Meadows

Before we moved here, cattle had grazed in the central area of our farm. The bovine left ankle-breaker holes, baked hard in July drought, that populated the soil around the large pond. It took three full seasons of freeze-thaw cycles before the approach to the pond was smooth and even. Rusty, barbed wire fences were another remnant of the cows. Hedge trees, also referred to as Osage Orange, produce a very hard wood that can be harvested and used as fence posts. You can find stands of the Osage trees in several places around our farm. Unlike the more modern steel T-posts that can be removed with a uni-tool appropriately referred to as a T-post puller, the wooden posts fight hard against eradication. They remain fast, standing – strangely alone – a reminder of how this land was once employed.