Trailcam, Foodplots, Garden and General Stuff 9/18/10

This was a disappointing week on the trailcams.  Somehow I left one of them turned off.  The other two didn't really have much of interest.  The weather continues to be extremely dry.  There was 0.2" in the rain gauge.

Here I am on my weekly "checking the camera" photo.

Getting a little boost for picking apples.

There were a few bucks around but not anything to get excited about.

I'm surprised to see this little guy travelling all alone - it's the time of year for bachelor groups.

The pumpkin vines are all drying up and all of the pumpkins have turned orange.

I started harvesting them - there aren't too many large pumpkins this year but there are a ton of small ones.

I probably only brought 1/4 of them home.  It's times like this that I miss my pickup truck bed.

I hope that they make it to Halloween - still 6 weeks away.

Red apples, green apples and pears.  It's a pretty good year for the fruit (other than cherries).

I picked a bunch of beans - surprised that they're still producing without rain.  The second planting of corn is 6+ feet tall, has ears, but I don't know if it will produce good corn without some rain.

It looks like a good year for the acorns.  That will keep the deer healthy.  I think these acorns are from chestnut oaks.  The white oaks are the preferred acorns for deer early in the season.

This is the clover field in front of the barn stand.  It was lush earlier in the season but it is dried up right now.  I hope that it will come back if we get some rain.

This is the newly planted brassica below the pond stand.  It seems to be making it in spite of no rain.  The clover below it is pretty crispy.

Another look at the clover in the new area below the pond stand.  It is really scorched in some places.

The brassica in the sunflower (firepit) field is doing the worst.  It didn't really get germinated before the dry spell started.

The brassica strips around the soybeans in the orchard field got a better start and seem to be hanging in there in spite of the absence of rain.

More of the brassica in the soybeans by the orchard.  Rain would certainly help but there is none in the forecast for the next week at least.

These are all pears on the ground beside the driveway - an old fruit tree that just keeps producing.  The deer usually stop here on their way into the main field.

This is the "before" picture for the cabin expansion.  Van hopes to start on it a week from Monday.  We should have a new dining area in a "lean-to" on this end of the building in about a month.