Recent content by bigbendmarine

Due to some health issues in my extended family, been slowed down on putting out the final two videos on charging biochar and putting it to use with plantings, but did put this quick short share together... shows how when made well, charcoal will produce a clinking sound similar to glass... and...

Definitely a preferred deer browse in my North Florida area, and that's saying something as in the springtime here, which starts as early as February, just about EVERYTHING that grows is as green as Ireland. That, and it's not just edible for deer... from what I've read all smilax variants are...

If can't get your hands on a used one it looks like ULine has steel drums with caps for about $150. That shared, in my neck of the woods there's a culvert pipe mfg/sales place that sells leftover cuts VERY cheap... like $20 or $30 bucks. Friend has one and to help with air flow (he's not...

Sharing the second video of the series... this one showing how I use a single / simple OLD rusted-out barrel to make the charcoal that subsequently is "charged" to turn it into biochar. Discovering it's a bit tougher to edit these types of videos than trail camera captures that have very...

Purchased a moultrie 55 gallon metal drum feeder years ago to use for pig trapping efforts. Quickly found out that bears are so thick in our area that a bucket of corn on the ground would keep the bears from knocking over feeders constantly so quit using the feeder and instead switched to using...

I bet the tag alder will work just fine. This last batch I did, I stacked the deck against the best odds by using sweetgum and willow saplings growing in a ditch that runs 100 yards or so from my house to my pond that I was afraid might burn to ash more quickly than denser hardwoods such as...

SD51555, will be posting video of my preferred method but may take some time to put it together... so don't mind sharing in adavnce I most prefer a plain old metal drum with a lid to put on top when want burning to stop (after lid goes on, it smothers quickly and prevents ash forming). When I...

I appreciate that with this forum there are some really smart folks using both prescribed burns to improved habitat as well as having experimented with biochar to varying degrees. Over the past decade, I've become a BIG fan of using biochar with potted plants, small garden spots, with fruit...

Spring DEFINITELY better than early summer as North Florida goes. Goes to seed / is brown here by early May. Not sure about timing up your way, so probably best to ask locals about timing. Can't swear it without checking next time I walk my place, but would bet small sum on blue flowers being...

Very few things I hate more than a late frost. Crossing fingers we avoid one this year, as EVERYTHING I've got is pretty much leafed out and/or in bloom right now. Whereas I don't spray, I do have to admit to using multiple burn barrels during our coldest snaps to protect citrus, loquats...

LOVE crimson clover, but should add I'm LONG way from your neck of the woods... I live in North Florida. Here's my take on it... gorgeous clover, BUT best when grown with other crops and often with clover type mixes as it's a great early spring offering but doesn't last that long / is the first...

As a deep south guy, sure feel your pain SwampCat. That shared I've never sprayed mine / not willing to babysit the many things I've planted. I've got two peach trees I keep alive that flower well, form fruits, but in the end I get about 1 or 2 peaches off them a year. I haven't ripped them...

Definitely want SOUND UP for this one... a loud and lonely bobcat looking for love while on the prowl around our pond edge. The spot had been silently visited by a female just 3 or 4 hours earlier. 👍

Shared in the "How Many Years Since Killing Your Last Deer?" that with 5 freezers full of fish, hog, and deer meat I purposefully didn't harvest a buck this past season. Instead, I "shot' them with my camera. Just this past week, was able to record this footage of a bachelor group pretty...

To that point, studies have shown tender red oak new growth to be on the top of the list of woody browse... and I can share first-hand that if you pick a tiny read oak leaf sprout just after bud-break and chew it, you won't believe how sweet it can be! I'm talking SUPER sweet. 👍