Well, we found out some good news and some bad news about the blueberry field. I went down to the county yesterday and found out that the buffer along the back is a no-cut buffer. There is a chance we may still be able to negotiate (i.e., take out the huge trees and replace with identical young trees of a smaller size), but that will require a $269 inspection by a county official named Steve Heacock, I think. He would assess whether the trees might be a falling hazard, and whether or not we'd be justified in removing/replacing them. Not sure we're going to do it, but it's an option.
As far as the buffer between our neighbors goes, they have not called back to say what they have decided as far as the trees. Not that it's really up to them, but we had hoped they would agree with us and sign a contract so we could put up the fence without a survey. But it looks like we are going to have to go ahead and get the survey done. $1500 for that one line from the top of the hill to the far end. If the surveyors are able to find the original metal stakes, it may cost less, but I'm not holding my breath. Might as well prepare for the worst.
As for the soil tests, they are so far inconclusive (the sediment has not settled enough in the jar for me to determine the percentages and therefore the soil type. However, I did collect soil samples and tested them with our kit. The results were mixed. I was dismayed at the ph readings. They indicated 6.75, which is almost neutral. We need 5.0 or thereabouts! I will definitely have to take more soil samples from other areas to establish an average. Wish we had done this last year and I could have spread elemental sulphur that would be starting to change the levels by now. Will have to do it prior to planting, and just hope the plants can hang in there until it starts working!! I know blues can be grown in a neutral ph as long as the soil is rich enough to meet their needs, so hopefully the addition of compost will help a lot. The nitrogen levels were poor in that sample, too. Not hard to remedy. But the potash and phosphorous were fantastic. So that's good.
Then there's the septic system... While at the county yesterday, I also talked to Nathan Holburn in the Onsite Sewage Department. He gave me the shocking news that our septic system down there was never APPROVED! Ack! That is, the records are missing, or else it never was approved, nobody knows. The long and short of it is that we would have to either try to get it approved ($800-$3000 for sewer cam, staking, sketch and application to county), with no guarantee on results, or we would have to replace it, at least the drain lines portion. (Possible costs: $10,000-$40,000). Sad news. It's complicated, but if it is salvageable, we'd like to get it approved for later use, but we don't have the cash. The other thing is, we may not build our little retirement house down there for many years, in which case the county may have already changed it's codes and requirements making our previous efforts useless. Nobody knows. Well, God knows. Seems like it might be best to just leave it capped securely and leave the lines covered in grass for now until a later date. It's a bummer we signed the papers without realizing this was an issue. We really thought we had a working septic and drainfield we could use later. We can only blame ourselves for not checking it more thoroughly. But God is still in charge and he knew these details when we did not. He has plans, and they are for our good.
So now we wait for another sunny weekend. Since it's been dry this week, Eric says maybe we can chip this Friday and Saturday! That's exciting for me, as it means we can get the rest of the front meadow cleaned up and cleared so I can move chips via tractor at my leisure (while he's at work). Been wanting to get a good layer on my gardens and fruit trees. Yay for sun this week! It's such a blessing!
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