Every task in the site's phased plan — Reset, Construction, Establish Systems, Diversity & Habitat, and ongoing Design — with current status and dependencies. Ported from the project's task-tracking files, not auto-generated; the site's private progress log holds the narrative behind each change.
Snapshot as of 2026-10-10.
What changed since the last snapshot (2026-09-18) — one design session and one on-site change.
Clear the site of invasive species, deadwood, and clutter. In progress as of September 2026.
| ID | Task | Description | Depends On | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | Clear invasive & nuisance species | Remove bittersweet, Rose of Sharon, poison ivy, and overgrowth choking desired plants. Three triclopyr rounds so far, most recently 2026-09-12–18 (incl. a newly found Japanese knotweed plant); the entire tree/ivy-covered fence line was also cut back and sprayed. | — | In Progress |
| R2 | Clear deadwood & branch fall | Clear accumulated branch fall in the rototiller area and elsewhere, incl. dead mulberry branches. | — | In Progress |
| R3 | Trim lower branches (spruce & oaks) | Limb lower branches to reduce tick habitat and improve access; keep the trees. | — | In Progress |
| R6 | Transplant salvageable plants | Move plants worth keeping out of garden areas to be reorganized. | R1 | Yet to Begin |
| R8 | Cut back maples, save trunks | Cut back maples; keep trunk material for later reuse. 5 maples felled as of 2026-09-12–18. Some rounds inoculated as mushroom-log stock (S7, done). Remaining trunks — current and future — still need cutting into firewood. Further felling elsewhere is for sunlight/mulch, not more trunk-salvage. | — | In Progress |
| R10 | Clear back area, bring scraps to landfill | Clear the back area; haul scrap wood/metal that isn't being kept. | — | Yet to Begin |
| R16 | Shrink garden footprint, remove garden fence | Reduce garden footprint as part of reorganization. Coop needs its own fenced perimeter, standalone from the garden fence. | R6 | Yet to Begin |
| R18 | Notify neighbors of boundary-adjacent plans | Talk to the adjacent neighbors before boundary-adjacent work. | — | Yet to Begin |
| R19 | Move and organize wood pile | Move the wood pile to the corner by the mulberry; only after R1–R18 above is clear. Formalized 2026-09-27: sort by function/diameter (poles/stakes vs. hugelkultur/bed-wall stock), keep off the ground on skids. | R1, R2, R3, R6, R8, R10, R16, R18 | Yet to Begin |
| R9 | Cut down white cedar | On hold — only if the camper moves closer to the house, or driveway access next door is lost. | — | On Hold — Conditional |
| R4 | Chip branches for mulch | Chip material from R2/R3 for on-site mulch. Wood must be dry (green material bogs the chipper), so cut material piles to dry first. Deliberately paused 2026-09-12–18 until a second person is available, which also buys the piled material more drying time. Staging formalized 2026-09-27: two elevated sections (“drying” / “ready to chip”) in the windy NW corner, sized for about two cutting seasons of material. | R2, R3 | In Progress |
| R5 | Deep mulch non-lawn areas | Apply deep mulch ahead of new plantings. Fence line already cleared and mulched. Next target: the Zone 3 veg garden over cardboard (already collected); waiting on R4's deferred chipping. | R4 | In Progress |
| R17 | Build raised beds along fence line | Raised beds for tomatoes, peppers, herbs, flowers. | R1, C1–C5 | Yet to Begin |
| R20 | Relocate 2 grape vines | Dig up and move the two existing grape plants (likely Catawba); likely target the new raised beds (D4). Plan changed 2026-09-18: leave in place, staked and protected, until the vines go dormant. | — | In Progress |
| R21 | Air-layer white cedar, Rose of Sharon & lilacs | Propagate all three before removal/reuse. Lilacs given a major prune 2026-09-12–18; no air-layering started on any of the three yet — pushed to spring. | — | In Progress |
Structural additions, repairs, and new utility lines — runs independently of Phase 1's clearing.
| ID | Task | Description | Depends On | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Repair basement water spigot | Replace cracked spigot and rotted board. | — | Yet to Begin |
| C2 | Add second water spigot | New spigot on the opposite side of the house. | — | Yet to Begin |
| C3 | Run water line to back of property | Above-ground PVC to the back yard for seasonal water. | C1 | Yet to Begin |
| C4 | Electrical panel upgrade | Prerequisite for mini-split, water feature pump, other future loads. | — | Yet to Begin |
| C5 | Build new 10x8 shed | Remove old shed, build new per DS1's design; confirm permit requirement. | DS1 | Yet to Begin |
The time-sensitive, low-maintenance systems (composting, cropping, storage, water, energy) the site will run on long-term.
| ID | Task | Description | Depends On | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | Hot composting system | Active/hot composting for fast-turnaround waste. Sited in the NW corner; underway. Design finalized 2026-09-27: a 3–4 bin wood-and-wire turning system that also takes the coop manure/bedding; the fresh-fill bay is lined with hardware cloth and lidded against tunneling. | R2, R4 | In Progress |
| S2 | Cold/slow composting system | Built from the existing Zone 5 brush pile: spray → shred → compact → enclose in a single open staked-fence corral (corrected 2026-09-27 — the 3-bin design belongs to S1). Tree removal for the footprint is done (2026-09-18); posts/fencing for the corral still need to go in. Shredding/compacting still blocked on R4's deferred chipping. | — | In Progress |
| S3 | Forage crops | Forage crop plantings for low-maintenance food systems. | — | Yet to Begin |
| S4 | Winter cover crops | Cover crops to protect and build soil off-season. | — | Yet to Begin |
| S5 | Pollard willow row (raw material barrier) | Raw-material crop that doubles as a visual barrier. | — | Yet to Begin |
| S6 | Storage systems | Storage for raw materials/building supplies, planned together with the shed's design. | DS1 | Yet to Begin |
| S7 | Mushroom cultivation | Mushroom system using wood byproducts. Inoculation done 2026-09-18: shiitake and oyster spawn in maple and mulberry rounds, stacked under the pool deck — a deliberate wood/freshness comparison. Nothing further to do but let it colonize. A separate future mushroom bed moved with D6 to the camper side of Zone 5 (2026-09-27). | R8 | In Progress |
| S8 | Water harvesting system | Capture water off coop/shed roofs. | C5 | Yet to Begin |
| S10 | Waterfall/pond feature | Long-desired water feature; needs pump + electrical capacity. | C4 | Yet to Begin |
| S11 | Solar panels on chicken coop | Small-scale renewable energy on the coop. | — | Yet to Begin |
Build out planting diversity and habitat value — trees, shrubs, and flowers selected for yield, beauty, and pollinator/wildlife support.
| ID | Task | Description | Depends On | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | Plant native trees & shrubs | Diversity over monocrop; fruit, nut, raw material, or habitat yield. | R1 | Yet to Begin |
| D2 | Plant flowers for beauty & pollinators | Color, pollinator support, cut/dry flower varieties. | — | Yet to Begin |
| D3 | Perennial garden along back fence | Lilacs (family sentimental) and hydrangeas, planned deliberately. Source lilac stock via air-layering (R21). | R17 | Yet to Begin |
| D4 | Hops, grapes, blueberries | Productive perennial plantings. Plan changed 2026-09-18: sourcing new low-bush blueberry plants as ground cover instead of propagating cuttings. Grapes (R20) staying in place, protected, until dormancy. | — | In Progress |
| D5 | Clean up chicken/evergreen area for habitat use | Reduce clutter/rodent issues; add raised beds. | R2 | Yet to Begin |
| D6 | Pawpaw understory planting | Pawpaw saplings in a full-shade understory spot. Added 2026-09-27, sited on the camper side of Zone 5. Open questions: comparable shade/moisture, and overlap with the rotational chicken-paddock footprint. | — | Yet to Begin |
Spans the full 5-year vision; runs alongside any active phase as long as it isn't designing something currently under construction.
| ID | Task | Description | Depends On | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DS1 | Design new shed & overall storage layout | Design the shed (C5) together with the property's broader storage needs (S6). | — | Yet to Begin |