My Land Tour...The Big Woods

[H20fwler]

I've been waiting to start this thread for a long time, it took a while before I even had enough of anything to show you guys.
We call the farm The Big Woods because it has the bigger woods on it of our two places...the other of course is called The Little Woods and I will start a thread for it too sometime.

I finally got a satellite pic that shows it with some of the improvements we have made so you guys can see kind of what I'm blathering about. The farm has a woods on it of around fifteen acres of mixed hardwoods. Just to the north of woods is around a fifteen acre pasture that is planted to native grasses that we put two wetland ponds in that have been a lot of fun. Just north of that is some tillable ground and above that is a nice river that is loaded with every kind of fish Ohio has and seasonally a lot of waterfowl go through. Also lots of deer and turkeys just to the north of me along river...luckily for the most part my neighbors are pretty easy to get along with.

Here is a pic kind of showing the area, besides the river to my north I am in a very high ag county of rotated crop fields and small woodlots that are from a few acres to sixty acres. Our place is right in the middle.

This shows just the farm, the time period would have been a couple years ago right after we first put the ponds in. Our orchard is where the old homestead used to be, we have around fifty apple and pear trees planted there a couple peach and four cherry trees. Some of the trees are around 9'-10' now and are doing pretty good...our bigger trees are at the other farm they are a couple years older than these.

Here is the thread I started when we started work on the ponds showing the work and progress on those;

http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/my-summer-project.5563/


Link to our other property;

http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/the-little-woods.8733/

 

[H20fwler]

The woods was logged a little over ten years ago, quite a few veneer stumps showing that there were some good money trees that got cut and a lot of big old trees.


Mrs. H20fwler at a big stump from the logging.

We still have a lot of big oak/hickory and walnut in the woods...opening up the canopy has really made the understory take off it gets thicker every year. I have a bunch of Dunstan chestnuts planted in-between ponds along the woods that are around ten feet plus tall that just started producing this past fall.

I have four rows of shrub strips that are five yards apart planted with over a thousand mixed red osier/white pine/pin oak/dog wood/chestnut/hazelnut/crab apple and high bush cranberry along the north and west ends of the pasture. I'm still adding more cranberry/hazelnut/crabapple to the shrub strips, I also have some hazelnut planted along the woods at the back pond. We planted some button brush along a couple sides of the ponds.

 

[H20fwler]

Put the dirt from the ponds along road to try and help block view.
We are working on a road screen along the road to discourage prying eyes and road hunting...it has been planted to blue and Norway spruce/white pine and hemlock so far...adding a hundred more white pine and white cedar this spring that are 3'-4' bare root hopefully closing it into a wall of green.

Planting some wildflower mix on the pond spoil pile this spring...planted big and little bluestem/switch and indian grass on it late last winter.

 

[H20fwler]

My wife loves to bird watch especially bluebirds, she had me put up a dozen bluebird houses for her a few springs ago and they produced immediately attracting bluebirds and tree swallows. Every box gets used multiple times every spring and summer....we also see all kinds of other birds, loads of waterfowl, native sparrows, woodpeckers, tufted titmice, wrens, orioles, hawks, owls, bald eagles, turkeys, jays, cardinals with indigo buntings and pileated woodpeckers being my favorite.

That is one of the awesome things about helping with the habitat is the cool ripple effect it has helping all wildlife.

 

[H20fwler]

And we get all kinds of neat wildflowers....that should get better after we do a big wildflower mix next month;

Also lots of rasberries and black berries;

In the orchard we have planted three or four kinds of clover and a bunch of chicory..the deer eat it to the ground in late fall.

 

[H20fwler]

And the saying "If you build it they will come" is very true, some that live on our place off and on;

Although the wife likes seeing these better;

 

[Bill]

That looks like a great hidey hole for deer. It's literally an island surrounded by ag.

 

[H20fwler]

I'll get more into the orchard and fruit trees we have planted on this farm, they are all 99% for wildlife. In hindsight I may have gone with all good DR apple trees like Enterprise/Liberty/Galleria/Arkansas Black and crabs....but it's a little late for that now and they are all doing well so far. My goal is like many on here to have fruit drop from late summer through Christmas and I've tried to plant trees that will help me accomplish that goal.

All of the apple trees are on standard, semi standard, MM111, B118, P18 rootstock.

Here are the apples:

2-Arkansas Black
1-Royal Limbertwig
1-Enterprise
1-Chestnut crab
2-Fuji
1-Liberty
2-Honey Crisp
1-Gala
1-Northern Spy
1-Golden Hornet crab
2-Golden Russet
1-Granny Smith
2-Spitzenburg Epus
1-Red Delicious that I have grafted Honey Crisp/Airport/Cherry bomb crab/and Liberty to my 5 in 1 tree.
1-NY414
1-Domaines
1-Johny Appleseed

Added 4/7/18
2- DropTine crab
2- 30-06 crab
1- Zumi crab

Added 4/3/20
1- Sansa
1-Hewes crab

Added spring 2021
4- Franklin
1- Sheepnose
1- Droptine
1- 30-06
2- Briar Lane crab
2- Dolgo
2- Firecracker crab

Added Spring 2022
1-Yates
1-Redfield
2-Kerr
1-Prime Time Crab
1-Trailman Crab
1-Turning point Crab
1-Grams Gift Crab
1-October Crab
1-Big Lou Crab
1-30-06
2-Lock Down Crab
1-Gray Ghost

Spring 2023

1-White Cloud
1-Roberts Crab

The pear trees are;

4- Keiffer
2-Bartlett
2-Moonglow
2-Olympic
1-Gate
1-Ms Lanene
1-Gilmer Christmas
1-Ayres
1-Chapin
3-Honey Sweet
1-Becton
2-Seckel
1-Beurre Bosc
2-Sugar Sweet

Added 4/3/20
1- Shenandoah

Spring 2023
1-Seedling Pear

Cherry;
2-Rainier

Peaches;
1-Elberta

Persimmons;
Spring 2022

1-Deer Magnet
1-Deer Lucious
1-Deer Candy
3-American

 

[H20fwler]

A Golden Hornet last spring;

Golden Hornet making apples..I pinched them all off.

My 5 in 1 that I made out of a Red Delicious;

A nice Bartlett pear;

An Eastern Gray tree frog hanging out in an Ayers pear;

An Arkansas Black that I pinched;

 

[bueller]

You are going to have a great screen in a couple more years.

 

[H20fwler]

You are going to have a great screen in a couple more years.

If I can keep the deer and bunnies off it!

 

[H20fwler]

A few more random pics just showing a little more of the farm.

With the ponds we have every kind of frog and toad Ohio has living there, in the evenings it is very noisy with all the chirping and croaking going on.
Lots of these guys around;

What was interesting to me was a month ago while we were coon hunting waiting for the dog to tree we shined a light through the ice and lots of different size tadpoles were just swimming around? I always thought they either turned into frogs&toads or buried in the mud in winter...it was new to me.

 

[H20fwler]

And I have to mention the turkeys...they are a hoot to see. Have found two nests in the last few years on the farm and in summer we see hens with polts pretty regular chasing grasshoppers in the pasture.

We have harvest two so far off the farm.

 

[Telemark]

H20fwler, You mentioned your wife likes birdwatching, especially bluebirds. I recommend winterberry bushes. Bluebirds love them.

 

[H20fwler]

Thanks for the tip! I’ll look into those, I sure don’t need much nudging to try out new trees or shrubs that help wildlife.

 

[Mortenson]

Cool property! Lotta diversity. Those are some bruiser bucks. Is there any rhyme or reason to how they move from woodlot to woodlot? Do you guys prefer to deer hunt on the edges attempting not to bump deer? Seems like those bucks either have a decent sanctuary nearby or some light hunting pressure?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

REALLY cool place H20 !! Lots of diversity there. All the bird life will help with bug-eating - an aid to your fruit trees. Same with frogs and toads. Those bucks are beasts. What a great gene pool you have in the neighborhood.

As for apples ....... super list you have. One suggestion - for the wildlife and for your family ............. plant a Goldrush or 2. DR late hanger and WOW delicious !!! Taste will blow you away. Congrats on the property !! Nice work.

 

[H20fwler]

Cool property! Lotta diversity. Those are some bruiser bucks. Is there any rhyme or reason to how they move from woodlot to woodlot? Do you guys prefer to deer hunt on the edges attempting not to bump deer? Seems like those bucks either have a decent sanctuary nearby or some light hunting pressure?

There are does and fawns pretty much year round on the farm, it’s been neat to see certain does that seem to have twins every year and one that has had triplets the past two. All summer long I only get a few basket bucks on camera in velvet, come early October it seems like there are bucks all over. In November I’ll get ten different bucks on camera in a week.
My strategy on the property besides planting trees/shrubs/plots in early spring and some mushroom hunting is to be as low impact as possible. I have a feeder and mineral site and feed year round, I only check cards and fill feeder every few weeks and completely stay out of rest of property leaving it for wildlife to do their thing pretty much all year except for a couple weeks in spring, a duck hunt or two and a late season bunny hunt.
We have three stands strategically placed and only hunt them when wind is right. Anymore it would be odd to not see a few deer close every sit, I passed on a few decent good sized basket racks bowhunting this past fall. Then the first day of gun at 9:30 am I shot the 22nd deer that came under me that morning, he was smaller racked than bucks I had passed earlier in the year but he was a big bodied and just looked right at the time.
Now that we have our own place and put so much time into it seems like I “watch” deer more from the stand than hunt them? My boys do the same if we take two or three deer off the property a year that’s great if not that’s great too. It is awesome seeing the big ones when I hunt just hasn’t come together getting one just right yet.

Bowsnbucks, I will definitely try a couple of those !

 

[H20fwler]

Did some pruning yesterday and took a little walk around and changed out the cards.

The ground in the orchard that was lush with clover and chicory...the deer ate it to the ground this winter. Exact spot I took the pic in post#5

A pair of geese that have decided they like the front pond for potential summer home, they did not want to leave.

About every hazelnut has catkins starting now.

The back pond

Some good turkey sign.

Deer that were there the same time we were.

My helper Darcy riding shotgun on the way home.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Darcy a traffic spotter, too ?? Holy smokes - pup looks really attentive !!! More attentive than many drivers around here ........... (We need more devices and gadgets).

Good to have a reliable buddy to go along.