This winter was particularly harsh, with lots of young trees dying back or dying completely, even though they are supposedly hardy to much further north. This spring also saw a particularly powerful spring melt. And that, of course, is an erosion problem. The valley here is in a fragile balance. It has never quite adjusted […]
A bit over year ago, I built a small dam across the ravine’s stream bed to reduce erosion. The dam, failed. And now, I have figured out why. It was pretty simple to figure out, and just involved standing around a bit in heavy rain. The water coming from the side (up where the house
Ravine Project, a year later Read More »
This all happened weeks ago, but I figured I should get around to posting about it at some point. The first bulbs to come, which I planted back in September, were the fall blooming crocus. They bloomed a bit over a month after planting. You can seem them in the featured image. I don’t think
Bulbs and Prairie, Last Plantings of 2020 Read More »
Of the many natural disasters that can befall our fields, two plagues in particular trouble the lands here. The first is my dad, armed with a riding mower. The second is my dad, armed with a backpack sprayer of herbicide. If a plant is not currently laden with flowers or fruits, it is ‘a weed’
Native Prairie 2020 Read More »
My largest and grandest outdoor project to date, I give you: a dam! Now, first, let’s be clear. This is a check dam. So not Hoover Dam, but something smaller meant for water to go over. The general purpose is to slow the water. In low water flow, water will pool behind and gradually be
I want to build a check dam bridge thingy. In order to do so, I need to get our little Kubota excavator and tractor into the ravine in the right spot. I also need to get into the ravine for some other erosion management beneath a big trough that carries all the runoff water from
Building a Trail, Deep into the Ravine Read More »
Growing up, I always had the notion that one simply planted trees, waited, and with little to no work the world was vastly improved. Trees are good, but not so simply, alas. Firstly, trees grow like weeds. Black walnuts are a particular problem here at the farm, in that they grow quite robustly everywhere, and
Maintaining a Balance with Trees Read More »
Something is clearly different about the native prairie. The lighter green color may just be a result of the prairie growth being younger (several months, versus perennial grasses and plants established for many years). The much young prairie also already shows taller plant growth. The partridge peas were blooming this week, and were prettier than
Prairie versus Endemic Read More »
Curious what a prairie looks like just over a month after planting? The soil quality variation across the site can be clearly seen here in the plant growth (best soil variable, generally to the right). The mammoth grey stripe sunflowers I planted are the only plants that were immediately identifiable. The rest is mostly… grass.
Prairie Update and Gossip Read More »
Saturday morning, I raced the Ken Woods Road Race, with my sister, riding 84 miles in an hour and half, about twice as long as any other ride I have done this year. Despite my complete exhaustion, when we got to our family’s farm in southeastern Minnesota later in the day, I began a project
The First Experiment: Site Preparation for Native Prairie on Clay Subsoil Read More »
