Collins Kids Black Walnut Plantation

Grow some food and stuff!

Moderator: matt walker

Re: Collins Kids Black Walnut Plantation

Postby George Collins » Wed May 02, 2012 12:06 am

We planted 30 more today giving us a total so far of 708. Each time we brake another 100, my level of satisfaction for the accomplishment goes up geometrically.

Lolly, next year, if all works out, I intend to explore planting some Russian olives amongst our future black walnut plantings. I had thought about using pines before and may still go that route but as of right now, a nitrogen fixator seems like it may be a better option.
"Solve world hunger, tell no one." "The, the, the . . . The Grinch!"

"If you can't beat them, bite them."
George Collins
 
Posts: 535
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:57 pm
Location: South Central Mississippi, Zone 8a

Re: Collins Kids Black Walnut Plantation

Postby George Collins » Fri May 04, 2012 1:28 am

Today was one of our biggest days planting yet - we put fifty-six more in the ground bringing the total number of set up to 764. And today was a perfect day for planting. We finally got a rain yesterday and a bit more today so the ground was nicely moist - good for all the trees. The sky was overcast almost all day so we didn't sweat as much as we otherwise would have.

Also, today I tried a new planting technique. Instead of digging a hole and disrupting an approximate 12" half-sphere of soil, I dug the shovel in the dirt as far as it would go, lifted up on the soil to create a slit in the ground, my son would then dump in a stadium cup full of water and the soil was then replaced. To actually plant the nut, I pulled the grass and the surface roots back, and with my fingers, dug an indention in the soil just a bit bigger than the nut. Into that little micro-hole we would place the germinated nut and just snug up the soil around it such that it was buried about half its own depth. Because there was so little visible disturbance, the amount of mulch needed to shield the nut from the sun was minuscule in comparison to all our previous sets.

T'will be interesting to see what the success rate will be of using this minimalist approach. The first thing of note is that using this method greatly expedited the process.
"Solve world hunger, tell no one." "The, the, the . . . The Grinch!"

"If you can't beat them, bite them."
George Collins
 
Posts: 535
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:57 pm
Location: South Central Mississippi, Zone 8a

Re: Collins Kids Black Walnut Plantation

Postby George Collins » Sat May 05, 2012 6:36 pm

Another 46 brings our total up to 810.

Several nIghts ago, something dug up about ten then-just planted nuts. I'm 99% sure it was an infernal skunk.

But for that one big skip, it looks like everything we've planted recently is experiencing a very high success rate. The wind has calmed and recent rains have caused a great many to leap.

Those nuts that were artificially stratified look as if they will ultimately experience a far higher germination rate than those that over-wintered in pots outside. In one bucket, there has already been an ~ 60% germination rate. In those that over-wintered in pots, the germination rate was probably more like 20-30% as a "best guess."

I wish I had made a firm count of all nuts and kept everything separate and labeled. I will keep far more detailed records when we do this again next year. That is one of the great things about chronicling this year's activities here: twill serve next year's efforts by making sure that none of this year's mistakes are forgotten.
"Solve world hunger, tell no one." "The, the, the . . . The Grinch!"

"If you can't beat them, bite them."
George Collins
 
Posts: 535
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:57 pm
Location: South Central Mississippi, Zone 8a

Re: Collins Kids Black Walnut Plantation

Postby George Collins » Mon May 07, 2012 10:23 pm

Those nuts placed in artificial stratification are germinating at a beastly rate. We went through every pot on Saturday and today when I got home from work, my eldest daughter and I went through them all again and found another 72.

The forecasted weather was for a large, dangerous thunderstorm system to arrive in our area about two hours from the time we found that last nut. To beat the rain storm, we quickly gathered up the few materials needed and flew to the field where we started slapping nuts in dirt just as fast as we could. As we were putting the last few nuts in the ground it started sprinkling rain. We flew through to the end, quickly gathered up all our buckets and made into the truck just in time for the rain to put the psyche on us cause it stopped completely. The sky still looks ominous but the earth remains thirsty.

My daughter asked mento prognosticate our estimated time of completion. Since I'm terrible at such things, we timed our planting session today. We were moving much more rapidly than we otherwise would have because of the rapidly approaching storm clouds so that must be taken into consideration. Having said that, from the time we got out of the truck until the time we got back in to leave the field was 58 minutes.

The 72 we added today brings the total up to 882 which is right at the 2 acre mark. We only have 1 1/2 rows left to go in the field. After those two rows are complete, we will start over argue beginning and plant our skips. If these nuts keep germinating at this crazy pace, the filed will likely be complete by the end of the week and the skips covered by the end of next week.

After that, it looks like I may have to get another electric fence. I'm calling that a good problem to have.
"Solve world hunger, tell no one." "The, the, the . . . The Grinch!"

"If you can't beat them, bite them."
George Collins
 
Posts: 535
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:57 pm
Location: South Central Mississippi, Zone 8a

Re: Collins Kids Black Walnut Plantation

Postby Lollykoko » Tue May 08, 2012 1:28 am

George, I am amazed at the amount of work you get accomplished and hope your helpers someday appreciate the skills/values you are teaching them.

I also feel guilty for the Saturday afternoon I spent reading a book instead of shoveling sand off the tarp that was over the equipment during the winter. But just a little bit. ;)
User avatar
Lollykoko
 
Posts: 575
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:04 pm
Location: Howard and Miami Counties, Indiana

Re: Collins Kids Black Walnut Plantation

Postby George Collins » Tue May 08, 2012 9:21 pm

Lolly,

The raising of the kids, the imparting of certain character traits is certainly part of the motivation for the walnut grove. If not for farming, the temptation would be strong to allow them to lay up and become TV addicts along with way too many of their generation. Additionally, shared adversity is the best way to forge relationships that will last a lifetime (or so it has been said). And slugging water buckets up and down rows that seem infinitely long to a 10 year old along side your father and siblings certainly seems to qualify as adversity that is being shared.

And speaking of shared adversity, we put 35 more in the ground today bringing the total number of sets up to 917. We only have about 35 empty spots left before we will be to the end of the last row. I rushed to plant again today for two reasons:
- to keep the number of sets made per day as small as possible and
- we are slated once again to get some rain.

Which means that before the sun goes down, I'm sure we'll all be loading up again and traveling to the field to water everything.
"Solve world hunger, tell no one." "The, the, the . . . The Grinch!"

"If you can't beat them, bite them."
George Collins
 
Posts: 535
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:57 pm
Location: South Central Mississippi, Zone 8a

Re: Collins Kids Black Walnut Plantation

Postby Lollykoko » Wed May 09, 2012 12:47 am

George, I do understand.

I bought my place for the grandkids. My sons are grown (and pretty special, IMO) but the next generation needs a place that they can go to test their limits. Things aren't working out quite as I'd hoped, but they will work out. :(
User avatar
Lollykoko
 
Posts: 575
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:04 pm
Location: Howard and Miami Counties, Indiana

Re: Collins Kids Black Walnut Plantation

Postby George Collins » Thu May 10, 2012 1:56 am

Thirty-two more brings us to 949. There is only one flag left in the field that isn't marking where a nut has been planted.

The girls have their piano recital tomorrow night so it'll probably be Friday before that last nut goes in. After that, the plan is to start over at the beginning of the field and start re-planting the skips. We had a good rain last night and the forecast is for more rain Saturday so a Friday afternoon/evening planting looks to be a good time to be in the field.

Two of the four corners of the field could potentially provide room for another fifty or so. Having an even one thousand would be really cool.

Now, how to break it to the wife that a second electric fence will have to be procured with monies from the general (i.e. wife's portion (99%) of my paycheck) fund?
"Solve world hunger, tell no one." "The, the, the . . . The Grinch!"

"If you can't beat them, bite them."
George Collins
 
Posts: 535
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:57 pm
Location: South Central Mississippi, Zone 8a

Re: Collins Kids Black Walnut Plantation

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Thu May 10, 2012 12:38 pm

Expenses are always a concern George, but when it is 99% out of your wifes funds that can cause friction. And when Momma aint Happy, Aint No One Happy. I am sure that she is behind the project 100%, and loves the idea of leaving something to the kids so since you have been doing all of the planting maybe this can be her part. Ask her very nicely how she thinks you should get the money, after all it is Mothers Day this Sunday. :D
Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
User avatar
pa_friendly_guy
 
Posts: 1502
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:24 pm
Location: SW Pa They changed me to zone 6a what ever that is. I still figure zone 5

Re: Collins Kids Black Walnut Plantation

Postby George Collins » Sat May 12, 2012 9:02 pm

The symbolic last nut was planted early this morning. Symbolic only in that it was the last nut to be planted on the final full row. There are still a few holes that will need to be filled in, a couple spots we skipped the first time through because of an unfavorable microclimate, etc.

As soon as that one, last nut went in, we returned to the first row we planted and started replanting those that didn't perform on the first pass through the field. An accurate count is more difficult because we can no longer simply count every flag between known beginning and ending points but my best estimate is we planted a total of forty nuts today.

Matt, as I dug into each hole where the nut failed to manifest a viable seedling, there was much opportunity to examine what may have caused the spontaneous desiccation previously described. However, I found no discern able pattern.
Some were in clay, some were in sand.
Some were planted relatively low, some high.
Some protected, others exposed.
Some had been heavily mulched, some barely so.

That is to say, I don't get it.

All I know to do is plug another seed into each hole and hope for a better result the second time around.
"Solve world hunger, tell no one." "The, the, the . . . The Grinch!"

"If you can't beat them, bite them."
George Collins
 
Posts: 535
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:57 pm
Location: South Central Mississippi, Zone 8a

PreviousNext

Return to Garden, Pasture, Forest

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests

cron