Weekend project

[THE LLC]

Forgot a couple pics with the fruit trees. Last year I put 5' tubes on a bunch of apple and pear trees. Make sure you remove these and prune each year. I'm cutting everything below the 5' tube. Some I have to cut open for easy access. Check out these weird roots growing and early bud growth in Feb

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I've had some of my trees put out roots like this from the rootstock. I think that is how clonal rootstocks are propagated anyway. So, now I bury my rootstocks almost to the graft union when planting---more roots coming off the rootstock has to be a good idea.

 

[THE LLC]

Those are some great pics by the way.

 

[emetzger]

Thank you LLC. This weekend I drove out to the nursery capital of TN. McMinnville. I usually buy my NWTF seed out there but decided to add some persimmon to one of my food plots. I picked up 7 persimmon and 10 blueberry bushes.

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[emetzger]

I planted the persimmon on a narrow ridge top field I named, "the preacher seat". I filled in gaps with the blueberry bushes.

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[emetzger]

Also this weekend, I had a few traps out and caught this coyote and a neighborhood dog. It's amazing how many dogs I catch and how much they run my property. Personally I think dogs are horrible for pushing deer off properties. With all the things we do to manage deer, dog management is very important in my opinion and often overlooked.

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[Bowtech64]

What's the name of that nursery? My son lives in Nashville and I may have to run down there the next time I visit. Thanks

 

[emetzger]

Heather Tree Farms

 

[emetzger]

This weekend I worked on finishing some cover crop rollers. Also worked on my punch list which included burning some NWSG, and setting up some bee boxes.

I wasn't able to burn because of the snow but I did get the boxes set up. I'm getting my bees next Friday. Bees are ready 3 weeks early this year because of the hot weather.

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[emetzger]

My 2 bee boxes didn't make it last year due to bad location and water getting into my hives. This year I changed locations so they are facing more south, stuck them into a little cover from the North wind and tilted them slightly forward so water can run out the front. Check out the honey coming out front from some of my old frames I placed in there.

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[emetzger]

I talked one of my friends into building me a bee box and swung by there Friday. He had a big deer that his son had hit with his car. Rare to see a 170" er in TN. Check this guy out.

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[Natureboy]

It looks like you guys sure had fun.

 

[emetzger]

This weekend I'm in FL with the family but I did get some whip and tongue grafts done. This is how I do it. I grafted onto M111 and potted them in 2 gallon root builder pots. The ones I did last year were potted in 7 gallon bags but I had started the rootstock from seed and in root maker products. They did real well. I will baby these for the summer and plant next spring.

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[emetzger]

A couple without the rubber band, and tape.

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[lakngolf]

Wow, you are one busy fella. I like the variety of what you got going. Good luck with the bees.
That is one monster BUCK!

 

[emetzger]

Not much time this weekend to do anything but I did swing by the farm to pick up some equipment. A few things I noticed and took pictures of were the following.
1. Bees raided my hives with honey in them. I was planning on getting bees sooner but it didn't work out because of weather, so now the existing honey is being raided by native bees. Lesson learned.
2. I'm working on turning 2 row planter into a 6 row drill. Here is a picture of the work. I have this posted on another thread.
3. Here is a buck a friend shot this past Fall I nick named "club foot" he had a bad foot but I believe he is 3-4.5. I have pictures of him for 3 years. He never amounted to anything but he was a bully buck.
4. My fall cover crops were growing nicely with my 2 row planter converted to 4 row seed drill. The seed mix is wheat, vetch, radish, pea and crimson. I will roll this mix in may and drill beans and corn with my new drill plan. It's so important for soil health to have a protective skin. God created every living thing with skin.
5. My grafts from last week are waking up.

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[Fish]

Very interesting thread. That may be the best looking eastern coyote i have ever seen. What a beauty.
Great job with the plantings and young ones!

 

[emetzger]

Thanks Fish. This weekend was the opener of turkey season in TN. I feathered up a new primos hen with a blk zip tie and did some grafts on my keifers. Also, mowed some nwsg plots and lastly found some old habitat pics. Before and after shots. Thanks for looking,
e

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[Weasel]

Beautiful looking place and nice work on the trees. I might have to try the turkey decoy feathering idea.

 

[emetzger]

Thanks Weasel! I'm not a big decoy guy, mainly a belly crawler, but I do overkill many things.

This weekend project was as following. And truth be told it was more of a weeks worth.

1. Picked up 7 boxes of bees. They were $98 per box and 3-4 lbs. I put in 4 hives on my place and the others were friends. I did lose one hive after 3 days. After talking with some others I figured it was because of fresh paint fumes. I had last minute made a pallet base and painted it along with a brood box. Lesson learned. Here are some picks of me putting bees in and the pallet base that lost me $100.

2. I made some headway on my planter project. Here are picks of my seed tube rig and attached to JD7000 fert opener.

3. I got some chicks. I have 2 grown buff Orpingtons at work that lay good but a pastor friend of mine did a sermon on these so I got some free ones.

4. I picked up beans and corn to plant. My cover crops are growing well and I'm looking forward to rolling and drilling into them. Check out the growth at the farm and also home garden plot. Worms gallor!

5. I noticed a pair of coyotes running by one of my spartan go cams. So I set a double and caught one this morning. I try to catch one or two every spring and it helps a ton for fawns. I run cams a lot and don't see many yotes after just trapping a pair during the summer. I think timing is key. Catch one in October and it's a different story. By the way those cell cams are big league. If anyone wants one I can be less than most.

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[Merle Hawggard]

You are a busy man! Bees look great, so does the yote elimination. Good luck with the turkeys. I'm after them this week.

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