Some fishing, some farming
 

Was out on the Touchet last week for 5 days. Headed back ASAP. Fished
most mornings and evenings. Water levels up a bit as some of the
irrigation on the forks stops. Driving around Ive noticed some water
seeping back in the draws and my wheat farmer neighbor says yes, and
that they got a bit of a recharge up on the rolling paloose. Temps
still seem up a bit , and the fish still are clustered more than usual
below the oxiginated riffles. Caught many 6-8 inch cutts and a few
"rainbows" 8" to 10" or so. All on small stimulators in hopper tones.
Most interesting was dragging a 4" weighted black bunny leach thru a
few choice larger holes below riffles, fished with a steelie leader
and a 1x tippet, In one of these I had wild assed grabs 2 evenings in
a row and breakoffs. Ive had this happen in warm water from turtles
but I am pretty sure these were fish. I am pretty sure the Dolly
Vardens, which do wildassed grabs to perfection, are absent from my
streatch of river. So my fantacies run to monster browns. We shall
see.

On the farm groupie side of things, we pulled the irrigation pump and
boom pipe out of the river, moved then picked up the pipe off the
alfalfa. Picking up 40 foot long, sun hot pipe at 66 years is more
than enough to put my farmer fantacy jones back in its box. The
swather was leaving too much so I helped replace some of the cutter
blades, and the fields got cut. The humidity and sun were such that
this 4th and final cutting was put up in 700lb bales 3 days later. My
lessee is tarping and holding most of this year's crop till prices
pick up. Most of the livestock has been moved to his new place in
Oregon and i notice the coyotes are getting more nervy at nite near
the few hogs that are left.

With this last alfalfa crop we are shifting to fall sown, dryland hard
red wheat. Should be a good crop because the field is moist and has
lots of nitrogen from the alfalfa. Things look good on leasing the
water right to keep the water in the river. Ive also made some
progress on marking out where some lines of hybrid poplar will go to
cool down some dry pasture and where there is enough soil on some rock
scabby areas to support survival of some more ponderosa pine. Ill wait
till first snow fall to seed some wild wheat grass into the CREP
strips. Its a small place, but the river front is 1/2 mile. If half of
what i plan and do works, it will make a difference in summer river
temps and keep at least 70af in the stream at a critical time. Anyway
this is much more than ROFFians would want to know but for some
weirdness I do enjoy sharing these farming groupie and amature
conservation experiences.

Dave

Some fishing, some farming
 

Shoot, Dave, with all the misspelled words, typing/punctuation errors,
the net nanny herself, Tom L., will be on your ass!

Good read, btw.

d;o)

Some fishing, some farming
 

"David LaCourse" wrote in message
news:2009091017521616807-dplacourse@aolcom...
Shoot, Dave, with all the misspelled words, typing/punctuation errors, the
net nanny herself, Tom L., will be on your ass!

Good read, btw.
didn't even occur to me. I tend toward slips that inadvertently read in a
humorous fashion. I'll leave plain old typos to others. Good read for me, as
well, David.
Tom

Some fishing, some farming
 

DaveS wrote:
Was out on the Touchet last week for 5 days. Headed back ASAP. Fished
most mornings and evenings. Water levels up a bit as some of the
irrigation on the forks stops. Driving around Ive noticed some water
seeping back in the draws and my wheat farmer neighbor says yes, and
that they got a bit of a recharge up on the rolling paloose. Temps
still seem up a bit , and the fish still are clustered more than usual
below the oxiginated riffles. Caught many 6-8 inch cutts and a few
"rainbows" 8" to 10" or so. All on small stimulators in hopper tones.
Most interesting was dragging a 4" weighted black bunny leach thru a
few choice larger holes below riffles, fished with a steelie leader
and a 1x tippet, In one of these I had wild assed grabs 2 evenings in
a row and breakoffs. Ive had this happen in warm water from turtles
but I am pretty sure these were fish. I am pretty sure the Dolly
Vardens, which do wildassed grabs to perfection, are absent from my
streatch of river. So my fantacies run to monster browns. We shall
see.

On the farm groupie side of things, we pulled the irrigation pump and
boom pipe out of the river, moved then picked up the pipe off the
alfalfa. Picking up 40 foot long, sun hot pipe at 66 years is more
than enough to put my farmer fantacy jones back in its box. The
swather was leaving too much so I helped replace some of the cutter
blades, and the fields got cut. The humidity and sun were such that
this 4th and final cutting was put up in 700lb bales 3 days later. My
lessee is tarping and holding most of this year's crop till prices
pick up. Most of the livestock has been moved to his new place in
Oregon and i notice the coyotes are getting more nervy at nite near
the few hogs that are left.

With this last alfalfa crop we are shifting to fall sown, dryland hard
red wheat. Should be a good crop because the field is moist and has
lots of nitrogen from the alfalfa. Things look good on leasing the
water right to keep the water in the river. Ive also made some
progress on marking out where some lines of hybrid poplar will go to
cool down some dry pasture and where there is enough soil on some rock
scabby areas to support survival of some more ponderosa pine. Ill wait
till first snow fall to seed some wild wheat grass into the CREP
strips. Its a small place, but the river front is 1/2 mile. If half of
what i plan and do works, it will make a difference in summer river
temps and keep at least 70af in the stream at a critical time. Anyway
this is much more than ROFFians would want to know but for some
weirdness I do enjoy sharing these farming groupie and amature
conservation experiences.

Dave

Nice stuff, Dave. Reminded me of some of the stuff I enjoyed and miss of
farming. I was not a big fan of moving pipe. I was very myopic and
evidently couldn't see straight so when I was done moving a line of pipe
it had a curve in it. The curve was always exactly the same so my dad
made sure that I alway changed the pipe in the same fields so they would
get watered evenly. Seemed to work.

I really enjoyed swathing hay and was fussy about it. Whenever I broke a
section in the knife I always stopped and fixed it immediately. I
couldn't stand seeing those lines of uncut hay in the field. We only had
to buck 70 lb bales of hay. Those 700 pounders would have been a killer.

Thanks for the read.

Russell

Some fishing, some farming
 

"David LaCourse" wrote in message
news:2009091017521616807-dplacourse@aolcom...
Shoot, Dave, with all the misspelled words, typing/punctuation errors, the
net nanny herself, Tom L., will be on your ass!

Good read, btw.

d;o)



.. , . ? / " " ' ; [ ] { : - _ ) * ( & ^ % $ 3 @ ! . /

Insert where necessary...

John

Some fishing, some farming
 

On 10-Sep-2009, "Russell D." wrote:

DaveS wrote:
Was out on the Touchet last week for 5 days. Headed back ASAP. Fished
most mornings and evenings. Water levels up a bit as some of the
irrigation on the forks stops. Driving around Ive noticed some water
seeping back in the draws and my wheat farmer neighbor says yes, and
that they got a bit of a recharge up on the rolling paloose. Temps
still seem up a bit , and the fish still are clustered more than usual
below the oxiginated riffles. Caught many 6-8 inch cutts and a few
"rainbows" 8" to 10" or so. All on small stimulators in hopper tones.
Most interesting was dragging a 4" weighted black bunny leach thru a
few choice larger holes below riffles, fished with a steelie leader
and a 1x tippet, In one of these I had wild assed grabs 2 evenings in
a row and breakoffs. Ive had this happen in warm water from turtles
but I am pretty sure these were fish. I am pretty sure the Dolly
Vardens, which do wildassed grabs to perfection, are absent from my
streatch of river. So my fantacies run to monster browns. We shall
see.

On the farm groupie side of things, we pulled the irrigation pump and
boom pipe out of the river, moved then picked up the pipe off the
alfalfa. Picking up 40 foot long, sun hot pipe at 66 years is more
than enough to put my farmer fantacy jones back in its box. The
swather was leaving too much so I helped replace some of the cutter
blades, and the fields got cut. The humidity and sun were such that
this 4th and final cutting was put up in 700lb bales 3 days later. My
lessee is tarping and holding most of this year's crop till prices
pick up. Most of the livestock has been moved to his new place in
Oregon and i notice the coyotes are getting more nervy at nite near
the few hogs that are left.

With this last alfalfa crop we are shifting to fall sown, dryland hard
red wheat. Should be a good crop because the field is moist and has
lots of nitrogen from the alfalfa. Things look good on leasing the
water right to keep the water in the river. Ive also made some
progress on marking out where some lines of hybrid poplar will go to
cool down some dry pasture and where there is enough soil on some rock
scabby areas to support survival of some more ponderosa pine. Ill wait
till first snow fall to seed some wild wheat grass into the CREP
strips. Its a small place, but the river front is 1/2 mile. If half of
what i plan and do works, it will make a difference in summer river
temps and keep at least 70af in the stream at a critical time. Anyway
this is much more than ROFFians would want to know but for some
weirdness I do enjoy sharing these farming groupie and amature
conservation experiences.

Dave

Nice stuff, Dave. Reminded me of some of the stuff I enjoyed and miss of
farming. I was not a big fan of moving pipe. I was very myopic and
evidently couldn't see straight so when I was done moving a line of pipe
it had a curve in it. The curve was always exactly the same so my dad
made sure that I alway changed the pipe in the same fields so they would
get watered evenly. Seemed to work.

I really enjoyed swathing hay and was fussy about it. Whenever I broke a
section in the knife I always stopped and fixed it immediately. I
couldn't stand seeing those lines of uncut hay in the field. We only had
to buck 70 lb bales of hay. Those 700 pounders would have been a killer.

Thanks for the read.

Russell

Same here re the read.

You may be a bit ahead of me in utilizing your land
We have some open pasture land and more
I would like to utilize my biomass more - We also have a breeding lake
and access to it for some animals

I buy 1200 lb round bales as the 5ft high bales fit perfectly in the hay
shed.
We did seed part of a pasture w a dry seed mix last yr - 1 acre - was good
w a little itrrigation next year - 5 acres
Without major irrigation pumps thats it for us

TMI for Roff

Jorge Posada

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 10, 10:05*pm, "Fred" wrote:
On 10-Sep-2009, "Russell D." wrote:





DaveS wrote:
Was out on the Touchet last week for 5 days. Headed back ASAP. Fished
most mornings and evenings. Water levels up a bit as some of the
irrigation on the forks stops. Driving around Ive noticed some water
seeping back in the draws and my wheat farmer neighbor says yes, and
that they got a bit of a recharge up on the rolling paloose. Temps
still seem up a bit , and the fish still are clustered more than usual
below the oxiginated riffles. Caught many 6-8 inch cutts and a few
"rainbows" 8" to 10" or so. All on small stimulators in hopper tones.
Most interesting was dragging a 4" weighted black bunny leach thru a
few choice larger holes below riffles, fished with a steelie leader
and a 1x tippet, *In one of these I had wild assed grabs 2 evenings in
a row and breakoffs. Ive had this happen in warm water from turtles
but I am pretty sure these were fish. I am pretty sure the Dolly
Vardens, which do wildassed grabs to perfection, are absent from my
streatch of river. So my fantacies run to monster browns. We shall
see.

On the farm groupie side of things, we pulled the irrigation pump and
boom pipe out of the river, moved then picked up the pipe off the
alfalfa. Picking up 40 foot long, sun hot pipe at 66 years is more
than enough to put my farmer fantacy jones back in its box. The
swather was leaving too much so I helped replace some of the cutter
blades, and the fields got cut. The humidity and sun were such that
this 4th and final cutting was put up in 700lb bales 3 days later. My
lessee is tarping and holding most of this year's crop till prices
pick up. Most of the livestock has been moved to his new place in
Oregon and i notice the coyotes are getting more nervy at nite near
the few hogs that are left.

With this last alfalfa crop we are shifting to fall sown, dryland hard
red wheat. Should be a good crop because the field is moist and has
lots of nitrogen from the alfalfa. Things look good on leasing the
water right to keep the water in the river. Ive also made some
progress on marking out where some lines of hybrid poplar will go to
cool down some dry pasture and where there is enough soil on some rock
scabby areas to support survival of some more ponderosa pine. Ill wait
till first snow fall to seed some wild wheat grass into the CREP
strips. Its a small place, but the river front is 1/2 mile. If half of
what i plan and do works, *it will make a difference in summer river
temps and keep at least 70af in the stream at a critical time. Anyway
this is much more than ROFFians would want to know but for some
weirdness I do enjoy sharing these farming groupie and amature
conservation experiences.

Dave

Nice stuff, Dave. Reminded me of some of the stuff I enjoyed and miss of
farming. I was not a big fan of moving pipe. I was very myopic and
evidently couldn't see straight so when I was done moving a line of pipe
it had a curve in it. The curve was always exactly the same so my dad
made sure that I alway changed the pipe in the same fields so they would
get watered evenly. Seemed to work.

I really enjoyed swathing hay and was fussy about it. Whenever I broke a
section in the knife I always stopped and fixed it immediately. I
couldn't stand seeing those lines of uncut hay in the field. We only had
to buck 70 lb bales of hay. Those 700 pounders would have been a killer..

Thanks for the read.

Russell

Same here re the read.

You may be a bit ahead of me in utilizing your land
We have some open pasture land and more
I would like to utilize my biomass *more - We also have a *breeding lake
and access to it for some *animals

I buy 1200 lb round bales as the 5ft high bales fit perfectly in the hay
shed.
We did seed part of a pasture w a dry seed mix last yr - *1 acre - was good
w a little itrrigation *next year - 5 *acres
Without major irrigation pumps thats it for us

TMI for Roff

Jorge Posada- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I am a gross amature but . . . if your animals can eat it, alfalfa
looks like a good way to go if your field is fairly flat. Cows like
it, and some horses. High in protein. Hogs seem to eat it too. My
lessee gets all kinds of bruised stuff from the market, as well as
over date stuff from the dairy distributer, delivered year round.
Waste wheat, garbanzo etc. Sells whole and half butchered/wrapped hogs
and beef direct. The taste is amazing.

Dave

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 10, 3:50*pm, "Russell D." wrote:
DaveS wrote:
Was out on the Touchet last week for 5 days. Headed back ASAP. Fished
most mornings and evenings. Water levels up a bit as some of the
irrigation on the forks stops. Driving around Ive noticed some water
seeping back in the draws and my wheat farmer neighbor says yes, and
that they got a bit of a recharge up on the rolling paloose. Temps
still seem up a bit , and the fish still are clustered more than usual
below the oxiginated riffles. Caught many 6-8 inch cutts and a few
"rainbows" 8" to 10" or so. All on small stimulators in hopper tones.
Most interesting was dragging a 4" weighted black bunny leach thru a
few choice larger holes below riffles, fished with a steelie leader
and a 1x tippet, *In one of these I had wild assed grabs 2 evenings in
a row and breakoffs. Ive had this happen in warm water from turtles
but I am pretty sure these were fish. I am pretty sure the Dolly
Vardens, which do wildassed grabs to perfection, are absent from my
streatch of river. So my fantacies run to monster browns. We shall
see.

On the farm groupie side of things, we pulled the irrigation pump and
boom pipe out of the river, moved then picked up the pipe off the
alfalfa. Picking up 40 foot long, sun hot pipe at 66 years is more
than enough to put my farmer fantacy jones back in its box. The
swather was leaving too much so I helped replace some of the cutter
blades, and the fields got cut. The humidity and sun were such that
this 4th and final cutting was put up in 700lb bales 3 days later. My
lessee is tarping and holding most of this year's crop till prices
pick up. Most of the livestock has been moved to his new place in
Oregon and i notice the coyotes are getting more nervy at nite near
the few hogs that are left.

With this last alfalfa crop we are shifting to fall sown, dryland hard
red wheat. Should be a good crop because the field is moist and has
lots of nitrogen from the alfalfa. Things look good on leasing the
water right to keep the water in the river. Ive also made some
progress on marking out where some lines of hybrid poplar will go to
cool down some dry pasture and where there is enough soil on some rock
scabby areas to support survival of some more ponderosa pine. Ill wait
till first snow fall to seed some wild wheat grass into the CREP
strips. Its a small place, but the river front is 1/2 mile. If half of
what i plan and do works, *it will make a difference in summer river
temps and keep at least 70af in the stream at a critical time. Anyway
this is much more than ROFFians would want to know but for some
weirdness I do enjoy sharing these farming groupie and amature
conservation experiences.

Dave

Nice stuff, Dave. Reminded me of some of the stuff I enjoyed and miss of
farming. I was not a big fan of moving pipe. I was very myopic and
evidently couldn't see straight so when I was done moving a line of pipe
it had a curve in it. The curve was always exactly the same so my dad
made sure that I alway changed the pipe in the same fields so they would
get watered evenly. Seemed to work.

I really enjoyed swathing hay and was fussy about it. Whenever I broke a
section in the knife I always stopped and fixed it immediately. I
couldn't stand seeing those lines of uncut hay in the field. We only had
to buck 70 lb bales of hay. Those 700 pounders would have been a killer.

Thanks for the read.

Russell- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

As you know the big bales are handled and stacked by machine. A while
back i saw an article on these mini balers made in Italy and Japan. i
think they went down to 20lb rolled bales. Cute but I can't imagine
the level of subsidy that would make such things practical. I do
understand that the 70lbers are prefered by the horsey people.

Dave

Some fishing, some farming
 

Amature too, though grew up with pipe on my shoulder and humping bales
for the dairy cattle. Flashbacks of bone crushing days where a 14
year old could burn through 10,000 calories in a day 'cause after
feeding the dry cows, I went to swim team, school, swim team and then
milking (during school I didn't milk) and work till dark, then did
homework.
Just had to cut my prairie restoration as the neighbors determined it
didn't meet the "neat and tidy" clause in the covenents. Whats up
with friggen covenents anyway? Just a way nosey neighbors can get
into your business.
Frank Reid

Some fishing, some farming
 

Frank Reid wrote:
snip
Just had to cut my prairie restoration as the neighbors determined it
didn't meet the "neat and tidy" clause in the covenents.

Here in Urbana if someone starts "prairie restoration" the city
will send a warning and if you're still too lazy to mow the lawn
the city will mow it for you and send you a bill for $500.

Whats up
with friggen covenents anyway? Just a way nosey neighbors can get
into your business.

Well, if your business involves an old washer, dryer and tireless
pickup truck on blocks rusting away in your front yard I'd say
your neighbors should have a right to make you clean up your yard.

--
Ken Fortenberry

Some fishing, some farming
 

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message
...
Frank Reid wrote:
snip
Just had to cut my prairie restoration as the neighbors determined it
didn't meet the "neat and tidy" clause in the covenents.

Here in Urbana if someone starts "prairie restoration" the city
will send a warning and if you're still too lazy to mow the lawn
the city will mow it for you and send you a bill for $500.

Whats up
with friggen covenents anyway? Just a way nosey neighbors can get
into your business.

Well, if your business involves an old washer, dryer and tireless
pickup truck on blocks rusting away in your front yard I'd say
your neighbors should have a right to make you clean up your yard.

--
Ken Fortenberry

I would agree with the washer/dryer, etc... however some of the HOA go way
to far. A buddy has his boat on the side of his house behind a 6 ft. fence
that you can't see thought. You could see about 2 ft. of the boat tower
above the fence. They made him drop the tower down so it wasn't visible from
the road. Pretty unreasonable if you ask me...

JT

Some fishing, some farming
 

JT wrote:
"Ken Fortenberry" wrote:
Frank Reid wrote:
Whats up
with friggen covenents anyway? Just a way nosey neighbors can get
into your business.
Well, if your business involves an old washer, dryer and tireless
pickup truck on blocks rusting away in your front yard I'd say
your neighbors should have a right to make you clean up your yard.

I would agree with the washer/dryer, etc... however some of the HOA go way
to far. A buddy has his boat on the side of his house behind a 6 ft. fence
that you can't see thought. You could see about 2 ft. of the boat tower
above the fence. They made him drop the tower down so it wasn't visible from
the road. Pretty unreasonable if you ask me...

My aunt and her husband had some of the most restrictive I've
ever heard of in Irvine, California. Everything from the type
of shrubs and bushes to the color of the roof on your garage.
But nobody put a gun to their heads to make them sign on the
dotted line when they bought the place.

--
Ken Fortenberry

Some fishing, some farming
 

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message
...
JT wrote:
"Ken Fortenberry" wrote:
Frank Reid wrote:
Whats up
with friggen covenents anyway? Just a way nosey neighbors can get
into your business.
Well, if your business involves an old washer, dryer and tireless
pickup truck on blocks rusting away in your front yard I'd say
your neighbors should have a right to make you clean up your yard.

I would agree with the washer/dryer, etc... however some of the HOA go
way to far. A buddy has his boat on the side of his house behind a 6 ft.
fence that you can't see thought. You could see about 2 ft. of the boat
tower above the fence. They made him drop the tower down so it wasn't
visible from the road. Pretty unreasonable if you ask me...

My aunt and her husband had some of the most restrictive I've
ever heard of in Irvine, California. Everything from the type
of shrubs and bushes to the color of the roof on your garage.
But nobody put a gun to their heads to make them sign on the
dotted line when they bought the place.

--
Ken Fortenberry

You make a good point for sure. In my buddy's case, I guess the HOA
president was a real jackass. They appealed the tower issue and got it
thrown out. He now sits on the HOA board and that president was ousted. They
too have some strict guidelines, one being a list of colors that they can
paint the house.

JT

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 10, 4:27*pm, DaveS wrote:
Was out on the Touchet last week for 5 days. Headed back ASAP. Fished
most mornings and evenings. Water levels up a bit as some of the
irrigation on the forks stops. Driving around Ive noticed some water
seeping back in the draws and my wheat farmer neighbor says yes, and
that they got a bit of a recharge up on the rolling paloose. Temps
still seem up a bit , and the fish still are clustered more than usual
below the oxiginated riffles. Caught many 6-8 inch cutts and a few
"rainbows" 8" to 10" or so. All on small stimulators in hopper tones.
Most interesting was dragging a 4" weighted black bunny leach thru a
few choice larger holes below riffles, fished with a steelie leader
and a 1x tippet, *In one of these I had wild assed grabs 2 evenings in
a row and breakoffs. Ive had this happen in warm water from turtles
but I am pretty sure these were fish. I am pretty sure the Dolly
Vardens, which do wildassed grabs to perfection, are absent from my
streatch of river.

In the late 80's, on my first trip waaaaay up the Selway, I was
looking for fish for supper, after playing with brookies and rainbows
all day. I was using an ultralight spinning rig with 4lb line in
pocket water.
HUGE dolly grabbed my spoon and scared the living ....... out of me.
She got away -- obviously -- and I didn't land one until some years
later.
Like being jumped on by a wolverine.

cheers

oz

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 11, 5:36*am, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:
Frank Reid wrote:
snip
Just had to cut my prairie restoration as the neighbors determined it
didn't meet the "neat and tidy" clause in the covenents.

Here in Urbana if someone starts "prairie restoration" the city
will send a warning and if you're still too lazy to mow the lawn
the city will mow it for you and send you a bill for $500.

Whats up
with friggen covenents anyway? *Just a way nosey neighbors can get
into your business.

Well, if your business involves an old washer, dryer and tireless
pickup truck on blocks rusting away in your front yard I'd say
your neighbors should have a right to make you clean up your yard.

--
Ken Fortenberry

WoW. Take us there, in the right light, well rested, with exceptional
luck and happy accident, maybe with some autumn color and . . . would
that be a softened red . . . maybe postwar dodge pickup?). , high
grass, big lump of titanium white dryer/round window hanging off
center. slavish to the style of Clymer, Saterday Evening Post, 1950s,.
American Popular Realist. $16, 000. Santa Fe , KA CHING,KA CHING

Dave

Some fishing, some farming
 

Like being jumped on by a wolverine.

cheers

oz

Well close maybe. But Ive only ever been jumped by a moose, and that
was very long ago, camping in the High Uintahs. Tell you the truth its
rats that give me the willys, and Im not one ever to pickup snakes,
particularly with my mouth no matter what the Pastor says or even if
Jerry Lee himself were leading the choir.

But, yes, Dolly's can wake a person up real good.

Dave
:=)))

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:05:57 -0700 (PDT), DaveS wrote:


WoW. Take us there, in the right light, well rested, with exceptional
luck and happy accident, maybe with some autumn color and . . . would
that be a softened red . . . maybe postwar dodge pickup?). , high
grass, big lump of titanium white dryer/round window hanging off
center. slavish to the style of Clymer, Saterday Evening Post, 1950s,.
American Popular Realist. $16, 000. Santa Fe , KA CHING,KA CHING

And just think if you had a Normen Rockwall...

HTH,
R



Dave

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 12, 5:10*am, wrote:
On Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:05:57 -0700 (PDT), DaveS wrote:
WoW. Take us there, in the right light, well rested, with exceptional
luck and happy accident, maybe with some autumn color and . . . would
that be a softened red . . . maybe postwar dodge pickup?). , high
grass, big lump of titanium white dryer/round window hanging off
center. slavish to the style of Clymer, Saterday Evening Post, 1950s,.
American Popular Realist. $16, 000. Santa Fe , KA CHING,KA CHING

And just think if you had a Normen Rockwall...

HTH,
R





Dave- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Exactly, Caynon Road, Santa Fe here we come. Ah the taste of tamales
in the park, and Juan's modest smile

Dave
Sad note: Ive belatedly learned that Juan Tafoya, (1949-2006), of the
San Ildefonso Pueblo, a master potter in the Black on Black style, a
student of Maria Montoya Martinez, Povi-ka, "Flower Leaf," . . .died.
May the Great Spirit make a place for him, may his children use what
he taught them, may they carry forward the work.

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 11, 5:12*am, Frank Reid wrote:
Amature too, though grew up with pipe on my shoulder and humping bales
for the dairy cattle. *Flashbacks of bone crushing days where a 14
year old could burn through 10,000 calories in a day 'cause after
feeding the dry cows, I went to swim team, school, swim team and then
milking (during school I didn't milk) and work till dark, then did
homework.
Just had to cut my prairie restoration as the neighbors determined it
didn't meet the "neat and tidy" clause in the covenents. *Whats up
with friggen covenents anyway? *Just a way nosey neighbors can get
into your business.
Frank Reid

It is amazing, I mean the work these frontline farm people and
families do to put food on our tables.
Dave

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 11, 2:20*pm, "JT" wrote:
"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message

...





Frank Reid wrote:
snip
Just had to cut my prairie restoration as the neighbors determined it
didn't meet the "neat and tidy" clause in the covenents.

Here in Urbana if someone starts "prairie restoration" the city
will send a warning and if you're still too lazy to mow the lawn
the city will mow it for you and send you a bill for $500.

Whats up
with friggen covenents anyway? *Just a way nosey neighbors can get
into your business.

Well, if your business involves an old washer, dryer and tireless
pickup truck on blocks rusting away in your front yard I'd say
your neighbors should have a right to make you clean up your yard.

--
Ken Fortenberry

I would agree with the washer/dryer, etc... however some of the HOA go way
to far. A buddy has his boat on the side of his house behind a 6 ft. fence
that you can't see thought. You could see about 2 ft. of the boat tower
above the fence. They made him drop the tower down so it wasn't visible from
the road. Pretty unreasonable if you ask me...

Hm.....

Did they?

g.

Some fishing, some farming
 

"Giles" wrote in message
...
On Sep 11, 2:20 pm, "JT" wrote:
"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message

...





Frank Reid wrote:
snip
Just had to cut my prairie restoration as the neighbors determined it
didn't meet the "neat and tidy" clause in the covenents.

Here in Urbana if someone starts "prairie restoration" the city
will send a warning and if you're still too lazy to mow the lawn
the city will mow it for you and send you a bill for $500.

Whats up
with friggen covenents anyway? Just a way nosey neighbors can get
into your business.

Well, if your business involves an old washer, dryer and tireless
pickup truck on blocks rusting away in your front yard I'd say
your neighbors should have a right to make you clean up your yard.

--
Ken Fortenberry

I would agree with the washer/dryer, etc... however some of the HOA go way
to far. A buddy has his boat on the side of his house behind a 6 ft. fence
that you can't see thought. You could see about 2 ft. of the boat tower
above the fence. They made him drop the tower down so it wasn't visible
from
the road. Pretty unreasonable if you ask me...

Hm.....

Did they?

g.

In the beginning, until they appealed the situation, now they don't have to
put it down.

JT

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 10, 2:27*pm, DaveS wrote:

Spent the last 5 days on the river place. Some good, some sad. First
the good; I made a test plot of about 1/2 acre to try out a non-
chemical control idea on Star Thistle. The chem solution is too non-
specific and i have noticed that crushing caused by one pass of
vehicle tires mostly stunted or killed the plant. I also noted that
the areo spray offered occured at summer's end. Anyway my test is to
see if mowing at 4" and the fall rain will rot and reduce the viable
seed load on the test plot. I also plan a test of the effectiveness of
roller crushing. If I can whack the thistle, the native grasses will
do better.

I also set up a test of getting hybrid poplar sticks to root in a
shallow furrow, on pretty dry ground, from cuttings laid horizontal,
wet once, and covered in dirt and aged pig muck. If this technique
works it will save a lot of work. I need to do some quick growing
shelter belt on my non-conservation ground so as to get some shade on
the conservation ground, so that more of the native plantings there
will survive without constant watering. All of which is part of a
campaign to cool the river. Unfortunately I managed to kill a large
gopher snake digging the test furrow. Sorry.

The sad but necessary event was killing the alfalfa with a herbicide.
The alfalfa has to be killed so that the wheat can go in this fall, no
till. The alfalfa is going so that the water used to irrigate it - can
stay in the river during the crucial summer months. The saddest part
is knowing that the bright blue green of the alfalfa will be replaced
most of the year by the tawney tan of hard red winter wheat. I feel
good about the fish getting more water, and I will get a little cash
from the water trust, but my inner gardener will miss the green. It
was amazing how fast a 40+ foot spray boom did the job.

This time I had some friends out camping on the place who possess some
expertice I need regarding plants, particularly grasses and river
dynamics. We got our old asses river wet in the heat of the day and
had fun. We also took some time to visit some other beekeeping friends
who have built up a perfect little homestead up one of the river
forks. Think my wife made a FFing convert of her lady friend. And yep
she caught a trout.

Dave
I think Im writing this stuff to share what I experience as I modify
ag practices and land use on a small farm along a small, dryside
Western trout river. It also feels good to have some skin in the game.

Some fishing, some farming
 

I like the practices. There is a good book on using fire to reduce
some of your weeds (Fire in North American Tallgrass Prairies By Scott
L. Collins, Linda L. Wallace). Its in Google Books. Additionally,
there's a paper out there on how the carbon (from those fires) sucks
the nitrogen out of the soil. The reduction in available nitrogen
inhibits the weedy species, letting the prairie grasses come on
stronger.
By the way, the roller technique did not work on the thistle I had
(nor the cockle bur). I had to cut it all down to 3" and do that
every two weeks for a couple of months.
Frank Reid

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 21, 5:03*am, DaveS wrote:
On Sep 10, 2:27*pm, DaveS wrote:

Spent the last 5 days on the river place. Some good, some sad. First
the good; I made a test plot of about 1/2 acre to try out a non-
chemical control idea on Star Thistle. The chem solution is too non-
specific and i have noticed that crushing caused by one pass of
vehicle tires mostly stunted or killed the plant. I also noted that
the areo spray offered occured at summer's end. Anyway my test is to
see if mowing at 4" and the fall rain will rot and reduce the viable
seed load on the test plot. I also plan a test of the effectiveness of
roller crushing. If I can whack the thistle, the native grasses will
do better.

I also set up a test of getting hybrid poplar sticks to root in a
shallow furrow, on pretty dry ground, from cuttings laid horizontal,
wet once, and covered in dirt and aged pig muck. If this technique
works it will save a lot of work. I need to do some quick growing
shelter belt on my non-conservation ground so as to get some shade on
the conservation ground, so that more of the native plantings there
will survive without constant watering. All of which is part of a
campaign to cool the river. Unfortunately I managed to kill a large
gopher snake digging the test furrow. Sorry.

The sad but necessary event was killing the alfalfa with a herbicide.
The alfalfa has to be killed so that the wheat can go in this fall, no
till. The alfalfa is going so that the water used to irrigate it - can
stay in the river during the crucial summer months. The saddest part
is knowing that the bright blue green of the alfalfa will be replaced
most of the year by the tawney tan of hard red winter wheat. I feel
good about the fish getting more water, and I will get a little cash
from the water trust, but my inner gardener will miss the green. It
was amazing how fast a 40+ foot spray boom did the job.

This time I had some friends out camping on the place who possess some
expertice I need regarding plants, particularly grasses and river
dynamics. We got our old asses river wet in the heat of the day and
had fun. We also took some time to visit some other beekeeping friends
who have built up a perfect little homestead up one of the river
forks. Think my wife made a FFing convert of her lady friend. And yep
she caught a trout.

Dave
I think Im writing this stuff to share what I experience as I modify
ag practices and land use on a small farm along a small, dryside
Western trout river. It also feels good to have some skin in the game.

No mention of trees or shrubs in all of this. On the face of it,
there are generally good enough ecological reasons to consider woody
plants for riparian habitats and there can be economic benefits as
well, albeit one has to take a longer view.

g.

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 21, 6:01*am, Giles wrote:
On Sep 21, 5:03*am, DaveS wrote:





On Sep 10, 2:27*pm, DaveS wrote:

Spent the last 5 days on the river place. Some good, some sad. First
the good; I made a test plot of about 1/2 acre to try out a non-
chemical control idea on Star Thistle. The chem solution is too non-
specific and i have noticed that crushing caused by one pass of
vehicle tires mostly stunted or killed the plant. I also noted that
the areo spray offered occured at summer's end. Anyway my test is to
see if mowing at 4" and the fall rain will rot and reduce the viable
seed load on the test plot. I also plan a test of the effectiveness of
roller crushing. If I can whack the thistle, the native grasses will
do better.

I also set up a test of getting hybrid poplar sticks to root in a
shallow furrow, on pretty dry ground, from cuttings laid horizontal,
wet once, and covered in dirt and aged pig muck. If this technique
works it will save a lot of work. I need to do some quick growing
shelter belt on my non-conservation ground so as to get some shade on
the conservation ground, so that more of the native plantings there
will survive without constant watering. All of which is part of a
campaign to cool the river. Unfortunately I managed to kill a large
gopher snake digging the test furrow. Sorry.

The sad but necessary event was killing the alfalfa with a herbicide.
The alfalfa has to be killed so that the wheat can go in this fall, no
till. The alfalfa is going so that the water used to irrigate it - can
stay in the river during the crucial summer months. The saddest part
is knowing that the bright blue green of the alfalfa will be replaced
most of the year by the tawney tan of hard red winter wheat. I feel
good about the fish getting more water, and I will get a little cash
from the water trust, but my inner gardener will miss the green. It
was amazing how fast a 40+ foot spray boom did the job.

This time I had some friends out camping on the place who possess some
expertice I need regarding plants, particularly grasses and river
dynamics. We got our old asses river wet in the heat of the day and
had fun. We also took some time to visit some other beekeeping friends
who have built up a perfect little homestead up one of the river
forks. Think my wife made a FFing convert of her lady friend. And yep
she caught a trout.

Dave
I think Im writing this stuff to share what I experience as I modify
ag practices and land use on a small farm along a small, dryside
Western trout river. It also feels good to have some skin in the game.

No mention of trees or shrubs in all of this. *On the face of it,
there are generally good enough ecological reasons to consider woody
plants for riparian habitats and there can be economic benefits as
well, albeit one has to take a longer view.


Actually, he did talk about putting in popular (that was the pig muck
part).
Frank

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 21, 4:01*am, Giles wrote:
On Sep 21, 5:03*am, DaveS wrote:





On Sep 10, 2:27*pm, DaveS wrote:

Spent the last 5 days on the river place. Some good, some sad. First
the good; I made a test plot of about 1/2 acre to try out a non-
chemical control idea on Star Thistle. The chem solution is too non-
specific and i have noticed that crushing caused by one pass of
vehicle tires mostly stunted or killed the plant. I also noted that
the areo spray offered occured at summer's end. Anyway my test is to
see if mowing at 4" and the fall rain will rot and reduce the viable
seed load on the test plot. I also plan a test of the effectiveness of
roller crushing. If I can whack the thistle, the native grasses will
do better.

I also set up a test of getting hybrid poplar sticks to root in a
shallow furrow, on pretty dry ground, from cuttings laid horizontal,
wet once, and covered in dirt and aged pig muck. If this technique
works it will save a lot of work. I need to do some quick growing
shelter belt on my non-conservation ground so as to get some shade on
the conservation ground, so that more of the native plantings there
will survive without constant watering. All of which is part of a
campaign to cool the river. Unfortunately I managed to kill a large
gopher snake digging the test furrow. Sorry.

The sad but necessary event was killing the alfalfa with a herbicide.
The alfalfa has to be killed so that the wheat can go in this fall, no
till. The alfalfa is going so that the water used to irrigate it - can
stay in the river during the crucial summer months. The saddest part
is knowing that the bright blue green of the alfalfa will be replaced
most of the year by the tawney tan of hard red winter wheat. I feel
good about the fish getting more water, and I will get a little cash
from the water trust, but my inner gardener will miss the green. It
was amazing how fast a 40+ foot spray boom did the job.

This time I had some friends out camping on the place who possess some
expertice I need regarding plants, particularly grasses and river
dynamics. We got our old asses river wet in the heat of the day and
had fun. We also took some time to visit some other beekeeping friends
who have built up a perfect little homestead up one of the river
forks. Think my wife made a FFing convert of her lady friend. And yep
she caught a trout.

Dave
I think Im writing this stuff to share what I experience as I modify
ag practices and land use on a small farm along a small, dryside
Western trout river. It also feels good to have some skin in the game.

No mention of trees or shrubs in all of this. *On the face of it,
there are generally good enough ecological reasons to consider woody
plants for riparian habitats and there can be economic benefits as
well, albeit one has to take a longer view.

g.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Right, and as Frank indicated, my last post focused on the poplar I
want to use far back from the river. I should give a bit more of the
overall picture. (Haters of detail be warned)

We are working a total of about 1/2 mile of river. Of this, about
1/3rd south facing is bounded by a cottonwood/black locust/Alder
woods. ie it is well shaded. Behind the woods is a fertile mixed grass
pasture on deep silt, then a long pond/marshy beavery strip. There is
some Ponderosa repro on the edges from a previous effort and we will
plant more to replace the Alder with big pine as per L&C's journal
notes.

The next 1/3+rd has a skimpy Alder/cottonwood/willow river fringe,
backed by a dry unshaded meadow, rocky as hell, some woody plants and
some grasses, overwhelmed with Star thistle, shows signs of periodic
flooding, is backed by a sugar dike, and then another dry meadow with
a grove/strip of decent Ponderosa pine repro. Each strip is about
200-250 wide, south facing. The sun can hit the river here all day in
some places. It is this area where I want to put a fast growing, high
shelter belt on my south line, about about 400-500' from the river,
and replace the thistle with stronger stands of native blue stem
wheatgrass etc, add to the pine/locust repro, and plant more willow on
the immediate river edge.

The final 1/3rd is a thin fringe of trees etc next to the river, then
a farmed field. My main strategy here is to thicken and widen the
riparian veg/tree cover.

I know it sounds like a big deal for just 40 acres but it is a nice
chunk of river. That's why I bought it. It definitly would not be
everybody's choice. The price reflected the low value for farmers of
the rocky "out ground" along the river. I am encouraged by what
conservation minded farmers have accomplished along the river so far,
and the fact that the State, the Feds and the non-profit efforts have
persisted. Even the old timers say its getting better.

Dave

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 21, 5:09*am, Frank Reid wrote:
On Sep 21, 6:01*am, Giles wrote:





On Sep 21, 5:03*am, DaveS wrote:

On Sep 10, 2:27*pm, DaveS wrote:

Spent the last 5 days on the river place. Some good, some sad. First
the good; I made a test plot of about 1/2 acre to try out a non-
chemical control idea on Star Thistle. The chem solution is too non-
specific and i have noticed that crushing caused by one pass of
vehicle tires mostly stunted or killed the plant. I also noted that
the areo spray offered occured at summer's end. Anyway my test is to
see if mowing at 4" and the fall rain will rot and reduce the viable
seed load on the test plot. I also plan a test of the effectiveness of
roller crushing. If I can whack the thistle, the native grasses will
do better.

I also set up a test of getting hybrid poplar sticks to root in a
shallow furrow, on pretty dry ground, from cuttings laid horizontal,
wet once, and covered in dirt and aged pig muck. If this technique
works it will save a lot of work. I need to do some quick growing
shelter belt on my non-conservation ground so as to get some shade on
the conservation ground, so that more of the native plantings there
will survive without constant watering. All of which is part of a
campaign to cool the river. Unfortunately I managed to kill a large
gopher snake digging the test furrow. Sorry.

The sad but necessary event was killing the alfalfa with a herbicide.
The alfalfa has to be killed so that the wheat can go in this fall, no
till. The alfalfa is going so that the water used to irrigate it - can
stay in the river during the crucial summer months. The saddest part
is knowing that the bright blue green of the alfalfa will be replaced
most of the year by the tawney tan of hard red winter wheat. I feel
good about the fish getting more water, and I will get a little cash
from the water trust, but my inner gardener will miss the green. It
was amazing how fast a 40+ foot spray boom did the job.

This time I had some friends out camping on the place who possess some
expertice I need regarding plants, particularly grasses and river
dynamics. We got our old asses river wet in the heat of the day and
had fun. We also took some time to visit some other beekeeping friends
who have built up a perfect little homestead up one of the river
forks. Think my wife made a FFing convert of her lady friend. And yep
she caught a trout.

Dave
I think Im writing this stuff to share what I experience as I modify
ag practices and land use on a small farm along a small, dryside
Western trout river. It also feels good to have some skin in the game..

No mention of trees or shrubs in all of this. *On the face of it,
there are generally good enough ecological reasons to consider woody
plants for riparian habitats and there can be economic benefits as
well, albeit one has to take a longer view.

Actually, he did talk about putting in popular (that was the pig muck
part).
Frank- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Sure did.
Wild grassland restoration is a coming thing so don't give up. Out
here the area of concern is the Palouse. There are only a few buttes
left in undisturbed native grassland, but I hear there are folks
starting to work on the issue near Pullman (WSU). Might be some of the
grazing management techniques used in the Sand Hills of Nebraska have
wider application?
Dave
Ever hear of the Palouse Worm? Bigger sucker that one.

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 21, 3:39*am, Frank Reid wrote:
I like the practices. *There is a good book on using fire to reduce
some of your weeds (Fire in North American Tallgrass Prairies By Scott
L. Collins, Linda L. Wallace). *Its in Google Books. *Additionally,
there's a paper out there on how the carbon (from those fires) sucks
the nitrogen out of the soil. *The reduction in available nitrogen
inhibits the weedy species, letting the prairie grasses come on
stronger.
By the way, the roller technique did not work on the thistle I had
(nor the cockle bur). *I had to cut it all down to 3" and do that
every two weeks for a couple of months.
Frank Reid

Your experience will save me some time on the thistle problem. I had
to pick most of the high rocks for the 4" mow, so going to 3" should
be OK . I can at least mow it 2 more times this year. Thanx. I have to
hold off on fire methods because the wheat stubble makes this area a
tinderbox before the rains.
Dave

Some fishing, some farming
 

DaveS wrote:
Spent the last 5 days on the river place. Some good, some sad.
........

I've been traveling. Only now catching up on this. You're doing a lot of
things right, there, Dave (and making me really jealous in the process.....).

Sometime we'll have to talk about the economics of your river place (by
email). Sounds wonderful.

- JR

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:23:38 -0700 (PDT), DaveS
wrote:

I know it sounds like a big deal for just 40 acres but it is a nice
chunk of river. That's why I bought it. It definitly would not be
everybody's choice. The price reflected the low value for farmers of
the rocky "out ground" along the river. I am encouraged by what
conservation minded farmers have accomplished along the river so far,
and the fact that the State, the Feds and the non-profit efforts have
persisted. Even the old timers say its getting better.

Dave,

It is wonderful what you are doing there as a landowner, and it is a
big deal to me though I'm across the country from you. If only other
users of the land shared a fraction of your concern and acted upon it
we'd all have a much better world to live in.

Well done, Sir.
And many thanks from a fellow world resident.

Kiyu

Some fishing, some farming
 

Your experience will save me some time on the thistle problem. I had
to pick most of the high rocks for the 4" mow, so going to 3" should
be OK . I can at least mow it 2 more times this year. Thanx. I have to
hold off on fire methods because the wheat stubble makes this area a
tinderbox before the rains.

We have a large variety of non-native thistle here. Our noxious weed
catalog is choked with them.
Kinda funny, when my neighbors got all hot about my prairie
restoration, one guy asked me if I knew what a noxious weed was and
how I would define it. I told him I didn't know enough (he started to
smile) so I relied on the state noxious weed catalog. I have three of
the weeds but I'm agressively trying to knock them down. Oh, by the
way, did he know that he has at least 7 noxious weeds in his
yard? :-) They hate it when you spear them with facts.
Dave, your work sounds fantastic. Thanks for sharing and death to the
monoculture!
Frank Reid

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 21, 6:36*pm, JR wrote:
DaveS wrote:
Spent the last 5 days on the river place. Some good, some sad.
........

I've been traveling. *Only now catching up on this. *You're doing a lot of
things right, there, Dave (and making me really jealous in the process......).

Sometime we'll have to talk about the economics of your river place (by
email). *Sounds wonderful.

- JR

My model should produce a 2-2.5% return. Its composed of CREP leased
riparian strips taken out of grazing or crop production, leasing most
of the water rights to a non-profit trust ($ probably comes from BPA
fish $), and a small, fixed rent farmer handshake on the cropland.
On bigger wheatland you could get 1/3rd share of proceeds minus costs,
but you share the risks. If you had wheatbase you could collect the
payment and still farm some other dryland crop, maybe barley(?) not
sure what else, (poplar?). I think there is also a possible revenue
source from participation in state or private hunting access
arrangements but I haven't done that. (Yet ?)

Not a way to get rich. However, IF the property has the rec potential
a person wants, it is a way to 1), keep it in ag, 2), and therefore
keep the taxes low, and 3), generate a modest cash flow to fund
environmental fixes. And if a person wanted to live on the land, only
the 1 acre homesite would be taxed at the residential rate, as long as
the rest of the land was kept in ag, or conservation equivalents.

Alternatively, if you could get 5% money, its a way to get maybe 1/2
the payment coaxed from the property itself.

The other part of the economics, for me at least, is to not buy motive
equipment. Everybody in farm country has tons of the right equipment
already, and will trade for work or a little cash. These folks know
how to get things done without paying a fortune so I listen to their
advise. Every ag idea thats worked so far I got from the farmers, the
FSA, or the Water Trust.

Dave
Think other parcels, Eastern Oregon

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 22, 4:56*am, (Kiyu) wrote:
On Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:23:38 -0700 (PDT), DaveS
wrote:

I know it sounds like a big deal for just 40 acres but it is a nice
chunk of river. That's why I bought it. It definitly would not be
everybody's choice. The price reflected the low value for farmers of
the rocky "out ground" along the river. I am encouraged by what
conservation minded farmers have accomplished along the river so far,
and the fact that the State, the Feds and the non-profit efforts have
persisted. Even the old timers say its getting better.

Dave,

It is wonderful what you are doing there as a landowner, and it is a
big deal to me though I'm across the country from you. If only other
users of the land shared a fraction of your concern and acted upon it
we'd all have a much better world to live in.

Well done, Sir.
And many thanks from a fellow world resident.

Kiyu

Thanks for the complement. I hope I can follow thru on my talk. I
don't think we are that alone. There are miles of new riparian
plantings along this river alone, admitedly a target. If the
incentives are there the owner/farmers often do the right thing. But
there has been so much damage it is difficult to see the end of the
tunnel. The food production system we have seems to be a big part of
the problem. I don't know what the answers are but more localized
production and marketing, fresher, local, and seasonal, family
ownership and such I think are worthy interrim objectives.

Dave

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 22, 5:32*am, Frank Reid wrote:
Your experience will save me some time on the thistle problem. I had
to pick most of the high rocks for the 4" mow, so going to 3" should
be OK . I can at least mow it 2 more times this year. Thanx. I have to
hold off on fire methods because the wheat stubble makes this area a
tinderbox before the rains.

We have a large variety of non-native thistle here. *Our noxious weed
catalog is choked with them.
Kinda funny, when my neighbors got all hot about my prairie
restoration, one guy asked me if I knew what a noxious weed was and
how I would define it. *I told him I didn't know enough (he started to
smile) so I relied on the state noxious weed catalog. *I have three of
the weeds but I'm agressively trying to knock them down. *Oh, by the
way, did he know that he has at least 7 noxious weeds in his
yard? *:-) *They hate it when you spear them with facts.
Dave, your work sounds fantastic. *Thanks for sharing and death to the
monoculture!
Frank Reid

Right. Most wild flowers are weeds in somebody's book. One man's weed
is another man's . . . . In my kitchen are three bottles of "Star
Thistle" honey sitting on the wood stove. My beekeeping friend didn't
want to hear about my test plot. He rattled off half a dozen benefits
of the nasty little *******s. For me its a problem, for him it's a
living. Thanks for the encouragement.

Dave
I am still going to kill most of it if I can.

Some fishing, some farming
 

I am still going to kill most of it if I can.- Hide quoted text -

I mowed it and then walked around with Roundup and spot treated the
plants I could find (they make a nice, flat bullseye). I wanted to
use my torch, but there was too much dead material out there. It
might work after a good rain. I just put a 20lb propane tank on my
dolly and haul it around when I need to torch something.
I really don't like thistle or burs of any kind. My neighbor has a
real bad infestation of sand burs and shatter cane. I've got the
cockle burs, button weed, and Canada thistle. Its a fight, but I WILL
win.
Frank

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 10, 4:27*pm, DaveS wrote:
Was out on the Touchet last week for 5 days. Headed back ASAP. Fished
most mornings and evenings. Water levels up a bit as some of the
irrigation on the forks stops. Driving around Ive noticed some water
seeping back in the draws and my wheat farmer neighbor says yes, and
that they got a bit of a recharge up on the rolling paloose. Temps
still seem up a bit , and the fish still are clustered more than usual
below the oxiginated riffles. Caught many 6-8 inch cutts and a few
"rainbows" 8" to 10" or so. All on small stimulators in hopper tones.
Most interesting was dragging a 4" weighted black bunny leach thru a
few choice larger holes below riffles, fished with a steelie leader
and a 1x tippet, *In one of these I had wild assed grabs 2 evenings in
a row and breakoffs. Ive had this happen in warm water from turtles
but I am pretty sure these were fish. I am pretty sure the Dolly
Vardens, which do wildassed grabs to perfection, are absent from my
streatch of river. So my fantacies run to monster browns. We shall
see.

On the farm groupie side of things, we pulled the irrigation pump and
boom pipe out of the river, moved then picked up the pipe off the
alfalfa. Picking up 40 foot long, sun hot pipe at 66 years is more
than enough to put my farmer fantacy jones back in its box. The
swather was leaving too much so I helped replace some of the cutter
blades, and the fields got cut. The humidity and sun were such that
this 4th and final cutting was put up in 700lb bales 3 days later. My
lessee is tarping and holding most of this year's crop till prices
pick up. Most of the livestock has been moved to his new place in
Oregon and i notice the coyotes are getting more nervy at nite near
the few hogs that are left.

With this last alfalfa crop we are shifting to fall sown, dryland hard
red wheat. Should be a good crop because the field is moist and has
lots of nitrogen from the alfalfa. Things look good on leasing the
water right to keep the water in the river. Ive also made some
progress on marking out where some lines of hybrid poplar will go to
cool down some dry pasture and where there is enough soil on some rock
scabby areas to support survival of some more ponderosa pine. Ill wait
till first snow fall to seed some wild wheat grass into the CREP
strips. Its a small place, but the river front is 1/2 mile. If half of
what i plan and do works, *it will make a difference in summer river
temps and keep at least 70af in the stream at a critical time. Anyway
this is much more than ROFFians would want to know but for some
weirdness I do enjoy sharing these farming groupie and amature
conservation experiences.

Dave

I've been scouting, observing, collecting, eating, potting, grafting,
planting, thinning, pruning, felling, sawing, splitting, stacking and
burning American Black Walnut (Juglans nigra), Butternut (Juglans
cinerea), American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) and American Hazelnuts
(Corylus americana and C. cornuta). At the moment only the first
listed is of great economic importance but the rest have been and/or
will be. Meanwhile, all are of tremendous ecological
importance.....and/or have been and/or will once again be. Two are
critically endangered. The property on which most of this activity is
taking place, (officially about 70 acres.....but topography renders it
more like 85-90 in reality) is a ****in' goldmine!

There's also some oak, hickory, black cherry, various
conifers.....um.....and some other stuff.

g.
who will happily provide more conservation details for those ROFFians
who want to know.

Some fishing, some farming
 

Giles wrote:

...........The property on which most of this activity is
taking place, (officially about 70 acres.....but topography renders it
more like 85-90 in reality) is a ****in' goldmine!

There's also some oak, hickory, black cherry, various
conifers.....um.....and some other stuff.

g.
who will happily provide more conservation details for those ROFFians
who want to know.

Please. And history of the land, too, if you know it.

- JR

Some fishing, some farming
 

In message
,
Frank Reid writes

I am still going to kill most of it if I can.- Hide quoted text -

I mowed it and then walked around with Roundup and spot treated the
plants I could find (they make a nice, flat bullseye). I wanted to
use my torch, but there was too much dead material out there. It
might work after a good rain. I just put a 20lb propane tank on my
dolly and haul it around when I need to torch something.
I really don't like thistle or burs of any kind. My neighbor has a
real bad infestation of sand burs and shatter cane. I've got the
cockle burs, button weed, and Canada thistle. Its a fight, but I WILL
win.
Frank

What a worrying combination - Frank- plus- propane-plus torch !!!

I await the report :-)
--
Bill Grey

Some fishing, some farming
 

*What a worrying combination - Frank- plus- propane-plus torch !!!

Not that I would do this, but I've "heard" that if you turn of the
flame and point the torch down a ground squirrel hole, let it run,
then light it after a bit, you'll get a shot of flame coming out then
a really cool "thwump" that you can feel through your feet. I can say
that the old tennis ball cannons made with duct tape, soda cans and
lighter fluid have nothing on a ground squirrel den full of propane
and the ejecta had a little football helmet on for the ride.
Frank "yah can't make this stuff up" Reid

Some fishing, some farming
 

On Sep 22, 6:44*pm, Giles wrote:
On Sep 10, 4:27*pm, DaveS wrote:





Was out on the Touchet last week for 5 days. Headed back ASAP. Fished
most mornings and evenings. Water levels up a bit as some of the
irrigation on the forks stops. Driving around Ive noticed some water
seeping back in the draws and my wheat farmer neighbor says yes, and
that they got a bit of a recharge up on the rolling paloose. Temps
still seem up a bit , and the fish still are clustered more than usual
below the oxiginated riffles. Caught many 6-8 inch cutts and a few
"rainbows" 8" to 10" or so. All on small stimulators in hopper tones.
Most interesting was dragging a 4" weighted black bunny leach thru a
few choice larger holes below riffles, fished with a steelie leader
and a 1x tippet, *In one of these I had wild assed grabs 2 evenings in
a row and breakoffs. Ive had this happen in warm water from turtles
but I am pretty sure these were fish. I am pretty sure the Dolly
Vardens, which do wildassed grabs to perfection, are absent from my
streatch of river. So my fantacies run to monster browns. We shall
see.

On the farm groupie side of things, we pulled the irrigation pump and
boom pipe out of the river, moved then picked up the pipe off the
alfalfa. Picking up 40 foot long, sun hot pipe at 66 years is more
than enough to put my farmer fantacy jones back in its box. The
swather was leaving too much so I helped replace some of the cutter
blades, and the fields got cut. The humidity and sun were such that
this 4th and final cutting was put up in 700lb bales 3 days later. My
lessee is tarping and holding most of this year's crop till prices
pick up. Most of the livestock has been moved to his new place in
Oregon and i notice the coyotes are getting more nervy at nite near
the few hogs that are left.

With this last alfalfa crop we are shifting to fall sown, dryland hard
red wheat. Should be a good crop because the field is moist and has
lots of nitrogen from the alfalfa. Things look good on leasing the
water right to keep the water in the river. Ive also made some
progress on marking out where some lines of hybrid poplar will go to
cool down some dry pasture and where there is enough soil on some rock
scabby areas to support survival of some more ponderosa pine. Ill wait
till first snow fall to seed some wild wheat grass into the CREP
strips. Its a small place, but the river front is 1/2 mile. If half of
what i plan and do works, *it will make a difference in summer river
temps and keep at least 70af in the stream at a critical time. Anyway
this is much more than ROFFians would want to know but for some
weirdness I do enjoy sharing these farming groupie and amature
conservation experiences.

Dave

I've been scouting, observing, collecting, eating, potting, grafting,
planting, thinning, pruning, felling, sawing, splitting, stacking and
burning American Black Walnut (Juglans nigra), Butternut (Juglans
cinerea), American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) and American Hazelnuts
(Corylus americana and C. cornuta). *At the moment only the first
listed is of great economic importance but the rest have been and/or
will be. *Meanwhile, all are of tremendous ecological
importance.....and/or have been and/or will *once again be. *Two are
critically endangered. *The property on which most of this activity is
taking place, (officially about 70 acres.....but topography renders it
more like 85-90 in reality) is a ****in' goldmine!

There's also some oak, hickory, black cherry, various
conifers.....um.....and some other stuff.

g.
who will happily provide more conservation details for those ROFFians
who want to know.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

For sure please do. Building up the stock of healthy, mature hardwood
stands is a concrete way for our generation to leave this country in
better shape.
Dave