Forest Products

This weekend I used some forest products in non-conventional ways.  The first one was not as odd as the second one but it seems fewer and fewer people are using wood to heat their homes.  I cut down a red oak that was in a young pine stand to allow the pines to grow better in this area.  We use firewood as a supplement to heat our home in cold weather.  There is nothing warmer than a good fire burning in the fireplace to help you break the chill after coming in from hunting.

Next, I made mother some deer.  She had seen some that Nathan and Liz had received as a gift and said she wanted some.  So Friday I cut legs neck and head from small sweetgum trees on the property.  I was out of fuel for my saw so I had to wait till Saturday to finish cutting the rest of the deer.  I cut another larger sweetgum tree to use as the body of the deer.  I did some trimming on the deer to make them look more live-like and I added plastic eyes and a plastic nose to each deer. 

 The forest produces so much for us in our lives that we take for granted.  Just walk down the cereal isle in the grocery store and see how many paper boxes you see.  The forest provides a home to wildlife, clean air that we breathe and it helps keep our water clean, just to name a few.

Auburn

Tuesday night I met with the Clay County Poultry and Egg Association.  They had a special speaker and sponsor for the meal.  I was there to talk to the speaker representing a company that I hope might locate in Clay County and provide some jobs for the local people and a place to sell some wood! How this will go I don't know but I do know if we do nothing, nothing will happen.

Yesterday, I had a meeting at the School of Forestry and Wildlife Science Building at Auburn University.  The meeting was for the the Forestry, Wildlife & Natural Resources Extension Advisory Council.  We listen to the strategic plans for the School of Forestry and The Forestry, Wildlife & Natural Resources part of Extension.  I had lunch with Dr. James Shepard, Dean of the School of Forestry & Wildlife Sciences and the new Director of the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service, Dr, Gary Lemme.  Dr. Lemme is from South Dakota and it was hilarious hearing him tell about his dogs after he moved to Auburn.  He said there were two trees on their property in South Dakota that his dogs used and when he turned them out at their new home in Alabama they ran into the woods then turned around and came back to him.  They didn't know what to do with so many trees.

When Dr. Lemme spoke he said something about extension I had never thought of.  He made the comment that money comes in for education(the university, research & extension) and education(extension) goes out to help the economy of our state.

After lunch we met in three small groups and then came back together to make a report and recommendations for the group.

I was the only landowner in the group that was not attached to the extension service, education or another group such as Alabama Wildlife Federation, Alabama Landowners Association, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources or Alabama Forestry Commission.  It was a privileged for me to serve in such a capacity.

After the meeting I walked around waiting on Lisa to come back from shopping.  I thought about how that part of campus had changed since I was there.  Across the street was the old crop rotation plot that started in 1896, and next to it was the spot where we grew crops in Vegetable Crops Class, for the most part it looked the same.  I thought, while reminiscing about when I was a student at Auburn....."I am not a part of Auburn but Auburn is a part of me."  I thank GOD for that part of my journey through life.  

As the sun went down over Auburn last night!  WAR EAGLE!!!

Farmers Federation Annual Meeting

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday we were at the annual meeting of the Alabama Farmers Federation.  It was one of the best annual meetings I have been to.  On Sunday night our Congressman, Mike Rogers, was presented the Service to Agriculture Award.  He saw us after the meeting and called us over, we got to congratulate him for his award.  He has always been a friend to Agriculture in Alabama.  

The program and the exhibitors at the meeting were top notch.  The business meeting was interesting with lots of debate. 

At the end of the business session Mr. Jerry Newby announced he would not seek re-election.  He has been president of the organization since I became a county board member.  He will be missed but that opened up the position and the competition has begun. 

The highlight of the meeting was Gov. Mike Huckabee speaking.  He did a great job!  One comment he made was if the rest of the Nation voted like the good people of Alabama, then Obama would not be our President today.  He talked about how we as a nation to remain strong had to be able to grow our own food, produce our own fuel and fight our own wars....So true!

Next year the Federation takes on another first since I have been involved, we will be meeting in Montgomery.  We will miss Mobile but that will cut down on our travel time.

On the way home we stopped in Montgomery at Nelson Paint and got paint needed for painting boundary lines and paint for marking timber to be thinned.

Thanksgiving

Come and gone for another year.  Weather was too hot up in the day to hunt but it was good early.  On Wednesday James and I went hunting.  He wanted to go.  As we sat in the Spaceship, a stand made from an old feed bin that Jay had made, James looked for deer.  It is a good stand for hunters that can't be real still, if you know what I mean.  We watched a hawk try to catch a bird, then it swept over and over the field looking for others.  We looked at all the mountains around us and part of that time we played with Legos.  James was seriously looking for deer.

At about 4:40 pm a deer came out at the edge of the field.  James said, "Shoot it" but I told him I had to look at it and when I did it was a young buck.  I told him that it was too small and it would grow and someday he might get to take it.  He got the binoculars and watched it until it left the field.

The next morning I took out one of our predators.  There were two and one got away from me.

I had to bring it home so James could see it.  He was impressed by it.  Selah liked seeing the blood.

 I enjoyed hunting with Nathan and Abby.  Russell, Doug and Pawpaw hunted about ever morning also.  Nathan saw several does and a six pointer.  We just could not see any big deer, that will come at the end of December and into January.
One morning we spent more time tearing out beaver dams than hunting.  It was so good being out in the woods with them.

Week Of Meetings

This week has been a week of meetings, next week is going to be week of Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, here in Clay County we had our Farm City Week luncheon.  Our speaker was unable to attend so I put something together to share about the history of Thanksgiving.  There were several good comments about the presentation.  At the program we recognized and presented money to our poster and essay winners in the county.  The teachers of the winners also received financial awards to use in their classrooms.
The next day, Wednesday, I was in Montgomery at a Farm PAC meeting where we decided which candidates we would support in the March election.  We listened and questioned State School Board candidates, Civil Appeals Court Judges, and Alabama Supreme Court Judges.  We voted on those we were to support in the election including US Congress candidates.  Endorsements can be seen at www.alfafarmers.org.  I did not get home until 9:30pm, long day.  On the way down about two miles from the ALFA building we did get to see a tornado form.  Rode down with David Farnsworth, Claude Friday from Talladega County, and Alton Jenkins from Clay County.
Today Lisa (Felicia) and I went to Prattville for a State Tree Farm Committee Meeting.  We met for business then got a tour of the Alabama Nature Center.  This is a great place that helps educate children and adults about what we take for granted.  They have school children there just about everyday.  They usually allow children to fish while there; it was told how many have never been fishing before, this broke my heart.
We were provided four-seated golf carts and rode fast through the park to see everything.  It was a fun day!

Tomorrow deer season starts.  Maybe we will have some good stories to tell this season!
(Below are some pictures from Alabama Nature Center.)

This is the home of the brother to the first two governors of Alabama, the Bibb brothers.  This is where we held our meeting and had lunch.  The house and the property for the Nature Center is now owned by the Alabama Wildlife Federation.

Some of the committee members at one of the ponds.

In the Cypress Swamp on the boardwalk.  It was not easy maneuvering these rides on these walks.

Committee friends, Dr.Salem and Dianne Saloom, former National Tree Farm Family winners from South Alabama, navigating the boardwalk. Notice the cart in front of us, it is being pushed.  This cart quit and we were laughing at those committee members having to push.

This was a boardwalk in the trees.  I want to do an observation stand on our property so visitors can get a feel to what it is like being up in the trees.  Mine will not be this large but it gave me some ideas.

This And That

Mountain Chestnut Oak Acorns

Scarlet Oak Acorns

The acorn crop this year is unbelievable. When you drive on the roads they crack under the tires and at times when you are walking in the woods they will crack under your feet.

Mattie, on her first day of working in the forest putting up tree stands with her Mom, Dad and Granddaddy. 

She loved riding the gator through the woods on the woods roads with Granddaddy, the weather was kinda cool.

We put this tripod up in a good location.  Now we have two more latter stands to put up soon. We have too many deer that are does on the property and wildlife biologist have told us we need to take some does off the property.  This takes skill and time to identify mature does, not to shoot small bucks.  

Jay got this one with his bow last Saturday evening.

Other pictures added to the tabs: Family, and Wildflowers.

Predators

Coyote 

Bobcat

This week has been a week where we have pictures of large predators.  The fawns have done fairly well this time even with the pressure they have felt from the predators.  I am including a few pictures here but more can be seen under the wildlife tab.