Planting the meadow

I am getting ready to order the grass seeds for our two 0.5 acre plots of cool season grasses and warm season grasses.  I will probably order the seeds from Ernst Conservation Seeds as they seem to have the best assortment, good prices, and they provide pure live seed (PLS). 

 

For the Warm Season Grasses, based on the Technical Guide Reference Number 122, I will probably go with a combination of

Big Bluestem (Niagara certified NY)  – 2 lbs

Indiangrass (PA ecotype) – 1 lbs

Little Bluestem (Fort Indiantown Gap PA ecotype) – 1 lbs

Switchgrass (Cave In Rock IL ecotype and Blackwell OK ecotype) – 2 lbs

Purpletop – 1 lbs

Wildflowers (Plateau Tolerant Wildflower Mix ERNMX-166-1) – 1 lb

·         20% Bachelor's Button Tall Mixed/Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus, Tall Mixed)

·         16% Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus)

·         10% Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

• 10% Perennial Gaillardia (Blanketflower) (Gaillardia aristata)
• 7% Partridge Pea, PA Ecotype (Chamaecrista fasciculata (Cassia f.), PA Ecotype)
• 6% Oxeye Daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum)
• 5% Lanceleaf Coreopsis, Coastal Plain NC Ecotype (Coreopsis lanceolata, Coastal Plain NC Ecotype)
• 5% Marsh (Dense) Blazing Star (Spiked Gayfeather), PA Ecotype (Liatris spicata, PA Ecotype)
• 5% Illinois Bundleflower (Desmanthus illinoensis)
• 4% Shasta Daisy (Chrysanthemum maximum)
• 3% Yellow Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida columnifera)
• 3% Blue Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
• 3% Grey Headed Coneflower, OH Ecotype (Ratibida pinnata, OH Ecotype)
• 2% Blackeyed Susan, Coastal Plain NC Ecotype (Rudbeckia hirta, Coastal Plain NC Ecotype)
• 1% Plains Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria)

For the Cool Season Grass seeds, I will likely go with 2 lbs each of:

·         Orchard Grass (Pennlate)

·         Wild Rye, Canada (PA ecotype)

·         Legumes

§  Alfalfa, Vernal

§  Sweet Clover,Yellow Blossom

§  Birdsfoot Trefoil (Empire and Norcen)

·         Wheatgrass, Slender

·         Flat Pea (Lathco)

·         Austrian Winter Pea

WHIP plantings draft plan

I am getting ready to order the grass seeds for our two 0.5 acre plots of cool season grasses and warm season grasses.  I will probably order the seeds from Ernst Conservation Seeds as they seem to have the best assortment, good prices, and they provide pure live seed (PLS). 

 

For the Warm Season Grasses, based on the Technical Guide Reference Number 122, I will probably go with a combination of

Big Bluestem (Niagara certified NY)  – 2 lbs

Indiangrass (PA ecotype) – 1 lbs

Little Bluestem (Fort Indiantown Gap PA ecotype) – 1 lbs

Switchgrass (Cave In Rock IL ecotype and Blackwell OK ecotype) – 2 lbs

Purpletop – 1 lbs

Wildflowers (Plateau Tolerant Wildflower Mix ERNMX-166-1) – 1 lb

·         20% Bachelor's Button Tall Mixed/Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus, Tall Mixed)

·         16% Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus)

·         10% Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

• 10% Perennial Gaillardia (Blanketflower) (Gaillardia aristata)
• 7% Partridge Pea, PA Ecotype (Chamaecrista fasciculata (Cassia f.), PA Ecotype)
• 6% Oxeye Daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum)
• 5% Lanceleaf Coreopsis, Coastal Plain NC Ecotype (Coreopsis lanceolata, Coastal Plain NC Ecotype)
• 5% Marsh (Dense) Blazing Star (Spiked Gayfeather), PA Ecotype (Liatris spicata, PA Ecotype)
• 5% Illinois Bundleflower (Desmanthus illinoensis)
• 4% Shasta Daisy (Chrysanthemum maximum)
• 3% Yellow Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida columnifera)
• 3% Blue Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
• 3% Grey Headed Coneflower, OH Ecotype (Ratibida pinnata, OH Ecotype)
• 2% Blackeyed Susan, Coastal Plain NC Ecotype (Rudbeckia hirta, Coastal Plain NC Ecotype)
• 1% Plains Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria)

For the Cool Season Grass seeds, I will likely go with 2 lbs each of:

·         Orchard Grass (Pennlate)

·         Wild Rye, Canada (PA ecotype)

·         Legumes

§  Alfalfa, Vernal

§  Sweet Clover,Yellow Blossom

§  Birdsfoot Trefoil (Empire and Norcen)

·         Wheatgrass, Slender

·         Flat Pea (Lathco)

·         Austrian Winter Pea

As part of the NRCS grant  we are targeting oaks, black cherries, and hickory trees to release on 1-4 sides exposing them to more sunlight and allowing their crowns to expand and hopefully result in more hard mast (acorns/nuts/berries).   Today, after a quick trip to Lowes for 16" Poulan chainsaw, we took down 5 or 6 red maples that were shading some oaks and cherry trees.  There were others in the way of the saw, but they were rainbowed or already dead.  Maybe 50 left to cut, then we'll call in an expert to do the big aspen.
All of this wood will have to dry for next year's firewood.

Reading: Focus ****Leo Babauta,  a free ebook available in PDF format  at http://focusmanifesto.com/
simplify declutter and focus time to create.

NRCS--CSP

We met with Kathy Rohrer and Amanda Coleman at NRCS to sign our contract for a variety of Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) practices over the next 5 years, including a hardwood crop tree release, forest wildlife structures, establish a pollinator habitat, and multi-story cropping, sustainable management of non-timber forest plants (ginseng). 

The crop tree release and the wildlife structures start in 2010 (and most of these practices have to be done by the end of the year) so we are going to work on them this fall.  The part of our property that we have set aside for that includes a mixed maple/oak/hickory section. We have walked through this section and based on our review we think it is a good candidate with 5 or 6 maple trees (or more) to every 1 hardwood tree in the stand and most of the tree diameters less than 8” DBH. 

Stairs to the basement

 

stairs down to the basement

Bill and Jonas finished the basic stairs down today. HVAC Adrian put in more ducts.  We decided to leave open the upstairs hall ceiling between the bedroom and bath.  The pretty tongue and groove up high will be the ceiling. We now have the Quoizel sconces and dining room chandelier.
We visited Amish John to nail down the final details for the cabinets.  His factory isn't as hard to find as we had feared,  Since we were in the area we also visited with Kathy (570 726 3196 x124) at NRCS to start the CSP and EQIP paperwork.  A pollinator garden, a timber stand improvement for mast tree release and perhaps some trail improvement were on our list.