summer and following fall/winter.

Of immediate concern to me with the area directly behind the house and out buildings. The land slopes away from the road and that slope steepens after the house. Joe had cut back the woods another 100 feet deeper into the woods on that steep slope after the home had been built in order to brighten up the place a bit and push the woods back some more. This area now had 3-4 foot high weeds, grass and various invasive species that grows like the dickens and doesn't give an inch unless repeatedly cut to the quick.

In another section I talk about reclaiming the field across the street. That was relatively easy compared to trying to work on the steep slope behind the house that was already over run by a maze of thick brush cover with long hard thorns. The woods were not going to give up ground without a fight. See below for an early spring (morning) and late summer (afternoon) photo comparison of the back slope from almost the same angle.

About twenty feet behind the house the land begins that sharp slope off into the woods. During the spring I managed to cut up to the beginning of that slope, but because the top of that slope had not been cut in over two years I wasn't going to try to cut it back on dash weekends when all I was trying to do was cut the lawn, make basic repairs to the house and get back home to start work on Monday.

Below please find an early spring back yard image and a late summer back yard image from nearly the same point of view. The jungle was twice as high as it was in the spring image before I finally started hacking it back. I still have some scars from those nasty thorns. Lesson learned? Hack back the thorns in the winter. It's easier and you already have heavy clothing on.

The North side of the property where the garden and tool shed (formerly the chicken coop) are located was fenced in with the woods behind the fence overrun and nearly impassable during the summer. Over the summer and fall Mrs. Cog and I cleared the woods back and removed the fence.

The change is remarkable and the before and after images don't do justice to the amount of work that went into clearing this area. The before picture is taken from a slightly different perspective simply because one could not penetrate the brush where the after picture was eventually taken from. There was even more landscaping done since the 'after' picture was snapped.

The images below were taken just a few steps further down the slope and looking towards a more true south (left from the perspective of the camera). We saw this same view, only looking north from the other side during spring and late summer, in the first images in this article.

There has been, and will continue to be, more clearing done on the homestead so come back often and check out the progress. And please.....leave comments and feedback because it is always welcome.

Cognitive Dissonance

Across the road from our place is a big open field. That piece of property was originally owned by the same person (let's call him Joe) who sold us our Homestead. Back then Joe set up several open sided sheds to shield equipment and other items from the weather and he cleared a large portion of the land of trees and stumps. It was Joe's sand box if you will and he much enjoyed using that land for whatever struck his fancy.

Eventually Joe sold the lot to another nearby landowner with the understanding that he could still use the property as if it were his own. In return Joe promised to maintain the land as he would his own, a good deal for both parties by any measure. Keeping the land included continuing to mow the open field and maintain the outbuildings and fences.

When I first moved in and saw the now severely overgrown lot across the street (Joe had not cut it for two years while he was trying to sell this place) I asked him if the owner would mind if I cut it back. It was a bit of an eyesore and I wanted to bring it back to its previous state. Joe assured me that the owner would not mind if I continued the tradition of land stewardship he had started. In these parts, while the land is individually owned, there is often an understanding between people who know each other well that transcends verbal or written agreements.

Early this summer the actual owner stopped by to inspect his property and to check out the new guy and gal in town. We had a very pleasant extended conversation and then accepted his invitation to walk the length of an old logging road to the end of his property to catch a view of Pilot mountain off in the distance. It was after this that I asked his permission to use his land in exchange for maintaining it as best I could. He was pleased and readily accepted.

A few weeks later I came to a similar agreement with my only other contiguous neighbor and now I have use of all the property that surrounds me. At the head of this page is the image of the lot across the street as it was shortly before we moved in. Below from a slightly different angle you can see what it looked like after is was cleared and mowed a few times and we used the "deck" that was formerly hidden in the weeds to offload our new standby generator.

I will keep all updated as I continue to clear land across the road.

Cognitive Dissonance

I am posting an article about the massive amount of Kudzu found on all the properties surrounding ours as well as on ours. So below you will find mostly images and some commentary on what I am finding.

Even when I do not present images of the Kudzu actually cut, rest assured that I did chop it all down, often not only the hanging vines but the feeders than ran along the woods floor. Take a look at some of these stunning images.

Up to this point I have never run into Kudzu during my life time and I am heartbroken by the damage it has done to the woods all around me. I suspect that the trees will be very happy come spring now that many have been released from their tangled burden. I know this fight has only just begun and that I will be back every winter to continue the battle.

Below is a shot of two trees wrapped up by Kudzu at the edge of the cliff that drops a quarter mile down from our back property line.

Below are before and after shots from almost the same angle and distance showing numerous Kudzu vines attacking a small grouping of trees. Simply Amazing.

The following three images show one huge vine attacking several trees. The first image is of the massive vine near the base of one tree. It actually is attacking several additional trees off to the right and out of the frame.

The second image shows the canopy of some, but not all, of those trees. The third image shows my five inch long iPhone 5 cover placed on top of the now severed vine. To date I have only found one other vine that was five inches in diameter, but the average is three inches and many are four.

Below you can see half a dozen Kudzu vines hanging all over the central tree and also from surrounding trees.  The second image is of the canopy of those very same trees. It is stunning that these trees are still alive since it is clear the Kudzu has overwhelmed them and blocks out most of the sun during the summer.

Just let your eyes rest on the image of the canopy for a few seconds and take in the mass of tangled vines spread throughout the canopy of these trees. I cut every vine within 50 yards of this mess, including other smaller infestations nearby. At least for one summer these trees will be able to regroup and heal from the attack.

The next image is of a Kudzu vine that found itself between two trees that eventually merged into one. It sure didn't stop the Kudzu from nearly killing both. One must ask themselves whom was choking who here. I suspect the answer is the Kudzu.

After finding that massive five inch Kudzu I decided to document it by taking some pictures of it and of other sizes found within 25 yards that it. Like I said earlier, I have found only one other example of the five inch vine so far, many examples of the four inch and the three inch is common and average around here.

For the better part of two months this past fall I was investing 1-2 hours a day 4-6 days a week just cutting Kudzu around this place. I suspect I have cut two thirds of the Kudzu on the property I own and the surrounding property that I maintain. I will pick up the battle in a month or two after I have finished bringing in the firewood from The Locust Patch described in another section of this website. More to follow shortly.

Please, as always, leave your comments, suggestions and feedback below.

Cognitive Dissonance