Long time

Wow, long time since I have updated this. Got the thistle taken care of and have been hard at work insulating the shed so that the guys can work in there this winter and not be so cold. That has taken some time.
Fall is upon us, the temps have started to drop day and night. The colors are showing. It is a great time of year. Planning for the holidays, vacations and time with family and friends.
I tease Dennie that he has to decorate each and every tree. He will be busy a long time.
The hard woods are growing fast. You can easily pick them out. The pines are a lot slower. We had quite a few die but will replace them next year. I would also like to plant some sunflowers on the hillside next year for some color. Will have to see how that goes.
We planted big and little pumpkins. We got 6 large ones. They are still blooming and starting pumpkins - a little late in the season. Must have 2-1/2 dozen of the little ones.

Trimming

Not much happening. I continue to work on the thistles among the trees. Over 1/2 done. They look nice. we have gotten a little rain - about 1/2 in. We could use more. The yard is growing fast but I worry about the trees and plants.

Busy working on the Yard to make it look nice for the annual picnic on Sunday. Mom and I mulched all the trees etc yesterday.

Another night, another set of BAD storms.

The crop estimate is now at 20,000 acres that were damaged Friday night. Then last night more high winds, possible tornados and rain. We got another 2.5 inches. Luckily again no damage to our farm, Dennie reported that he has a lot of tree branches down all over the place so will spend the entire day picking them up.

The rain was needed as the crops were very dry but we did not need the damaging winds, hail and tornados. Now we need warmth for the crops that are still alive.

So yesterday the area was hit with rain - we got 1/2 inch. But south and west of us they had hail, straight line winds and a lot of damage. 5 buildings were blown down, 7-8,000 acres of crops destroyed beyond use. Sorry for those people.

Today again I worked on the trees. I have 5 rows that are completely free of thistles and trim right up to the trunk of the tree. I am working on 3 more rows and getting them closer.

I sprayed 5 rows on Thursday night and am waiting for the spray to work before I go in and attack the thistles. With luck I will have the whole thing cleaned up by the time of our annual picnic Aug. 16th.

It is hard physical work so I can only handle a little at a time - but also rewarding.

Tomorrow I will work some more on it while the guys are at an auction for the Wiota John Deere tractor club. Great social time for time.

Later...

from the sky

We finally have rain. Seems we got a lot more than other areas. Our rain gauge shows 2 inches. Most places on the TV were reporting less than 1/2 inch. Now we just need heat. I really don't want it hot because I am already hot but the crops and gardens need it. Theis summer has been strange, cool, dry.

Really need to get back to thistle clean up before the heat does come or I will have an even bigger mess.

on the run - laying low

The guys have spent a lot of time at the fair. Tractor pulls...today is the trailer races. This year they are just working the event rather than participating. That is probably good as we don't need anyone else hurt.
Not much new beyond that. We need rain. The grass seems to still grow fast even without the rain but I know that the crops and trees would love a drink.

Today was a busy one. I spent 3-4 hrs spraying the thistles among the rows of trees. Now once the spray works we will mow the rows better so we can find our trees. Dennie spent time fixing our larger mower. I then mowed the park and trimmed around the yard. I did some outside painting and staining. Things look nice. Boy our grass grows fast. We almost need to rake it but we will mow again in a few days to cut up the clippings along with a new cut. That is easier than raking. Tired tonight but feel good about what we have gotten done. Enjoy your weekend.

Finally getting more rain

It has been dry and we need the rain. We got some early this morning.
We have mowed between the rows of the trees but now need to work on cleaning up the actual row of thistle and grass. That way any moisture we get will go to the trees.

The yard continues to grow fast. I feel like we are always mowing. Trying to tidy up around there and get ready for the big picnic is August.

The guys are doing a little bit of vehicle work to get items ready for the fair.

Otherwise live as usual at Deere Hollow.

So over the last few days we have gotten 2 inches of rain. Not as much as the Blindermans in Milwaukee. They have water in their basement.
The rain has been needed.
I spent time on Saturday and Sunday making Grandpa Sauer proud. I PULLED thistles. He would have just chopped them off with the shovel, which I did some but I really tried to pull as many as I could so that I got the root as well.
We didn't get them sprayed earlier so now we have a lot of them. I am spraying some that are between the rows of trees and then in the rows either pulling or chopping them off before they flower.
We had conflicting opinions on whether we should keep the trees mowed. Some said leave it for the wind protection so we did for a while.
The problem with that is then we lost the trees. The grass grew so much faster. It is knee high. So we are now finding the trees again and trimming around them a little. We want to be sure that any moisture we get is going to the tree and not the grasses.
Headed to Richland Center Thur-Sun for Star Spangled Celebration. 3 days - 16 artist....music - people watching. We camp with Jeanette and Kevin.

Boy as Lynn says it, "Where does the time go?" With going on a vacation and all of the prep around the yard etc, time has flown by.

Anyway, Matt, Dennie and I took a road trip out across North Dakota, Montana, over the Bear Tooth Mountains, into Yellowstone National Park, hiked back into the Tetons to a water fall, down thru Idaho to Utah, saw the world's largest pit mine, into Colorado to take a jeep excursion on a ranch, ride in an open train car thru a mountain pass, white water rafted and finally rode 4 wheelers. Lastly we traveled home thru Nebraska surrounded by THREE (3) storm chasing teams....tornado season.

We had a good time, the ride was long.

Back to the old grind of work and yard work.

Enjoyed the time away but back to reality.

The trees have not required any attention. Great place to plant them with the free fertilizer in the old pasture but boy the thistle love that fertilizer. We have a field of thistles with some trees in the tall grass I think.

Anyway, until next time......ENJOY LIFE! Every day you wake up is a good day!

water - rain

The guys have built a watering system so that we can be sure the trees get the water they need this year. We were thinking that we would have to water them but last night we got an inch of rain. Heavy winds and a lot of lightning. Jenna would have had the headset on for sure.
Glad we have the rain because it will allow us to continue to see new growth on the trees. But then we also have the growing grass to deal with.
Oh well, thank fully we have several lawn mowers so that we can all get on one and get the job done a little faster.

Time to Mow

Well, the grass and thistles are getting big and we have started to mow. It really didn't take long when you get 3 mowers out there. We can see new buds on some of the trees so that is exciting.
See the many rows marked with orange flags.

A closer view

Not very big but with them showing new growth I am assuming that they have started a good root system. Mike says that the first 3 years we may not see much above ground but that is because all of the root growth happens but then they will really take off.

Physical Day

The Blinderman and Sauer neighbors spent the morning removing trees from the fence lines. A lot of physical but good work done.
Missy and Andy will be renting their crop land out and we will be trying to have someone plant a little bit of the pasture for some rent. We own pasture land and have used about 2-3 acres of it for the tree farm.
This afternoon after Missy and Andy left we continued to work on removing trees. This time along the driveway as we are trying to remove thorny trees and just clear it out as it looks terrible. We installed the sign posts near the mailbox. I have a cross cut saw about 5-6 ft long that I am going to have someone plant with Deere Hollow and then attach to the posts as a welcome sign. Some day I may have pics for you.
Near the end of the day Dennie got hit in the eye with a tree branch so tonight he has a watering eye and we are both very physically tired.
It was a beautiful sunny Wisconsin spring day enjoyed except for the wild wind.

More Land - New Neighbors

Today we purchased 24.5 acres from the estate. We hope that Dick & Dorothy are looking upon us with happiness. While we did not full-fill their wishes of someone owning the whole farm, we at least have some.
We also got new neighbors today. Missy & Andy Blinderman own 25 acres to the south of us.

Time to Spray

Mike and his sprayer



























Mike is back tonight, applying the spray to keep the weeds down. We should be rain again before the weekend so it should take effect.

Last of the planting

Tonight we finished planting the 20 Pines we had left in Sauer Memorial Park. Along the row as we will make a new wind/privacy break. We also had the 20 color pack to plant throughout the yard and park. Yeah done with that for the year.
Earlier we had plants perennials from the farm around in spot to see what transplants well. I still have gift certs to use for a flower bed in the middle of our circle. The yard will take shape over the coming years.

Only 7-10 years and some hard work before we will sell our first Christmas trees. I hope to have things to share along the way.

Rain - Saturday was raining and by Sunday morning we have 2-1/4 inches on the new trees. This will be great to get them going.

Tree planting Day

The trees arrive in 3 boxes













Wrapped in wet shredded newspaper and then a plastic bag.














Mike and Dennie setting up the planter. The white pipe extended from the front is used to space the rows.



























See the many rows?












Friday is here. Excited, anxious.
It is a warm day - upper 60's to low 70's.
VERY windy here
We start at 4:30 pm and are done with 825 trees at 6:00
Time for drinks to celebrate.
Mike will come back to spray when the weather is not so windy within the next week.
It was interesting to watch.
I was taught to cut the root so that it would generate new ones.
We also soaked them in water and super-gel which is a chemical that gels up and prompts water attaching to the roots rather than the surrounding grass.
Dennie drove the Mike's tractor.
He attaches a pole on the front so that you know the spacing from row to row and then Mike sat on the back and just knew when to insert the tree.
When you get to the end of the row, you turn the pole the other way, very much like a corn planter arm.
I was able to keep up with the guys handing out the trees and they just kept moving.
YEAH WE HAVE TREES!

Trees arrive, 3 boxes. All sorted, bundled, wrapped in wet newspaper and plastic.
We opened them to allow air but tried to keep them cool. It was exciting.

Wait for the trees. Confirmed that they would come as we asked before April 24th so we could plant that Friday. Trees were ordered from Chief River Nursery in Hayward, WI.

Contact Mike Gould of the Fayette Sportsman club about planting
He taught it would cost $300 or less. Wow, that isn't bad. Contracted him
to plant.

Ordering Trees

On April 6th, 2009 I ordered
300 White Pine
250 White Spruce
100 Black Cherry
100 Red Oak
100 Swamp White Oak
and some misc trees for the yard.
Total cost under $800.00.
On our way to starting a Christmas tree farm.

Starting LLC

On March 24th, 2009 we filed articles of Organization for a limited Liability Company.

We are officially known as Deere Hollow LLC. YEAH!