One of the chal­lenges that we’ve tak­en on around here is the clear­ing of our prop­er­ty. Cal­i­for­nia is suf­fer­ing quite a drought and liv­ing a bit out-in-the-sticks, in a canyon no less, can be a bit scary to say the least. So clear­ing dead wood and brush is always a good idea. It’s been quite a project.

One of the ben­e­fits is that the hawks and owls have been hang­ing around more since it’s easy pick­ins’… there’s basi­cal­ly nowhere for the rodents to hide.  I cer­tain­ly have no objec­tion, since the varmints have eat­en most of what I’ve plant­ed. Yes, what the gophers don’t get from under­neath, the chip­munks, squir­rels, rab­bits, and an occa­sion­al deer take care of. There are also mice and rats around these parts. And they’re all pret­ty cute until your invest­ment in time, effort and mon­ey is wiped out basi­cal­ly overnight. And fruit trees ain’t cheap, I can tell ya!

And of course, oth­er ben­e­fits are fire­wood and wood chips. And those cer­tain­ly come in handy.