Hey guys here what things look like in late July here in NW MI. I took these last night July 27th, this is the 2track plot update pic here. Its not thick like the eagle plot but it does has some standing clover and Chicory amongst the Rye stubble so I mark this a success.
We'll mow both these plots in about 2 weeks and broadcast more WR, Oats, Clover, & Chicory seed.
Here is the full view of what is known as the eagle plot. This is looking at the man entrance from S to N. I gotta say I'm so very impressed by this food plot. Its chalk full of Clover and Chicory and other forbes and great canopy from the WR.
This plot being mowed and broadcast again, I just can't imagine what this thing is gonna pop into this next growth year.
Here is a closer look of all the planted and some wild edibles as well growing in this plot. Whats great about it is there is fern cover (4-5 foot tall ferns) that border this plot so its a really good travel corridor coming from the giant oaks that surround it and then to the river/creek for water to the E and South.
You can see a good mix of the Alsike and Med Red Clovers going here. Sure am happy to see this go from just nothing last year to a good little bite to eat on the way to where they are traveling too.
Looky here, we have located the Chicory in the eagle. It is actually growing well through out but this pic depicts a good representative of the stand within the eagle plot. This is sandy/gravel ground, odd combo right? However the PH was somehow 6.5 last year when I decided to plant it, who knew?
Here we have a white tail bed, you know what they say, its good way to gain weight if your sleep walking into the kitchen. This bed is actually in the eagle plot. HA! You can see a tree tube in the background where i have 3 crab apples planted and growing well I might add. Amongst the ferns in this area. As I stated before ferns are really tall, that tree tube is a 5 foot tube and the ferns are in close competition w/ that height. So the deer decided to bed down underneath the fern canopy where they could just stand up walk 2 feet and devour more clover.
So in the orchard amongst the trees I have planted I have some other things growing in between the orchard rows. I figured this year as long as its 3 feet away from the trees that I planted I'll let it grow and then I'll get rid of it all next spring. and broadcast some oats and clovers.
Here is a white oaks being browsed heavily into a bush style.
Here is a small oak tree I cut down last fall to shed more light on the 2 track plot (I can cut down oaks and feel ok about it because where I cut down a tree 40 oak trees reappear, I'm not joking!).
The new shoots on this thing are just being ravaged by the deer, you gotta love seeing stuff like this!
Well check this out the Hazelnuts are growing! Actually the beaked I got from Woodstock nursery in WI have dove off a cliff. I don't have any pics but most of them just have a little 2 inch bud growing at the bottom of the tube while the AM Hazelnuts from Coldstream are killing it.
Here is one of the American Hazelnuts.
As I was entering the Hazelnut grove I discovered another deer trail. This one is sneaking along the tubes into these pines beyond them. Inside these pines I have trophy rock mineral station and a primos camera that I deployed on 7/13 (I put the mineral out in April).
I am going to wait until the 2nd week of august before I change the cards on the cameras and I can't wait to see what we might have hanging out here this year.
Don't forget I planted a American Plum thicket to if you can remember, well I can't call it a thicket cuz it was only 4 of them but I'm gonna plant a bunch more next spring. I had no idea how this would work out if they would grow well or if they needed fenced. Well they have no blown out of the tops of the tubes and the deer apparently like to brows plum trees. Whoopsie!
So on to the orchard, do we have any news developing there? Why yes my good man, we do!
Here is a good update on the sweet crabs growing real well from both sources (Coldsteram and Oikos). I have not lost a tree yet except for the TSC Kiefer Pears because they never woke up. One of them through shoots up from the roots below the graft and its suggest they use Bartlett rootstock to graft to I'll let that one go and see what develops. The other one just plain dried up and died all together so I will be replacing that one w/ a diff type of pear next year.
The native nursery crabs are growing beautifully as well. On average these are taller then the sweet crabs and a 1-3 of them are within 4 inches of the top of the tubes. Such a vibrant green on these trees can't wait for them to start feeding the deer!
Here it is the pride of my orchard so far just because of how advanced it is. This is an Ecos Crab (remember how I got 2 for the price of 1 of these, they just packed it wrong on accident) well this is the 'extra' one and it has blown out of the tube and it's brother is 2 inches from doing the same!
Success is so very rewarding to the soul especially when it's when you've gotten your hands dirty outside and there is nothing but nature leading the way.
I will update things again in 2-3 weeks when we get out food plots done up and the deer cam cards pulled for the first time. :)
