Top of "The Hill" land tour

[Bowsnbucks]

Always great to see young fawns in the area. Alice looks great - I planted some Alice and Kopu 2 into a year-old plot of Ladino that had oats as a nurse crop. If our Alice gets as nice as yours, I'll be happy !! New orchard looks good, Chummer. With all you're planting - deer should be on the upswing on your ground. Good job !!

 

[chummer]

Always great to see young fawns in the area. Alice looks great - I planted some Alice and Kopu 2 into a year-old plot of Ladino that had oats as a nurse crop. If our Alice gets as nice as yours, I'll be happy !! New orchard looks good, Chummer. With all you're planting - deer should be on the upswing on your ground. Good job !!

I hope so, but I would guess they are near an all time low with the last two winters. We are certainly used to harsh winters but the last two have been cruel. I was hoping for a bumper crop of apples to help relocate some deer but it appears they all froze out. I will keep plugging away. The contract with the loggers is almost set so I will have a new playground, hopefully they start logging right away.

 

[dipper]

Have u tried to get them in more towards winter? I know that might not be possible with your snow levels, but the deer really appreciate the browse. If u cut now, those tops likely won't give u anything come winter.

 

[chummer]

Have u tried to get them in more towards winter? I know that might not be possible with your snow levels, but the deer really appreciate the browse. If u cut now, those tops likely won't give u anything come winter.

They have 18 months to cut minus the 3.5 months for deer season. They do cut in the winter but I probably won't be a candidate. I am about 3/4 of a mile down a seasonal road, access could be a nightmare to keep open. It is not a big concern because this property is close enough to the edge of the hill that all the deer migrate down the hill. My two trips up during this winter I saw zero tracks, I went up after a snowfall in April and there were tracks everywhere.

 

[chummer]

The rain finally stopped for a few days. My planting have enjoyed all the rain. Last years stuff has taken off and this years is off to a great start.
I planted WI winter greens three weeks ago and they have exploded.

I planted elder berries last year without knowing how many giant bushes I already had


Two crabs from cold stream nursery. These were smaller than a pencil last year. They are in 2' tubes and most are way out of the top. The one I took the tube off was browsed the next day, the ones in the tube don't get touched

 

[chummer]

I have taken a hands off approach with the pears. I have stopped pruning them and allowed them to form a bush. All 8 have died back to 12" in the last two winters. The ones I didn't touch survived last winter without anymore setbacks. This one is now pretty a thick at about 7' tall. I figured if they survive a few year I will prune a little.
Dogwoods are my favorite, this is from MDC, planted last year. They put on tremendous growth despite occasional browsing. This years plantings aren't far behind.

 

[chummer]

The new orchard is filling in nice. My first time with spring planted oats. They are thick and putting on seed heads.


Alice clover growing under the oats.


My neighbor asked if he could put his hives in my plot. I now have bees with none of the work!

My plans are starting to show. Basically I wanted to end up with this large area split up into 4 different plots. With the road only 40 yards from the plot I am trying to make layers so someday deer may feel safe using the back orchard section during daylight. Right now they never go in there during daylight except the occasional first or last light. Hopefully the shrubs keep growing and eventually seal the road off. It is sealed good now until the leaves fall.

 

[chummer]

With only a couple deer on our place it is neat to see what they eat when they have a lot of options. This sugar maple stump gets hit every week.


I finally got the logging contract signed for the new place so hopefull that starts soon. I am going to try a plot of stumps and clover. If I had an acre of stumps like this with clover in between in could be a good draw. Has anyone ever tried it?

 

[SD51555]

That's an impressive update! I'm amazed at how quickly your crab seedlings grew. Are you planning to prune that one in the tube at all? I can't say whether you need to or not, but I've found some success in keeping the crowding down inside the tube and getting them to jump upwards.

That oat/clover plot looks like it was done in a lab environment. Well done!

 

[scott44]

Nice looking orchard Chummer! Sounds like a good plan on the road screening.

 

[chummer]

That's an impressive update! I'm amazed at how quickly your crab seedlings grew. Are you planning to prune that one in the tube at all? I can't say whether you need to or not, but I've found some success in keeping the crowding down inside the tube and getting them to jump upwards.

That oat/clover plot looks like it was done in a lab environment. Well done!

Thanks,
I will leave the crabs alone. One variety is Mid West crab which takes a shrub form. Those are all planted on the edges. The other variety is a Sargent crab. I planted those for pollination and I think they will take a shrub form as well. I think the tubes are coming off next weekend. I sprayed around them last weekend so that is done for the year. They are no longer protecting from browsing anyway. When I planted them last year I thought what a waste of time. I am shocked how fast they have grown. More importantly they all survived the winter.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Great looking plots, Chummer. We've used oats as a nurse crop for clover at my camp too, and they work great. Your deer have to be loving the diversity you have growing there !! The Winter Greens look great too. Nice job up there !!

 

[bueller]

chummer, your plots look great!

 

[sandbur]

Thanks,
I will leave the crabs alone. One variety is Mid West crab which takes a shrub form. Those are all planted on the edges. The other variety is a Sargent crab. I planted those for pollination and I think they will take a shrub form as well. I think the tubes are coming off next weekend. I sprayed around them last weekend so that is done for the year. They are no longer protecting from browsing anyway. When I planted them last year I thought what a waste of time. I am shocked how fast they have grown. More importantly they all survived the winter.

I enjoyed the pictures.

Nothing like those crabs for those of us in the north country.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

Have you had any more bear sightings? those hives could bring them in. the guy up the road from me had to put an electric fence around his hives to keep the bears off them.

everything is looking good on the top of the hill!

 

[chummer]

Have you had any more bear sightings? those hives could bring them in. the guy up the road from me had to put an electric fence around his hives to keep the bears off them.

everything is looking good on the top of the hill!

He has an electric fence around them for bears and skunks. I have not seen a bear in a couple months but the neighbors said they have at least two using their trails. I don't have any experience with bees but they are neat to watch. You can stand in the clover and almost feel the buzzing. He thinks he can leave them there through the winter so they are ready to go for the apple blossoms. I will believe it when I see it. The spot he has them in has had over 5' of snow the last two years.

 

[chummer]

I enjoyed the pictures.

Nothing like those crabs for those of us in the north country.

I agree. I am having a blast growing these seedling crabs. Some of them were so small when I planted them, and only had a couple tiny roots, I almost threw them away. I might do an acre of them at my new place. They won't have the protection of the tube this winter so I will see how they do.

 

[SD51555]

I agree. I am having a blast growing these seedling crabs. Some of them were so small when I planted them, and only had a couple tiny roots, I almost threw them away. I might do an acre of them at my new place. They won't have the protection of the tube this winter so I will see how they do.

Just put a few perches out there for the raptors, and they may help you keep the chewing critters away.

 

[wiscwhip]

Just put a few perches out there for the raptors, and they may help you keep the chewing critters away.

Make them sturdy enough for a snowy owl and you will have girdling protection all winter.

 

[chummer]

Not much to update. I finally made it in the swamp hole that is behind my orchard plot. I tried some of John's hybrid willow cuttings last year. I don't think many made it but I was only hoping for a few for a future source of cuttings. These were planted in tubes and I have done nothing to them since.

I planted WI winter greens about mid June. We have had a lot of rain. This is the first time I have had a brassica grow long enough to make a bulb. We actually sliced this guy up and it tasted great. If no deer show up at least we will eat them.

That is all for this week. Logging has start on the new land so hopefully I will have some updates from there soon.