kinda hard to see the forest 

         today was spent working on planting trees here on farm . we are planting our bare root trees in pots as they came from the state approved nursery.  and the reason we went with pots as opposed to just planting in the ground is to assure the seedlings have the greatest chance of survival . a couple of weeks ago i was planting trees at a reclamation area in Jefferson county and asked the forester there about the survival rates they expect on their trees in strip mine areas and they said first year survival seem to be around 80 per cent when they undergo massive ripping efforts . they are taking bare root seedlings the same as mine or in poorer condition and planting them direct in ripped or tilled ground with a tree spade. 

        i will be planting direct into gallon pots and allowing the roots to gain a ball of soil and establish a root ball as well as nourishing the plant prior to planting. also with the new seedlings watering is important . in the strip area it receives no watering except what ever rainfall happens to fall on newly planted tree. i am planting in a pot with peat in bottom of the pot followed by a bare root tree with moist roots and then a organic soil mix i have made on farm utilizing out topsoil and amended by composted manure. this is packed tightly around the bare roots assuring good root and soil contact. and then followed by a topping of peat . all this is soaked quite thoroughly and will be monitored before moving to a growing area. 

      some pine trees like white pine after a period of five years will grow up to 5 foot per year. and really with optimum growing conditions don't see these trees lasting a long time in these pots. and i am hoping for art least 90 percent survivability, and better if possible. will keep the trees in this area so i can monitor their growth and attend to them if needed at this critical time of transplanting. i was reading where white pine has grown to widths over four feet regularly and some up to five and even six feet across. these trees being mostly virgin timber are rare. white pine is a good all around lumber tree . colorado blue spruce , douglas fir , norway spruce , scots pine , and white pine are the five pine tree varieties we have planted . and we are also looking into buying apple trees as they are also a tree well suited to area and provides food for deer and such when planted . 

      the ducks continue to add to their egg pile as i strive to find a way to keep temperature regulated in the incubator. to high a temperature will result in cooking the eggs . it is most important to maintain it at 100- 102 degrees over the 28 days it takes to hatch. hope fully tomorrow i will be able to better regulate temperature and also finish planting trees and regain control of my refrigerator. keeping bare rooted trees in refrigerator at close to 34 degrees puts the trees in hibernation and allows you time to get things ready to plant . this is the ideal way to save trees if you are unable to plant right away.