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

[Native Hunter]

Is that bamboo?
Merry Christmas, Native!

Yep, our native KY (cane - tucky) bamboo (cane). I'm told I once covered vast areas when the settlers first moved in. In my lifetime I have seen it relegated to minor areas around stream banks. The little patch in my picture was one that I started years ago at the edge of my yard, by digging up some on a farm owned by my father and transplanting it.

Bamboo is a grass. It's tough to dig with a shovel because the roots are so deep. I would love to establish this in places on the farm, but it would be time consuming. The digging and planting would be the hard part. Once you do that, you could drive by once a year and hit tree seedlings with 24D. Once it took hold and started getting thick, there would be little maintenance on the thick part. Very seldom can a tree seedling come up though a developed spot.

A few years ago I heard of one vendor who sold plugs to get it started. His method was to plant it in 8 foot squares and spray tree seedlings as necessary with 24D until it filled in. I'm not sure if anyone ever bought those or not, because I haven't talked to them since then. I could do the same thing by getting it from my dad's farm, but as I said, it would be a lot of work.

This will be a good retirement project....

 

[dogghr]

If you don't mow that crap growing around your barn, that farm isn't going to be worth nuttin!! As for the tall shrub, we have something that gets grown down the road that gets that tall but usually they harvest it by late fall if the brim hats haven't found and burned it by then. Seriously, looks like bamboo I see around here planted in patches but I hope that is not so. Merry Christmas young man.


Well obviously I was posting as you typed. A little late.

 

[Native Hunter]

If you don't mow that crap growing around your barn, that farm isn't going to be worth nuttin!! As for the tall shrub, we have something that gets grown down the road that gets that tall but usually they harvest it by late fall if the brim hats haven't found and burned it by then. Seriously, looks like bamboo I see around here planted in patches but I hope that is not so. Merry Christmas young man.


Well obviously I was posting as you typed. A little late.

You could end up "bamboozled" if you planted that bamboo that gets as big as trees or the stuff that the brim hats are looking for too. The native stuff here gets a max of maybe 10 feet tall and you can easily get through it with a bushhog. Obviously one reason that the white man destroyed it was to make space for crops, but he also didn't like it because it was a favorite hiding place that the red man could use for attacking (or so I have read...I wasn't there to witness that....).

 

[dgallow]

Switch cane.....have used that stuff for garden trellis, cane poles, outrigger poles for drift fishin, and poles to hold jug lines in open water off of bluff banks. Very useful plant but relegated to river bottoms in this area. It could prove worthwhile to try propagating from cuttings.

Merry Christmas to you and yours, Steve!

 

[Native Hunter]

Switch cane.....have used that stuff for garden trellis, cane poles, outrigger poles for drift fishin, and poles to hold jug lines in open water off of bluff banks. Very useful plant but relegated to river bottoms in this area. It could prove worthwhile to try propagating from cuttings.

Merry Christmas to you and yours, Steve!

Merry Christmas right back at you Doug.

Next year when I start topworking persimmon and apple trees again, that cane is going to be useful. I will use it as a brace for the grafted scions when they start getting tall. I lost some dandy grafts this year to a bad storm, and I don't intend for that to happen again. I'm thinking some tight duct tape to hold it to the tree and leaving a small amount of flex in the tape between the graft and the cane pole should do the trick. Then just cut the tape and remove it in a couple of years when the graft union is good and strong.

And yes, I have jerked a few fish out of the creek with a cane pole - very useful for lot of things.

 

[dgallow]

You gonna use a separate piece for a bird perch?

 

[Native Hunter]

You gonna use a separate piece for a bird perch?

I've go an idea for that too. I can use some of that stiff clothes line and wire the extra piece for the bird perch.

 

[KDdid]

River cane! I've hunted around thickets of that stuff in So. Indiana. Takes some effort to keep it from spreading, but I planted some on the edge of my yard 5 years ago, and mow right up to it.

 

[Native Hunter]

River cane! I've hunted around thickets of that stuff in So. Indiana. Takes some effort to keep it from spreading, but I planted some on the edge of my yard 5 years ago, and mow right up to it.

That's what I do too, and in one week I've seen new shoots pop up and get as tall as the lawn mower. There won't be many of them, but when they come, they come quickly....

 

[Triple C]

Just catching up on your thread. We've got what looks to be the same cane in our bottoms. I like it. We're in the final stages of our deer season. Either sex days run thru the 1st and then antlered only from the 2nd thru the 8th. Our season once ended on the 1st but has been extended an extra week the past couple of years. I always liked it ending on the 1st and wish it still did. Funny how us humans don't often like change. With the exception of a friend I invited to come hunt, we haven't taken a buck this year and probably won't. My friend wanted something for the freezer so I gave him instructions to shoot a doe or yearling buck but nothing in the 2.5 to 3.5 age range. He complied and took a yearling fork horn. We've got one nice shooter we've been chasing with bow and passing with rifle. Other than that, a nice crop of up and comers that we hope to see thru another year.

Looking forward to following along in 2017!

 

[Native Hunter]

Just catching up on your thread. We've got what looks to be the same cane in our bottoms. I like it. We're in the final stages of our deer season. Either sex days run thru the 1st and then antlered only from the 2nd thru the 8th. Our season once ended on the 1st but has been extended an extra week the past couple of years. I always liked it ending on the 1st and wish it still did. Funny how us humans don't often like change. With the exception of a friend I invited to come hunt, we haven't taken a buck this year and probably won't. My friend wanted something for the freezer so I gave him instructions to shoot a doe or yearling buck but nothing in the 2.5 to 3.5 age range. He complied and took a yearling fork horn. We've got one nice shooter we've been chasing with bow and passing with rifle. Other than that, a nice crop of up and comers that we hope to see thru another year.

Looking forward to following along in 2017!

TC, it's good to hear from you.

When I travel I see native cane in a lot of different places, and I'm not surprised that you have it in your bottoms. Generally I will see small strips of it at the edges of cultivated fields along stream channels where it enjoys the rich, fertile soils in partial shade from the trees along the stream.

Sounds like you boys have been having fun chasing that deer with a bow, which is the ultimate challenge. It also sounds like you have a nice crop of good ones coming on. My guess is that you will indeed see some of them in the future.

Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy new year.

 

[Native Hunter]

My update today is short and sweet. The warm weather had me out in full force this weekend.

I lost 6 pounds of winter fat planting 8 apple trees and running the DR for 4 hours. I'm getting a good head start on my spring maintenance and the DR will go right over wet ground where my tractor would cause a mess.





I also started cutting some cane shafts to use for my upcoming grafting and topworking.



Had a pretty good looking deer on my place this week. Not sure, but I think he may be a deer that Herman Munster ran off in 2015. If its him, he is 3 years old now. Might be a dandy by this fall.



My white pine road screen is really coming on now.



Bullet on the right is a 30 caliber, 150 grain SST. Bullet on the left is what I will be shooting out of my custom ML currently being built - 275 grain, which will leave the muzzle at 3,000 fps. Good thing I'm immune to recoil.



NWSGs standing the winter well.





Wheat being grazed well but holding up nicely. Warm weather and rain has greened it up.



That's about it guys. Great to get out and get my hands in the dirt for a little while. I have several interesting trees purchased already but that won't be delivered for a while. Will get those in the ground in the next few weeks and continue spring work.

 

[Turkey Creek]

I got out for my first late winter walk as well today. Sun was shining and nice to see the rubs from this past fall and the well beaten down deer trails. Put some permanent metal tags on a few apple trees and gathered a little scion wood. Could really see the grasshopper damage on some trees, that makes 2 years in a row. Going to try and mow a bigger area around the trees this year to see if I can help keep the hoppers away, spraying seems to have little impact on them. I have a couple of seedling Dolgos that were my first trees I planted that look darn good. Maybe they will set some fruit this year. Have you had that DR Mower for long? I have thought about getting one.

 

[Native Hunter]

I got out for my first late winter walk as well today. Sun was shining and nice to see the rubs from this past fall and the well beaten down deer trails. Put some permanent metal tags on a few apple trees and gathered a little scion wood. Could really see the grasshopper damage on some trees, that makes 2 years in a row. Going to try and mow a bigger area around the trees this year to see if I can help keep the hoppers away, spraying seems to have little impact on them. I have a couple of seedling Dolgos that were my first trees I planted that look darn good. Maybe they will set some fruit this year. Have you had that DR Mower for long? I have thought about getting one.

Chris, I've had it for several years and absolutely love it. It will easily take down any sweetgum that you can ride down with it. Actually you can run it up the trunk of one that won't hardly ride down, and the weight of the mower will just keep pushing down until it grinds it to the ground. I don't normally mow cedars, but if there is one at a place I don't like, the DR will take down a 6 foot cedar in high gear and you won't even hear the motor pull down any.

It works great for tight spots and cleaning between trees in rows where you can't mow with a tractor. I love using it because its the best exercise I ever get. 4 hours with that baby where you are turning often will either kill you or make a man out of you. If you are just mowing straight and never turning, it's like riding a magic carpet....

 

[Elkaddict]

Native, who is building the custom ML? Gunwerks. Will you be shooting black powder or smokeless? I'd love to hear some more details. I've looked at a couple of the custom ML's to extend the range past what my Knights will do with 150g of powder and 250g bullets at about 2250fps.

 

[dogdoc]

Looking good buddy. Were the apples bare root? A DR is on my wish list - the only problem is I have a lot of stuff on my wish list. Getting set up for reloading is also on the list.
Feels good getting out and working up a sweat at the farm.
Todd

 

[Native Hunter]

Native, who is building the custom ML? Gunwerks. Will you be shooting black powder or smokeless? I'd love to hear some more details. I've looked at a couple of the custom ML's to extend the range past what my Knights will do with 150g of powder and 250g bullets at about 2250fps.

Elk, it's smokeless powder. I will send you a PM with a link you can look at.

 

[Native Hunter]

Looking good buddy. Were the apples bare root? A DR is on my wish list - the only problem is I have a lot of stuff on my wish list. Getting set up for reloading is also on the list.
Feels good getting out and working up a sweat at the farm.
Todd

Thanks Todd. Yes, they were some bare root trees that DLH on this forum grafted last spring. I set them at my son's place that he recently bought, which borders my farm. These were all eating apples for him. DLH actually came over and his dad came with him. They helped set the trees. What great folks!!!!

I have some other apples ordered that won't be here until the end of March, coming from up north. These are advertised as being extremely tough for wildlife plantings. We will see. I also have some more pears and some grafted persimmons ordered. Actually went overboard this year and doing too much, but may not set anything in 2018.

DLH and I are going to be topworking some trees on my place later on. I have a few pears that came back from rootstocks as well as some apples that I want to topwork to different varieties. Also going to do a few sex changes on some persimmons. I'm really looking forward to that day in the field.

 

[Native Hunter]

One more thing about the DR mower. Even though it will go through big saplings like slicing butter, you can forget mowing through a path of big bluestem when its green. Right now it will go through it fine, but in the summer, you can't even go through it in low gear.


Pics below are from late last spring. Note the 8 foot sweetgum before and after DR.

 

[dogghr]

Place looks awesome as always Native. That DR is a mule. I was just looking at one. Does it climb a hill pretty well?
I think I will be able to hear your ML fire from my place!!. Can you shoot a heavier grain bullet to reduce recoil?
Buck looks cool. My drought is completely over and pouring rain again today. Above norm temps and wet weather have my plots greened up like spring. Cold and snow moving in tonight. Hope your land is soggy too. Thanks for showing.