Sunday, July 31, 2011

M & H Becomes a Major Partner

We had new challenges this second season. M & H stepped up to the plate in many ways. They donated time and equipment to "scrape off" the debris and unwanted vegetation to prepare the plots for seeding.

M & H Construction drove their bulldossers along challenging gravel roads to prepare these remote plots.


M & H also used their trucks to stand for hours, allowing the ash to slowly fill from Boralex's hoppers. This clean woodash created from biomass was then trucked and dumped to the new food plots. Thanks to Maine Environmental, part of this job was financed. Maine Environmental, a eastern Maine environmental waste company that specializes in beneficial reuse helped facilitate this new relationship.







On the right photograph, is Shannon Giles, from Maine Environmental in Herman, Maine who is helping M&H truck driver to get ready to dump the ash.
















Whata Drag!!!

For the second season of the Logging Company Partnership, we have purchased and/or created new devices to meet the demand of north woods wildlife gardening. The magazines don't talk much about deer plots in such rugged inhospitable terrain here in Western Maine.

Rick Baker has designed a 400 pound drag that aerates and smooths the soil before seeding. Thanks to M&H Trucking, who donated these rusty skidder chains, this improvised dragger really does the trick.























We have purchased a new ATV-driven seed spreader and invite any land-owner to buy a share in it. That way we can start a cooperative to develop the habitat on private lands. This spreader has saved lots of man labor in getting the seed on Seven Islands' winter road. This year we have tweeked our seed mix by adding a small portion of forage turnip. Once frost occurs, the leaves are changed from protein to carbohydrate which will help fatten the deer up for their winter endurance.


The Spreader has an adjustable rate of spreading











I bet you are wondering how can 2 people manage a 400 pound drag. . . .




This seeding job only took 2 and 1/2 hours.