Stone Branch, build it, they will come.

[George]

I conducted half of my peach harvest yesterday, could have gone one more day. This was a good peach, it is a blaze prince variety.





My other peach tree, below, is a georgia white. Last year I looked at pruning peach trees online and they say prune much like you would an apple tree. So I cut the main stems at about 5' to promote lateral stems. The new growth on my apples can be measured in inches, new growth on my pears, not pruned, in feet. However the new growth on the peaches can be measured in yards. At this point is there more pruning needed or do I just let them grow?



G

 

[cutman]

Peaches grow fruit on 2 year old wood, so that new growth this year will have fruit next year. I don’t prune mid-summer - I prune in late winter/early spring. You want an open crown that grows out rather than up so that sunlight and air can reach all the fruit.

 

[George]

Thanks cut.

More fruiting bodies popping up on the ridge after the last rain.







Yesterday I returned to my trail project and





made it down to the saddle.





I use the cut logs to slow down water drainage out of the drains in the old logging trail.



It requires patience bringing in the sun with the hack hammer. Today I am going to speed up the process down in the saddle.



G

 

[George]

Yesterday I got started in the saddle







The prescription is the same, sunshine. This area I'm mulching and not using chemicals. The area is 80% stunted tulip poplar. I havent seen much apparent browse on tulips here in Ky but some tulips that I transplanted to Michigan have every reachable terminal bud browsed off. There are some big white and chestnut oaks in the work area but very few young oaks which makes this area a good candidate to be a garden managed with fire







Big uglies like this red maple that I want to remove from the canopy but not mess with on the ground will be double girdled and treated with triclopyr.



G

 

[George]

I made it in yesterday ready to make the sun shine



but first I wanted to catch up on the other side of the trail.



I turn around and 20 yards up is where I left off. I'm pleased, the maples are dying off pretty well



even big old stump sprouts are brown. Tulips are slower to decline.



I decided to work the hill on the other side of the trail back up. I'm walking around thinking that this should be a good place to find a snake



and I'm down getting ready to put the hack hammer into this tree and a copperhead slides between me and the tree. When I returned with the camera it's tail was all that I had to photograph.



I removed the sticks and debris and found it under the log. I took this picture with my 28-75mm lens set at 75mm with the lens about 6" away. I wanted to bring it out and take better pictures but I wanted my hands more than 10" away from the snake.



I also brought my long lens for just such occasions, 200mm, 3-4' away. I had to reach in and pull him back out by hand, it never once struck out.







G

 

[lakngolf]

Please. Please. Pictures of trees ONLY!

 

[Mennoniteman]

I made it in yesterday ready to make the sun shine

View attachment 22243

but first I wanted to catch up on the other side of the trail.

View attachment 22244

I turn around and 20 yards up is where I left off. I'm pleased, the maples are dying off pretty well

View attachment 22245

even big old stump sprouts are brown. Tulips are slower to decline.

View attachment 22246

I decided to work the hill on the other side of the trail back up. I'm walking around thinking that this should be a good place to find a snake

View attachment 22247

and I'm down getting ready to put the hack hammer into this tree and a copperhead slides between me and the tree. When I returned with the camera it's tail was all that I had to photograph.

View attachment 22248

I removed the sticks and debris and found it under the log. I took this picture with my 28-75mm lens set at 75mm with the lens about 6" away. I wanted to bring it out and take better pictures but I wanted my hands more than 10" away from the snake.

View attachment 22249

I also brought my long lens for just such occasions, 200mm, 3-4' away. I had to reach in and pull him back out by hand, it never once struck out.

View attachment 22250

View attachment 22251

View attachment 22252

G

You pulled him back out by hand? Maybe some clarification is needed here?

 

[George]

You pulled him back out by hand? Maybe some clarification is needed here?

You know when a night crawler is escaping down a hole and you are able to take a firm but gentle grasp of it's backside applying even back pressure till the organism releases and slides back out? Like that.

G

 

[MarkDarvin]

You know when a night crawler is escaping down a hole and you are able to take a firm but gentle grasp of it's backside applying even back pressure till the organism releases and slides back out? Like that.

G

You are an odd bird George.

When you talk "mulching" when doing timber work, are you just dropping the stuff and leaving it lay, or you actually going to bring in a chipper and blow that stuff around?

 

[George]

You are an odd bird George.

When you talk "mulching" when doing timber work, are you just dropping the stuff and leaving it lay, or you actually going to bring in a chipper and blow that stuff around?

I'm talking mulched with the chain saw. It would be nice to mulch it with a chipper. I did contemplate piling it up and burning it but I will probably just make a path through and leave it all lay.

G

 

[MarkDarvin]

I'm talking mulched with the chain saw. It would be nice to mulch it with a chipper. I did contemplate piling it up and burning it but I will probably just make a path through and leave it all lay.

G

I thought so. I just wanted to be sure.

 

[George]

I parked out on the nose of the ridge yesterday to



continue where I left off,



I pretty much have completed my maple wilt project





in my current work area, about 6 acres. I will wait till next winter to burn some of this area, I wouldn't want to harm any copperheads.







G

 

[dtabor]

Phew, alot of work. Id love to live down that way to escape our winters which I hate more every year but I dont know that Id be doing much habitat work with those dang copperheads around. Thats one thing we DONT have up here is venomous snakes!

 

[George]

3 days ago I started to continue down the trail with my saw and I lasted one tank of gas before I was drenched and my bean started to bake.



I left these thinking that they might be pawpaw, I believe they are.







Humming birds have to work through the heat.







G

 

[George]

Phew, alot of work. Id love to live down that way to escape our winters which I hate more every year but I dont know that Id be doing much habitat work with those dang copperheads around. Thats one thing we DONT have up here is venomous snakes!

I'm more concerned about these ones. I do kind of like the milder winters.





G

 

[Mennoniteman]

I'm more concerned about these ones. I do kind of like the milder winters.

View attachment 22294

View attachment 22295

G

Did you eat it?

 

[George]

Did you eat it?

No that was the first one that I found up on the ridge a couple of years ago. I would like to see it again to get pictures with my new camera.

A copperhead bite, I probably wouldn't go to the hospital. A bite from that thing and I probably wouldn't make it to the hospital.

G

 

[Mennoniteman]

No that was the first one that I found up on the ridge a couple of years ago. I would like to see it again to get pictures with my new camera.

A copperhead bite, I probably wouldn't go to the hospital. A bite from that thing and I probably wouldn't make it to the hospital.

G

If I'd be working in the woods every day alone I'd be considering redefining the local population numbers to give myself some breathing room.

 

[weekender21]

3 days ago I started to continue down the trail with my saw and I lasted one tank of gas before I was drenched and my bean started to bake.

View attachment 22287

I left these thinking that they might be pawpaw, I believe they are.

View attachment 22288

View attachment 22289

View attachment 22290

Humming birds have to work through the heat.

View attachment 22291

View attachment 22292

View attachment 22293

G

I’ve been looking for pawpaw on our place, nothing so far. I’ll probably end up planting a nursery variety at some point.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[George]

If I'd be working in the woods every day alone I'd be considering redefining the local population numbers to give myself some breathing room.

I have no shortage of breathing space. I will be particularly careful picking up those sticks that I cut

I’ve been looking for pawpaw on our place, nothing so far. I’ll probably end up planting a nursery variety at some point.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Me too, I have been learning up on pawpaw. KSU has a pawpaw orchard and breeding program and they recommend two nurseries in KY licensed to carry their cultivars. They start taking orders in the new year.

England- www.nuttrees.net and peaceful heritage- www.peacefulheritage.com

Right as I started opening my path down the other day I made a new plant discovery that I am less excited about.



Being totally unfamiliar with the plant I recognized it to be be one of Native's least favorites, tree of heaven. I cut stump treated the ones on the trail, not the way to do it. I will get after it with a foliar/basal treatment. They say treat then cut.



G