04/11/2026
Since last fall we’ve been working on clearing a tree line between our field and the neighbors field. Our neighbor remembers our field being cleared of trees and opened up as farmland. Thinking about the amount of work that we have put in to cut the trees down and haul the wood away (the wood will be used to heat our home) gives us a little perspective on what the farmers who came before us had to deal with.
We have the luxury of chainsaws, skid loaders, and a backhoe to help us clear the trees, dig out the stumps, and remove the rocks that have been piled over the years. But most of the land that was cleared in our area was done well before much of that equipment existed. Think handsaws and axes to cut down trees, shovels and pick axes to dig out rocks and stumps, and horses to haul them to the field edges. That was real back breaking work!
We want to remove this tree line for a number of reasons. The soil is eroding away from the edges of the line because it directs a high amount of water into a single channel instead of letting it spread out during heavy rainfalls. It also provides a haven for noxious weeds that we can’t get at to remove and will spread into the fields and other areas. Lastly, the trees located here have an impact on the crops planted on both sides of them. They provide too much shade, not allowing the crops to grow. In many places the tree line is 50’ wide, but we lose another 25’ of our fields on both sides. We try to be as efficient as possible and when we fertilize the ground, plant the seed, and spray the weeds, we want to make sure we are giving our crops the best chance to grow!
