Berm, Baby, Berm

There's a reason that I tell the kids to stay out of the berm at the back of our property. As I understand it, the previous owners of this house used a Bobcat to clear what was then a completely overgrown back yard. This created a mound along the back of the property separating it from the church parking lot on the other side. I also believe that the owners before them used their overgrown yard as a massive trash can resulting in some interesting (and potentially dangerous) items eventually being plowed into this section at the back of the yard.

This weekend I decided to get a jump start on one of my summer projects -- cleaning out the berm.

After six hours of digging, cutting, mowing, hauling, and burning...

...I'm only half-finished.

You can see the fully-grown area I'm talking about at the back of this picture from last summer...

... and here's what I was facing yesterday. A little more manageable for now while the spring growth hasn't filled in.

 

So what amazing "treasures" awaited me in the berm?

Among the overgrowth, rotted stumps, and fallen limbs, there was broken glass, a pen, a few old fence posts, chunks of concrete...

 

...and about half a bucket of nails and screws (thankfully located in one spot that was once clearly used as a burn pile).

How about a wad of green yarn? I thought it was a mop head at first. Then I thought maybe it was a piece of carpet. Pulling it out of its dirt encasement, I realized it's just a big nasty wad of old yarn.

 

But my kids took the prize for coolest treasure discovered in the yard so far when they unearthed a 1978 Star Wars Hammerhead figure next to a tree.

 

Who knows what other "treasures" are out there waiting to be found? Maybe something of incalculable value...

...but probably just more trash.

. . .

On a side note, who can explain this to me? Throughout the spring, I find small twigs in the ground like this...

I can understand how a large stick or branch can fall from a tree and impale itself in the ground like this...but a tiny twig? I need somebody smart to explain to me how this happens.