Sig Andersen

Jenny Wright wrote:

Sig Andersen wrote:A close friend has taken many decades to develop a relationship with trees that will produce Christmas trees and brush (eg, for wreaths) sustainably.

That sounds interesting. Do you have any pictures of your friend's property?

A close friend has taken many decades to develop a relationship with trees that will produce Christmas trees and brush (eg, for wreaths) sustainably. He leaves healthy side-branches below where he harvests the trees, so the tree will adapt by turning the side growth upward. He then prunes over the course of years, planning likely next-to harvest tree, and maybe candidates for the next tree to grow, leaving a few more than needed (to allow for possible damage etc) from the root-stump.
A few local wreath-makers and others wanting (healthy, organic) brush come to the tree farm and collect the side-branches he prunes each year. No $ involved.
I've been reading a book on coppicing, which is a management practice with leaf-bearing trees. Coppicing can extend the life of a tree by giving it a smaller structure needing ongoing support, so it has more energy to produce new growth.
So my friend's methods use a similar harvesting from a tree's growth, leaving it a growing organism with less existing structure needing ongoing energy exchange with the roots. And ready to grow generations more of trees and brush ready for harvest.
He doesn't use any fertilizers or weed-killers, and refrains from mowing until after young birds have left their nests - so a few lucky customers get a tree with a nest in it (and the birds and other critters getting seasonal habitat).
He once sold wholesale and cut-your own, now only the latter. It's my sense he loves the community-weaving that occurs with his customers.

I haven't read every word in the exchanges here, so might have missed some discussion of this. Many areas are not going to be convivial for beaver. Introducing them to an area that doesn't suit them (unhelpful land contours, lack of food sources, etc) won't help them or the area. When they build their ponds, they tend to be interested in taking down deciduous trees, whose bark they prefer to evergreens. So at least in the short run they are going to be working counter to your efforts to increase deciduous trees.

Buckets: We have at least half a dozen different size "Tubtrugs" from Red Gorilla. (I checked where they're based - UK, Faulks and Co. ) They're super-rugged and quite flexible, which makes them useful for all sorts of situations around the house and garden. They used to highlight that the colored ones were food grade - but I don't see that on the site now.

I have a "weed wrench" that is invaluable for removing small trees (up to maybe 2" diameter) and their roots. It sounds like there might be areas with small trees growing in that you'd rather keep open. Getting out the bulk of the roots keeps them from re-sprouting, and this makes the job way easier than anything else I've tried.
The company stopped making it. Best I can tell two former employees are now making slightly revised versions under the names Weed Wrench and Uprooter. The latter sells both brands. Based in Oregon. If I were getting a tool today, I might go with the Pullerbear or Extractigator, both from Canada; both ship world-wide.

For loosening up the soil to dig the pits, you might want to consider a broadfork. I have the middle-sized one ("tall", 14" tines) from Meadow Creature. It's a dream at loosening soil - e.g., getting saplings up to a few inches in diameter out by the roots. Not cheap, but really well made.
Meadow Creature Broadforks

A friend has beaver ponds on his land. Here are some photos.
Sharing them via Google drive didn't work. I've made them attachments instead.

Paul Krafel has written about his observations on how even small changes to water flow can have major consequences. He's written quite a bit - the book Seeing Nature maybe 2 decades ago, and more recently Roaming, which is online. He talks about his experience with water and soil in his TedX talk on this page: http://krafel.info/tedx-talk/

Sigurd

L. Johnson wrote:... You can do so much with breath - focus and calm are two of the foremost results of a lot of breath training. ...

... I was often told "watch your breath but don't control it". It must have taken me 15 years before I was actually able to do that. ...

Watching the breath without controlling it is easy to say, but it takes a particular kind of attention that is also quite useful in not being reactive - automatically responding to small and large triggers. I find that kind of attention incredibly useful, and strive (with only mild success) to be in that mode throughout the day.

One of my teachers, Harish Johari, wrote (among other books) _Breath, Mind and Consciousness_, which says that most of the time, one of our nostrils is predominant, alternating roughly every hour or so. The active nostril is correlated with increased activity in one of the brain hemispheres, which means the body is better able to do tasks that correlate with that hemisphere, and less able to do those that don't.

Sigurd

At High Reach Farm in North Danville, Vermont, my friend Steve Parker has been growing Christmas trees via pollarding (leaving green branches at the bottom) for many decades, refining his techniques. He uses no chemicals, and mostly stays out of the trees (e.g., no mowing) during nesting season. So some people get Christmas trees with a nest included. He does lots (and lots) of pruning, and in the Fall leaves the brush in piles along the road-paths through the trees for pickup by people who make wreathes and similar things requiring brush. He gives it to them - part of his "gift economy" nature.
A few years after a tree has been harvested, there will be multiple candidates for "next tree". Steve will leave a couple of these to develop, knowing that some will not make it, due to conditions beyond his control. This method speeds up the process of growing a tree. The existing tree will generate a havestable tree a few years quicker than growing one from a seedling - and no need for herbicides (used to keep down competing plants).