Eric Hanson

Sorry Jason, I got distracted.

You really want to keep the soil moist.  How often does it rain over winter in your neck of the woods?  Judging from your pictures, you have some good mulch on your plants so I would think that would help a lot.  I would guess that you could get by with once per week watering if it does not rain and the soil dries out.  But so long as you have moist soil, you should not need to water over the winter.

Eric

Hi Jason,

A plant gone dormant over winter, especially if it lost its leaves, is not exactly going to grow, but some metabolic activity does take place, notably in the roots.  Importantly, the roots will continue to release exudates that feed bacteria, fungi and some other microbes.  That activity is extremely important for your overall soil health.

Actually Winter is a good time to plant trees as they don’t have to worry about getting growth, but instead focus on maintaining root health and establishing root bacteria and fungal colonies.

Eric

Diane,

My suggestion is to go with the cheapest bagged soil you can find.  You have the nicely decomposed wood chips so that is the real bonus.  The bagged soil will just be a little extra mass.

Good Luck!

Eric

William,

You are absolutely right about the weight.  This is what a log arch is for.  A log arch is placed over the log.  The arch has tires and a long connector to a ball hitch.  The log is raised up under the arch, sometimes by a levering action and sometimes by a winch.  Once it is raised and secured in place, the arch is hooked to the tow vehicle and the log is pulled away fairly easily.

Eric

Anytime.

Hi John,

I am liking your new purchase!  Please do tell us your adventures as they come.

Eric

Daniel,

Have you considered a log arch?  These can make moving logs a whole lot easier.  One that looks promising to me comes from HERE:

https://logrite.com/Category/small-log-arches

The small and medium sized arches might work for you and might be in your price range.  That ATV will work well with any of these arches.

Good luck,

Eric

Rebecca,

By all means check out the wildlife by those neighboring properties and the one you intend to buy.  Those indicators are going to be your best predictors of future fertility of the land.  You are in a tough position.  The land is there in an approximate area you you want.  You also have personal concerns about that very land.  Only you can decide what is best for you, but observing nature as it interacts with the land in question may answer your questions and concerns.

Good luck in your decision and please keep us updated.

Eric

Rebecca,

EMF is dangerous at specific frequencies and wavelengths.  EMF from Cell towers are nowhere near those wavelengths.  That EMF will simply pass through your body like it is not even there and not interact with the matter in your body.  In fact, EMF (actually the term should be electromagnetic radiation, but we can just use EMF as an abbreviation) is constantly permeating our environment--from distant radio and TV towers, overhead satellites, and a surprising amount from space itself (we have radio telescopes for just this application).  The list goes on.  In order for EMF to be damaging it must interact with matter and these wavelengths are simply too long to meaningfully interact with matter in your body--it simply passes through.  As a sort of field test, if EMF were going to be damaging to your body, something like a cell phone would lose reception/become inoperable as you turn your body to intercept the EMF between the phone and the cell tower.  Since you can have a conversation while moving your head and body in all sorts of directions with no loss of signal, it is evidence that the EMF is simply passing through your body unhindered and harmless.  

As a slight tangent, but also demonstrating the point, your body is absolutely seething with another form of radiation coming from the sun and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.  Every cubic centimeter of your body has billions of particles called neutrinos passing through every second.  But don't worry, those neutrinos almost never interact with matter at all--virtually all those neutrinos could in fact pass right through another star without interacting with all the matter there.  My point is that the radiation would have to interact with your body to do anything dangerous and all that EMF just does not interact with matter in your body.

I hope this helps and good luck with your land!

Eric

Jason,

I would bet that if your little seedlings were doing so well in that thin layer of mulch in the bed of your truck then they will thrive once in the actual ground.  I know that your soil is mostly sand and pretty nutrient deficient, but wood chips are also pretty nutrient deficient.  What makes wood chips great for gardening is the carbon makes for a home for microbes and other soil dwelling organisms.  When in contact with the ground, woodchips will actually attract all sorts of soil denizens.

Those loquat trees by the way, are probably going to make great pioneer trees, sending roots nice and deep, dredging up other soil nutrients and adding their own leaf litter to the ground.  Assuming that they don't grow out of control, they can be a great asset and resource for your land.  I have Autumn Olive on my property, normally an invasive weed tree introduced in the '30s as a shelter belt tree because they grow VERY fast and are tolerant of most any weather condition--heat, cold, drought and flood etc.  They have become something of a mess in my area.  However, one of the guiding principles of permaculture is "the problem is the solution."  Since I mow my grassy areas that otherwise would grow thick with Autumn Olive, mine are confined to a dense hedge/living fence.  Every couple of years I cut mine back about 2' (out of more than 10') and chip them up for mulch, thus turning a weed into a resource.  My point is that those trees you are planting, if growing out of control in the future or just need thinning, could make for a great source of wood for wood chips or huglekulture.

But in the meantime, I think you have yourself a great pioneer tree.

Eric