One week of cold, snowy weather and I am already thinking about spring.
One event that can get us in spring spirit is the annual Clinton County Soil and Water Conservation District tree seedling sale. The trees are offered as a low cost source of plant materials for wildlife, timber plantings, windbreaks, and other conservation uses. They are available to anyone without restriction. Because of their low cost, they cannot furnish replacements, nor can they mail or deliver the packets.
Anyone that purchases trees will be notified by postcard or email as to when and where to pick up the trees, normally in the middle of April. Weather conditions at the nurseries will determine when the plants can be dug and shipped.
These plants are 1 to 4 year seedlings or 5 to 6 year transplants and average 8 to 18 inches in height. Most orders will fit in a regular-sized grocery bag.
There will be several different conifers to choose from such as American Arborvitae, Douglas fir, Austrian Pine, Eastern White Pine, Colorado Blue Spruce, Norway Spruce, Concolor Fir, and Scotch pine.
Another set of tree packages to choose from includes the deciduous varieties such as: the American Hazelnut, River Birch, Chinese Chestnut, Pin Oak, Black Walnut, Sugar Maple, Tulip Popular, Northern Red Oak, and White Oak.
There are also shrub packages such as: Red Osier Dogwood, Black Chokeberry, American Cranberry, Common Lilac, Arrowwood, Eastern Redbud, Black Cherry and the White Flowering Dogwood.
Finally they have different packets of select varieties for special purposes such as the Wildlife packet, the Songbird packet, the Homeowner packet and the Hardwood packet.
These packets each contain an assortment of trees and/or shrubs for specific uses. For example – The songbird packet is designed to attract songbirds of course and it will include such shrubs as 5 Red Osier Dogwood, 5 Black Chokeberry, 5 American Cranberry, and 5 Black Cherry.
Almost all the trees are sold in packages of 10 trees and they will cost less than $2 per tree.
Order forms and all the information can be picked up from the Clinton County Soil and Water office at 111 South Nelson Avenue in Wilmington. For more information you can call Christie in their office at (937) 382 – 2461 ext. 101. Orders must be received in the District office with payment by March 3, 2017.
While on the idea of spring, it won’t be long before we are in the middle of planting season. In honor of planting season, there will be a daylong Planter University workshop offered Feb. 28 by the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.
The workshop, held at Beck’s Hybrid’s, 720 U.S. 40 in London, Ohio, will offer farmers a hands-on opportunity to learn more about advancements in planter technology as well as hear directly from researchers and experts on the issues.
The focus for this event is on farmers and agronomists that support farmers when it comes to decisions around the planting operation. The workshop is set up to provide information to help producers obtain peak operating performance of the planter.
Workshop topics will include:
• Planter setup for maximizing yield potential
• Unmanned aerial vehicles and imagery for planting evaluations
• Precision planting: seed and nutrient placement to maximize profit
• Managing compaction
• Fertilizer placement at planting
• Electronic drive technology
• Data needs for supporting planting decisions
• The future of planting technology
The workshop is from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The event will also feature 15 vendors focused on planting operations. Several varieties of planters will be on site, including representatives from Case IH, John Deere and Precision Agri Services Inc.
Registration for Planter University is $50 and includes the program, handouts, lunch and refreshments. For more information or to register, contact John Fulton at 937-484-1526 or 740-852-0975. The deadline to register is Feb. 20.
Tony Nye is the state coordinator for the Ohio State University Extension Small Farm Program and has been an OSU Extension Educator for agriculture and natural resources for 29 years, currently serving Clinton County and the Miami Valley EERA.
