Recent content by Ben.MN/WI

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    Planting Black Walnut Seedlings

    That's a big walnut tree. Do you have a lot of trees that size?
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    What Are You Planting This Spring?

    A dozen apple trees that were grafted last year, another 20 apple trees this fall that I'll graft next month, 500 white spruce, 100 wild plum and about 12 acres of food plots of different varieties. The next couple months will be busy, but that's a good thing.
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    Catscratch House and Habitat build

    That stone work is impressive. Is that on your property? That first picture looks like the walls are still in great shape. That would be a great foundation for the world's strongest deer blind.
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    Pre-Emergent Herbicide prior to June Buckwheat

    I think your plan will work fine without a pre-emergent. You will have some weeds pop up between April and June, but you can kill those weeds with tillage or round-up in June when you come back to plant buckwheat. The buckwheat will take over from that point until you terminate it in early...
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    Sunn Hemp

    Has anyone in the north country tried using sunn hemp as a soil builder and bedding cover combo? I know it is used frequently down south, but I'm not sure how it will hold up in Minnesota. My goal for the area is to build up some organic matter in some eroded soil while also creating some...
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    Two wheel drive tractors

    I have a 1958 Ford 841 2wd tractor with a loader and I've owned it for about a decade. I believe that is around 50 hp, but I'm not 100% sure. I think it was about $3500 when I bought it, and I probably put in another $12k+ over the first couple years I owned it. Old tractors have old parts...
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    Walnut?

    it looks like a red or black oak to me. I'd need to see the rest of the tree including the edges of the branches to be sure, but the bark pattern and the leaves tell me it is an oak.
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    Forest Assisted Migration Project

    In Minnesota we think global warming it a good thing. I'll take a warm winter like this every year!
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    Chokecherry for lawn tree?

    I planted red splendor crabapple trees around the edge of my cabin yard to draw in grouse and it works well. I'm not above bagging a grouse on the edge of the yard. I also planted a couple of eater apple trees in the middle of the yard for future shade over my fish cleaning picnic table. I...
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    New Food Plot

    You have lots of options. Get a soil test done now so you can add lime and/or fertilizer as required. I would add the lime as soon as possible and then if the nutrients are sufficient for brassicas and clover, that would be a good option. If the soil is bad, winter rye will grow just about...
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    New Food Plot

    Where are you located and when will you be able to plant your new plot? Winter rye can be planted later in the fall than anything else I know about, but it doesn't grow much if planted too late when the weather is cold. In Minnesota, I've seen some really great looking winter rye cover crops...
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    Bush Cherry’s

    I don't know where you will be planting the cherry trees/shrubs, I haven't had much luck with eater cherry trees in Minnesota and Wisconsin. They seem to grow well for a while, but mine have all died within about 10 years. I'm assuming they aren't winter hardy enough, but that's just a guess...
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    Potted trees in freezing temps?

    They will be fine whether you plant them in the ground or leave them in the pot.
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    Cages, weed mats and mulch

    That's a great picture to show the benefits of caging. Once they reach that size, they should be able to hold their own. I've been trying to get trees and shrubs through the cage stage as quickly as possible so I can reuse the cages for the next group of trees.
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    Chokecherry for lawn tree?

    Red splendor crabapple on their own rootstock is my choice if you want to have baked grouse for supper and a little shade in the summer. They typically keep their fruit through the winter for the grouse to eat when other food options are limited. The chokecherry trees/shrubs by my house...
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