As I stood there staring at all the fallen trees entangled in itch weed and thistles my imagination led me to September. I could see myself sitting high above a lush clover plot as the deer came out to feed. First the does with their fawns, followed by the younger bucks. As evening turned to dusk, a mature buck came walking out 20 yards from my stand. I imagined myself coming to full draw and sending an arrow through double lung city leaving a frothy red trail as he ran back to the woods.
As I sat there daydreaming of fall, I knew I could turn this tangled up weed patch into something spectacular. The next night I was back with a chainsaw and began going to work. Even after working 12-13 hour days I still found the motivation to come cut up some brush for an hour a couple of nights a week. Finally, after a couple of weeks of cutting off and on with the chainsaw I had cleared the area of brush and trees and even had dug a few stumps out which seemed to make the area double in size. On to the next step, I had to get rid of all the weeds and thistles which had grew to about 5-6ft. tall. I filled the sprayer on the four-wheeler up and headed back down to the plot. Being careful not to get my young apple trees on the edge of the plot, I gave the whole area a healthy dose of round-up.
A week or two later and all the weeds and thistles were dried up and falling over. Now was the time to hit it with the rotary mower. Although the ground was covered with bark and branches, it was no match for the mower lowered all the way to the ground and the tractor roaring in first gear. A short 20 minutes later the plot was looking better than ever with the weeds gone and the wood chopped to tiny pieces.
As it was the middle of July, the plot could be planted anytime. I just had to play the waiting game for rain. However, work slowed before rain came and since I was only summer help, I got cut for the summer. With nothing better to do, I headed back down to the plot and cleared even more trees out and at least doubled the size of the plot. Now as July is coming to an end, the plot is prepped and ready to be planted with the first sign of August rain. As long as all goes well, come the beginning of September the plot will be a luscious green with a frothy red trail leading into the woods.
James Kleinschmit
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