Ideas to become a better steward of the land?

[plowhog]

starting burn piles using chunk charcoal and one of those chimney style charcoal starters.

I've never used a chimney charcoal starter. But I looked it up and I think it could be a great addition not just for burn piles but also for the BBQ. I'll try it-- thanks!!

 

[dougtrr2]

I have 9 acres mostly forest. Lot of good ideas so far. I am very cautious about using any fertilizer or weed killer on my lawn or any chemicals in the forest. I am clearly part of a watershed that goes to a small lake 200 yards from my property. Besides, that way the grass doesn't grow so fast.

Doug in SW IA

 

[jbrumberg]

Chimney charcoal starters really work well.

 

[L120]

On the subject of burn piles, I've always lit them the good ole Boy Scout way a game for me to beat chest over. Really, I few pieces of cardboard box and some small branches, I can get er going in about 20-mins. Wood was a bit wet last time I burned piled and got my leaf blower after it to create a furnace that got everything going in a short amount of time.

 

[JamesHW]

I've never used a chimney charcoal starter. But I looked it up and I think it could be a great addition not just for burn piles but also for the BBQ. I'll try it-- thanks!!

My pleasure and Happy New Years!

We have about 78 acres with two year-round streams and an old house. The land is in a sand plain and has an extensive shallow aquifer such as is common in that area. It provides our drinking water and potentially irrigation for the farm, so protecting it is a high priority. Shallow lacustrine acquifers are susceptible to pollution from all sorts of sources.

We selectively logged the land that had previously been harvested in the early 70’s. The outfit we employed has the feller-bunchers that allowed them to stay mostly on the old logging roads and pony trails. They cleared an old Ag field we wanted to open up and used that as their landing. Opening up the trails and creating clearings has increased the number of birds we’re seeing.

We were going to put a cap on our old chimney after having it repaired but discovered that chimney Swift’s were nesting in it, so we decided to leave it uncapped as it has always been. Chimney Swift’s eat a lot of mosquitos, so win win.

 

[EddieWalker]

We think just the opposite. Around here, about 25 years ago, deer were so thick that there was no vegetation from the ground up to about 6 feet off the ground. The deer ate everything. You could look a hundred yards through the woods because there just wasn't any undergrowth anymore. So the DNR got aggressive with deer harvest numbers, and started shooting them in the state parks, too. Finally, after years of aggressive harvest, and annual park hunts, the deer population has gotten low enough for growth to return in the forests. And guess what? The turkey population has taken off. Deer are at manageable levels. The small trees and shrubs that provide shelter and forage for most animals have started growing up and we now can't see through the forest more than 15-20 feet, like it should be. You shouldn't be able to see through a forest. If you can, there's no small trees growing up to take the place of the mature ones that die. And there's no place for wildlife to live or eat.

I can't hardly walk through my woods in most places. It's thick with deer, turkey, and squirrels.

So what's the difference between your situation and ours? For one, we don't have hogs. That would be a bad thing to have to deal with. The other, people's ideas of forest and land differ from region to region. You prefer an open forest. I prefer a dense forest. To each his own. We both manage our land as we see fit, and make it the way we want it. No right or wrong there. Enjoy the place as we want it. :thumbsup:

I wish I had your problem with too many deer. I don't think the hogs affect the deer numbers too much because the hogs are everywhere, even in Tyler, but there are places where the deer numbers have become problematic, and other areas, like mine, where the State Biologist said that there is one deer for every 20 acres. I've never been to your part of the country, so we might have different ideas of what thick woods are. In one square yard, 3ftx3ft, it's not uncommon to have 4 trees or more trying to grow there, and I've seen more the a dozen sprouting that are still small enough that I can mow them down. It's so thick that it's impossible for a human to get through. add vines with thorns on them and you don't even try.

Before people took over the land here, it was cleaned out by forest fires, and the old growth was spread out enough to easily navigate it and allow grasses and other plants to grow. Then people cleared the land and tried farming it. Cotton was real big here 100 years ago, then other crops where tried, from watermelons to corn to roses. None do particularly well here, so the land then becomes pasture or left to do what it wants. Pasture land needs constant fertilizer and weed treatment. Trees take over quickly and in five years, you can have total coverage of trees ten feet tall and so close together that it's impenetrable. If left to Mother Nature, it will take hundreds of years and multiple forest fires, to get to where it was before humans cleared it and changed how Mother Nature meant for it to be.

 

[oosik]

It's just simply amazing, the differences we all have. The one shared trait - we all try. DODGE MAN - been out here 37+ years. It been all I can do to keep two Russian Olive trees alive. Over a one year period I will spend 4 or 5 days - pruning, aerating the soil around them, making sure they are adequately watered & fertilized( cow ). Spring will show that half the R Olive tree is now dead. I keep at it - they will never get larger than a full sized Lilac bush. They never spread.

I have had one wild rose. Bright yellow flowers - it was a Homestead rose. Kept spreading - got too huge - mowed that sucker down with multiple passes of my JD riding mower. Two years to kill all the new shoots. BTW - I consider/use my riding mower as you folks consider a light weight PTO driven bush hog. I'm often surprised - it's now 17 years old and still going strong - OEM blades & drive belts. I've toasted it, I've smoked it, it's been treated immercyfully - - it simply refuses to lie down and die.

And don't get me going on wild turkeys. Some miserable SOB within the state/federal wildlife organizations though it would be wise to introduce turkeys. He needs to be hung by his scrotum until something rots and drops off. The only difference between the wild hogs in the SW and our turkey here in the PNW - the turkeys come in larger herds. They can do the same damage to your property. Feed them at your own risk. When you quit feeding and then keep coming in increasing numbers - better be prepared for a battle with the birds.

 

[dasranger]

Three years ago I harvested about 65% of my trees. Forester
highly recommended I leave the branches and other debris lay. Every year, more and more wildlife move in. For example, I now have multiple Brown Thrasher ground nesting sites on the property. This is the most melodic bird I attract on the property. They eat a lot of insects and I’m not sure if it’s related but I had very few ticks last spring and summer.

 

[Jstpssng]

Last winter I cut and sold 10 cords of spruce. That leaves a lot of brush on the ground. As I was walking it this spring I thought "In a couple of years this will be full of rabbits. Just then one jumped out of the brush pile I was looking at and hopped off. (actually it was a varying hare, they turn white in winter.)

This winter I'm putting a couple of 1 acre patch cuts in a stand of aspen to enhance grouse habitat, cutting every tree over 5 feet or so tall.
Next spring they will start sprouting, hopefully in a few years the hunting will be as good as it was when I bought the place. Then I will put in a couple of more patch cuts, and continue the cycle.

 

[forgeblast]

What you may want to look at is permiculture, and having a forester out to develop a forest plan. For us it was a free service through our dept of ag. They came out talked to us, walked the property and made suggestions on what to do.
We ended up enrolling a few acres into CREP. A conservation program that we enroll property into for 10-15 years and plant trees and shrubs to help with erosion which helps the Chesapeake bay.
Our problem with the deer is they mow everything down. We have a 6' browse line on most of our trees. This in turn means that we do not have a lot of forest regeneration. I will be saving up and putting in deer exclusion fencing in the next few years to try to help the understory of our forest.