Timber has been selectively harvested and thinned at the advice of Rusty Walker (Giles Co. NRCS) and Donnie Barnett (Timber Mgt. Consultant) in preparation for continuation of fencing improvements. The logger was Billy Bivens from Revilo in Lawrence County. We were very pleased with the Donnie's valuable guidance and Billy's performance in the logging even though we were hindered by wet weather.
The new access road into the "back 40" has been seeded with KY31 and creeping red fescue. The road/trail is part of our longterm management plan and has given us the ability to manage and monitor the timber/ wildlife areas of the farm (about 75 acres).
- 900 seedlings have been planted between Feb 15th and March 25th.
300 walnuts, 100 yellow poplar, 500 white oak.
- Boy Scout Troop 514 from Clarksville spent 2 days working on several environmental oriented merit badges. The scouts were able to experience timber cutting in full operation. They thought the knuckle-boom was cool. 300 white oak seedlings were also experienced by the Scouts using dibbles. (A dibble is a small shovel designed for seedling planting)
- We have acquired a single point plow which will be valuable in creating drainage ditches and water diversion terraces. Pond terrace repairs will continue to be an emphasis due to ongoing drought conditions.
- We have completed about 2/3 of the 900 foot contract section.
- We have plans to continue on the contract fencing the first week in June. (20 rolls of barbwire have been purchased.) Plan of attack is to do the perimeter fence first and then come in and section it off.
Jennifer did a good job sowing fescue on the pond over spring break. As of May 25th the grass is coming in nicely.
- Our contract with the NRCS calls for planting four acres of native warm season grasses(NWSG). These grasses that are beneficial for wildlife and for managed grazing. We have planted Eastern Gamagrass and Cave-in-Rock Switchgrass which we bought online from sources in the midwest.
- Eastern Gama grass. (Let it be said that we do everything the hard way.) We could not swing a corn planter and our planting window was quickly closing. As an alternate solution we ripped a row about every two- three feet with a middle buster plow and planted the gama with a garden planter. Steve bought some peroxide(35% which he diluted to 15%) online and soaked the seeds in the solution for 18 hrs and we started planting the first week in April. We planted one acre the first week and 2 acres of switch grass. The second week we finished the gama grass. We planted both the gama and switch grass in some of the logging areas. Due to the rain amount this year, we are going to have problems with weeds. As of May 25th the Gama was popping up in rows. (A quarter in foreground for scale)
- The switchgrass has tiny sprouts which are difficult to distinguish from fescue. They have started slowly to appear. We are hoping for more germination with the warmer weather.
- Spraying -The entire farm has been sprayed for weeds by a professional sprayer. This includes the Joe Newton portion. This combined with the spring rain is going to have a huge impact on the rehabilitation of the grazing areas which have seriously deteriorated over the last decade or so.
- Rotational Grazing - We have been rotating the grazing for a year now. This was a lifesaver during the drought last year and is another big factor in the rehabilitation of the pastures. For the moment we have less cattle on the fields and a lot more grass. Hopefully the grass will soon be cut for hay which will be a hedge against drought this summer should that occur. It is our goal that all hay used on the place be cut from our own fields to avoid the importation of weeds which has occurred during past seasons of mismanagement.
- Lime- Bennie has collectively applied 90 tons of lime to our pasture and Joe's pastures.
- Fertilizer- Jim spread a small amount of ammonium nitrate fertilizer on the hay field ridges in hopes of enhancing the forage and hay production.
- Pond- At the moment the pond water level has stabilized. It may take some time for the clay to seal. A small diversion has been cut to begin to divert field runoff toward the pond.
Jennifer now has a horse named Gypsy! She is a very happy and excited girl. We expect she will want to spend even more time at the farm this summer with her horse. Gypsy is the first family owned horse on the farm in almost 60 years. Happy Trails to Jen and Gypsy!
- This completes the spring update. Temperatures are expected in the eighties for the entire week and it looks like summer is upon us as we enter the Memorial Day weekend. We will get back in a few weeks, hopefully with word of lots more progress.
