Iowa 25

[williams111]

6-9-25 Update
I have purchased 9 acres from the neighbor. This consists of a 5-6 acre field that he just let grow into a really nice stand of scattered Red Cedars that are 2-5 feet tall. Sparse cedar seems to be the most preferred bedding in this area when the weather begins to turn cold. I plan on planting some apple/pear/persimmon/chestnut/oak/redosier dogwood in the cedar patch as well in groups just to break it up a bit and to provide some food within the bedding. My FIL is installing a pond as well, hopefully it will hold water.

Some of my female persimmons have been getting destroyed by coon once the fruit begins to turn. I have seen other people utilize ductwork to keep coon off the trees and to keep deer from rubbing them. I am hoping this will help and I will actually get to see some fruit make it to maturity.


This is my first attempt at grafting over some male persimmons over to female. These are scions I got from Cliff England. Deer Candy and Deer Magnet.






This was one of the few opportunities I got out shed hunting this winter/spring. It was my daughters first shed hunt, and we did well!

I seeded in some Cave In Rock switch last year into the previous year's corn stubble. This was my first attempt at planting it. When I was out there yesterday, I noticed it is really showing up this year.

 

[Brian662]

Congrats on the new land acquisition!

 

[bwoods11]

That sounds like a fun project !!

 

[cbw]

Congratulations on the new parcel! Little by little…


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[williams111]

The dike of the pond is getting close to being done. In this picture it's right at 17' from the bottom of the pond to the top of the dike. The dike height is projected to be 23' with water depth roughly 20'. The dike is pure clay, hopefully we don't run into any rock the rest of the way. My FIL is building it and is hopeful it will hold water.



All of the persimmon grafts are looking good so far...


I finally filled up the water tanks. Not sure I'll keep these in if the pond holds water.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Tell me more about that pond plan - that looks really cool. How long did it take to build that dam and do you know approximately how much that cost?

I'm always looking into pond options and building one with a scraper like that seems like a really efficient method.

 

[williams111]

It has taken a month or 2 to get to this point. He had to clear some trees first. It is a slow process building and packing the dike. I have never seen it done so it has been interesting to watch the process. My father-in-law is putting in the pond, so we are getting the family discount. I have no idea what it would cost.

I am trying to educate myself on things to plant around the pond for filtration and fish habitat. I have a bunch of scrap conduit that I plan on using to make some artificial structure.

He said the scraper was necessary since we are pulling the clay off the hillside up hill from the pond. The dike isn't real long, just high. He drops the clay on the dike then takes the dozer and packs it in and pushes some over the edge to get the correct slope. I believe it needs to be at least 2 to1. The other day we were out there when he was working on it and he had to pack the slopes of the dike. It was crazy to see the slope that the dozer could hold.