TierraMadraDosPuentes
Meadow Hill
Meadow Hill
Meadow Hill is 4 acres rising 150ft from Prairie Creek. At the
tippy top of the hill is a huge Sweetgum tree, and standing in its
shade you can see all of TierraMadreDosPuentes, the 25 acre
woods behind us, and the 400+ acres of forest and bottomland
on the other side of the road.
Wild blackberries, bramble berries, a stand of milkweed for
Monarch butterfly caterpillers, and a giant yucca are among the
plants in the meadow, and the fence line on the road is home to
maidenhair ferns and trumpet vines.
Goals for Meadow Hill include
-building a barn and fencing off paddocks for the goats, horse,
sheep and poultry
-planting an orchard and veggie garden with easy access to
compost suppliers (livestock) and an adjacent building for guest
quarters/produce processing and storage
-having the pasture disked and planting native grasses and
plants that will feed the critters for most of the year with careful
rotational grazing
-building a rainwater catchment tank at the top of the hill with a
'lookout fort' on the roof (instead of a tree house- cool for
camping, plotting world domination and daydreaming, but no
nails in or damage to the tree) that will provide water for the
barn via gravity
***update winter/spring 2008- disked the pasture and planted
native pasture seeds (see below)
***update spring 2009- established orchard/veggie garden area
(see below)
tippy top of the hill is a huge Sweetgum tree, and standing in its
shade you can see all of TierraMadreDosPuentes, the 25 acre
woods behind us, and the 400+ acres of forest and bottomland
on the other side of the road.
Wild blackberries, bramble berries, a stand of milkweed for
Monarch butterfly caterpillers, and a giant yucca are among the
plants in the meadow, and the fence line on the road is home to
maidenhair ferns and trumpet vines.
Goals for Meadow Hill include
-building a barn and fencing off paddocks for the goats, horse,
sheep and poultry
-planting an orchard and veggie garden with easy access to
compost suppliers (livestock) and an adjacent building for guest
quarters/produce processing and storage
-having the pasture disked and planting native grasses and
plants that will feed the critters for most of the year with careful
rotational grazing
-building a rainwater catchment tank at the top of the hill with a
'lookout fort' on the roof (instead of a tree house- cool for
camping, plotting world domination and daydreaming, but no
nails in or damage to the tree) that will provide water for the
barn via gravity
***update winter/spring 2008- disked the pasture and planted
native pasture seeds (see below)
***update spring 2009- established orchard/veggie garden area
(see below)
Looking south from the top of the hill
Looking west from the top of the hill
(overlooking the rest of the land)
(overlooking the rest of the land)
The hilltop Sweetgum in autumn
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Meditating on the highest point of Meadow Hill
Sowing native seeds on newly disked MeadowHill...
...and after the seeds have sprouted- green is better!
Veggie garden in progress- about 1/3 tilled
and planted. area between the garden and
the big trees has our baby fruit and nut
trees in it- pear, apple, peach, cherry, plum,
almond, walnut and pecans. mmmmm......
*electric fence to keep out wild hogs *~*
and planted. area between the garden and
the big trees has our baby fruit and nut
trees in it- pear, apple, peach, cherry, plum,
almond, walnut and pecans. mmmmm......
*electric fence to keep out wild hogs *~*
from about halfway up the hill looking down on the barn,
paddocks, guinea pig house and you can barely see our roof
through the trees...
paddocks, guinea pig house and you can barely see our roof
through the trees...
