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Old 04-28-2015, 12:38 AM
csterner csterner is offline
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Default food plot is coming together

Haven't been shooting In the past month. Been busy with a deer plot out front. The brush you see In the edges of the plot Is spicewood. Good for nothing but cover for critters. Can't even shoot through it it's that thick. Had a bud come with a bobcat and blow the whole thing out two weeks ago. I've got two brushpiles to burn next winter when there's snow down so I don't burn the whole hill off. I got about five cords of wood outta ther earlier. It still needs split and stacked, but that can wait.

I got about 100 trees planted this past weekend. Most of the grading is done and still have a few sticks to pick up before I seed. I planted douglas fir with bud protectors and flowering crabapples in tubes along the drive, chinese chestnuts in tubes in the middle and norway/white spruce alternating along the property line. I also put a pocket of white pine at the bottom to create a screen from the road. It's been a bear to water. I have a drum with a hose I put on the wagon behind the 4 wheeler. Hopefully it'll rain soon. I'm still waiting on my seed to come in. I think I'll try trefoil/contractor's mix grass on the bottom and clover/contractor's mix up top.

Here's the top.



And the bottom.



I have two 5' Dunstan Chestnuts coming too. They'll go in the bare spot behind that stump in the 2nd pic. Close to the drive and cover for a treestand. After I get the brushpiles burnt, I think I'll put in a few fruit trees. Was thinking apples but the whole x-pollination thing and spraying regimen has my head spinning. Think I'll do bartlett pears. They are self pollinating and much easier to grow with less maintenance and disease.
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Old 04-28-2015, 10:51 AM
toolman47327 toolman47327 is offline
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Wow, that is a lot of work, looks great!
How long do you leave the tubes on?
Tom
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Old 04-28-2015, 11:36 AM
csterner csterner is offline
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until they fall off or the trees die. Honestly, those tubes were from failed previous attempts. I sort of plan on needing four or even five foot tubes as they grow, to keep the deer away. The tubes keep the mice/rabbits from girdling the tree, and the deer from rubbing/eating them. I may even need to use metal fencing and cage them off individually to 6' or so.
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Old 04-28-2015, 05:28 PM
ramos ramos is offline
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When you plant your grass & clover, see if you can mix in some Austrian Peas. It will only last one season but, will provide good ground cover for the young grass and help 'fix' the N in the ground. Deer love the peas and their vines, as well. Going to look great in a couple of years. Save those pic's so we can see a 'before & after' down the road!
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Old 04-28-2015, 08:35 PM
260Ackley 260Ackley is offline
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Looks great. Those brush piles may make decent bedding cover. Just a thought.
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Old 04-28-2015, 09:17 PM
csterner csterner is offline
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no lack of bedding cover. Hundreds of acres of that brush to hide in. The rabbits and snakes will love it, I'm sure, but they're right next to the driveway and kinda unsightly. I'm trying to make it more pleasing to the eye as well. Seed came in today and it's supposed to rain Thurs/Fri. Guess I'll be done by the weekend....scratch that. Dragged an old skid around tonight to rough up and smooth things out, spread 20# of contractor's mix grass seed with birdsfoot trefoil & clover mixed in and then rolled it. Was done in time to eat dinner. Have a few trees to plant and about 500# of lime to spread as time allows. I'm headed for the range with Ray tomorrow.

Last edited by csterner; 04-29-2015 at 12:25 AM.
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Old 04-29-2015, 12:24 AM
csterner csterner is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ramos View Post
When you plant your grass & clover, see if you can mix in some Austrian Peas. It will only last one season but, will provide good ground cover for the young grass and help 'fix' the N in the ground. Deer love the peas and their vines, as well. Going to look great in a couple of years. Save those pic's so we can see a 'before & after' down the road!
Good idea on the peas but this is rough and rocky and tight to get around. I have no way to break ground to get the peas planted deep enough. Perhaps I could roll them in, but it's kinda hard ground.
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