Post season scouting/ spring planting prep

[Hollywood]

Another week of this unreal winter gone by. I see the long term forecast showing below freezing temps at night right through the first week in April with a couple exceptions. Going to be awhile before these go in the ground! Here is a pic that shows the difference in growth by the week...



I will be planting the last 50 seeds this weekend when the bags for them show up. I initially bought 100 bags for 182 seeds but the germination percentage was much higher than I expected (about 90%) so now I'll have 150 seedlings to place, total cost for these about $150, so about a buck per seedling. I had a friend ask "why aren't you going with all Dunstan chestnut?" There are quite a few reasons I'm giving these Chinese Chestnuts a shot... a big part of why is research I did into the differences between the two. The Dunstan tree's are being advertised & marketed HARD. This always makes me research the claims- in my business, when this is done, people that don't have a complete understanding of our industry are easily mislead by "experts" The people doing the slick marketing make LOTS of money convincing buyers to drop $10 on a $1 item, and make them feel warm and fuzzy about doing it. I genuinely would love to see the return of the American tree- but the Dunstan really doesn't do that. For my purposes- finding ways for the property to generate lots of food for the wildlife- the Chinese just makes more sense. It just doesn't have a marketing department drumming up hype.

1) Economics... I'm putting out 150 seedlings for $150. That same $ would get me less than 5- 2 year old Dunstan.
 150- 2 year old Dustan would cost $4,950... granted, these are seedlings vs 2 year olds, but still... the Dunstan has had the benefit of some slick advertising, but side by side with Chinese, I don't think Dunstan offers more as a food plot tree.

2) Hardiness... The Dunstan chestnut is getting some awesome marketing. They claim blight resistance, but if you research it, the more American the tree is, the more blight damage it will need to overcome. Even the Chinese are affected by the blight- but the damage to the tree is much less. There is no getting around dealing with the blight, it has an effect on ALL chestnut trees, no matter what is claimed. The Chinese is less affected than any other at this point in time.

3) Adaptable... the Chinese is an "understory" tree. It will do best in full sun- but it will grow & produce (but less than in full sun) when planted in the woods with partial sun. I have a lot of area to plant these in the woods- I think they will do better in the more shaded areas than the Dunstan would.

4) Comparable crop... there isn't a lot of difference in the qualities of the crop between the two from what I see and both start to produce nuts within about the same time frame. It seems that many years down the road the Dunstan may put out more nuts per tree, but it's hard to say. For sure though- 100 Chinese will out produce 50 Dunstan, and at a fraction of the cost.

5) Variety... I already have some Dunstan in place. Putting in the Chinese adds some variety. Most of my property is pretty steep. Not the kind of terrain you can do much with food plots, a very small percentage is level enough to work with. The good agricultural land is more than a mile either side of my place. The best way for me to draw and hold deer is going to be by pumping out as much hard & soft mast as I can given what I have to work with, and providing good sanctuary/bedding areas. There are quite a few beech and some red oaks that produce... but it's very inconsistent- some years, almost no crop. There are some wild apple and thornapple (hawthorn) there too, but the addition of dozens of crabapple & domestic apple trees will greatly add to the soft mast available. The severity of this winter has made me think of ways I can contribute to the herd going into winter with as much fat on them as possible. So that's this weeks update and my musings about the topic. Only time will really tell how it all pans out.

[Raquettedacker]

Isn't it nice to see green growth in the stinking winter..We have 2 big green houses full already and some plants are blooming allready....
Looks great Tom..

[Hollywood]

Isn't it nice to see green growth in the stinking winter..We have 2 big green houses full already and some plants are blooming allready....
Looks great Tom..

Thanks Dom. It really is nice to have them growing here. I don't have much of a green thumb at all- I've put to death many house plants. But I look forward to checking these out everyday... they give me hope for Spring!

[Green Mountian Hunter]

             Them are doing great now they are leafing out . Your doing a awesome job with them Tom   

[Hollywood]

Another week gone by, that much closer to planting time! Snow depth is still over 3' going up the hill, it's going to be awhile.
Here is the link for the Dunstan trees-

[urlhttp://www.chestnuthilloutdoors.com/][/url]

They still don't have the list of Wal- Mart stores they are shipping to & the dates listed yet, but they should be on here soon.

I'm really impressed with the continued growth of the Chinese seedlings- check out the leaves of the first one up now- about 2 months old-

[joe snag]

I can't wait to see the green popping up..

[Green Mountian Hunter]

            Those little buggers are doing great ; Can't wait to see them in the ground , How tall is that one

[Hollywood]

I can't wait to see the green popping up..

Seems like it'll never get here this year. The first batch of seedlings planted are 2 months old now and are about 18" tall. The last batch were planted last week, so they should be about this size when they get planted in mid-May. I'm looking forward to planting time. The old timers say if the sun takes out the snow pack instead of rain it'll be a hot dry summer, either way I've planned where these are going to be- in spots I can access with the wheeler and the sprayer full of water if they need it. Last spring after I put the crab apple in it didn't rain for about a month, had to water them regularly or they never would've made it. After the first season and the roots are established I'm not too concerned, but you have to be able to water them the first year. I've enjoyed doing this- I'll be doing more next winter... it helped a bit with cabin fever.

[Hollywood]

Changed up the line up a little for the apple tree shipment. They planned to ship on 4/13, but with over 18" of frozen crust still where these are going, I'm hoping they'll push it back a bit.

 Got 10 each coming of-

Ruby Macintoch , 9/3 ripening date
Crimson Crisp , 9/10
Freedom , 10/1
Northern Spy , 10/6
Goldrush , 11/10

The Chestnut seedlings are doing awesome. The first 50 are all between 18-24" tall now with leaves the size of my hand. No pics- phone isn't sending them for some reason. The next month is going to be pretty hectic... but it'll all get done. Just looked on the Chestnut Hill website- they won't have the dates & stores posted for when they are shipping Dunstan Chestnuts to Walmart until May.

[reeleyz]

That is a good mix of apple trees. Thanks for the update on Chestnut Hill.

[Hollywood]

That is a good mix of apple trees. Thanks for the update on Chestnut Hill.

You bet! Just got back from a ride up the hill. Still too much snow in the area I'm putting the apple trees to clean up & get ready for them. There were a couple deer just up the hill where I planted the turnips, it was bare ground there and they were filling up on them. Didn't seem too concerned about me being there. Funny how that changes in the fall. Saw TONS of deer out feeding, the past week or so they seem to be out feeding non stop.

[Green Mountian Hunter]

    Sounding like you got them hooked already Tom ; Now they will be there for years to come ;
    I'd love to see the results of what you got going on years down the road when they are all
    producing 

[Hollywood]

Finally, no snow and time to finish clearing for the orchard. Got all the stumps out except for the 2 biggest ones... they can stay and rot. Tree's will probably be in within the next week or so. Going to start them uphill and work down. Leaving the downhill nearest the tree line (shaded area) for ground cover and open so I can continue clearing down and to the south next season.

[hickgtx600f4]

Looking Good  Should dry up real quick being open like that. Great job!!

[Green Mountian Hunter]

             Boy that looks good real good ; Still have plenty of snow on the ground hear , But weather should brake this week 

             How are the seedlings doing they still growing like crazy ... You think it might still be a little cold for them yet ...