Bio-Mass Plantation
By Dave Hanks
Our property consists of 50 acres. Four of those acres contain our home and yard. We have a large garden, many shrubs and trees, many lawns, and my wife has many flower plots. The place is a real attraction for birds and other forms of wildlife. There are several local photographers that use our yard to photography families, wedding parties, school photos, etc. All these things are gratifying, but there are draw-backs for the luxury of having all this.
Needless to say, there are tremendous quantities of bio-mass produced in our yard. Besides all the lawn mowing and garden weeding in the summer, there is a massive cleanup required. It starts in November, after the leaves have fallen, and goes through the winter. Cleaning up limbs blown down from winter storms, dead leaves, and old growth from the perennials in the flower plots constitute quite a big job. To date (March 14th) I have hauled off 170 wheel barrow loads and have dealt with several large piles of limbs. Hopefully I can conclude the basic clean-up in ten more loads!
I have often thought that we should name this place BIO-MASS PLANTATION, hence the title of this essay.
(Small part of yard and one of many to visit it: American Goldfinch)
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