Excavating the land!

At first, we were uneasy about the whole concept of moving and flatening earth but we pursued our vision and are happy with the results! Plus, we now have a steaming pile of mulch (from the chipped up trees) for our gardens as well!

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BEFORE. Here is a before picture of the hillside. The deciduous tree all the way to the right is the "Welcome Apple" that we decided to keep. You'll see it as a refernce point in the pictures that follow.

Here is another before picture. Draw your attention to the hillside that starts to the left of the tent and slowly slopes upwards. The first darker leaved deciduous tree is the apple tree. It is standing next to a larger, lighter colored choke cherry tree.

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AFTER. The above two images show the new driveway that meanders from the road, and the "Welcome Apple" that we kept for easy picking and as a symbol of the sacred trees that once covered this south facing little hillside. The apples are sweet, and will be even sweeter after a winter pruning. This apple is one of the numerous wild (or planted at some point) apple trees that cover the landscape.

Look, a bear track! Yuup, we have bears on our property!

The Wild Turkeys love our property too! Although its hard to tell, there are about 15 turkeys pictured here in front of our mulch pile!

Here is a short video of a worker dragging trees that came down during the excavation process, and processing them into mulch!