Got The Trees Planted For This Year

GOD is so good!  He literally showers us with blessings.  These trees were planted last Friday and the sun has not been on them but it has been cloudy, rained some about every day and now they are predicting 3-5 inches tonight.  That will pack the soil around the roots and they will be better able to take the dry weather when it comes.

This green looks great in the ashes of the prescribed burn. My oldest grandson who is eight, had fun running around on this property and seeing where the trees had been planted.  We looked at where the longleaf were planted and also checked on the loblolly planting.  I don't know why it surprised me but he knew the names and identified both the longleaf and loblolly seedlings.  We talked about how fast trees grow and how one day he would walk through a beautiful, mature longleaf pine forest.  We talked about the stand of longleaf pines across the road from these that are eight years old like him and how tall they are already.  He learns so fast.  He now says he wants to be a wildlife biologist and study wolves.   

These are the hardest working people I know!  The best I have ever been able to plant in a day was 1000 seedlings and these guys plant around 3000 seedlings per day.  This is the closest thing you can get to an "instant forest".

Christmas Deer

Start with a pile of wood and soon you can have deer that can be used for Christmas decoration.

I made two different kinds of deer used at two different locations, at our office and at our lodge.

Deer Harvested 11/25/2014

Look at tab "Hunting" to see the deer Russell harvested yesterday at Bowden Grove.

Sweetgums to Mushrooms

Back in February of this year I added a post called "Multiple Use Forest".  You can look back and see that post here on this site.  The results are in from cutting these Sweetgum trees out of the loblolly pines.  Fresh, vitamin rich, Shiitake mushrooms.

We inoculated these sticks with the mushroom spores after harvesting them and now we are harvesting Shiitake mushrooms.  These will produce for about three to five years.

This is what "Multiple Use" means!

Fall Work

Yesterday was a busy work day.  Abby and Eli(eleven months old) helped me with tree-stands.  We moved some and worked to repair others to make them safer.  It takes so much time to check 38 stands and get them ready before hunting season.  Of the 38 stands, we worked on 6 yesterday and have worked on others earlier and have about 10 more to check and repair.  

We did take a walk into the new property we last purchased and looked for a place to put a stand on this 15 acres.  The ground was covered in acorns here so we knew a stand must be put up here.  

On that walk Eli got to play in the leaves and with sticks as we sat in the woods for a short break.  He is so fascinated by this new world he is discovering.   

Site Prep Burn

Yesterday, We did a site prep burn to get ready for tree planting this winter.  This can be on of the most difficult burns to complete and get good results.

Here you can see the results we got.  This is what you try to accomplish, moonscape.  This makes planting so much easier.

Go to the link at the bottom of this page (private forest landowner) for information.

Children's Website

Below is the address to a great site for children to play and learn about Agriculture.  There are several games that they will enjoy.
http://www.myamericanfarm.org/