Recent content by sandbur

We had temps close to 70 yesterday, but the high was about 35 today. Seven returned to check out the flowering crab. This tree is old and I cut out about 1/3 of it this week. It is dying.

They have fruited but seemed a bit slow to fruit. They produce a dark red apple crab. I think I have some pictures somewhere.

Someone on one of the old forums sent me some swamp white oak acorns. One of those trees is now over 15 feet tall. Two others are about 12 feet. I hope to have acorns soon.

I like hearing that old history from old timers. I am near that age myself.

That’s about the only place we find wild apples and crabs in this bit of former prairie where I live.

Interesting. Rice, Mn is close by. I am in a bit of a cold / hot pocket. Winter mornings tend to be about 5 degrees colder than any temps I see on the internet for our township. Fall frosts seem to hit a bit earlier. Summers are hotter with sandy soil and a slight south slope. I drove 55...

I went for a walk but then came home and my my clipper as I found I needed to prune more apple trees. Ended up also releasing some young spruce. I also found a rub line of at least 5 rubs.

I ran across a photo of winter Apple survival and a few notes from the past. Memory tells me this is the winter when we had record cold of -60 at Tower, Minnesota. Norland is my earliest ripening apple. Norland is just slightly bigger than the normal applecrab description . My Honeycrisp...

In the old days, it only took one fifth to be 100% Irish on St Patty’s day.

I use them, too. No plans on planting fruit trees here. I have resisted the urge.

I suspect that in our natural lakes of that size, water temperature fluctuations, wind, erratic weather swings that last days in the spring, and other factors cause cycles in crappie populations. There are probably limited spawning sites compared to bigger lakes. Netting is not a factor in...

I don’t use any FFS but have read and heard one speaker say they use it to spot fish and immediately turn it off as the fish seem to sense it. Other articles say fish can’t sense it. I wonder if they have tested different species and sizes of fish or if they have tested at different water...

I am convinced that quite a few of the smaller lakes in central and northern Minnesota do not have a good crappie spawn every year. A good hatch might only occur once in 3-4 years. Those fish grow up, get caught, and there can be a gap for a few years.