bowmanaj

Ha, good stuff.

I'm looking into the York apple trees..They sound awesome, ripening right around the start of bow season. My buddy has two that hold fruit throughout winter but I'm not sure what kind they are, I'll find out. This is all long term thinking obviously, but I really would like to get a little orchard going

haystack

It takes time for apple trees especially, but once they start producing NOTHING draws deer better. Plus most apple trees are very long lived. I know of some that has lived for over 50 years! So some of those you are planting could be around when you are an old man

bowmanaj

Haha thats what Im hoping.. Anything I can do to bring in more wildlife I wanna do, even if it takes years.

haystack

Bowman, I found a few pictures of both of the sweet corn varieties we mentioned, I had to take a picture of a picture and its not as clear as I would have liked. The first one is Kandy Korn, its got a purple stalk, shuck and tassel and gets 6 to 7 ft tall.



This is the "sugar buns" its a very healthy variety but it is short..4 to 5 ft, this is right at pollination time.



One other thing I should mention on the fruit trees, I dont know if you have considered Pear trees, but one variety that ripens late is called a KIEFFER, in my area it ripens mid-Oct- Nov and is the lowest maintenance fruit tree that I know of. It will do good without spray and is very disease resistant, not much if any pruning, and lives a very long time, well over 50 yrs. And deer love them. I will get some pictures of some very old apple and pear trees later on.

bowmanaj

Haystack, awesome pictures thanks for posting them. Also, thanks for the info on pear trees, I was looking at some they had at home depot, but I will look for "kieffer" pear trees. That is some very nice looking corn, I hopesome day I have little gardens that look like that. That Kandy Korn sure does get tall.

Also guys, another question, sorry..Howdoes sweet corn do for wildlife if left standing??All the farmers around here grow soy beans, different types of bush beans,and corn. I have no idea what kind of corn it is, but only small patches are left standing, not much...
I'm planning on leaving a little of the Kandy Korn (that i decided i'll plantalonsgside wherethe clover)standing throughout the fall and winter for wildlife. Howwould it fare left standing? Would the coons leave any for the deer?

I should also note that I'm protectingall the little corn plots throughout the growing season, and plan on taking down the "deer nets" inearly october. The corn we'll eat willbe harvested at the correct day to harvest,72 for the sugar buns and around 85-89 for Kandy Korn (i'm confused about this harvest date, I've read 3 different things, but I'll go with what you all said)......But I guess my question is will the standing sweet corn be a contender against the farmers corn ? ? The bean farmers are close, at the bottom of my ridge, butthe closest corn is down in the bottoms about 1.5-2 miles away. Sorry for the long-winded question but i thought I should explain some context.

I really appreciate allyou guys taking time to share your knowledge.. I'm just really blessed my family got our own littleproperty last yearand I'm excited to make it as best as possible for wildlife. You guys sure do know your stuff.

haystack

On those maturity dates, it is influenced by many factors. Soilman can probably explain it better than I can, but I will give you an example. I grow Ambrosia it is a 75 day corn, last year I planted on Apr 21 and it was Jul 15 when it was ready, a total of 86 days. Day length, soil temp, heat units, cloudy days all effect maturity. The Stokes seed catalog or web site is a good place to learn about that subject also.

As far as sweet corn for food plots, yes, deer will definitely use it but it does not produce nearly as much as field corn. One other major disadvantage is will not stand as long/good as field corn, just does not have stalk strength as field corn. 'coons could be a real problem, but I have noticed if there are lots of acorns they will not demolish as bad later in the fall.

With the nearest corn fields that far away, it would definitely do you some good. But unless you have the equipment, it will be very hard to plant a field big enough to last the deer and other wildlife on in to fall. Plus it has gotten very expensive to plant corn, This year it is going to cost 400.00 bucks an acre in my area. I'm not trying to discourage you, just letting you know what to expect. You may be able to do it cheaper with some research also. Now this is getting long winded, but its what I like talking about (LOL)

haystack

In 2003, my elderly neighbor sold part of his farm to couple from a big city, I nearly fainted when they came to visit and ask if I would be willing to help if they put in a orchard. My answer was yes,yes,yes. Since then over 5000 fruit trees of all kinds have been planted and the deer population has tripled. I got extremely lucky, considering most farm land in my area gets developed 9 times out of 10. These pictures was taken last year about this time, we have been much cooler this year and the trees are just starting get buds.

bowmanaj

Wow, that is quite an orchard.. Very impressive

About the sweet corn, that makes sense. I figured with such small plots it would not do much good, but I figure if I leave4-5 rows standingon thearea by the clover, it would create some sort of a "wall" that would make the deer feel more comfortable coming off the ridge. Especially with how tallKandy Korn gets.That might not make sense unless you saw the actual lay of the land.

Either way, I've learned a lot thanks again.
I'm already thinking of things I wanna do next year based on what I've seen. And spring just got here

Soilman

The"days to maturity" is the approximate number of days after emergence that the crop will mature. Warm spells (close to 86 degrees with adequate moisture) will shorten the number of days to maturity. It is best to check your corn frequently, and peel open a couple cobs when the silks are drying. Once you put a seed in the ground, you are at the mercy of the weather. All you can do is pray (or irrigate if you have that ability).Weeds can be controlled without divine intervention.

That is a nice looking orchard Haystack. Glad the land wasn't covered in concrete.

bowmanaj

Thanks for the info on checking the corn frequently. I basically live at the farm in the summer so I will be there a lot to make sure they get water.
I have a water source on the property that lets me reach almost anywhere in the field and pasture with 2, 90 foot sections of hose and lawn sprinklers. Thats the best I can do during dry spells, but it helped a lotlast year. After doing landscaping for the last seven years, I hate weeds[:@]. I'm hoping mowing the clover and using a handheld cultivator for the cornwill be enough.The only kind of herbicide I was planning on using was Preenspecifically forVegetable gardens, putting it down after the corn is established. Is this a good idea? I know I'll have to clear all the weeds first because it only stops germination and won't kill existing weeds. Is it worth it? I've heard mixed things