Badgerfowl's habitat projects

[badgerfowl]

First year I've noticed quite a few berries on the red-osier. These were planted 3-5 years ago. First one as bare root, 2nd as a cutting.





In-woods clover planted May 2014. Doesn't receive a ton of sunlight but it should be nice and tender.



1st and 2nd year apples. Will be planting a mix of clover, WR, and GHR in a few weeks around these. Adding more apples next spring.

 

[badgerfowl]

HP screen in the background. Planted from cuttings in 2011 and 2012.

HP Bucky is winning the contest on the right. Probably close to 25' now.



3rd leaf Sweet 16. Only 3rd leaf tree with apples. Nothing on the Wolf River, Hudson's Golden Gem, or Honeycrisp. All B118. Over a dozen on this tree.



Brassicas were broadcast on 7/11. Received 1/2" of rain on 7/12. I don't have any type of cultipacker so I ran my truck over it for 10 minutes.

GHR
PTT
DER
T-Raptor

 

[badgerfowl]

4th leaf Freedom, EMLA 7. Probably another dozen or so apples on this one. The other two Freedoms have less.

 

[bueller]

Everything looks great. I especially like the looks of the HP screen. Did you lay black plastic down for those?

 

[badgerfowl]

Yea plastic and or lumite for all the cuttings. It's still there. I should remove it one of these years, but the droughts the last few years scare me.

 

[SD51555]

Have you got bears? If you do, you may want to pluck those apples off now to eliminate the temptation while the tree gets a little stronger.

 

[badgerfowl]

Never had one on cam or put eyes on one. There's been reports of them within a few miles but its pretty rare.

 

[badgerfowl]

Stopped by our place on Saturday to finish prepping more ground for another brassica planting and check on the stuff I seeded on 7/11. Looks like I got pretty good germ.



I still have 4 lbs of my brassica mix to plant either this coming weekend or in two weeks. I also picked up a bag of ShotPlot for $10 to try out.

We got 1/2" of rain the day after seeding the brassicas in the pics above. Nothing since. Cool temps have been nice but we could use another shot of rain with temps near 90 Monday and Tuesday.

 

[bueller]

Looks like you are off to a nice start. With all that "trash" on top you should be off and running if we catch some rain Tuesday.

 

[badgerfowl]

Yea there's plenty of trash to hopefully keep some moisture in place. 50% for Tuesday. Then more moderate temps again.

 

[CrazyEd]

Yea there's plenty of trash to hopefully keep some moisture in place. 50% for Tuesday. Then more moderate temps again.

last night before bed weather report said 60% chance for rain today. now down to 20% =(

 

[badgerfowl]

Yea ours changed during the day yesterday. Went from :D to this :mad: real quick. Hopefully my plot hangs on. That's why I only planted half though because a dry spell is inevitable this time of year. I'm going to throw a bag of ShotPlot down on Friday in a different area and maybe the 30% chances over the weekend will turn into something. Then I've still got half my original mix to throw in our big field when the farmer gets it tilled up here soon.

 

[badgerfowl]

Now they've got 60% for Friday. The skeptic inside me says I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[bueller]

Now they've got 60% for Friday. The skeptic inside me says I'll believe it when I see it.

I hope to get up there the first weekend in August to check on my brassicas and to topdress them with some nitrogen. At this point I'll be happy if it rains sometime before then.

 

[badgerfowl]

I hope to get up there the first weekend in August to check on my brassicas and to topdress them with some nitrogen. At this point I'll be happy if it rains sometime before then.

I'm planning on planting the ShotPlot this Friday. Hopefully if we do get rain it holds off til Friday evening. I'll be planting some clover, wr, and ghr around my apples August 1st. Probably broadcast the 10lbs of GHR in our plowed 5 acre field then too. I like the cooler than normal temps but we need some rain.

 

[badgerfowl]

The farmer who rents our field plowed it up and planted 50lbs of clover and winter wheat for us around July 25th. Here's a couple pics from this past weekend. Got a much needed 1/2" of rain on Monday. I also broadcast about 15lbs of GHR a few days after he planted the clover/WW. Everything is up and growing now.





View from one of the few stands around our field.

 

[badgerfowl]

Here's my in-woods clover plot planted in May '14.





My BIL and I cleared up the hinge-cuts around the plot and piled them up around the edge. Will be able to double the size next spring. Two more trees need to be taken down to let more light in but that will be saved for winter. Sprayed generic oust on the expansion. Will spread some lime this fall yet and plant next spring. Getting some daylight pics on this plot and the browsing is quite evident.

 

[badgerfowl]

Also built another duck blind on our slough. Might have to give the early teal season a try this year.

 

[2ndHand]

Looking good!!

 

[badgerfowl]

Thanks!