Transversing My New World

OMG, Today was a stellar day on the property.  A friend, John, came along … we piled in his van and away we went. John is a very smart guy & knows alot about land … O, and he is fun! I have been plotting along each Sunday, clearing my foot path & marking trees as I go … but this week was different … leaving the tools in the van we just walked the property instead!

I have never seen the whole property and today I got to do that! We moved through my original path which had run up along the west side & then continued along the north side about 1/2 acre from the neighbors fence. Then we headed down the east side, again about 1/2 acre from that neighbors fence. We did the same thing down the south side 1/2 acre from the paved road. THEN we wandered around throughout the middle of the property.  I found all my survey markers on the corners. There was soooo much to see!

I felt like a giddy kid as I kept walking with a little voice in my head saying, “and this is mine, mine, mine, and this too, and that too, mine, mine, mine.” All of it … the rich parts with pines & oak trees, the dead trees, the myriad of fungi & funny mounds of dirt, the sand, the holes & even the little dumping ground that someone had dumped things into.

Confession … I have been clearing as I went so I could feel safer, not knowing what creatures I might encounter … the potential of snakes & insects had me a little cautious … so I had been letting the crush cutter go ahead of me with it’s loud sound to announce me in hopes it would keep them running.This week we just walked. I still found myself saying outloud, “Hiiiiii Snakies, Hi Snakies!” just to hopefully give them the heads up LOL. 

I took photos of every kind of fungi & plant on the property & ran them through my PictureThis app that identifies plants.  Good Gawd, I never knew there were so many different kinds of fungi (all with crazy names I won’t even go into) … pink & different shades of green & white & brown.  There were also holes that we speculated about who dug them & why … foxes? coyotes? anacondas?????? And those dirt mounds, with no openings at the top, that seem to occur all over all the properties where my land is …. deep digger beetles laying eggs, gophers??

The other thing to figure out is why so many dead trees??? There are patches of completely health oak & pine trees & then right next to them are trees covered with various fungi that are dying or dead.  Maybe a combo of bad sandy soil, not enough nutrition, those FUNGI???

So I will begin doing my research … the University of Florida seems to have tons of information on Florida plants and environment.  Off to smarten myself up on what I got and what I need to create healthy growth.  Obviously, a need for more larger scale land clearing too.

The best part was beginning to speculate where to place my dwelling and a drive into the property.  There were several beautifully, naturally cleared spots on the property and I began to envision a winding drive in, past beautiful grouping of saw palmettos.  John had this amazing idea about putting a tower structure, several stories high with a little tree house at the top, maybe in the middle of the property so I could go up there and view the property … the kid in me who loved tree houses immediately added that to my future plans!!

WHAT A FABULOUS FUN DAY!!  I have now seen the property.  I left with a lot more knowledge and confidence to keep rolling along alone.  Next week I will be back to clearing my foot path … but for now I will be all grins as I research and keep designing my dwelling and the decks and landscaping around it (more about that later 🙂 ).