The real work begins

Today was the fourth day on the new Valhalla property and we've been working hard to start cleaning up the front, side, and back yards immediately surrounding the house. Note that for the time being we're ignoring the house itself, which is stripped to the walls and completely empty, since little can be done with it until it's painted inside and out. Due to the heat it wouldn't be reasonable to organize a painting party until the weather cools in September, so our focus is on beginning to rehabilitate the outside areas in the vicinity of the house.

Just a few of the dozens of new piles of leaves which will be carefully composted to eventually harvest their many nutrients for soil improvement projects in the coming years. It's extremely labor intensive using just a rake, yet the dirt underneath is compacted and basically dead (not a single earthworm or other sign of life beyond ticks and beetles) so we're "sucking it up" and soldiering on to get it done. Burning all those leaves sure would be a joy, but quality compost for a project of this size is already badly needed. 

Because everything has become overgrown, the property is understandably a magnet for chiggers and ticks -- they're everywhere! The first step is to eliminate their habitat by raking up many years worth of leaves and also pruning countless trees. The ticks and chiggers will die when they're composted with the plant matter, and over time we'll eventually be left with nutrient-rich soil to use in gardening projects.

Helmet Guinea fowl photo courtesy of  Wiki Commons

Because of the chiggers and ticks it will be essential to immediately build accommodations for Guinea fowl keets this coming week, and then strive to acquire about 20 of them post-haste. Guinea fowl are among the very best for controlling both pests as well as other insects. Unlike chickens, adult Guineas can roam free with minimal supervision and mostly sleep in the trees, although they must first arrive on the property as keets (that is, Guinea fowl "chicks") to learn where they belong. It will take about a month for the keets to grow large enough to (mostly) fend for themselves while further bringing the chigger and tick problem under control. Even as adults they will require additional assistance to thrive through the winter, but this won't be a problem.

The six turkey eggs we nearly drove over: wildlife everywhere

Valhalla's new property certainly isn't all about chiggers and ticks of course. While touring around in a four wheel drive Jeep with Hal and Barb -- two of Valhalla's original civilian volunteers and now very dear friends -- a turkey suddenly exploded into flight from almost directly under our vehicle near a pond. Hal stopped the Jeep immediately, Gordon leaped out, and almost stepped on the six eggs that the turkey hen had been brooding. She'd flown into the woods, and after taking a quick snapshot we very slowly and carefully drove away.

Later while pruning a small tree we then found a beautiful caterpiller which will probably become a swan-tail butterfly soon (see the photo on the left).

There is no question at all that the soil here is extremely bad, but it certainly can and will be improved dramatically in the coming years -- and very essential portions of the overall Valhalla Project programs will include promoting the growth of native grasses and wildflowers that will quickly attract butterflies, humming birds, and bees to pollinate the vegetable gardens and orchards.

It will be a lot of work, but the work has already started in preparation for receiving post-911 Soldiers and combat zone civilian workers who will ultimately make it all happen for themselves, their buddies, and future generations that will also need a unique project of this kind to call their own -- and come back to if they want, year after year. It has to start somewhere, so we've started with raking an unimaginable amount of leaves!

Our IRS application for nonprofit status is being processed, 
yet you can still donate to help Valhalla today!

Valhalla's first animal: meet Vixen

We didn't expect to have animals on the Valhalla property until appropriate facilities for them can be built, yet sometimes fate has a way of making it's own way. It turns out that there is a little Calico cat already living in a hole under the small shed at the back of the house.

"Vixen"

Catching her may be out of the question since she's extremely shy and promptly dives deep into the hole under the shed when approached. However, she's also very hungry and Gordon finally managed to get her to eat from a can that he held out in his hand.

What is the correct thing to do in this kind of circumstance? We'll try to make friends with her for a month or so before capturing her in a live trap for a trip to the vet for shots, debugging, a medical checkup, and whatever else is necessary.

For the record, the cat was the subject of a Valhalla founding Board of Directors discussion that resulted in Theo Polet suggesting the name "Vixen" and Tom Lombardo seconding the notion that a cat will be an important player in the Rodent Wars (although to her credit, there are no signs at all of rodents on the property... since she was so hungry one might assume that she's already eaten them all).

Victory: V IS FOR VALHALLA!

The search for the Valhalla property has finally ended. The satellite view of the new 200-acre T-shaped property clearly shows a giant V.


In the photo below, here I am standing with real estate agent Vern from Rocking Chair Realty at the bottom of the V-shaped area in the south-40 acres as captured in the satellite view shown above. Check out the height of the trees, and that snapshot is only an example to demonstrate the sheer size of Valhall's new property:

The rolling pastures and dozens of acres of wooded areas are very impressive, offering countless building sites for small private cabins as well as more than ample room for farm animals, gardens, orchards, and much more. It is very peaceful without road noise or other outside distractions.

The following photographs show just some of the interesting features of the land:

Gordon opening the gate to a FOB-sized area that's only part of Valhalla today... the property is simply enormous, with endless possibilites

Another big positive: this property includes a house that can accommodate about ten people at a time while straw bale cabins and other buildings are constructed; the house could be converted into a visitor's center or memorial museum at some later date. It has three bedrooms, a sleeping loft, and recreation room with a wood burning stove that could easily serve as a very comfortable bunk house:

Our original expectation embraced the relatively primitive notion of having to camp out until some very basic structures could be built, yet now we're starting with a large house (with bathroooms!) for the first Valhallans to stay in. This is only excellent news, and we're very pleased since a house means we'll all be that much closer to housing and sustaining our target population of 50.

It also goes without saying that the property is certainly large enough to establish a very nice camping area with fire pits, an outdoor kitchen and sanitary facilities for use from the spring through the fall. There are two possible camping areas that immediately come to mind: one in the 1.75 acre backyard behind the house, with a second further up (about five acres away) in a beautiful wooded area that also has modest clearings.

Stay tuned: we'll post many more photos with additional information in the coming days!

Our IRS application for nonprofit status is being processed, 
yet you can still donate to help Valhalla today!