T1B

... by getting 'bode on a number of pretty good sized oaks out behind my house. I did this for a number of reasons;

1. they're my fukkin' trees.
2. I wanna put in a decent sized garden. I have decided that I will OD on fresh grown corn and tomatoes this summer. And Neil Peart can tell ya, oaks are awful sunlight hogs. I'm pretty sure I heard the maple infront of my house snicker as one of those sunlight sponges bit the dust
3. Damn near nothing is as enflating to a man's ego as a well placed big ass tree. Each one went right where I fukkin' told it to, 'cept for the one that I pulled a little to the left. Oh well, my kids barely used that giant slide on the playscape anyhoo. I guess rebuilding that can be another manly type yob for a different time.
4. I'm thinkin' of puttin' in my own clubouse just like Sudden Sam has. This spot is about 100 ft behind the house. So I wouldn't have to turn the volume down much at all on the porno DVDs.
5. I was curious about the age of the biggest one. I counted eighty something, give or take. Almost felt bad about killing something that's been around this earth damn near as long as luther, but, that tree alone will put a big dent in the number of 3 dollar gallons of heatin' earl I'll have to buy next winter. If I keep the stove going most of the time, I think I'll make it through on 1 tank.

I finished this arboreal carnage with a few natti lights. I prolly shoulda went and bought a case of the high life and drank them while standing over the freshly killed trees in a sweaty wife beater. That would have been epcot. Oh well, there are still a few trees to go, so maybe I'll stop by the package store tonight.

while I'm on this subject, maybe some of you wanna be gardner types can suggest what I'll need for soil treatment. This area has been covered in oak leaves for atleast a half century, so I suspect the soil will be a tad acidic. I figure I'll have to lime the shit outta it. Any suggestions, particularly helpful or funny ones are appreciated.

I changed the oil from my pickup on my neighbors front lawn and didn't use a pan. I love Earth Day.

Let's see if I got this right:

You cut down 80-year-old oak trees...

* because you need firewood
* because you want to plant tomatoes, which you can buy at the store for $2 bucks a sack


Do you know how much oak goes for per board foot?

:)

fes,

I thought about giving a mill a call, but, my life long forester father in law told me a few years ago that I didn't have enough of them to make it worth while.

Also, you ever had a home grown tomater? Those sorta red (on the outside anyhow), round things in the produce section at the supermarket are not tomatoes.

Let's just say I wouldn't be cutting down 80-year-old trees in order to plant tomatoes.

For lumber, maybe...

http://www.logosol.com/

Haven't chopped up the old fella yet. You can come over and haul it off to the mill for 100 bucks. I figure it's worth that in firewood.

Lime will take some time to change the pH of the soil. Spread and till in mucho lime asap. You will have to lime again each fall. As you indicated, the soil there is probably quite acidic. If you REALLY want to find out how much lime to add, you can send a soil test in to your state univerisity. Most do soil tests for a relatively small fee. This is the only way to know what you really need to add.

Good luck trying to till through 3" roots.