Work and doin' stuff.

Well, somehow we have to "work the land".

The farm is pretty much totally treed. Our plan is to harvest timber off the property.

Mostly when I say that people have visions of us going through and clear-felling it all. Not so.

We're doing something called "Selective harvesting" or "Sustainable forestry".

The plan is, to take roughly one tree per hectare per year. This should allow the forest to go on un-harmed, shouldn't affect the relevant ecosystems, and maintain the general ambiance of the property.

Of course, there are some areas we do have to clear. We need to clear my Orchard, veggie patch and animal areas (chook and horses areas) and the home paddocks, but there are also other areas to clear. We'll need to clear for sheds, Picnic area, Camping area (for friends), Other internal roads, and a large area for a Hardwood Plantation.

We'll have to be careful with the Tree Harvesting. There is a large ecosystem there, and we'll have to be sensitive to the animals who might use the trees we're cutting down. I had a thought, I might make nesting boxes out of any hollow tree limbs we find, and hang them in trees we've designated as 'not to be cut down' trees. That might get the animals to steer away from the trees we DO want to take.

We've bought a Sawmill. Well, we've ordered it, anyway! We'll be milling our own timber. This is really cool, because we'll be able to utilise the trees to their utmost, and ensure minimal wastage (and maximum profit) from the timber. This will mean we need to use fewer trees!

It'll be interesting to maintain the balance between gleaning an income out of the property, and keeping the property from looking denuded or ruining the ecosystem totally.