Post by swilk on Jan 27, 2014 9:44:36 GMT -5
I decided to take advantage of a beautiful 50* day yesterday and head down to the farm to get some work done. Armed with my chainsaw, pruners, gps and some marking tape I loaded up the ranger and headed out.
First stop was an easily accessible edge where I will put a stand for next year .... one of those places a guy can slip in and out of without any critter knowing he was there. Because of the easily flooding nature of where my property is located the property owner to the east almost always (every year but 1 since 2008) plants beans and plants them late. That means that early in the season those beans are still green as grass and the deer pile into them every evening. This stand will be right in the wheelhouse. A few mature maple trees over the bean field edge with a cottonwood thicket running back to the west. I put that saw and pruners to work clearing a couple of subtle 50 yard openings back to the west. Should be a nice little set up early in the year.
Second stop was the apple and pear trees I planted in spring of 2010. They have never been pruned .... it was an experiment planting them in the first place. Had to try and find spots high enough to reasonably expect they wont get flooded each and every year. I forget exactly how many I originally planted but as of yesterdays count I have 25 or so trees pruned and cared for. Many of them produced fruit for the first time last year and hopefully with a little care I will have loads of fruit this year.
Third stop was the southern property line ..... I did not have a survey done before the purchase of the property. The plat books and county plats differ from what I think the line is and what the US Department of Ag thought when they did the WRP enrollment. I went looking for old fence lines and found one .... right where I thought it should be. I followed the fence with my GPS and marking tape and marked as I went. I intend to go back and drive fence posts into the ground along the line and paing the tops of the posts orange. Figure those will last longer than ribbons on trees.
Fourth stop was walking the ditch that goes to the river .... armed with a pick ax to break up the beaver dams. Wow .... if you have never tried to bust up a beaver damn that is frozen solid I recommend you try it. Humbles you very quickly. Those things are tough when its warm. They are built like fort knox when frozen. I managed to get the water flowing .... not much else.
All in all it was a good day ....
