6-28-2016

Went to the farm this afternoon again.   T.R. and i closed off an area next to the gate where some tresspassers had been getting through.  We also attempted to kill some of the sweet gums in the field that are getting rather large.  Sprayed them with Gly and we will return in a few weeks to check on them.  When down at the lower bottom, we found a fawn that couldnt have been more than a few days old.  The over grown fields are full of deer, and we decided to attempt to control the growth with Gly vs. mowing for at least a few more months.

Our temporary plan is to mow the worst areas, and spot spray woody growth in the remaining areas.

T.R. took the tractor for a test spin and i did my first bush hogging around the house.

Supposed to close a week from today.

6-27-2016

Visited monday after work to collect soil samples for the fall food plots.  3 samples from each of the 3 sites.  Will mail them to Clemson for testing.  

Also spent some time walking, spooked up close to a dozen fawns from the tall stuff that i plan on mowing.  I also checked the fruit trees and chestnuts....both are doing great.  I didnt get any pictures of the apple trees, but i will try to this afternoon.

Natural Food Plots...

The 33 acres of old fields are dominated by fescue.  Around the house it's beautiful, in the hunting fields, it's less than desirable.  Currently I am considering how to remove the fescue and encourage native weeds to grow. This will probably be accomplished with a combination of herbicide, controlled burn, and disking.  The natural seed bank will be given a chance to show it self and will provide better cover and food for wildlife.  Over the weeks I have attempted to observe the existing "weeds" to learn what whitetail are eating.  Some of these are heavily browsed while others are untouched.  Some that are not eaten still provide quality cover for wildlife and some provide food for non-whitetail.   the first picture is of the fescue around the house, the remaining are of a varity of native plants including: Hoptree, Smalls Ragwort, Chickasaw Plum, Common Vetch, Prickly Sowthistle, Horse weed or Marstail, Winged Sumac, Poke Weed, Black Berry, Unkown, Indian Hemp, Old Field Aster, Chickasaw (with fruit) Plum, and Lespedeza.

Little River Farm

Entry #1...the potential exists that my family may soon aquire this 170 acre farm in Abbeville SC.  i am looking to use this blog as a place to help plan and manage the land.  My hope is that we can keep a timeline of what has happened and one day look back to see the results of years of hard work.   Of course we havent closed on it yet, so this all may be premature.

The Farm is located just inside the Abbeville county line, around 9 miles south of Belton.   It  is actually two tracts of land that are split by the Little River.  The side with the house and barn (i call the near side) is 80 acres and consists of 33 acres of upland fields, roughly 15 acres of well managed pine and the balance in beautiful hardwoods and river bottom.  The far side is 90 acres and has roughly 15 acres of river bottom and hardwoods, while the balance is in 30 year old poorly managed pine.