Iowa 25

[williams111]

I like the welded wire because it'll stand on it's own without a stake. Then all I need is a stake to keep it in place. If I have cages that need the stakes for support I'm not sure it will work. I use the fiberglass stakes too because there is some bend to them. It's easier to wiggle them around and get them down through a crack in the rocks. Way too exhausting to try to blast a Tpost or steel rod through the rocks.

I'm glad I dont have many rocks to deal with. I too prefer the welded wire, its just expensive right now. The wire on these last trees is only 4' tall so I needed the stakes to be able to raise the wire up to 5'. I haven't done that in the past, but I have seen others do it. Hopefully it will work out!

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I have been doing some spraying around my trees the last week or so and finished cleaning out tree tubes. I have been spraying a mixture of;
4oz/gal Glyphosate
2oz/gal Simazine
2oz/gal prowl
1oz/gal surfactant
What mixture do you all prefer for the best long term weed control? I usually don’t use gly but the buds have not broken here yet, atleast on the things I have planted. I sprayed a bunch of multi flora rose as well. I have never done that, but hopefully it will nock it back. Most of it had a few leaves emerging and it is turning into an impenetrable mess.

I did notice lots of what I believe is elderberry. That was a pleasant surprise. I attached some pics.

I should probably just read the label but... is simazine safe prior to planting trees?

I.E. i have a spot i'm going to plant with spruce, dogwood, and possibly switchgrass - if I treated the whole area with simazine prior to planting would it have any negative impact on the trees?

 

[williams111]

I should probably just read the label but... is simazine safe prior to planting trees?

I.E. i have a spot i'm going to plant with spruce, dogwood, and possibly switchgrass - if I treated the whole area with simazine prior to planting would it have any negative impact on the trees?

I am not sure on that, I think I would just spray glyphosate before planting then follow up with a mixture of simazine, prowl and clethodim after planting.

 

[williams111]

Photo Dump Spring 2022
The first 5 pics are 2 Kieffer and one Burford on OHX97 and a Droptine on MM111 planted in the first fruit orchard I planted. These are a couple of the standouts really growing well, no flowers yet that I saw.


The 2 pics below are of the “Ides of March” apple grafted/planted last spring beginning to wake up.

Got my 2 1/2 year old out for his first time fishing yesterday. We caught 2 nice bluegill and a small largemouth. It was a great time seeing the excitement on his face, but short lived which I expected with a toddler’s attention span.


This is a 30-06 on Antanovka planted last fall. It seems to be one the first ones to wake up that I’ve got planted. Chestnut Crab is the other one that was about this far along.


My Son was also glad to checkout a Turkey I got Saturday morning.

 

[williams111]

These first 2 pictures are standing next to my favorite stand to sit on the farm, the access/exit isn’t bulletproof but it’s a chance I’m willing to take when hunting is good. I planted miscanthus in the 2 dead spots in front of my stand to help hide access/exit and to funnel them by my stand. Sprayed with Gly after planting.




The weed killer I sprayed a couple weeks ago seems to be working.


Found the match to a shed I found a couple months ago.

 

[williams111]

My 3 best persimmons planted August 2018 have flowers. I need to refresh my memory on male/female, but I think the first 2 pictures are female flowers and the 3rd male? Or is it too soon to tell?

The last 2 pics are of my clover plot sprayed with Imox a few weeks ago. It seems to be taking affect.

 

[Mozark]

You're right on the persimmons, looks great!

 

[williams111]

The persimmons seem to be turning flowers into fruit. The first tree is the second picture, where the flowers are gone and it appears the fruit is beginning to form? The second tree is the 1st and 3rd picture. The flowers are basically crunchy, what does this mean? Will it still produce fruit? It must flower slightly later then the 1st tree?

I also noticed some catkins on a chestnut tree. I’m not sure it will make any nuts this year, I didn’t see any others. It’s certainly not enough fruit to have any sort of impact, but it’s still exciting to see for the first time.

 

[Mozark]

I think your right on 1 and 3 blooming later, looks like the petals are turning brown after the fruit has set. Found a photo online that shows it better. Im in the same boat with chestnuts, one young tree blooming and nothing to pollinate it.

 

[williams111]

September 2022 Update
My middle brassica plot is looking good, the population on this looks like it should I think. I typically plant too heavy, but I think I got it right this year. Planted either August 6th or 7th, cant remember. Spread 2 bags treated urea and 2 bags of pelletized lime. This plot is about .35 acres. The first pic is from 2 weeks ago and the last picture is from 4 days ago. I sprayed 2,4d and Gly a couple weeks prior to planting, it took it a while but it did kill the marestail.



I do watch quite a bit of Sturgis's stuff and he preaches water holes. I have no consistent water on my property so I decided to try one. I can see this from a morning stand so it will be interesting to see how well it gets utilized. I purchased 2 tanks, but cant get to the other one until the crops come out unless I fill it with my ATV sprayer tank. These are 100 gallon tanks.


This is the same persimmon pictured above making some fruit. It had a lot of fruit on it initially, but seems to of aborted most of it. Would this be due to it being young and the first time it has fruited or potentially poor pollination?


This is luckily the worst tree I had for Japanese beetle damage. Its a droptine, it produced my first apples this year as well, it only had 4-5 but its still encouraging to see.


Ides of March planted last year is doing well.


Now I just need to mow my clover one more time and spread some rye, then I will be ready for season. It seems when the acorns start dropping the deer leave my property for a couple weeks, this is fine by me as it gives me a couple weeks to finish preparing things for season. My other brassica plot seems to be doing just as well. I planted atleast 200 lbs/acre on that plot of rye late last year and it made a very nice blanket of nearly weed free thatch after planting my brassica's. I did have a little rye coming in that reseeded itself so I sprayed with clethodim. This is how I will plan on doing all of my brassica next year to hopefully cut down on weeds/work to prep the plot.

 

[H20fwler]

Things are looking very good!

The water tank will get some action for sure, I would put a bigger log in it so that if a large possum or something falls in it can get out and not rot it up.

 

[williams111]

Things are looking very good!

The water tank will get some action for sure, I would put a bigger log in it so that if a large possum or something falls in it can get out and not rot it up.

Thanks H20!

I had full intentions of doing so, but forgot my chainsaw when I went back to fill it. I plan on getting a larger log in there tonight.

 

[williams111]

Mowed for the last time this year. I cant wait to see this spot in 10 years. There is a treestand in the double trunked tree in the top left corner. There are a combination of 8 apples/pears here in the clover, brassicas to the right side and an acre or 2 of standing corn will be left. Access is great to this spot and it sets up well for our prevailing west wind.

Persimmons starting to turn.

Brassicas are looking better then ever.

 

[Troubles Trees]

Mowed for the last time this year. I cant wait to see this spot in 10 years. There is a treestand in the double trunked tree in the top left corner. There are a combination of 8 apples/pears here in the clover, brassicas to the right side and an acre or 2 of standing corn will be left. Access is great to this spot and it sets up well for our prevailing west wind.
View attachment 46109
Persimmons starting to turn.
View attachment 46111
Brassicas are looking better then ever.

View attachment 46112

Everything looks great there bud, Brassicas are huge! I bet you are stoked to have your first Persimmons, I can't wait to taste one! (I am still quite a few years away from fruiting on the Persimmons)

 

[williams111]

Everything looks great there bud, Brassicas are huge! I bet you are stoked to have your first Persimmons, I can't wait to taste one! (I am still quite a few years away from fruiting on the Persimmons)

I am excited about the persimmons and also surprised. These have only been in the ground since August of 2018. I wasn't expecting fruit anytime soon.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Things r growing well but gotta admit wanna hear more about the mini truck spotted in the one pic

 

[williams111]

Things r growing well but gotta admit wanna hear more about the mini truck spotted in the one pic

It is a 2001 Daihatsu (toyota) Hijet with a 3 cylinder 660cc fuel injected engine and a 5 speed manual transmission. It has 4 wheel drive and heat, this one doesn't have AC, some do. Its not a 1000cc SxS, but a handy ride that goes down the pavement at about 50 mph. It has heavy tires on it now that slow it down. It also came with a 6' snow plow and an electric actuator to raise and lower it with manual turn. This has been very useful, plowing snow in the heat is nice! I was not willing to pay what people are getting for SXS's and I certainly didn't want one without a full cab. That's how I ended up with a mini truck. Suzuki, Daihatsu, Subaru and Honda all make them. They're considered Japanese Mini Trucks and supposedly a lot better then the "chinese" versions, which isn't surprising . I do take it out to the farm for certain things, its about 15 minutes from my house and I can take all county roads to get there. My county has an ordinance that allows them on the roads, state roads are a different story. I will try to get a pic of it uploaded.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Thanks. Interesting on the mini. Guess they have regs all over the map for street legal depends on your state. Apparently WI grandfather's the ones that are over 25 yrs old.

So steering wheel is on what side?

 

[williams111]

Thanks. Interesting on the mini. Guess they have regs all over the map for street legal depends on your state. Apparently WI grandfather's the ones that are over 25 yrs old.

So steering wheel is on what side?

Yes, regs are very different everywhere I think. This one is a right hand drive, so opposite of normal. Ill try to get some better pics soon.

 

[williams111]

Turnips are about done growing for the year. It seems like in years past they would die/freeze then there wouldn't be much left on the ground other then bare dirt and bulbs.




So this year I decided to try and overseed with rye once the turnip tops started to turn/discolor hoping to increase the attraction to them. My turnips dont seem to get hit hard until it gets really cold after season. I also prefer to seed into tall standing rye, so if the rye gets a good start this fall I may not need to overseed anymore come spring. I am thinking I put down about 300 LB/acre.


Made it out opening night and I was able to get a doe on the ground. She came out and fed all the way around the brassica's feeding through the clover right up to 22 yards.