Author Archives: JohnMatel

Cutting around longleaf pine in Brodnax

Posted on May 26, 2020 by JohnMatel

Down on the farms cutting around the longleaf planted in 2016. They should soon be above the competition, but not yet. I would burn under them, but they are planted near loblolly that I cannot yet burn. So I cut. … Continue reading →

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Brodnax in May 2020

Posted on May 24, 2020 by JohnMatel

Videos of Brodnax We burned on this place four separate times, clear cut 45 acres, thinned another 45 acres to 50 BA, planted longleaf and loblolly pine and are now managing part for oak regeneration.  It is probably our most … Continue reading →

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Bottomland forest

Posted on May 19, 2020 by JohnMatel

no pictures Took part in this seminar on bottomland forests. I call it a success because I came away with two ideas I can use. First regards planting cherry bark oak. I didn’t even know what they were until today. … Continue reading →

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Visit and videos of Freeman

Posted on May 14, 2020 by JohnMatel

I took a bunch of videos at the Freeman place. The link is here. Link to the Freeman videos.

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Visit to Diamond Grove Forest

Posted on May 14, 2020 by JohnMatel

I have been caring for this land for fifteen years now. I made a series of videos at various places around Diamond Grove. The videos are self explanatory. This is the link to they YouTube.

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Forest visits May 2020

Posted on May 8, 2020 by JohnMatel

Chrissy came along to our socially isolated farms, so I have pictures that are not selfies to give perspective to my trees. Rocket stage First is a longleaf from the generation planted 2016, which means it is going into its … Continue reading →

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Memories of longleaf

Posted on May 6, 2020 by JohnMatel

I think most old people worry about losing their mental capacity.  I know I do (BTW, I have long since given up on that physical capacity worry). I seem to have a good memory for things that happened decades ago, … Continue reading →

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Kettle Moraine Camping

Posted on May 6, 2020 by JohnMatel

I still get the Story Worth Questions, even if I do not always write answers. This one asked me to describe my first camping trip. It is below. The first time I went camping was in when my HS friend … Continue reading →

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Social isolation walk

Posted on May 3, 2020 by JohnMatel

Chrissy & I did our socially isolated walking today. There are lots of people out walking in the parks and trials of northern Virginia. People keep their distance, but smile as they walk withing six feet of each other. It … Continue reading →

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Boozy plans

Posted on April 28, 2020 by JohnMatel

I have big plans for my social isolation down on the farms. As I wrote elsewhere, I have planted my seeds & trees and it is too early to cut the weeds. My new idea – a split rail fence. … Continue reading →

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