July 28, 2008; Windham County, Vermont

     My 13 year old son and I went for quick tour of several ridges I roam every fall and were SO PLEASED with what we found!  We haven't had any substantial amount of acorns - or much of any mast - for several years, but NOT the case this year.  We found loads and loads of red oak acorns; some smaller ones knocked off by hail, thunderstorms and high winds but TONS of juicy acorns still up in the branches:

     We found a decent amount of deer sign.  It's tough to find this time of year so we looked toward some runs/trails near several known wet spots where tracks were more visible.  Nice bunch of turkey scratchings too, across the oak ridge benches.

     After cruising the oaks we swung by a few of our plantings and noted some awesome returning, 2-year brassicas and some freshly seeded brassica plots (essex rape):

     I think for the most part our micro-plots have maintained their dignity this year.  We've had more than our share of thunderstorms, even two or three peltings of hail.  The critters haven't seemed to mind anyway, and lots of focus has been toward the rasberries, blackberries and sumac (fertilizing, trimming) in the event that our plots end up looking like our washed driveway!

     Though the deer and turkey (?) numbers appear to be a little low due to our harder-than-average winter, the forage and feed look good for those that remain.  Time's going by quick (summer's half over and the kids will be back in school in only a month... already!) and cold nights will be upon us in no time.  We're lookin' forward to a color-filled autumn and eventful days afield!

VP 

PS.  Cowpeas, Soybeans and Austrian winter peas are growin' good too, notice the deer nibble on the bean stalk in the photo's center: