and so it begins

I’ve been posting that we’re logging part of our property to allow us to stay on the farm.  We are giving up some of our patch of paradise to be able to stay on the rest of it.  Timber prices are great and rising.  The estimated value of our wood has increased about 7% in just a few months.

Jude and I are hoping that rate will increase again by the time the logs are actually rolling off the farm.  As I type this, six loggers are cutting the path for one of the two roads needed to get trucks to the piles.  When several of the chain saws are running simultaneously, it sounds like a NASCAR race.  There have been so many huge thuds and crashes that our dog Slinkee has given up barking at them.

Because the market is so good, we chose a cut block over selective logging.  The fallers will leave a “picket fence” of trees between the block and our house.  We’ll still have plenty of trees around us, but with a lot more sunlight behind them.  Jude and I are eager to have this additional light, especially in the winter.  It will be a boon to our gardening, as well.

When the logging is done, we’ll consider peeling off ten acres of the cut block to sell.  That would allow us to pay off our mortgage and spend the rest of our lives in the swing under the big maple tree.  Between then and now, I plan to keep you in the loop with photos of this amazing process.