Outdoor columnist Dan Geddings: Our farm

We have planted longleaf pines on a portion of our Sumter County property. The strip of pines is along both sides of a shared drive that leads to our new home and Ginger's sister Rhonda and husband Johnny's home. The pines are a year old now and are in a "grass stage." They will stay in the grass stage until they grow a good tap root then have a spurt of growth to the "bottlebrush stage," probably by next year.

The land was an open cornfield when we first acquired the property. A friend plowed the field, and we had a clean slate to start with. We laid out our houses and started construction. We built on a slab about two feet above the natural ground to ensure good drainage. I found bits of glass, metal and porcelain in the plowed ground - evidence that other people had lived here at one time.

It was a wet year when we started, and the land is very flat, so we had some trouble accessing the property until Ginger's Dad graded the shared drive. A short driveway to our house turns off the shared drive. We eventually had crusher run placed on our driveway. Our house is about 300 yards from the busy highway and another 100 yards off the shared drive.

We ditched along our property line that runs parallel to the nearby highway and used the excavated material to construct a low berm. I've planted hardwood trees along the berm to include cypress, red maples and tulip poplars. An existing ditch ran from our property to the nearby highway ditch. A small pond was excavated, and I've installed a flashboard riser in the ditch at the berm.

The plowed land quickly grew up in a variety of weeds. We got a heavy stand of dog fennel, sickle pod and some thistle. There wasn't much thistle, and I pulled it up by hand. The sickle pod was much heavier, but I've managed to pull it up from our yard areas. We bought a small tractor, a disc harrow and a rotary mower. I've used those on the dog fennel. If dog fennel were a cash crop, we would all be millionaires.

The longleaf pines were planted before the dog fennels were a problem, and we had the rows of pines sprayed to control the weeds. But the dog fennels have rebounded and are possibly shading out the pines. I've bush hogged the dog fennels recently in an effort to help control them. I've learned through experience that bush hogging newer growth in the spring will set back the dog fennels and stimulate the grasses to sprout, especially broom straw.

I did a small area near the house last summer, and it worked out very well. There's a beautiful stand of broom straw there, and the pines will do better in the broom straw. It looks like some pines will need to be replanted where the dog fennels shaded them out. We'll probably do that next winter when we add additional acres in longleaf. Soon I'll plow some fire breaks around the trees when the ground dries out a little better.

Last summer I planted a patch of sunflowers out by the highway. They did very well, and we enjoyed their beauty. This year I think I'll plant a big food plot for the deer, rabbits and quail closer to the house. Probably throw in some sunflowers and zinnia flowers, too. I also plan to expand the size of our pond this summer. I'll do the excavation myself.

We're adding poultry to the Geddings Farm. I've already got some ducks in my new aviary, and I'm planning on getting some junglefowl and peacocks. We're also getting a small flock of chickens. Ginger is really excited about the chickens. Hopefully by the summer we will have fresh eggs daily. At one time, Ginger wanted goats, but I don't know about that.

I'm retired now and can devote time to our farming enterprises. We'll grow a little something for us and a little something for the wildlife. I think that's a good thing.

Reach Dan Geddings at cdgeddings@gmail.com.