Working at the Farm - Took a few I-Phone Pics

[dogghr]

Wishing you and your father a wonderful Sunday dogghr.

You could still possibly get some scion wood from those trees next spring if the new owner didn't care. The last time I looked, Big Horse Creek Farm would take scion wood in the mail in the spring and have trees ready to ship to you in the fall. That would be a quick way to get some new Goldens started. You can check out their Website.

Take Care my friend.

Thats a great idea. I went ahead and grafted a couple leafing cuts just to see if I could get lucky. Funny, someone asked if I'd miss the house and my response was only the apple trees. I won't miss down sizing to a smaller place. All I really need is a 30 car garage and a place to sleep. The little lady just shakes her head.

 

[Native Hunter]

Thats a great idea. I went ahead and grafted a couple leafing cuts just to see if I could get lucky. Funny, someone asked if I'd miss the house and my response was only the apple trees. I won't miss down sizing to a smaller place. All I really need is a 30 car garage and a place to sleep. The little lady just shakes her head.

Isn't it amazing how we can got so attached to a tree or trees? I think it is something primal that is built into us by our maker.

It's actually funny that you would say that, because the guy who bought the land with the pear tree shown above said something similar to me just the other day. He said that his memories of that old tree was the main reason he wanted that land once he found out that the tree was still standing.

That's coming from a guy who isn't necessarily deep into habitat building like you and I are, but just appreciates the special memories. If all goes well we will get more of his old trees growing next year. He really wants his children and grandchildren to be apple to enjoy not just any pear - but his special pear that he enjoyed as a child.

 

[T-Max]

Got a question Native... I have an apple tree similar in size to the tree you have that is loaded with blossoms. I also planted mine last year. Are you going to go ahead and let them fruit, or have I heard right that you can pinch the blossoms off to let the tree develop another year or more before allowing it to fruit?

 

[Native Hunter]

Got a question Native... I have an apple tree similar in size to the tree you have that is loaded with blossoms. I also planted mine last year. Are you going to go ahead and let them fruit, or have I heard right that you can pinch the blossoms off to let the tree develop another year or more before allowing it to fruit?

T-Max, yes, you have heard that on the forums about pinching off the blossoms on a young tree. I think most of the time this is the best thing to do - especially when they are loaded with them. I did that last year on some Golden Hornet Crabs, and I have done it many other times. That will divert the energy back to growing a good strong tree, which is what we want at such a young age.

However, I plan on leaving a few of the blossoms on the two Northern Crabs. They are extremely strong trees, and I'm anxious to see what the fruit is going to look like. I'm talking just 3 or 4 apples at the most. Good luck with your trees.

 

[Native Hunter]

I got my road behind the road screen almost finished. I did all this with a DR mower and chain saw. Along with what I did last year, I now have a road behind the screen that I can drive a tractor and bushhog through along the entire length. This will also help the white pines to not shed their lower limbs, because they will continue to get some sunlight.

Found this tiny oak at the edge of the road - apparently from an acorn. Trees are getting big enough now that some are starting to drop.

Instead of road building looks like I should have been turkey hunting. I surprised these when I drove in the other morning. One of them has a heck of a paint brush. They scattered like a bunch of wild turkeys...

Apple set is incredible here this year. Nearly all trees are loaded. I will be eating apples off this one in 50 days. Earliest apple I grow.

A man who does a lot of habitat work wears out a lot of shovels. I won't tell you how many I've gone through.

 

[George]

Stay away from Chinese steel.

G

 

[Chainsaw]

Steve, I smiled when I read I think on one of your posts that you were working on ridding yourself of thistle; I thought to myself, glad I don't have any of those to worry about. Well you probably guessed it in my favorite clover/chicory plot (The driveway plot) today there big as life were 100 or more 4 inch tall thistle plants. I'm out of 2-4-DB but don't know if that would kill thistle anyhow though it would be my first choice and of course do not want to use 2-4-D in the clover. Was thinking of using my bottomless pail with the string and using it to drop down around the thistle plant and then spray roundup. That way if it kills the surrounding clover within the pail too much it will just leave small open spots instead of big spots. It is a windy time of year and spot spraying without a bucket would be pushing it.

What herbicide did you end up using and was clover involved? And if you used roundup did you use a higher concentration or just the normal recommended amount?
Thanks.

By the way, love your road with it's double function that includes light to the lower branches. Absolutely brilliant!

 

[Native Hunter]

Steve, I smiled when I read I think on one of your posts that you were working on ridding yourself of thistle; I thought to myself, glad I don't have any of those to worry about. Well you probably guessed it in my favorite clover/chicory plot (The driveway plot) today there big as life were 100 or more 4 inch tall thistle plants. I'm out of 2-4-DB but don't know if that would kill thistle anyhow though it would be my first choice and of course do not want to use 2-4-D in the clover. Was thinking of using my bottomless pail with the string and using it to drop down around the thistle plant and then spray roundup. That way if it kills the surrounding clover within the pail too much it will just leave small open spots instead of big spots. It is a windy time of year and spot spraying without a bucket would be pushing it.

What herbicide did you end up using and was clover involved? And if you used roundup did you use a higher concentration or just the normal recommended amount?
Thanks.

By the way, love your road with it's double function that includes light to the lower branches. Absolutely brilliant!

Thanks Dave. Well, I'm sorry to hear that you have those nasty things.

Yes, I have a history with them but not in food plots. I do occasionally get a few in the clover, but I will just take a shovel and dig them out. Of course, that wouldn't be a very good way to do it if you had a lot of them.

I was spot spraying them in NWSGs, and using 24D, which of course didn't hurt the grasses but did a good job on the thistles. I really believe that in clover you might be able to take care of them by mowing. I would let them get tall and then mow them before they set seed. I believe they are biennial, so some well timed mowings might clear them out if you aren't getting new seed from outside the plot.

Good luck and let us know what you do.

PS: Your scions from last year are looking outstanding this spring. This is a picture of one of the trees that I took a few days ago. This is not the biggest one. There are two or three more that put out even more growth than this one. You can still see a little of the black pruning sealer at the top of the cage. Everything above that is new growth.

 

[Chainsaw]

Thanks Steve, I like the mowing option which I hadn't even thought of (DUH) and we are not getting seed from another source so that should work out just fine. The growth on your apple trees with the scions is just incredible. They look so very healthy with such clean leaves; I think the apples grow better at your place than where they were born. It is very exciting for me to see what those tiny scions have grown into.

 

[Native Hunter]

Thanks Steve, I like the mowing option which I hadn't even thought of (DUH) and we are not getting seed from another source so that should work out just fine. The growth on your apple trees with the scions is just incredible. They look so very healthy with such clean leaves; I think the apples grow better at your place than where they were born. It is very exciting for me to see what those tiny scions have grown into.

It excites me too Dave. Hopefully we will both get to see some apples someday and we can compare and see if the drop times or other factors change with the new location.

Yep, that would be a good way to deal with the thistles. The bigger they get (before setting seed) the better. The mowing will be hard on them for sure.

 

[buckhunter10]

love the turkey pics! As always, stuff looks great on the farm bud!

 

[Native Hunter]

Thought I would post a few recent pics tonight. As mentioned in another thread, my neighbor is putting in 50+ acres of soybeans this year on land that has been in fescue my entire life. It should help the summer nutrition in my area quite a bit.

For the time being, I'm getting a lot of action in the clover and chicory. Mineral lick is also being visited heavily. In just a couple of months I will hardly get any pics at the lick.

 

[buckhunter10]

Nice pics! On that rye and clover I have a few questions.

Was that established clover and you seeded with rye last fall? Have you noticed decreased weeds in plot? or was this planted last fall with rye and clover at same time?

Can you further elaborate - great stuff buddy!

 

[Native Hunter]

Nice pics! On that rye and clover I have a few questions.

Was that established clover and you seeded with rye last fall? Have you noticed decreased weeds in plot? or was this planted last fall with rye and clover at same time?

Can you further elaborate - great stuff buddy!

Thanks buckhunter10.

The first food plot pic is clover that I have had established a few years. It had some red sorrel coming up in it this spring so I mowed it down pretty close. The clover responded well and put on all that growth in only 8 days after mowing. I did overseed some grains (wheat and oats) into it last fall, but they were eaten pretty hard and I don't see much sign of them this spring. This is a plot near bedding, so it gets hit pretty hard.

The second food plot pic was put in last fall. Rather than rye, I used a mix of wheat and oats for my nurse crop. It was all seeded at the same time with the clover and chicory.

I have used rye some in the past, but in my area I prefer a mix of wheat and oats. Our weather is generally warm enough through November gun season that the oats stay green. When the oats do eventually freeze out, the wheat seems to last longer. The mix works well for me.

I don't think there is any doubt that rye will help with weeds. It is just a proven thing with many people on this forum. Wheat will do the same thing to a lesser degree just because of how aggressively it takes off growing.

Let me know if you have any more questions.....

 

[dogghr]

Awesome as usual Native. You deer are like me, getting fat and lazy. Hopefully my schedule settles and can make it back to my place next weekend and catch up on work there. I agree with you on WW, I think deer do prefer its browse and WR gives a slight better weed control. I never can decide between them so any more I just mix the two. I don't think your neighbors soybean with hurt your hunting only in change of pattern. You know, its all about the cover and they will camp out on your thickets. I have 30 ac alfalfa and 20 ac corn adjacent to me and the deer still spend 70% of their time on my small plots. Good luck with it all.

 

[Native Hunter]

I've been checking my persimmon grafts this year as frequently as I can. I didn't see the first green tips until 15 days after grafting. Today was Day 22, and I saw some more green tips today that were not there yesterday. Shown below are some examples. The scions with the most leaves are the ones that I saw green tips on Day 15. The ones that are just beginning to show green are the ones that I saw first today.

This illustrates how persimmons can be much slower than apples or pears to show leaves after topworking.

Deer Pics. The second looks like it might have more than 2 main beams. We will see.

Does this outfit make me look fat??????????

Some of my recent work cleaning out around persimmons. This is a nice female grove. I will likely cut two of these and leave three. They are loaded with female flowers this year.

Few more recent pics:

That's all folks. Hard work week ahead at the real job. Take Care.

 

[Native Hunter]

Got some better bone pictures:

 

[gut_pile]

Lookin good

 

[Native Hunter]

A few years ago after logging, I had wild blueberries to appear in areas of my woods. I could hardly believe it, because no one I knew had never seen wild blueberries in our area. I started cleaning out around some of the bushes and helping them to get a little sunlight. They have really reacted well to the special treatment. They are expanding and literally loaded with berries this year.

I still don't see how these bushes fruit with so little sun. They literally grow in the woods. They might get maybe 2 - 3 hours of midday sunlight. These are some pictures today. They are still a few days from being ripe. The berries are small but sweet as sugar.

The work to keep these going is minimal. Just clean out around them a little. Last year I didn't even do anything.

Persimmon grafts doing well. I had a high percentage to take this year, but many of them were very slow showing leaves.

This food plot was planted last fall. It's clover, chicory and oats with a little wheat. The deer are really working on this right now, but they can't hold it back.

I've got lots of apples this year. Will post more pictures later on as they begin to ripen.

The NWSGs are just beginning to take off. This field is probably waist high right now and will be 6 feet tall in another month and 9 feet tall by the end of the year.

That's about all folks . Have a great Memorial Day Monday.

 

[Triple C]

Always great stuff NH! Place looks like paradise with such diversity.