Join Me To Plant Trees At Nine Mile Farm on 12-12-15
I am going to call it Operation Locust! Why, well 500 black locust trees are here and I want to get at least 200 planted right away. We are going to start by planting out the silvopasture we installed in the Nov. workshop.
We may also plant some other productive trees from Bob Wells and perhaps put in some really simple irrigation for some shade trees for the ducks. The new A&M quail will be in their new super secrete set up by then too. Note this is not the aviary but a new caging system I am working on with two other folks.
The day will begin at 10AM with coffee and a safety briefing, we will work a few hours till about 2, have a mid day meal and hang out and drink some adult beverages and share some stories and get to know each other, everyone will be headed home by say 5 oclock at the latest.
I will provide education, food and beer and some non alcoholic beverages for kids and non drinkers.
Cost per adult is 15 bucks a head due on arrival, couples get a discount at 25.
Cost per kids is FREE, zero, zilch but all minors must be accompanied by a legal guardian or parent who will be 100% responsible for their safety.
I am not limiting the head count but I am limiting the vehicle count. If you would be willing to take someone along as a driver post that here in the comments. There are a ton of big box type stores just down the road from here, so you could even meet there and drive one vehicle from there. I think your car would be pretty safe in a Lowes parking lot from 10-5 in the middle of the day.
Sorry but while I always have to limit vehicles I am holding it till 10 this time due to all the rain and the damage it has caused this fall.
To lock in your spot fill out this form, here is a direct link if it doesn’t display below. Once I have ten vehicles registered I will remove the form and the link but allow you guys to connect via comments, if you procure a ride email me for a link to the form.
The big issue with head count is making sure I have enough grub to feed everyone really well. The menu has yet to be decided on but you guys know meat is always on the menu here.
Where would I get 40 black locust trees now at a good price? Where did you get your trees, if you dont mind me asking? Is now a better time to plant black locust trees then spring when I can get them through the state tree program?
Thanks and good luck with the trees.
Got them here, http://www.coldstreamfarm.net/black-locust-robinia-pseudoacacia.html
Out of stock till spring, while I prefer to plant in fall/winter no reason you can’t buy local and plant in early spring.
I second the Cold Stream Farms reference. I’ve gotten waxmyrtle from them before, they were excellent quality. Keep in mind, these will be bear root trees (rooted 1 year live stakes most likely) similar to what you would get from a state tree program or the arbor day foundation.
Locust is very good for live stakes (the simplest propagation method I know of).
If you have 1 year old whips on an established tree, they can be cut in 3-4′ lengths and hammered 4/5 of the way into the ground right now (before winter). They will root during the winter, and leaf out in spring. From one large tree, you can get a hundred new trees very easily. Also, no digging is needed for planting, you just hammer them in.
Success rates are usually around 50% with locust and maple. 70%+ with birch, aspen, willow, dogwood and mulberry. About 25% with walnut and chestnut.
Article here explains it well. http://permaculturenews.org/2015/05/07/live-stake-propagation/
They use rebar to start the hole. It’s not necessary (unless you hit rocks).
Good luck on the Robinia. Many outstanding qualities, but I have found them extremely invasive. Outstanding thorns.
sigh crap like this makes my head hurt!
Thanks Jack for Hosting. All, I will be traveling to the site from Greenville, Tx via IH30, State183, IH820 and then to Nine Mile Farm. If you need a ride and you can arrange yourself along this route, I will be happy to slow my old pickup to 7 MPH so you can dive into the bed and have a ride. I plan on being at NMF by 9:30am, so please plan your pickup accordingly.
Looking forward to it! I have 3 open seats myself, I’m coming from Farmers Branch/ North Dallas area and heading there via 121 to 820.
Jack, after planting a few hundred of these saplings myself this spring, may I heartily recommend one of these or similar: http://www.amazon.com/Jim-Gem-69041-KBC-Bar/dp/B00383PJ0C
Have fun! My locust from last year has gone from 2 feet to 10 feet in 18 months and from 3/16″ to 2.75″ caliper – yee-haw!
Possibly coming from Austin up the i35 corridor, anyone want to ride with me?
I’ll have 3 seats for sure, can probably swing 4 (super crew)..
Crap, it’s 12/12… I’m a no-go (have plans, thought it was 12/13… need to learn to read through things better)
I’m 90% sure I can make this. Coming from Lewisville.
What’s the plan for rain? Forecast shows t-storms on Sat.
Cheers,
D
If it ain’t rainer you ain’t trainen!
Seriously we just jumped from 40% to 80% so I just don’t know yet, I will wait till tomorrow to make the call.
The big issues are
1. We have severe weather forcasted
2. If we get a lot of rain then we end up making a huge mess during the work and that sets things backward.
My gut right now is I am going to have to cancel. I am waiting for a weather update tomorrow to see more about the timing because I already know what is going to happen.
The weather guessers will be idiots and forecast Noah’s flood in the AM it will barely rain until 4-5 when everyone would be on the way home an I will inconvenience you guys and get no work done at the same time.
However if I don’t cancel we will have driving rains first thing in the AM, everyone will be miserable, any work we try to do will make the land into a big mess, etc.
Right now I am thinking about punting and pushing this till Sunday the 20th but I realize that may not work for everyone who wanted to come.
Fricken cursed is what my events are, 0% rain for 10 days except the one day we scheduled this for. Moving to Sunday this week doesn’t work because if we get the rain forecasted it will be a big mess when we try to do the work.
Sigh. Stay tuned.
Since we’re local, is there anything (tools, etc) that we can bring?