November Happenings

One rain-it was a big one. Plots are being mowed.

Thrash sees big cat on Saturday, November 10th, in the planted pines, west of the Meadow.

October Happenings

Got some big rain over the 17th and 18th. 4.5 inches of rain

Big D and Thrash got most of the plots planted by about Oct 2nd. The Meadow and East Hill side and behind the Lee House got planted then and YES! a little better than .2 inches of rain on October 4th. Big D informed me of this while he was experiencing a power outage (power out at his house, but on across the street) More rain may be coming...

September Happenings

Did some plowing of the food plot areas at the Meadow but no rain prevented the stuff being planted before the month ended. Big D was able to get some winter grazing in the ground before the last rain of September but not all if complete just yet

Sept 16th, Big D could see the smoke from his breath this morning. Maybe summer is about to end... Middleton Field read a low of 55. Logging crews finished behind Dairy/ Miss Ethel's.

1.9 inches on Sept 12. Need to check with Big D for his official but September ended with just over 3" of rain.

Final hay cutting about complete- up to 883--nope, now 968! rolls for the year, last year had about 72 rolls. Sold 30 rolls.

Hay Cutting Pics

July was a good hay month.

August Happenings

Rain total for August ended at 4.12. Last couple of days cooled off somewhat with overcast skies. Into September...

Rain up to 3.42 as of August 27th, with more expected on the 28th. With this rain, even though its late August, the goal of 800 rolls of hay may be achieved. However, the rain will probably stop the logging crew currently working off of Rob Hill from getting the timber from the bottom along the creek and below the Muddy Pond. There is or was a beaver dam and the dry time in August with the 100 plus heat days had dried it out maybe enough to clean up, but this latest rain might cause the crew to move on across the road.

Got 1/2 inch for August through the 17th. Need more to push the hay production up. News sites report record heat, with the 11th straight day of 100+
Big D rolled some more, said about 30 rolls on the south side of Davis Pond. Puts the preliminary count at 652 at August 21st. Count is up to 690 by August 24th.

As of August 6th, there were 622 rolls. Looks like 800 is possible. No rain so far in August, and the cows need watering at BR's. Big D has found 2 hornet nests, with both on the high line. One is to the north of the road and the other is south. Both are about chest high. Does the height mean anything in relation to the upcoming winter?

Deer Heads

Rainfall 2007

August 28-31, .7 inches--(August total was 4.12 or something like that. Lots of small amounts of rain on last few days)
August 27, 1.3 inches (helps the hay, hurts the logging crew down below Rob Hill)
August 26th, .2 inches (2.12 inches so far in August)
August 19-25th, 3 rains of .04 inches each
August 18th, 1.3 inches (1.7 from Friday night through Saturday early morning)
August 17th, .40 inches (finally!)
August 12th, .10 inches - the first in August
July 31st, .20 inches (10.18 in July 16.04 since June 1)
July 26th, .10 inches
July 23rd, 1.40 inches (9.88 in July, 15.74 inches since June 1...) and 487 rolls to-date
July 21st, .10 inches
July 20th, .40 inches (and the 3 "farmers" raked, rolled, and stack 107 rolls on the day before! new record beating 92 rolls)
July 16th, .20 inches (7.98 inches so far...)
July 11th, .70 inches
July 10th, .08 inches
July 7th, .30 inches
July 5th, 1.8 inches
July 3rd, 3.5 inches (Big D to be happy for entire month!)
July 2, .10 inches
July 1, 1.30 inches (Big D hoping for 4" in July,)
June 28th, .6 inches (5.86 inches in June so far...)
June 27th, .35 inches
June 24th, 1.3 inches (with a 0% chance of rain)
June 19th, approx 1.5
June 18th, .3 inches
June 12th, 1.0 inches
June 9th, .4 inches
June 8th, .3 inches
June 7th, .04 inches
June 6th, .07 inches
May 16th, .10 inches
May 6th, .5 inches approx
April 26, .5 inch as of 2:00 p.m.
April 14, approx 2.5 to 3 inches
April 10-11, only .10 inch
April 1-3, 2007 - 2.5 inches
March - no rain?
Feb 2007 approx 7 inches of rain

For the past 48 hours history, click the link below: or better yet, right click on the link, and select "Open in New Window"
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/obhistory/KGZH.html

Problems, Hurdles, Impedimentia

So, the problems

1. Rain
2. The Corn raiders...crows? critters?
3. To get the crops up before being eat up
4. Beavers!
5. Inoculant?
6. Rims
7. Getting the narrow road plots planted before rain causes a wash or 12 and before the weeds take back over
8. Weed control on the plots

One of the Lewis Plots

For the record, Big D planted the area behind the old Lee House on about April 25th. Lablab only with no fertilizer and no lime at this point. It came up in about 8-9 days. Pics to be added later. Good looking plot! And Big D planted it just before the rain hit. Big D also put out some Rackmaster Deer Mineral and it took some hits immediately.

Planting of the Meadow Plots

On Saturday, May 10th, we planted the Road behind the Meadow and the East Hill. We also put out some lime and fertilizer too. We disked in the lime a fertilizer on the Road and raked in the some LabLab and some Pennigton's. We also soaked the seeds for a few hours before planting.

On the East Hill, we disked in the fertilizer and lime, the planted and disked most of that in, raking on the small paths.

Looks like we hit it just right, because on Sunday, May 6th, Big D came through for us, getting us about 1/2 inch of rain. PERFECT TIMING as luck would have it.

Also, about a week before, we put out 3 bags of the Deer Mineral in different spots around the Meadow. One place was to the East, very close to the East bush hog road, one to the West, and run to the north, across the creek.

Trying something new

Precipitation History at Middleton Field

Maybe the link will work. I do notice they reported 37.50 inches of precipitation last year. There were several days with .01 to .02 of precipitation on conditions described as "Fog."

14.90 as of 04/26/07
37.50 inches in 2006
59.92 inches in 2005
54.47 inches in 2004
61.04 inches in 2003
55.56 inches in 2002
61.29 in 2001
00.00 in 2000
39.64 in 1999
43.12 in 1998

Ok, the link doesn't work without changing the dates on the "To" part--but you can see a year's worth of data
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KGZH/2006/1/1/CustomHistory.html?dayend=31&monthend=12&yearend=2006&req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA

Test

A dude named Jerk . . .

And a couple of rubes

The Cigar Tree

SOoooo, what was the deal? We burned the woods sometime around the middle of March, and this tree burnt for over 6 weeks--correction noted from the first comment. That was one slow burning tree. This was a tree that a broken over at the base. I lit the base, when we were burning the woods, and the crack of the tree lit, then burned down the length of the tree for just over 6 weeks.

Corn at the Meadow - May-July 2006

Took this shot in May, 2006, when we were checking out the "Cigar Tree." Although its a little hard to see, check out the height of the corn in the background. At least, I think that was supposed to be corn.

Then we had a couple shots of the corn at the July 4th, 2006 skeet shoot

Lake Stuff

Murder Creek lake project advances
Monday, April 09, 2007
By CONNIE BAGGETTStaff Reporter
EVERGREEN -- A decades-old controversial proposal to build a lake on Murder Creek in Conecuh County has received preliminary approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which will seek public comment on the issue through the end of April.
Over the years, proponents have changed the stated purpose of the lake in an effort to get the project approved.
One push two years ago said the lake was needed as a source of drinking water, then for recreation. The project stalled when studies showed no reservoir was needed for drinking water, and damage to the environment was too severe of a tradeoff to make it a recreational lake.
Still, proponents have not abandoned the idea. The application now lists the requested use as a reservoir for agricultural irrigation and industrial purposes.

The remainder of the article and source is continued in the first comment--

iam in.

intesting additions stang!

So much to learn, so little time; but there is TIME!

Try this for the Meadow

Planting

Couple of items planted or to be planted. Source is the Tecomate Wildlife Systems and various Pennington websites. The Max Attract, Lablab, and Rackmaster products were obtained from the local Barnes Ace Hardware. The search for inoculant continues but apparently there won't be any. That's the word at least from the Tecomate Rep--who wasn't aware of the apparent shortage until Thrash told of our searching woes. Seems most inoculant comes from Australia, and the extended drought there has cut into the Aussie's ability to produce the stuff. Big D planted the Lee Place strip around April 25th and we planted around the Meadow on May 5th. Think our stuff was Rackmaster Deluxe, but I ain't sure.

Some details about the products from websites.....

Max Attract -We have sought out the very finest such plants, from energy-rich premium grains to high-protein clovers, peas and vetches. And, to make absolutely certain that Max-Attract is unmatched, we’ve added chicory, the forage sensation not found in any other competitive annual fall blend. Deer love this stuff, and it establishes quickly and produces nearly year-round.

Rackmaster Deluxe - Soybeans, iron clay cowpeas, buckwheat, sunflower, and sorghum make up the perfect mixture of seed ingredients to create an ideal food source and excellent cover for deer, turkey, dove and quail.

Pennington's Rackmaster brand of deer mineral offers the required 2:1 ratio of calcium to phosphorous and is an all natural, soil colored formula that is easy to use when making mineral licks.

Monster Mix - Packed with world-class legumes plus loads of the forage sensation chicory, Monster Mix comes as close to being the perfect year-round food plot mix as anything on the market.

Lablab - Lablab has been scientifically proven to add an unprecedented 20 to 40 inches of antler and pounds of weight to mature bucks! These phenomenal results are due to its extraordinary protein (up to 38%) and phosphorous levels, ideal Ca/P ratio and superb palatability and digestibility. Lablab is essentially a super cowpea, only far more nutritious, preferred and productive (capable of producing over 10,000 pounds/acre). Plus, it’s drought, disease and insect resistant.

East Hill

This is the bush hog road running south from this East Hill plot--Lablab is planned

Little help on these "names" and labels guys! East Hill? Meadow - East Hill? Border Line, where Thrash did Grind?

Back Pond Corn Plot

Planted corn March 21-22, 2007.

Meadow West-Bush hog Road

After the 2nd discing (disking?)

April Planning

Getting ready for Peter Cottontail. Expected low tonight of 24 degrees.

Ph Testing

The Old Tree

Because its a cool shot

Tools & Equipment

John Deere 4030 with the JD Killefer 6H-02 offset disc/harrow

The Meadow

April 7, 2007. Max Attract on left was planted in September 2006. Corn was planted first/second day of Spring (March 21-22, 2007)

November 23,2006

September 2006--Max Attract

And for fun--the Farmer Gone Wild inspiration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1-w0PAa5eM

Ph at September 2006 - 5.8-6

Members of the Blog

The closets are all clean now!

He's behind you!

That's a big buck!

Farmer Gone Wild

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1-w0PAa5eM