I started thinking of mine last year. Going out the other day had me realizing I have my work cut out for me. I planned on starting by getting sons fire wood pulled out for him to pick up. I need to clean that out to cut all the other dead trees. There are so many dead trees. We have ash borer, beech canker, and maple fungi. I need to research how to promote grasses and weeds in my thinning acidic woods. Trees are thinning themselves yet regrowth isn't happening. We can't do burns here like other places. They literally come out in force to arrest you. I'm thinking of continuing my floor clean up and then walk through areas with the leaf blower to open up the soil. I'm also looking into getting more spray to spray for caterpillars and grubs the second the weather breaks in spring. From the amount of eggs seen things will be bad this year again. They say wet weather helps but if you remember my posts last year we had a ton of rain and nearly all my trees were stripped clean. I have also inventoried my spruce and pine saplings that have appeared. I need to get groups of pines into some areas. So replanting will happen early spring. The farmer came up yesterday, snow on ground, to Bush hog all his clover fields they couldn't harvest last year. I honestly wouldn't had known had hubby not been home and I hadn't noticed the tire tracks. There was no sign of what they cut. The Deer had mowed those fields flat. I mention this because two things will effect my decisions. He either plans on spreading manure soon and planting spring corn or is hoping the clover can recover fast enough to over take the horrible weed issues these fields had. Allowing another year or so out of them. He'd be smart to do corn or soybeans to help lower the weed issues...what he should do after not stopping weeds from seeding the last few years is to plow and spray a couple of times and then drill in the soybeans. Spraying for fall weeds before the beans get too big. Then in the spring next year drill not disc and drag the corn in and spray for later weeds. He told me they'd never encountered such a rabid weed issue. They gave the go ahead for us to drop the dead beech into the field so I think corn Is going in this spring I have soybeans stored and will buy more and the wildlife sorghum. I wasn't happy with size of seed heads on those but they did grow well. I plan on getting more corn to put in. If he plants a corn it will help me because they chop early enough and to bare ground. I have mine standing so that will draw deer here. That said it's a battle with the chicken farmer if he plants his ten acres in corn. They leave it standing well into season then harvest it for grain. Well that was long so more later What are you planning or doing now?
I started another area for a new plot, also making a couple other ones bigger. One of them needs more sun so I started select cutting around it to get more sun. Since then we have gotten a bunch of snow so the projects are now on hold
Looks like a good area surrounded by thick young growth. A big issue I'm having are my green suppliers. They pretty much got bought an up by big growers and the prices tripled. My best nursery where I could go right to their warehouse and choose my whips was bought out by Starks. Now Starks is crazy expensive as far as I'm concerned. And costs me shipping. I now gather as much wild on our place as possible and propagate my own stuff by cuttings or suckers. You'd be amazed at what happens when you take a wild bush you find in the woods and transplant it to a good area. I have goose berries everywhere. Transplanted some that for years and years never got taller than a ft with a few berries,same with currents, and they are now 5 ft tall and 4ft across. Loaded with fruit every year. Transplanted some fiddle heads from in-laws before they moved and have them spreading all around pond area. Young oaks...My next thing is to propagate a bunch of the blueberry and more of the grape vines, two easy ones. I also have some persimmon saplings to transplant this spring.
I won't be doing anything until March or April depending on the weather. It is 22 below zero this morning and we're hibernating around here. The deer are starting to hammer the beans I left standing from last season. I am posting a couple pics in the water cooler.
Yesterday I walked my side hill across street. I have trails on the ridge above and the bottom along oak flats but never go on to the actual hill side. Well it had red pine on front end and hard woods on the rest. Unfortunately many ash, pine and beech that have been dying over the years fell. It also holds a few oaks ,maple,bass wood, and hop horn. Buck and doe would walk across and bed half way down the incline with a great over view of the oak flat plots and bedding. Not so much anymore. Well it looks like a bomb went off the whole length with all the dead standing trees haven fallen over the last couple of years. Fallen trees are great for deer to bed in but when they impede movement not so much. I did find two melted beds from those bucks I kicked up the oak flats bedding the other day. What a perfect view they had of that entire area. Most tracks were Fox and yotes though. Very few deer tracks. I'm going in this winter and clean a narrow strip across the hill with strategic 2 narrow paths that go from ridge top to the oak flats trail. Enough trees have died and fallen there that good natural grasses the deer dig up in winter have grown. I may transplant a few groupings of pines there as well in spring then never touch it again. I can watch the hill side from the very top of ridge stand and the oak flats stands.
We are going to triple the amount of hunt-able trees so we can “keep em guessing”. Establish trail system in the logged bottoms (what a mess). Re-structure food plots and adding micro plots. Screen cover by way of grasses and low hinge cuts. Enhance Bedding cover/ high hinge cuts. Also hope to talk farmer into selling us 2 acres of standing crops . That should be enough to keep is busy
I've been scouring the net looking for seed pricing I like and anything "New" to look at. I have always enjoyed "testing" different forb Many years ago I tested hemp and kenaf . I even had to call local police that I was planting this and they were welcome to come look at and question me on it. They laughed but I didn't want a raid because some trespasser with a grudge turned in "illegal "crops. Kenaf actually looks similar to pot than hemp does. The issue I had with it and would not grow kenaf again is.....you can't keep deer from mowing it to the ground the second it sprouts. Out of a mixed 1/2 acre of both seeds I got less than a dozen plants that made it to just a foot.. mind you normal heights 6-12 ft... The hemp I've planted a few times with both iron clay and sunflower. Deer love it and it is perfect for your climbers and to protect the sunflower. It also adds a lot to your soil.. I've tried several different clovers as well with good results. This year will be beans, seed corn , the WLS, and I'm looking at kales,mustard and rape/turnips. I really need to find more semi shade plant and as you know the cow peas worked GREAT! Last year. Unfortunately prices zipped up as well as shipping...Man I need more family traveling south by car to help me out. Daughter helped me with a important product I can't get here in NY.
Geez my eyes hurt from trying to find best seed for best. Pricing/ shipping..may have done it but, not happy about an order in these temps. Went to-17 last night and is -7 now.
I just pulled the trigger on 20#'s of trophy ridge rape seed and 50#'of iron clay peas no shipping cost right now. 79 + , almost 80 for the 50#'s of beans. I can not buy them in NYS for under 100.00 the rape was 20#'s for $37.00+ So both seeds are coming in a bit under $2.00 a #. I won't buy the binoculars until I'm ready to plant. I have soybeans stored in the base in tight metal drums and I also have the wild life sorghum stored as well. I'm hoping the soybeans will get at least a 50% germination rate. This is a test on my being able to store then grow them. They are difficult to store but if I can with this batch, I will be able to snatch up end of season sales. The higher price on the cowpeas are worth it for me due to their great semi shade growth. I'm hoping this particular rape handles the same type of shade growth. Hubby just warned me about fertilizer prices doubling from last year...let's Go Brandon!!!!!!!! I may have to do a bit more work and lay down a a cheap legume by frost seeding or a quick spring growth for a early summer planting of sorghum into it.
Going to skip in spring food plots I believe this year in full. I am 100% focused first on screening for the 2022 season. Plan on starting prep work in April with a May planting. After I complete that I will come back in an start working plots for fall. My goal is to increase access both in/out and making the deer feel like they are in a complete safe space. I am also screening my plots to prevent bucks from visually checking without entering. We will also be segmenting larger plots. Screenings blend cost is 4lbs at $25 but goes a long ways. At 10 ft wide screens you can plant around 2000 linear feet per bag. We did a test with it last year and it grew to about 15ft tall and was so thick we had to cut holes in it for the deer to pass through it.
Wow shipping seeds already...I do worry about the cow peas shipping in these temps...but unfortunately they are only doing free shipping for a short while and 40+ dollars is not small change to my plot budget. Once I see how they handled the packing and see if seeds are broken or not I'll relax on it.. This was from the seed barn which I think maybe the okd seedland. I have never ordered from either be for. I do from Hancock but their pricing and sales haven't been good as of late and they are out of stock on WAY too much.
PS.. It was -3 when hubby left this a.m. at 8. It was -7 when he hit the valley a mile and a half away.
Did some work today with the new ride. To nice not to be working. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
We bought one used because the new models prices increased quite a bit for 2022 just as everything else has and I didn't want to eat the tax on a new machine. Also found dealers aren't willing to negotiate because there is a shortage... Found a 2019 with 60 hrs on it like new. It also came with every attachment we could possible need except for a tiller and a trailer. Looking for both those items used now...
