Williams Creek Farm of SW Iowa

[cbw]

Had 3 trumpeter swans come within 50 feet of me on the pond. Unfortunatly, my phone had died. Came back later and got some pics of the pond. With the 2" rain, it raised the water level above the moss so it looks much nicer than it usually does.





We are thankful for the rain. This is the first time water has reached the culvert in about a year due to the drought.



In this one, you can see the cabin on the hill on the upper right of the pic. If you look closely, there are two outhouses underneath that big cottonwood. :-)



Here is the pond view taken from the cabin deck.

 

[omicron1792]

Full day yesterday...
* Planted 50 hybrid willows for a road screen
* Planted 25 plum trees
* Had a coon curled up on a tree stand
* Flagged our CRP, so our renter knows where the CRP ends, and his field begins
* Saw 3 trumpter swans on one of our ponds
* Friend brought his 4 kids and caught some monster bluegill from one of of our ponds.

Iowa DNR has been a great source for trees and shrubs.

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We got about 2" of rain the past 3 days.
* Using willow stakes from DNR Nursery
* The Hybrid willow is going in a spot by the gravel road where the road is about 10ft above (you can see the road in the background).
* We also edge feathered right along the road this spring.
* I'm planing one row in the felled trees.
* In this area, I did not do any prep on this spot.
* I'm putting cardboard around every other willow to see compare how it works to keep some of the vegitation back.
* Spaced them 3ft apart

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Toosl for this job:
* 3ft measuring stick (1x1 stick with marks ever 6" This has been a great tool for measuring our hedge cuttings--3 flips and you have 9ft, and you can measure the width of the tree)
* Srap cardboard cut into pieces
* Rebar fence post to poke through he cardboard
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* Placed a second row along our side-by-side trail.
* Sprayed the reed canary grass last week with gly.
* Placed cardboard around every other stake
* I should have ordered at least 25 more (probably 50 more). Will do so next week.


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Saw this furry fellow (raccoon) curled up in a cottonwood deer stand. I should have had a gun with me. :-) This stand is special to me--it was the first time that I shot a buck with my bow and recovered it before the coyotes got to it.
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Zoomed out -- stand on right, licking branch on left.
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For our plum planting, it is an an area we are trying to get some thickets started--right below the biggest pond on our property. Timber on one side and pasture on the other.
* The ground was saturated
* Lots of brome. I sprayed with gly earlier in the day, and came back 2 hours later to plant the trees
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* Used a dibble bar for the holes
* Placed cardboard or newspaper around all of them
* Did not measure distande--looks like they may be too close together
* We plan to come back and put cattle panels around them to protect them from the deer.

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Great post!