Last Week

 Last week after returning from Disney World on Tuesday evening, Wednesday started with a lunch meeting with Congressman Mike Rogers.  I asked him to support two bills that are of importance to forest landowners.  One bill was to protect forest roads from EPA requiring permits on these roads.  That is the way it is now but the West Coast Courts are trying to change that and this bill will put a stop to this craziness.  The other bill I asked him to support is a bill to include "Forest Fairness" in the Farm Bill to allow forest products to be used for bio-fuels.  He says he will support both of these and we appreciate it.

Then on Thursday night we had a Clay County Farmers Federation meeting.  We took care of several items and made plans for the Commodity Conference to be held this year in Mobile.

On Friday I went to check on our property at Bowden Grove and I made a picture of the Kudzu at the end of the field. The deer had really enjoyed this fresh, fertilized, high protein food.  They didn't leave many leaves on the vines.

The corn, sunflowers, grain sorghum,  brown-top, chufa and sunflowers are looking good.  The deer are really working on the sunflowers already and the turkeys are enjoying the chufas.  The corn needs rain but the round-up cleaned the weeds out of the corn and rain is forecast in the next few days.

Webinar: Capital Ideas- Live!

This morning I had a webinar with Alabama Forest Owners Association on Capital Ideas-Live.

I was one of eight speakers speaking on a variety of subjects.  The talks from each participant can be heard at www.afoa.org/CILive/CI1205.htm 

 SPEAKERS

Mr. Thomas J. Saunders, Alabama Forestry Association, Montgomery, Alabama

Mr. L. Reed Watson, Jr., Property & Environment Research Center, Bozeman, Montana

Mr. Matthew D. Ross, Quality Deer Management Association, Clifton Park, New York

Mr. Lamar Dewberry, Dewberry Lands, LLC, Lineville, Alabama

Mr. James Sollecito, Sollecito Landscaping Nursery LLC, Syracuse, New York

Mr. Roger Simons, Advanced Technical Training Network

Dr. William C. Siegel, Law Offices of William C. Siegel, River Ridge, Louisiana

Mr. Chris Williams, JamisonMoneyFarmer PC, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Another Tree Frog

This morning I made a picture of another type of tree frog on our property.  He blended in to his surroundings very well.  It is amazing to me how many different types of frogs and toads we have on the property.  I plan on trying to add some of their nightly music to this blog soon.

Corn Is Looking Good

The corn is looking good!  Last week Dad and I sprayed the weeds and put the last of the fertilizer to it.  It was about to get too tall but the weather cooperated perfectly.  We were able to get in the field and now the rain has come!  It looks like this is going to be the best corn we have had in several years if we keep getting rain.  The deer are going to love us this fall and winter!

In the field we call the "Kudzu Patch" we planted a strip of chufa here for the turkeys.  It is growing but notice how the ground had been raked.  This is the second day after a rain and it was unbelievable how the ground had been scratched by the turkeys. 

Our granddaughter Mattie in a wildflower patch enjoying picking flowers.  She loves being outdoors!

Do You Know What This Is?

Can you identify this plant by its fruit?  They are covered in fruit this year and there are many plants on top of the ridge that have fruit on them.  It is a Pawpaw plant and these are the pawpaws.

Lisa(Felicia) and I planted about twenty oak trees across the field on top of the hill.  Every other oak was a saw-tooth oak planted especially for the wildlife but there were several other types of oaks also.  I started these trees in pots and they were ready to be put in the ground.  Some were about 4 feet tall.

Interesting Article

In Japan, researchers have long studied what they call “forest bathing.” A walk in the woods, they say, reduces the level of stress chemicals in the body and increases natural killer cells in the immune system, which fight tumors and viruses. Studies in inner cities show that anxiety, depression and even crime are lower in a landscaped environment. 

Jim Robbins is the author of the forthcoming book “The Man Who Planted Trees.”

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Why Trees Matter

By JIM ROBBINS

Published: April 11, 2012

New York Times

This Week

This week saw soil testing being taken in our pasture.  This sample was taken for 40' down and it was to help determine the footings for the cell tower.

One afternoon over at my shop I found two green tree frogs in between two short pieces of tin I had standing up.  They were so colorful with their gold eyes.  This one was ready to jump as I bothered them as I made pictures.

He jumped over into a muscadine vine where he was well camouflaged.  (There are more pictures of the frogs on the wildlife tab.)

The honey bees were really working the crimson clover.  It was good to see so many honey bees on the clover.

At the end of the week Dad and I worked on planting summer food plots.  We are planting chufas, sunflowers, corn, brown top millet and grain sorghum. 

In this field our cool season crops are going to seed.  Dad picked a seed head off of the crimson clover, wheat, oats, rye grass and fescue that was heading out.  The young turkeys, as they hatch, will have a feast here and there were many grasshoppers for dessert too.