Post season scouting/ spring planting prep

[Hollywood]

Can't wait to buy a piece of land to do exactly what your doing. Its killing me watching you put this all together. I know exactly how I want everything planted just waiting on the realitor to find something. Your doing an awesome job. I've been looking at a lot of nurseries online to buy apple trees, blueberry plants etc. Willis orchard, Stark bros and Nature hills all have pretty decent products from what I can see. How big are the apple trees your getting from the Adams county nursery? The trees I'm looking at on willis orchards website are 5-6 feet tall or 6-7 foot. You can decide how big the saplings you want are. I'd like to get them a little bigger to hopefully increase survival. I'd like to buy around 15 apple trees and probably 3 white oaks.

It's not easy... I looked at a LOT of land before this opportunity came up. You might have more luck looking on your own, depending on your agent. If the agent isn't regularly contacting you with options- you might be wasting time waiting on them. I had a neighbor I've never met send me a letter offering to buy all or part of my place for more than I paid for it. He got my info from the town clerk. Not interested in selling- but I would contact him first if I ever was to sell for some reason. It wouldn't hurt to send a letter out to people that own parcels you like- or even are hunting now- being proactive rather than waiting. I found that a lot of land that was "for sale" the people really didn't need or want to sell...unless someone was willing to pay them crazy money for it. Do some research so you know what a fair price is where you are. I'm going with Adam's nursery because a friend that owns a large orchard was kind enough to allow me to add to his order so I could get the same volume pricing he gets from them- about half the rate as for a small order. He has used many suppliers but claims they are the best. You can't beat someone at their own game- so I am taking every suggestion he gives me. His orchard is pretty productive. The tree's I saw that he got from them last time were about 5-6 feet tall, but his are on dwarf rootstock- mine are on a bigger rootstock better suited to my situation- Adam's was very helpful with all that when I talked to them and they have some great info & charts on their website to help determine which rootstock, ripening date, pollinators to use, etc. You can do 90% of what you need to do right and still get poor results- there's quite a bit to it all. The biggest thing to plan on is- expect to invest about twice as much as you paid in trees for fencing. If you don't protect them until they are mature- you're just wasting time and money. I didn't know how much I didn't know until I got into it. Best of luck with your land search. Mine took about 20 years- but it all came together at the right time, in retrospect. If you have any questions you think I may be able to help with feel free to PM me, I'd be happy to share anything I've learned along the way with you.

[Hollywood]

One of the bags got knocked over earlier, cleaned up & put the seed back in- was kind of cool to see the growth in just a couple days...



A couple trees got dropped to allow more light into the orchard. Better now than deciding after the trees are in that they need to go. Looks like a cold snap the next couple weeks- the buds from these will make the herd happy for a little while...

[Green Mountian Hunter]

       They are coming along very very well , Can see I'll try that route come next year , Do I got to order those seeds this spring ..

[joe snag]

Whats the best seed to plant in the spring,,I have about 1/2 acre all set to go...

[Hollywood]

Whats the best seed to plant in the spring,,I have about 1/2 acre all set to go...

Just cleared it or ph adjusted & fertilized already too? Wish mine was ready... I've got a lot to do yet.

I'm going to use a food plot mix sold by this company...

http://merrittseed.com/

You won't find info on it here on the website- their main business is hydroseeding stuff. But the owner is a big time hunter that developed the plot mix for his own plots & it works great, have had a plot of this mix on my place for 4 years- still a great draw. I like it because I can pick it up locally, it's made here, the owner is a great guy, it's not expensive, and... it works. Email or a call is the best way to get info on the food plot mix. They don't take plastic, I remember.

[buckblaster]

Thanks for the info. We've been looking at land to put a house on for about 2 years. We had a piece but the guy backed out at the latest point possible. The new realitor is pretty good she sends us new stuff a couple times a week. I looked at some of the reviews for some of the online nurseries I was looking at. Not so sure I want to use an online nursery anymore. The reviews are aweful for most of them. (Nature hills, willis orchards and a few more). Hard to say some people might just not know what they're doing. I went to college for forestry. Keep up the good work. I enjoy watching the progress.

[Hollywood]

Thanks for the info. We've been looking at land to put a house on for about 2 years. We had a piece but the guy backed out at the latest point possible. The new realitor is pretty good she sends us new stuff a couple times a week. I looked at some of the reviews for some of the online nurseries I was looking at. Not so sure I want to use an online nursery anymore. The reviews are aweful for most of them. (Nature hills, willis orchards and a few more). Hard to say some people might just not know what they're doing. I went to college for forestry. Keep up the good work. I enjoy watching the progress.

Thanks- sorry the deal fell through for you, I'll bet you wind up with something you like better though. I made a couple offers on a piece I really wanted that were rejected. That parcel is still for sale- they are now asking for what my last offer to them was 5 years ago. I am SO glad I didn't get that land now, I'm much happier with what I got instead. Sucks to be greedy- they are down to where I was price wise now and have paid over 10k in taxes in that 5 years also.

I checked the chestnuts for this weeks sprouts- really starting to go now-



Got them bagged and put with last weeks sprouts but ran out of potting mix, will finish up the rest later, they seems fine in the fridge as long as they are kept moist.

[Green Mountian Hunter]

    They look awesome all them are starting to sprout    How long they been out of the
    fridge or do they sprout in the fridge....

[Hollywood]

    They look awesome all them are starting to sprout    How long they been out of the
    fridge or do they sprout in the fridge....

They sprout in the fridge. I'm checking them once a week now and bagging them up as they come. Put a table up by the window so they'll be in the sunlight all day. Hope they'll do alright there until April/May when they get planted. Time will tell.

[Hollywood]

Just a little over 2 weeks since the first nuts were planted in the potting mix/root trapper bags. Just saw the first one emerging. The tap root shoots down about 5 inches and now the tops are starting to emerge. A little less than half the nuts have sprouted so far.

[Raquettedacker]

Pretty cool Tom...... 

[Green Mountian Hunter]

    They are doing great ; I'll have to try that come next fall , Get the grand kids set up 

[Hollywood]

Chestnut update-
I've got 80 potted so far, the germination rate of the seeds I bought seems to be about 60 percent-



This is the growth of the first one that emerged after one week. It takes about 2 weeks after a sprouted seed is potted before it emerges. So far, there are 9 up out of the dirt-

[Green Mountian Hunter]

              Boy that one looks great ; Sure bet the deer would thick so as well some tender eating   
                Where do I get them Spanish seeds from for me to try for next year ...

[Hollywood]

              Boy that one looks great ; Sure bet the deer would thick so as well some tender eating   
                Where do I get them Spanish seeds from for me to try for next year ...

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