Welcome to Forgotten Acres

Spring of 1999 Grandma and Grandpa decided to enroll in the USDA Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP). WHIP helps pay up to 75% of establishment costs of fish and wildlife habitat. The Forgotten Acres project includes 14.5 acres of native prairie restoration, prescribed burning, 1.5 ac wildlife opening, 41 ac. of timberstand improvement and planting of 4000 native hardwood trees. We have the next ten years to complete this project.

I am restoring 14.5 acres of pastureland back to native prairie grasses and wild flowers.

In August of 1999, I mowed all of the pasture. It took me 15 hours since it was so rough. I let it regrow to about 1 foot high and hired the Stewartville elevator to spray Roundup on 12.0 acres. I was surprised they would even consider spraying something so rough. Dad and I hand sprayed the remaining 2.5 acres. This took about 8 hours to complete. In about a week everything was dead.

Spring of 2000 Clarence (Jill's Dad) brought out the big equipment to disk the fields and level them out. The fields worked up nice and left enough grass residue to prevent soil erosion.

On May 15th, I rented Fillmore Soil and Water Districts Truax Native grass drill to seed the project. I planted 5 grass species and 15 species of wildflowers.( See list) On May 17th the farm received 6 inches of rain. I thought the seed might have washed away but the grass residue saved the planting. I mowed the sight 3 times in 2000 to keep all weed pressure to a minimum. By Fall of 2000, the grasses and wildflowers started showing up. June 2001 I mowed the entire project again due to heavy bromegrass, broadleaf, and thistle. The wet Spring was great for growing weeds. Dad and I also walked the entire project and hand sprayed thistle. Look at the pictures to see some of the wildflowers and grasses.

The woodsland was logged in 1995 and a mess of tree tops were left. Dad and I have spent time cutting apart those tree tops and creating some cover for the animals that inhabit the woods. Since the woods had been pastured over the years there is very little natural regeneration of Oaks, Walnuts, and other hardwood species present. We will be planting certain areas Red and White Oak, Black Walnut,and some White Pine.

I am also working on 41 acres of timber stand improvement.

Timber Stand Improvement (TSI) involves removing, cutting or chemical spraying undesirable tree and shrub species such as box elder, elm, prickly ash, ironwood, and buchthorn. All of the tree planting is done by hand since areas are not accessible by machinery. Some areas of the woods has exceptional Ash regeneration. I will not have to do much in those areas.

Almost all of the tree planting will be done by hand since areas are not accessible by machinery.

On April 21 and 28th, 600 red and white oak were hand planted on the Southside of the woods.

Direct Hardwood Seeding
An innovative approach to hardwood regeneration (see Advantages of Direct Hardwood Seeding below)

August 2002 Brome Grass Pasture

Site Preparation

Hardwood Seeds:
Front Row (left to right) Hickory, White Oak, Bur Oak, Red Oak
Back Row: Green Ash, Butternut, Hackberry, Walnut, Chstnut

White Oak Acorns

Seed Mixers - Carter & Brandon

Hand Seeding - Dave & Bill

Disking in Seed

October 2003

June 2004 - Oak and Walnut seedlings starting to grow

Establishing hardwood trees by sowing seed is a relatively new method that has several advantages over traditional planting of seedlings.

Advantages over seedling planting include:

1. Better and quicker establishment: Direct seeding establishes thousands of seedlings per acre rather than hundreds per acre with traditional planting. Trees reach "crown closure" and begin shading out grass and weed competition earlier. Follow-up grass and weed control typically only needs to be done for 2 years after seeding, instead of 8 to 12 years with planting.
2. Higher quality timber: Greater density of seedlings forces trees to grow straighter due to side competition from nearby stems. Competition decreases pruning needs and produces higher quality hardwood saw logs.
3. Better use of natural selection: Trees best suited to a particular site will dominate because of large numbers of seed and species.
4. Better adaptation to variations in site conditions: Small variances in site conditions aren't planned for when planting seedlings. With direct seeding, species and specimens best suited will take over in each area.
5. More natural appearance: Direct seeding is a much closer approximation of mother nature's hardwood establishment method than seedling planting in rows.
6. Better ability to withstand animal predation: Animals such as deer, while still causing damage by browsing, will be less likely to devastate a direct seeding than a traditional seedling plantation due to far greater stems per acre.
   

Direct Seeding Methods:

Site preparation: Sites covered by grass must be clipped in mid August to early September. The grass is then allowed to grow back several inches and is killed with a broadcast treatment of herbicide. After dieback, the field must be tilled black. As an alternative, discing a number of times through the summer is best. If a site is in an annual crop such as oats, corn or soybeans, a light discing is all that is necessary, unless field was "no-till" drilled, then a heavy discing or chisel plowing followed by discing. In either case, grass waterways and contour strips should be left to minimize erosion. Apply a pre-emergent herbicide in fall or spring for annual grass control. Contact local forester for advice.

Seed collection and storage: Seed collection and storage is often more than a landowner can tackle alone. Knowledge of characteristics of many kinds of seed (ripening times, moisture and storage requirements, etc.) is a must. There are vendors who sell seed from experienced collectors. This is often the best method for landowners to obtain viable, high quality seed. If landowners wish to collect seed on their own, they should contact their local forester for species specific handling and storage advice.

Grasses planted

• Big Bluestem
• Blue Grama
• Canada Wild Rye
• Indiangrass
• Side Oats Grama
• Slender Wheat Grass
• Switchgrass

Prior to European settlement, more than 18 million acres of prairie covered Minnesota. Our prairie lands were part of the largest ecosystem in North America, which stretched from Canada to Mexico and from the Rockies to Indiana. A wealth of diverse species, habitats and cultures thrived here.

With its fertile soil, nutritious grasses and aura of possibility, prairie became the basis for an agricultural empire. It also influenced our sense of national identity.

Today, less than one percent of Minnesota's native prairie remains. The near elimination of native prairie has inspired many efforts to protect remaining parcels.

- - info from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Big Bluestem

Plateau (chemical) spray line

(Showing prairies can be established in one year with proper weed control)

Twin Walnuts, sprouted from logged stump, (logged in 1995). These are in the North pasture surrounded by native grass/flower planting.

There were 30 Canadian Geese on the pond while Dennis was mowing.

Looking Southwest, toward Groski's.

Jill sorting acorns