Collins Kids Black Walnut Plantation

[George Collins]

We broke 300 today.

My two oldest girls were unable to help as they had a piano lesson. Their fine motor skills are invaluable when digging seeds out of the stratification media to check for germination. Since is was just my clumsy butt (NO WAY them knuckle-headed boys were going to get their rough hands amongst all those tender tap roots), I concentrated on picking the easy fruit. Once I had a few we headed to the field and planted what turned out to be 18 bringing the total up from 285 to 303.

[George Collins]

After helping my neighbor plant a couple more trees in his forest garden, I returned home and resumed the process of identifying germinated seeds. No sooner had I got started than an old friend made an appearance whom I had not seen since last summer.

That there is a king snake. I named him "Dog."

We be friends. Whenever I see him, I always like, "Whut up, Dog!"

Dude wasn't much for conversation today. He was obviously on the prowl as he was moving fast - checking every nook and cranny as he came upon them. Just as well, there was a massive rain storm headed our way. The time between lighting flash and thunder boom was 12 seconds and a light rain had commenced when we (my neighbor whom I've assisted with the forest garden had agreed to help me plant today) decided we better get what seed we had collected into the ground.

We made a hasty trip to the field and put 27 more sets in place. That brings our total up to 330.

[George Collins]

Broke 400 today.

On the night of the 21st we received ~ 5" of rain. Remembering what Harry Dodson said in The Victorian Kitchen Garden, "You want to plant wet and sow dry," I jumped hard on the 22nd and planted 46 solo.

Given that the earth was still saturated, I was on my toes when daylight broke today and got 19 before work and 15 more when I got home bringing the total up to 410.

Touring the grove after the last nut went in today, I found where something had dug up and apparently made off with one of my childre . . . uh, seeds.

The bastard!

And THAT'S why we own CZ-455s.

Cause SOMETHING has done gone and made the list. It's time for daddy to go long.

On a side note, just in case anyone is wondering what 2,000 black walnut seeds looks like in stratification media:

[George Collins]

The last of the seeds were extracted from pots with multiple layers and now all seeds can be checked for germination with a casual glance as opposed to having to dig them up and thus risk damaging them. Since they can be easily checked daily, there shouldn't be any more really big planting days. For instance, while digging through the last couple pots of nuts, I found three. Since going to the field to plant just three seems like doing a lot for a little, I gave the ones in the rest of the pots a quick glance and quickly found seven more. Ten seemed like a bit more respectable number (and so round) so now we are up to 420.

[matt walker]

That's a whole lot of planting George. Way to go man.

[George Collins]

We watered all trees yesterday. We started shortly after 5:00 p.m. and the last tree was watered just before 7:00 p.m.

One reason it took so long is because we didn't just scale up last year's operation, but changed it in several respects. Had all members of the watering detail been as skilled in their new roles as thy were by the end of watering season last year, it surely would have gone faster. Having said that, we're not even half done with the number of potential walnut sets that we could possible end up making.

Looks like this summer may be like the three months spent on Parris Island: a three-month long gut check.

[pa_friendly_guy]

Maybe you should invest in some new technology George. How much water is needed for the job? How much water is given to each tree? With that info I would consider buying some sort of Large plastic tank and having it on a trailer of some sort that the tractor can move around for you. There are small electric motors that run sprayers off the battery of the tractor. Hook one up to the tank and use it to water. You might be able to walk along with a long hose watering as the tractor drives along slowly. It might be possible to sit on your behind on the tractor with a wand and water the trees that way. I am a big believer in being able to sit on my behind and getting things done with the tractor since you have one. With that many trees you will need alot of gal. of water. Even filling the tank will take some time. Fortunately that job does not require you to be there watching 100% of the time. You can fill a big tank while you eat your supper, or what ever. Just time how long it takes the tank to fill the 1st time and you will know how much spare time you have while it fills up each time you use it. Smaller tanks or buckets will of course work, but a large tank with more holding capacity will make your life way better. lol When you have a big job to do having the right tool makes all the difference in the world. Just a thought, If I had been through Parris Island Training, I do not know if I would want to do that again, lol, I have always heard from my Jar-Head friends that once was enough of that.

[George Collins]

Guy,

We use stadium cups to water with. Each is filled about 1/2 to 2/3rds full for each walnut. With the nine planted yesterday, our total is up to 429. We are also tending my uncle's trees and he has about 100 so that brings the total up to ~ 529.

Then there are the three chestnuts recently planted along with the two that we moved to new homes which are being treated the same as the bare root seedlings just planted. That brings the total up to 534. The chestnuts deserve a special mention also because their location is, by far, the most inaccessible and are located on a steep hill. Watering the first row is easy: it's all down hill. It's that second row that is a man check.

Now add in the forest garden which is being watered, for the greater part, on the same schedule as the walnuts since most of them were bare root seedlings. The only difference being that the standard sized trees get two stadium cups full and those in the low tree and bush layer each get one full stadium cup. There are approximately 40 standard sized trees and probably half that many in the shrub and low tree layer so call it 60ish. That brings the total up to a number knocking on 600.

Yesterday, we used a 55 gallon drum and a 30 gallon pot that Youngblood has left over from buying molasses blocks for his cows. We filled those two containers nearly full and we already had probably 10 5-gallon buckets already in the field that had been half filled with rain water. We weren't totally out of water when we left the walnut grove, but we were very, very close. To water my uncle's trees, we had to refill maybe 5 or 6 5-gallon buckets mostly full.

To water the forest garden took about 5, 5-gallon buckets and to water the chestnuts took about 2/3rds of a 5-gallon bucket.

The way the operation runs, is we fill up as many big containers as we think we'll need, take two times as many 5-gallon buckets as we have those that will be doing the actual watering and head to the grove. Once there, I fill buckets for all of those doing actual watering with as much water as their strength will allow them to carry and then one for myself. We each take a row and go to work. The ones not watering then form a bucket brigade of sorts and start filling the buckets left on the trailer. As we each run out, we return to the trailer, drop off the empty and get a full one and the process continues until all is done.

Last year, the only thing we were watering were the 170 black walnuts then planted. We got to where we could water them all in probably 15 minutes or so once in the grove. Tack on about 10 minutes of prep time, 5 minutes of lining out the wayward youngun and 30 minutes tops would put us back at the house. (And there was that one trip to the doctor's office, but that's a whole other story.)

The only really big difference this year is the sheer number of trees and the fact that this year's planting is about a mile away whereas those planted last year were a couple hundred yards away.

And while I would never voluntarily go back to Parris Island, there is a trait that Marines seem to share across time: given the choice between gutting it out and investing in new technology . . . we water by hand.

Besides, it makes my kids hard.

[pa_friendly_guy]

You seem to have a good system set up there George, and it works well for you. I guess if it aint broke don't fix it rule applies here. And of course there is always the Hard Kid argument to encourage you to keep up the hand work. Teaching your kids a good work eithic is a valuable leason to learn at their young age. As the number of trees continues to grow you may need a 2nd 55 gal drum, or more 5 gal buckets to hold a bit more water. My thought had been for a 250 gal plastic tank that would be hauled around an a trailer. My neighbor found one used pretty cheap. He has used it in several ways, but now has it under his deck catching rain water to water his garden down the hill maybe 20 feet away. Gravity flow lets him water the garden with out electric, or a water bill for that matter because its all rain water off his roof. If you could find a good use for a tank that size in the future, now might be a good time to make the buy. Even if you still empty it into 5 gal buckets in the field. Just my thoughts.

[George Collins]

Streak broken.

Fence . . . Electrified!

HEY DEER! . . . BRING IT!!

And then there is that hurted left little finger that got between the ground rod and the sledge hammer.

Reminds me of that one episode of The Simpsons where that daredevil dude told Bart, "Pain fades, chicks dig scars and the United States has the best doctor to forest gardener ratio in the world."

(I paraphrased a little.)