Life On The Hill
Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 9:54 pm
Since Lolly has Lolly Land, and Matt has his place to show case I thought I would talk about my place on the Hill. I live on Reservoir Hill, the water company used to have a cement reservoir right next to my home, it was used for gravity flow preasure and they have now filled it in. We are 1210 feet above sea level and are really the 1st foot hill west of the Appilation Mountains. I can see the Chestnut Ridge from my place, it is 1800 plus feet above sea level. It runs from New England to Georga and is as small as you can be and still be called a Mountain. But from what I can see from my place to Denver Co there isn't anything big enough to be called a Mountain. I am about 45min to 1 hour from Pittsburgh depending on traffic and some people from this area used to commute to the steel mills around Pittsburgh. Our area was a Huge Coal Mining area and there were a major number of Bee Hive Coke Ovens in the area years ago. Because there was a water line that fed the reservoir I have city water here which is a big deal, my propperty is all undermined. I don't worry about the deep mine below me, that is 275 feet down, I have seen the maps, its the 3 small independant slope mines that are here on my property that concerns me. I have mine subsidance Insurance from the State of Pa. I bought the land in 1975 and built the house in 1978. We have about 35 acres more or less. There are about 4 level acres off the road, the rest of the land is steep, wooded and north facing. There are several springs that crop out at the bottom of my land. The roads up here on the hill were dirt when I bought here, so when a car drove by you just automatically waved with out looking up because you knew it was a neighbor, they are now oil and chipped so we get some out side traffic. We now have 20 homes on the hill and there is between 2 1/2 to 3 miles of roads. I never cared enough to actually measure. All of my neighbors talk about " Living on The Hill ", I find that rather surprising because our neighbors who live down off the hill are not really Flat Landers. They live in the same Township and pay the same taxes that we do, their kids go to the same schools, but everyone who lives up on the hill seems to feel that it makes a difference to be up here. Nice Neighbors, everyone. Two of my best friends live up here on the hill, both avid gardeners, both all organic, both quiet different styles of gardening, both think I am nuts to double dig as deep as I do. 22 acres of my land had been pasture field not many years befor I bought it. I debated about bulldozing the small trees that were springing up so that we could have a fantastic view, but decided that I control what I see here, and if I really want to see the view I can walk down to the Nieghbors and see it. I have not regretted controlling what I see from the back porch. I never gardened growing up, I stated when I moved out here to the country. I think it was the 2nd year we lived here that I decided I wanted a garden. A friend tilled up a patch about 10' X 15" and I started to pick rocks. There are alot of rocks up here on the hill, Glacier action I believe. We have about 6" of top soil, about 2 1/2 feet of sand and rocks and then a solid layer of Cap Rock. I planted beans, peppers, tomatos, zuccinni. Two days later I went up to see my garden and there was not a green speck in the garden. Ground Hogs or Rabbits or both had totally eaten every plant I put in. The zuccinni came up from seed later and they didn't like their leaves as well so they did great. It got to be a standing joke with my wife,,,,,,,,,,,well Hon, how are we haveing our zucinni tonight? I did not know anything about gardening. I put up a small fence the next year that kept the rabbits out. Since I had worked so hard the year befor and picked out all of the rocks I felt my garden would be great this next year, but when I got it tilled there were more rocks, and even bigger ones from down below. I was SHOCKED,,,SHOCKED I tell you. I couldn't believe how many rocks there were. That small fence lasted about 4 years befor it rusted away to nothing, so I decided to put up a proper fence, 4' high, welded wire 1" X 2" squares with 2 gates and an 8" section that I can remove to get the tractor in there. That fence has lasted over 20 years now, it was a good investment. Since the small garden was so much Fun I decided to make a Bigger garden. I am an American afer all, so if a little is Good, Then Alot must be Better. Turns out that a 40' X 40" garden is ALOT of work. Who Knew???? We raised 3 sons here so the garden was nice, and I added 3 strips outside the fence 4' X 25" long. Tried to plant stuff that the Ground hog didn't like out there like Zuccinni. When the kids left I stopped planting those 3 strips. Last year I re-planted 2 of then, 1 in Black Berrys, 1 in Gooseberrys and a couple of yellew raspberrys. After a couple of years of Gardening I decided to try planting some apple trees. I didn't know anything about apples either, are you starting to see a pattern here yet. lol, I planted 20 fruit trees, 4 pears and 16 apples, it cost me a total of $100 because it was late in the season and the nursery was stuck with alot of bear root stock that was going to die. A few years later I planted some Blue Berrys. I have continued to work the land and make inprovements over the years. It has been a labor of love for me. I will post some pictures and write more later, time for supper now.