Tag: the farms

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Went down to the farms today and took a few photos, probably that last of this growing season. Alex came along. We spent a lot of time cutting vines.

My first photo shows a couple of my bigger longleaf pines. They were planted in 2012. I am 6’1”, so these look to be around 15 feet high. One reason why some people prefer lobolly to longleaf is that loblolly are more consistent. You can see in my next picture that longleaf is variable. Some are fifteen feet tall and others are still less than a foot tall. Most are around 6-9 feet high.

Photo #3 shows the loblolly planted in 1996. The little figure in the front is me, for comparison. Picture # 4 shows some of the vines, makes it look like a ghost forest. We have been cutting them. Most of the trees are not as affected as those in the photos. Those are 2003 loblolly. The last photo shows that fall in coming. This is from the Brodnax place, looking over the place that was clearcut last year. The little trees we planted this year are there, but they are hard to see.

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Inspected the place we clear cut last year. It is now fall, so I can see what is coming under. We planted 21,000 seedlings in March and April, almost 500 per acre. It looks like there will be a lot more. The loblolly have seeded in. The reason we planted, as opposed to natural regeneration, is that I think that the new seedlings will be genetically faster and better. I guess this will be a good test case. Presumably, I will be able to tell in five years.

My first photo shows the loblolly that have grown in the last few months. Next shows how much they have filled in in the landing zone. Picture #3 is some of the older loblolly, maybe the seed sources. The last two photos are shortleaf pine. These are also beautiful trees. They grow slower than lobolly and in many ways behave more like a hardwood species. They are the most widespread of all southern pine species, but are always associated and never dominant.

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Went to the farms again mostly to trim vines with my new cutter. You can see in my picture how the wisteria just climbs the trees. I also have Japanese honeysuckle, grape vines and some kind of thorny thing I cannot identify. We have some poison ivy. I try to avoid it, but I am currently immune. I say currently because I read that this can change. About 15% of the population is immune to poison ivy. I am and want to stay that way.

There was a little rain most of the morning. Finally a deluge pushed me out and I left at about 3pm. I could have hunkered down but I was afraid the rain would so muddy the road that I would get stuck.

My second picture shows my 2012 longleaf stand. I know I take lots of photos, but I am fascinated by the changes. It takes a fair amount of work to keep it “natural.” I spend a few hours each time I come down cutting out invading hardwoods and loblolly pines. I use my hand tools for that. I tried by cutter, but it just makes lots of noise and it not that much faster in this situation, although it is great against the vines in the 2003 loblolly in my first picture.

The next to last picture shows the 1996 loblolly. I plan to thin them again next year and the last picture is a feed plot that the hunt club guys planted.

Went down to the farms yesterday with my new tool, pictured above. I have been trying to clean out vines that are climbing my 2003 loblolly. I also want to take down some of the runt trees and intrusive hardwoods. There are about 110 acres to clean. Working with my hand tools, even with the help of the boys I would finish this job never. With my new tool, my guess is that I can get the job done in about ten workdays.

The tool works wonderfully under the 2003 pines. I can cut almost as fast as a slow walk. The biggest problem is negotiating the uneven ground, that and keeping track of where I am going. I quickly learned that the best way to get at the runt trees was frontal attack, not the sideways you might use whacking weeds. The best way to get the vines is to go down and let the blade chew into the vines. Some of the vines, especially the wisteria, are pretty thick. You cannot cut the ones actually growing up the tree trucks for fear of harming the tree, but they usually follow the ground for a few feet and you can get at them by going around the tree. You don’t have to attack the whole vine. The weak link is on the ground.

My tool is less useful with the brambles on the longleaf patch. It does cut, but it is maybe not worth it. Brambles can be controlled simply by trampling them. They break off and die back. Of course, they come back, but it is as good as cutting. My technique is primitive but effective. I just lean a big piece of cardboard against the brambles and tread it down. Then I repeat. It takes a while, but it is not very hard work. The longleaf patch is only five acres, so with persistence it can be done. I like to do it. It is quiet and I get to be among the trees. I don’t need to wipe out brambles everywhere, just within about six feet from my longleaf. I have created paths along the longleaf. It really harms the trees if you don’t trample the brambles.

Anyway, I want to get the vine trimming done soon. The vines harm the trees by covering needles, but my bigger concern is fire. This is not a high probability, but it is a concern. A fire on the ground would not hurt my 2003 loblolly and might actually be good. But the vines form a ladder that would take the ground fire to the crowns. It is perfect kindling. Where the vines are thick, they are like a Maypole and they catch falling needles and dry sticks. Anyway, with my cool new tool I can make the cuts. And I think the boys will be eager to help if they can use. it.

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We thinned 86 acres in 2010/11. We did our first clear cut harvest last year (June 2015). Some people hate clear cutting and it certainly is not appropriate everywhere. But if you want to grow pine trees, clear cutting is the only option. The little trees will not grow in the shade of the bigger ones, I have explained and illustrated below.

You need to look at clear cutting in both place and time. A clear cut forest is STILL a forest. It is in transition. We need old growth forests, young forests and middle aged ones. Each provides a particular sort of ecology.

My pictures show the land that we clear cut 14 months ago. You see how fast vegetation has grown it. It is now a wonderful place for wildlife. It is full of deer, rabbits, quail and our neighbors have seen a few bear. I am unenthusiastic about the bear. This part of the forest transition is very productive.

We planted around 20,000 seedlings in April, but the trees in the background are supplying even more. We will need to thin back. The land will be covered with trees in a few years. The last picture shows trees that are about thirty years old. This piece of land has been clear cut harvested three times according to my neighbor who is about my age and has seen three harvests.

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Best forestry practices tell us to protect the water of Virginia by not cutting timber within stream management zones. We give at least 50 feet, usually more. Where several streams come together this can be a fair amount of land. Our Diamond Grove farm, for example, is 178 acres. Of that 68 acres are in SMZ. For my Milwaukee friends and relatives, the comparison is Humboldt Park, which is 70 acres, or the area of about 61 football fields, not a small amount of space.

These pictures are from the Freeman farm. It is interesting because you can see the natural succession. The big trees are planted loblolly pine. They are probably 50-70 years old. Somebody planted them, probably with the intention of harvesting, but never did. The pines are the biggest trees, but notice that there are no little pines. They will not grow in the shade of their parents. This SMZ is transforming into a hardwood forest. Eventually, in this part of Virginia, it will be a forest dominated by beech and maples, with understories of things like holly & hornbeams. But it takes time for these things to arrive. The loblolly will live a few more decades and form I kind of nursery for the hardwoods. Absent disturbance, the hardwood will soon be established. Well … soon in the ecological sense, maybe around 2050. The first and second photos just show the SMZ. It is becoming a deep forest. Picture #3 is flower I thought looked nice. Picture #4 shows the big loblolly looking up the last picture shows that these trees were planted. You can still see the rows.

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Took advantage of the nice weather to go down to the farms and spent most of my time clearing brush and pulling down vines.
 
We are planning on burning under the longleaf pine in January. Longleaf are fire dependent. My pictures show the longleaf pine planted in 2012. You can see that the brush and grass is getting high, but the pines are getting up there too. The longleaf is a very rich ecosystem because it combines grass and forbs with trees, all moderated by fire.
 
My pines have grown remarkably. You can see the pines today. They are many sizes but the smallest are about my height. The first picture of me with the pine tree was taken on April 18, 2015. That was the biggest one at that time. The other one was taken last month. Note that the pine changes but I stay the same.

 

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The boys and I went down to the farms to check on the pines and talk to the NRCS soil folks in Lawrenceville. They have programs to help with longleaf pine restoration. Brunswick County is the north and westernmost county to be eligible for longleaf conservation programs, since the edge of its natural range ran right through the middle of the county.
 
You can see how the longleaf grow in my pictures. The first picture is me standing next to one of the biggest ones that were planted in 2012. Notice the shape. It has few lower branches and kind of shoots straight up. This is an adaption to frequent fire. A fire on the ground will burn the lower parts of the tree, prune them, but leave the important terminal bud. They sometimes have arms like cactus or maybe Joshua Trees.

We burned this land in 2011, before planting the longleaf. We will burn again in January next year and after that every 2-3 years in order to recreate the ecology of Virginia around 1607. My next picture shows 20-year-old loblolly. You can see me, very small, in the middle for size reference. The last picture shows the growth on the cutover (clear cut in June-July last years and replanted in April this year.) You cannot see the little trees underneath. We will manage this with fire soon. You can see some of the wildflowers coming in. I cannot identify many of them. Something I need to learn. I have some native plants, such as butterfly weed, Joe-Pye weed and black eyed Susan, but there are also daisies and Queen Anne’s lace, which are very pretty but invasive.
 

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Continuing with notes from my recent forest visit.

I have no plans to do much this year except manage the vines and brush. Next year, early in the year, I plan to burn under the 2012 generation longleaf and we will second thin about 80 acres on the Freeman farm late in the year.

Thinking farther ahead, I want to try some shortleaf on the Brodnax place. Shortleaf is the most widely distributed pine in the U.S. but it gets less respect. It grows slower than loblolly and does not have the cache of longleaf. Like longleaf, it is fire dependent, but its ecology is different. As seedlings, longleaf burns to the nub and then regrows. Shortleaf burns to the ground and then regrows. I think it is the only pine to do that.

My pictures show some of the contrast. In the first picture you see shortleaf on the left and loblolly on the far right. Some hardwoods are in the middle. Next is what I like to think of as an “Old Virginy” grove. It has some big shortleaf, native hardwoods like a variety of oaks and gum, and under-story trees like holly. Nobody has cut that for a while and I will not either, but you can see the natural succession. The pines will be gone when the current generation dies. Picture #3 is a closer look and picture #4 is a view of the maturing loblolly in front of a wildlife plot. Our land has these things interspersed in the forests, usually less than an acre, creating the forest-edge communities wildlife likes.

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I was down on the farms today cutting vines and inspecting things.

Many people oppose clear cutting and I understand their concern. But it is important to recall that clear cutting is an important tool in forestry. If you want to grow shade intolerant pines or fir, you need to clear cut significant acreage. And if you want to grow shade semi-intolerant oaks, you need to clear some. The fact that nature produced forests of pine, fir, oak or hickory indicates that there have been “natural” disturbances in the past.

A clear cut is a stage in a forest, not the end. It ends only if the land is turned over to non-forest uses.

We clear cut 46 acres exactly a year ago. My first picture show what a clear cut looks like in Virginia after twelve months. We planted 21,000 trees (loblolly & longleaf) in March. You cannot see them under the other growth. Nature is resilient. We will need to treat/burn soon. My second picture shows the where the cut stopped. The third picture is a clear cut after thirteen years. I have been taking this picture with my truck as comparison since 2008. The last picture shows a clear cut after nineteen years, i.e the loblolly in the back of the truck. The longleaf pine in the foreground were planted in 2012 on five acres that was clear cut the year before. I took that photo during with winter, which is why the grass is not green and you can more easily see the longleaf. The last picture shows a longleaf seedling planted in March. You can find them only in the open areas. As you can see, they look like grass and they call this the grass stage for obvious reasons. There are more of them in that bush, but you cannot see them.

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