Hopefully you'll be able to catch her having the baby. As for the blackberry bushes you have a bison ranch not a blackberry farm. Those are wild ones that are growing everywhere. You can't even get around the bushes to pick them so you gotta do what you gotta do. You said you were saving some that's good enough. Can't wait to see what you do with Project 189. Take care and stay safe out there. GOD BLESS Y'ALL.
Dusty, I'm a big fan of your vlog and the bison. Agricultural sprays have a terrible history of being marketed, falsely, as not harmful and then after a few years of use it turns out they cause incurable cancer. If you must spray, please wear a respirator while doing that. Whatever that spray contains, you shouldn't be inhaling it. Be safe so your bison and your family will have you around for a long, long time!!🙂🙂🙂🙂
I grew up on a farm and who knows how much crop duster pesticides we inhaled back in the day. They flew low and it hung in the air. We had to have inhaled some of it. 😒
So why spend the money on spray when you can burn or push them over and do the same thing? You're going to have the sprouts come back regardless and then you handle them then. I have seen these get in the hair of an animal and tangle up so tightly that they cause abscess in the skin and then you have to go in there and Lance it and clean it all out. It's just as painful for an animal as it is a human
Goats, goats will eat blackberry bushes raspberry bushes trees whatever get yourself a small Hood the goats an electric fence then send in about an acre around there and they will go in and eat those blackberries
One down fall of ranching or farming is fencing is never ending. Your doing a great job. Save some of the blackberries, it's one thing I really miss from the old home place. Yes they're a pain but love them.
I've wondered about the babies coming when it is so hot. In the wild herds migrated north in the summer so babies were born where it was cooler. You take such good care of your animals that I know they are fine, but I can see that the heat in OK is a factor for them. Love what you are doing to preserve our bison. thanks.
Marissa if you don’t mind my offering, if you didn’t top your Zinnias it is something I learned from Jason at Cog Hill (RUclips) , this causes the Zinnias to grow more than one flower. They basically bush out giving you multiple flowers/cuts thus multiplying your yield. Now it worked for me until Aphids took them down. But the process worked amazingly. You did an amazing job btw!
Donkeys and goats eat the leaves, new growth and more tender vines. Push down the remaining dead and bigger vines. Pigs will eat the sprouts and root out the root clumps to eat. Of course, the problem with that is managing more livestock varieties and taking more time. Advantages are having more livestock varieties, natural fertilizers added to the soil, and no chemicals.
I was wondering if a smaller corral for some goats around the black berries would work. I hav heard the old billy goat legends that they’d eat a tin can.. but sometimes those tails are more legendary than factual, ya’ know? Never even thought about pigs! I was checking out soil cultivations, mulchers, and robust tillers like the DCE 250 ROTADAIRON. I saw a video of their soil cultivator and if it works half as good as the video it was really going to mince and bury the debris. Not sure if that relegates that to decomposition or a billion cuttings to take root? But I like the goat and pig idea because well after the black berries are gone there’s bacon to go with the jelly and toast! I have only had goat once cooked by a coworker and I have no idea what cut or type he used but with the right seasoning it was delicious. So I think Dusty might want to seriously consider your idea. 👍😃
Good morning Dusty, Wow that is a lot of blackberries! Good luck at getting them gone. Looks like you are going to be busy building fence. Beautiful flowers. Be safe in this heat. Beautiful bison as always. Hopefully your baby comes soon. Take care see you next time. 👋🌻🌹❤🙏
I love when you do a herd check. I never tire of seeing those magnificent bisons. I also enjoy when you work them. My late husband and I kept cattle for many years; I guess that’s why I like it so much. Boy, do I remember being forced to help pick wild blackberries when I was a kid. We’d wear long sleeves and long pants in the heat of the summer and still got scratched up. I love the flavor of blackberries, but not the seeds, so it was never worth it to me! I shall be watching intently for news of that new red dog.
Thanks for the Ponderosa update. Hope #32 delivers soon with healthy red dog(s)! Rid the place of wild blackberries! Make room for grasses for bison. Project 189 is really great to watch as you progress with the land. Love Marissa’s flowers. Lots of work but such a beautiful reward. Thanks again for a great vlog.
My deepest empathies on the blackberries! Bane of my existence! I fought against spraying them for longer than I care to admit. We have Hymalyan blackberries out West. They spread by seed, runners, and sprout new plants anywhere a stem touches dirt. Goats work really well but you would need quite a herd of them! I have started using a mix of Crossbow and berry/brush killer. One important part of the mix is to have a surfactant (think dish soap or degreaser) to disrupt the surface tension on the plant leaves which allows for better adhesion of the chemicals. You might want to knock down the berry canes first and then spray the regrowth so you're not having to use as much spray and also it cuts the time for die off because the poison has a shorter distance to travel to the roots.
Love seeing the bison. The water must be a big relief for them. Unbelievable how much the blackberry bushes spread. I can see why you have to get rid of some of them. Blessings. ❤️
If you go into the area where the blackberries are in the spring and run a tractor digger to rip them up and remove you will get more of the root system. rake and or scrap them up and burn them. you may have to re work a few weeks after again to dig any leftover ones that reroot. but then go in and seed your grasses. use a digger though not a disc as it will just cut the runner roots. you may still have to do some spot spraying but it will be more manageable.
Yeah wild raspberries are the same way if you are just cutting or breaking off without getting the roots they will resprout off the root stock. When they get to a mass like he has they are are haven for insects as well like the chiggers, mosquitoes and bitting flies. He could even control a spot or narrow strip to harvest some berries by keeping it worked up around them each year.
Save the black berry. It may be the only fruit available to you. If you want to easily mitigate their spread just get a few goats still keep it trimmed back just fine . And provide you with another marketable commodity .
Love watching your Bison. #32 even looks uncomfortable in this heat, pray she delivers soon. Flowers are beautiful and looking good. Blackberry bushes are huge as we look at your cart in the mist of them. I remember as a child picking blackberries on the timber companies land beside our3/4 mile dirt road to the highway. Oh the memories of my grandma making blackberry cobblers with the berries we brought back. I don't remember them getting that tall so maybe they dealt with them. Hope you figure out the best way to deal with them. Love seeing the progress.
A very good look at the challenges we face when we are stewards of the land. One thing I thought you was going to say about the blackberry patches is that they seem to hold a lot of snakes like copperheads. Walk carefully and keep an eye out.
I can't imagine a demonrat working this hard, they're takers and weasels for the most part; God grant them light ... Hope bill gates never sees those bison, he may want to eat them and tell Dusty to eat the flowers and chiggers. Sorry, I grew up in the south Bronx of the 50s and 60s watching the left destroy NYC and now in NC the people here are lazy politically and I don't want to see what happened in NYC happen here from lack of vigilance ...
Hi! Breaks my heart about the blackberries! Could sell plants to other parts of the country to nurseries or companies that sell fruit plants etc. Lots of work! I've never seen acres of blackberries! They are healthy too! Road side stand flowers and blackberries? I know. I know. Easy to sit back and give suggestions! You are doing a great job! Without my help! Flowers are beautiful as well as the bison! Onward!
Oh my gosh she is huge and her breathing is intense!!! I hope she has the baby soon:) it seems as if fencing is a never ending story! Tfs stay safe and cool:) oh I received my t-shirt today and something special thank you so much that was very sweet of you, I’m very excited to give this to my husband he’s going to love it:) God Bless:)
Dusty and Marissa, you are so very correct about wild blackberry bushes! I live in town and have a real mess of volunteer bushes. I have had significant difficulty trying to irradiate them from my lawn. I can't spray so I have to dig up the sprouts. They do cut my hands and my poor dogs who get too close! What a troublesome plant! Please give number 32 a name. She deserves one😃 The flowers are beautiful!💐
WOW!! LOTS of work going on! Thank you for sharing with us! As part of Marissa's flowers...Have you thought about adding some plants that especially support butterflies, and have you thought about adding some bees/beehives, and flowers that would especially attract and feed bees? Honey would be a great addition to your CTB Store! That also goes along with your organic approach. More for Project 189! Thank you for all you do!!
A wonderful suggestion to remember the bees and butterflies! And honey is medicine. 😁 Ooh - maybe Marissa will plant some lavender! It's a perennial and comes back every spring/summer. We just cut ours back close to the ground every winter. Some could be used for flowers, and some for bees to make honey! Lavender honey is the bomb!! ❤🍯😋
I am sitting here covered in scratches, slashes and scrapes from fighting with those blackberry brambles I have in my garden here in Oregon. I usually try to cut them back and then treat the cut ends in the fall so the herbicide is sucked down to the roots. But the fight is on going and on a small scale compared to you. You cut one cane and three or five come back from the crown. Birds dropping seeds from other areas help keep them going. They are the invasive Himalayan blackberry and are on the noxious weed list here. Good luck.
Good lucky, Dusty and Melissa and Brookes, with the Project 189 and all the adventures it will hold forth. I liked seeing the bison in the pond, hearing about the reasons the berry bushes have to go, the future activities to expand the grazing areas, and the flower garden. Take care!💕🙏🏻🙋🏼♀️
Blackberry bushes would be great if they are managed like farms do. You would be able to harvest more if they are on wires and be able to cut. Yes, if let go they just go wild!
Thornless grow bigger but don’t taste as good. We grow both. I know they are raising bison. But he also said they were going to keep some. He wasn’t going to kill all the plants. So, the best thing to do would be to transplant what you want to keep and keep them pruned up, so as to not let them go wild again. Or, trellis them where he wants to keep them. (Like up by the road by the flowers.) We have an orchard and have to constantly keep an eye out for the berry starts that grow wherever the birds drop the seeds. (There is a big blackberry patch along a dividing fence.)
What a fantastic video. Those blackberries are wicked and I don't blame you a bit in getting rid of them. If you want blackberries you can grow them somewhere else with no thorns like I have. You and your wife are doing an amazing job. The flowers are gorgeous. God bless ❤ you all.
Our goats and pigs get rid of the wild blackberry bushes in Florida..no problem. The goats love to eat them down, then the pigs will eat all the roots. We had tons of wild blackberries on our farm when we bought it. All the ones I've put the goats and pigs in with are gone now.
Great idea of allowing 4 paddocks. Anything to keep your bison happy and healthy. Yes fencing is a never-ending hard job for all ranches, farmers, and even hobbyists at times. It also depends on the fencing and animals need safety in containment. The herds are wonderful looking, except those dang eating flies. The bane of so many types of herds, cattle, flocks. I hope you are able to catch her delivering a red dog, and preferably a heifer! I hope you also planted a garden too. The flowers are always so welcome to see.
Oh so awesome water on all the lands. Happy they have that. I know that's what you talked about at the other place to have you surely got blessed with this. I hope you get to see the birth and I hope you have twins!! She is big! Can't wait to see. The flowers are beautiful 😍
Love the trail cam view! Thanks for showing the fence repairs and explaining project 189. The flowers are beautiful. I hope the red dog is born soon and momma and baby do fine.
Marisa's project, the flowers, has worked out beautifully!!! Such hard work but so well worth it! Good luck with the berry bushes! I rent and I'm trying to have a garden here. I'm battling raspberry bushes and also the dreaded and noxious field bindweed, both are nearly impossible to get rid of in a neighborhood setting. Good luck on Project 189! I'll be keeping track of how it's going.👍
Dusty you do a most awesome job with your Bison and your acreage! You know what is best for the land and for your heard ! I love 💕 the flowers what a nice addition!! Family that works together stays together!!!🎊 🎉
Love the flowers Marissa 💐❤️great job ! The blackberry bushes I totally agree Dusty they are beasts. Will tear you up in a quick minute. Grew up with them on my grandmas farm and the way she did it was to bulldoze them over and burn them and then treat the area to stop them from spreading. My grandma made jam/ jelly , pies all the yummy stuff. She had a whole mountain side of them , crazy. Good luck with the project 189 , can’t wait to see the progress along the way. Also 🙏🏻 that momma has her baby soon snd just maybe twins 🤞😉that would be awesome for first red dogs on the ponderosa ❤️
I love the aerial and trail cam views of the bison. The pastures are beautiful. My favorite bison view is of them in the shade of the trees. The flower beds are really nice. Zinnias are one of my favorite garden flowers. Years ago I saved the seed in mason jars after I dried them. The same with marigolds. The next year, plant them for your new crop. There are some amazing colors that come up. Sadly, I am allergic to both flowers. 🥺 Have a great summer. 🌞🌞🌞
Years ago in Montana we had wild blackberries and raspberry bushes like this, my stepmother was sorting and looking for cows and calves. She heard a calf bellowing and come to find out he was right in the middle of blackberry stick it just like you're talking about there she knew that she could not walk in there so she thought maybe she could get the horse to go in a little ways and then the calf would get scared and come out well the horse started in just fine and the blackberry bushes Tangled around his feet and you can just about imagine what happened down with his head up when his butt and away went my stepmother. She was thrown about 10 ft out into the middle of these BlackBerrs. My father had to take a pair of snippers and his gloves on his hands and knees and cut these things to make a path for her she was just screaming the whole time . He got her out of the bushes but she was so scratched up and cut by these bushes that she required medical attention, she spent approximately 2 Days in the hospital and many many weeks picking out BlackBerry thorns when they would Fester. They Fester up just like a small pimple you have to take a needle and pull the top off and then you take a pair of tweezers and you get a hold of the thorn that had broken off the bush and you have to pull these out. Until you pull these out and get rid of them you can find no relief I remember her telling me Mary get the tweezers get me the needle so I'd go get the the tools and the peroxide or the alcohol and I'd come back and we'd have a thorn picking session and we had little tiny round Band-Aids with cartoon characters on them they were for me but they ended up all over her back and her arms and her face and stuff for me pulling the thorns out and putting antibiotic on with a Band-Aid. She eventually recovered and about 3 months later we pulled out the last thorn, I would never wish this on anyone so please please be awfully careful, they also have a liquid on them that makes them extra sticky and they burn.
Wendy Perrins,Queensland, Australia You have to spray no matter what people think. People seem to forget that this is your business not a hobby when they complain about spraying. Your bison are your priority and always come first so you don’t have to feel guilty about spraying when you have to. These poisons are expensive so why would you do it if you didn’t have to. Love what you are doing with these amazing animals.
Dusty, did I see that you had been a teacher in another career? I ask because you explain things so well. I understand your plans and your explanations. Thank you for sharing your life with us!
Dusty, thanks for sharing another great video, it’s so nice to the the bison cooling off in the pond. Your plans for expanding the pastures seems great although lots of hard work. Marissa definitely has a green thumb and her flowers look beautiful 😍. Stay safe and healthy . Blessings to all 🙏🙏🙏🥰
Love the Big Jor herd. I would definitely get rid of the blackberry mess. Don’t want a baby red dog getting tangled in that mess and get cut up. Love seeing all of the new projects.
I would suggest choosing like 8 good blackberry cains trellis them so you can get the plant to produce more and because once the tree is established you are working with like 6 cains cutting out the rest and securing them to the wire you don't get torn up picking them. Love the 186 project. Lots of work but you don't seem to be afraid of that. ❤️ Bam guessing you will have a new red dog by the weekend.
Had friends in Ohio that continually had to control the Blackberry bushes. Yes a pain. They kept one area easy to access for picking!! We used soft but thick leather arm wraps to keep from being torn up during picking. Hand still took a beating. Love the update. 🤞 with 32!
Big Joe Herd! Cow 🐄 #32! Big Cow! Project 189! Pastures: one, two, three and four! All have Ponds! Now, I understand what Project 189 means! One or two calves for #32! This Heat is really hard on All Animals! Blackberry Bushes! Great Jam! The Thorns are very Large! Great Video and Update! Thank-you!
As long as you have glass your Bison will stay and enjoy the glass . Your Bison are beautiful and thank you for keeping them safe to grow into a herd for all of us to enjoy to watch . Love your videos on your Bison.
Happy you are publishing Project 189 It answers a lot of questions. I look forward to every one of your videos they are so interesting. What many people don't understand, you are wanting food (grass) for the Bison, if you want blackberry's plant them along the garden and you can keep control of these invasive plants. Dusty there are times when you have to spray. The only thing that I found to control the growth of blackberry bushes was to have some goats and a donkey who killed them out in a couple years.
Can't wait for 32 cow to have that baby. She looks like she can anytime from what I could see if her back end. We raised cattle. I know the signs. Those flowers are beautiful Marissa. I wish I lived in Oklahoma I'd love to see them and buy some. I just love to follow along. A manager here where I live went on vacation and she was going towards Wyoming & Montana. I told her to go see some bison for me. She could tell me all a out of later. I told her I follow your channel and I love bison. They fascinate me so much. Thanks for sharing Dusty.
the blackberry bushes are considered CARNIVOROUS. like you said the curled thorn latches and pulls. the direction is down towards the root. the trapped bird or animal, or piece of animal, will get wrapped in pulling it towards the base of the plant. when not able to remove itself, it breaks down in death closer to the base of the plant. !!!
Are you concerned that #32 will have any issues with calving since she's so large? The flowers look great and I agree - blackberries are crazy! No one wants to get too close to a blackberry patch - although I'd rather be close to a blackberry pie!
Hi and I hope by the time this airs, #32 has had a healthy red dog Enjoy your videos very much and look forward to them. TC and God Bless PS Your flower garden is just gorgeous! A nice addition to your Bison ranch
Since finding your channel, u really demonstrate good work ethic, plus the love and admiration u display for the animals and the farm are great to see. The bison are my favorite!!! Big Joe✌
On the blackberries get some goats or a sheep herd in the fields for about a month and rotate them around many herds will come rent fields to graze or arrange a deal to let them come eat it. They will eat way more than the spraying kills. they love them, or the hard way spray, rip up plants at root balls, and burn and seed redo several times. On the flowers if you pinch the tops they will grow multiple flowers turn into a bush more than stalky tall plants. Great progress in all you are doing. Looking so good. Lots of hard work, blood, sweat and tears but so worth it.
True about blackberry bushes. They are dangerous. They are like giant velcro and grab and entangle you. The thorns shred your body and if you are not vigilant about cleaning wounds, you can get deathly infections. They are so difficult to get rid of. Love your variety of videos. Bless you all
The flowers are absolutely beautiful. She’s done a great job for the both of you have done a great job. I hope the baby comes soon she definitely looks ready. I’m also one that likes to burn weeds and I would definitely be burning that many blackberries specially if they took over like that. Look up green that Patek is when you had The accidental fire the grass is growing beautifully there so if you burn and get rid of all of those blackberries and maybe if you can rototill The ground with it’s a fertilizer that has a weed kill in it just to kill that weed the BlackBerry. Just a suggestion. God bless
If you want to keep Blackberry bushes from growing back; pile on all your collected brush, cedar trees, and other things you want to get rid of. Then stoke it into a hot fire, as hot as you can get it. If you get it hot enough the ground (dirt) will be sterile for a year or so. If any sprouts show spray them.
Hi Dusty. Blackberries are invasive where I live, too. Up here we use goats to eradicate them. Have you considered using goats to destroy your blackberries? Goats'll eat um to the ground. Then you just bring the goats back once in a while to eat up the fresh starts. Eventually, they don't re-grow. The nice thing about goats is you can avoid the harmful herbicidal chemicals. And there's no need to burn either. Do you have any goat herders in your area? Up here it's common for herders to hire their goats out for vegetative management projects like yours.
Great video. The Bison in the water cooling off was funny, I bet it feels great to them . Number 32 definitely looks like is about to have her baby ... bless her heart as hot as it is ! The Ponderosa is sure a work in progress .. but every little thing you do makes it more special ! I love the Ariel views, it is so pretty ! The flowers are beautiful .. great curb appeal .. Lol
Great job Dusty. The Blackberry Bushes r Terrible. We had them on Papa's Farm, and u r so right, they will lock on to ur skin, and do some Major Damage. The more they sprayed and burned, they came back even thicker. I wish luck with them though. She is Hugh, I think she is going to have Twins. She is certainly huge and uncomfortable for sure. Hope she has an easy labor. Thank u so much for sharing, such a pleasure watching All of u!
Hey Dusty! What about tlling the ground after you burn, and the sprouts come back? Won't that break up the root system? Good luck! I know it's an uphill battle with those bushes. Blessings to you and your family!
I love everything you two have done. Lots work. But that's what farming is all about. WORK. And we loved it. I had hoped I would be able to pick berries this year for jelly but couldn't get my back going. Come on girl have that Red Dog tonight.
Brambles, they’re called in England, Use what you call a brush hog in spring a couple of times then spot spray, Bramble thorns on new growth are a lot less savage than the old ones ! So, hack it down, burn it a week later where there’s a knot of roots. mow the new growth off, keep at it, you’re young yet !
Not sure if this is possible, but can you use goats to address the blackberry chutes / new growth? They may also help in areas where the bison can't get to.
@@GuantanamoBayBarbie2 Nice. My thoughts exactly. PA uses them for clearing overgrowth and people can rent them to naturally deal with the land they need cleared. Versatile animals and a new pet for the kids.
Raising them together is an issue. Goats and sheep can carry MCF, which bad news for bison. Too bad, the bison could eat the grass and the goats the browse. And he could get goats from Daniel.
Blackberry bushes and acres of them . Poor Dusty , now that is going to be an ongoing issue for a few years !!! Stick with it Dusty and hopefully you will have more pasture . Yes , they are delicious but they do make you earn them . I love your videos and all your bison . Take care , be well , and prosper .
Not sure about bison, but a very hot wire in front of a barbed wire fence does wonders in keeping cattle from going through fences. Once again, for cattle we use 3 hot wires for splitting up pastures also for perimeter fences. Much, much less expensive and many times faster to install and very durable when using high tensile wire.
We have lots of wild blackberry bushes in Ireland and they will take over if you let them. When the branches get long and heavy, they will root from the stem anywhere they touch soil, also birds eat the fruit and poop out the seeds so they can spread very easily and very rapidly. I cut them down and dig out the roots to get rid of them and bear the scars from doing so. 😂😂
We had a cultivated blackberry patch. Oh my gosh!! It got to where they were taking over the patch we designated for them. The kids were trying to get berries and getting scratched up and I could hardly keep the bees away! We finally gave up (even though blackberries are our favorites, we just couldn't do it anymore. And the removal.......well what a mess! Hard work for us. Nope don't blame you. Too much trouble. Thanks for the video's. Love them. Cheers & Blessings. 👍
Hey Dusty. I was concerned when I saw the bison in your pond. Yes, animals like to cool themselves in the water on those hot days, but the trouble is they end up fouling the pond with their poop and pee. And if the pond is the only water source for your animals, it's not healthy for them to drink that fouled water. We learned from Greg Judy (in Missouri) about this and now use his method of fencing off the pond from livestock access, then building a rock skirt in a very specific way to allow animals to drink from the pond but not walk into it. Check out Greg Judy's RUclips channel on this topic. We found it extremely helpful.
Hello Dusty, could you share a link to Remedy. I have an overgrown blackberry patch I. My backyard that you can't reach the center for picking and it's a hideaway for animals. Looking forward to your upcoming videos, I'd love to see twins as long as they're healthy. Thanks for sharing Dusty. Stay happy, healthy, hydrated and safe. May God continue to bless you, your family and your adventures.
chiggers I was covered in them as a kid after mowing a 2 1/2 acre lot with a push mower with the weeds over 4 ft tall. I spent nearly 2 weeks in the bath tub with Epsom salt
Yes, we have that problem with blackberries (in WA,St). I take a weed trimmer with a blade and cut it down and then dig up roots, so they don't come back. It's the only way I can completely get rid of them (I don't have extra monies to spray mine. I live on 7 acres with woods and lots and lots of blackberries ;).. Take care and God bless, can't for another red dog to hit the ground
Great video. Looking forward to the fence building. Invasive wild blackberries out and more farm friendly blackberries in. Waiting with you for little (?) Red dog 32. Hugs from N.C..❤️
Dusty, Regardless of wonderful blackberries are, the fast growth and thorns are not welcomed...here in Maine we had a corner of the backyard that had a thicket of blackberries...we picked what we wanted...we have more high bush wild blueberries that we always pick before the birds and turkeys demo them...our best natural spray for blackberry bushes is table salt, liquid laundry soap, bleach, and water...we have used this since 1996 when we bought this property...it works great in sprayers for those fence lines you can't get close to, works on poison ivy and poison oak...we got rid of the blackberry runners after a few months, just kept spraying on those hot sunny days...Cheers from Maine.
I know what you mean by those awful wild black berry bushes. I got caught up in some while deer hunting. It's a good thing I had on a good hunting outfit that kept them from going into my skin too much. They grabbed hold and I thought I would never get out of there. Haha I love hearing about your progress on the Ponderosa. I think I am a couple of videos behind but I will catch up. God bless you and Marissa and Brooks and all your family. You are all great at working together and getting things done.
I follow daily and it's fun to watch all the happenings. We had tons of wild black raspberries up in Minnesota and I would harvest them for jam. But, you do pay a heavy price, the thorns are wicked nasty. Instead of chiggers we had to deal with an abundance of mosquitos. Wish I had a easier plan to rid your pastures of them. I think you are doing about the only thing you can outside of running a bulldozer and tearing up your land. Good luck, stay cool.
I am a year late in telling you this. I am old (72) but before there were selected sprays that targeted certain plants. The farmers used goats, not the nicely improved gene type, but the good old feral types. Definitely no long haired type. Just pick up a few dozen, I promise you won't regret it. They need very little looking after..just let them run wild... let Brooks have a female and hand raise it..💓🇦🇺 then you could have a good supply of milk..
Have you ever thought about goats for clearing the blackberry bushes? I've heard of some farmers borrowing/renting a small heard to help clear the land.
Poor #32, in the heat! Flower garden looks great. The last house I owned had a hillside of blackberries that creeped into the back yard. Spent a couple of years getting them cut back and hand dug out the roots - horrible work. One day I slipped a bit and the darned things grabbed me and pulled me down into them. I was sure I wasn't going to make out alive! hahaha. I was a mess of deep scrapes and welts. Most vicious plant ever!
@Dusty - How to get rid of blackberries: GOATS! LOTS of them! Borrow, rent, trade for their services, or raise them for meat. Have you tried letting the bison EAT the blackberries? It took several years, but my llamas and alpacas have mostly eliminated blackberries from my property, and believe me, Oregon is COVERED with berries!
We have those mullberry/blackberry bushes out on our land in the tx panhandle. They are crazy plants, some of my cousins have gone out to pick them for jelly haha but not fun at all! We only use the land for cattle lease with our other cousins, so we havenT tried getting rid of them. They do survive wildfires! We had a bad fire a while back and they didn’t die off at all.
Dusty I came across a video about the Prinoth M450s-1600 Skid Steer Mulcher, on IDigit4 Channel just by chance and watched his information and actual operation of this machine. You could tear up those Black Raspberry bushes in no time. It was an amazing machine to go with your Skid Steer. Hope you check it out.
I have 3 Trail Cams here to keep track of the feral cats who come to dinner in our garage. When I check the SD cards, I've seen cats, a couple of dogs, skunks, opossum, raccoons and even a fox! But I haven't seen any Bison yet. I keep hoping, but I don't think we have too many bison in northwest Ohio! Be sure to keep some of those Blackberry bushes for yourselves. They're so delicious to eat right off the bush, baked into pies and made into jam. YUM!
My first exposure to your website was watching you build fencing at original place and thinking ‘man, that’s a lot of hard work’. I’ve since become fascinated by the bison. Great job y’all are doing! Have you tried Tordon on your blackberries? I haven’t used it specifically for blackberries but it did a great job killing off some roots that would not die!!
Can you get what we in the uk call a flail mower attachment for your skid steer it’s a rotating bar with several short chains attached and as it rotates at high speed it pulverises the”blackberry bushes” that way you will be left with the bare soil and chopped up blackberry bushes and then you’ll be able to spot kill the new growth and get it done a lot quicker.
Hopefully you'll be able to catch her having the baby. As for the blackberry bushes you have a bison ranch not a blackberry farm. Those are wild ones that are growing everywhere. You can't even get around the bushes to pick them so you gotta do what you gotta do. You said you were saving some that's good enough. Can't wait to see what you do with Project 189. Take care and stay safe out there. GOD BLESS Y'ALL.
Dusty, I'm a big fan of your vlog and the bison. Agricultural sprays have a terrible history of being marketed, falsely, as not harmful and then after a few years of use it turns out they cause incurable cancer. If you must spray, please wear a respirator while doing that. Whatever that spray contains, you shouldn't be inhaling it. Be safe so your bison and your family will have you around for a long, long time!!🙂🙂🙂🙂
I grew up on a farm and who knows how much crop duster pesticides we inhaled back in the day. They flew low and it hung in the air. We had to have inhaled some of it. 😒
We burned ours green just like they are there.
So why spend the money on spray when you can burn or push them over and do the same thing? You're going to have the sprouts come back regardless and then you handle them then. I have seen these get in the hair of an animal and tangle up so tightly that they cause abscess in the skin and then you have to go in there and Lance it and clean it all out. It's just as painful for an animal as it is a human
Goats, goats will eat blackberry bushes raspberry bushes trees whatever get yourself a small Hood the goats an electric fence then send in about an acre around there and they will go in and eat those blackberries
One down fall of ranching or farming is fencing is never ending. Your doing a great job. Save some of the blackberries, it's one thing I really miss from the old home place. Yes they're a pain but love them.
I've wondered about the babies coming when it is so hot. In the wild herds migrated north in the summer so babies were born where it was cooler. You take such good care of your animals that I know they are fine, but I can see that the heat in OK is a factor for them. Love what you are doing to preserve our bison. thanks.
I love the eyes of the bison ... I'm so glad you have all this acreage. Beautiful land. Cool to follow your alls progress. Love the flower garden.
Marissa if you don’t mind my offering, if you didn’t top your Zinnias it is something I learned from Jason at Cog Hill (RUclips) , this causes the Zinnias to grow more than one flower. They basically bush out giving you multiple flowers/cuts thus multiplying your yield. Now it worked for me until Aphids took them down. But the process worked amazingly. You did an amazing job btw!
That's a great idea!
Finally Big Joe. I just love looking at him. He's my favorite.
Gotta reclaim your pasture land at all cost! Sometimes you just gotta do what you have to! Best wishes to you guys on your project! 💕🙏💕
Donkeys and goats eat the leaves, new growth and more tender vines. Push down the remaining dead and bigger vines. Pigs will eat the sprouts and root out the root clumps to eat. Of course, the problem with that is managing more livestock varieties and taking more time. Advantages are having more livestock varieties, natural fertilizers added to the soil, and no chemicals.
I was wondering if a smaller corral for some goats around the black berries would work. I hav heard the old billy goat legends that they’d eat a tin can.. but sometimes those tails are more legendary than factual, ya’ know? Never even thought about pigs! I was checking out soil cultivations, mulchers, and robust tillers like the DCE 250 ROTADAIRON. I saw a video of their soil cultivator and if it works half as good as the video it was really going to mince and bury the debris. Not sure if that relegates that to decomposition or a billion cuttings to take root? But I like the goat and pig idea because well after the black berries are gone there’s bacon to go with the jelly and toast! I have only had goat once cooked by a coworker and I have no idea what cut or type he used but with the right seasoning it was delicious. So I think Dusty might want to seriously consider your idea. 👍😃
Good morning Dusty, Wow that is a lot of blackberries! Good luck at getting them gone. Looks like you are going to be busy building fence. Beautiful flowers. Be safe in this heat. Beautiful bison as always. Hopefully your baby comes soon. Take care see you next time. 👋🌻🌹❤🙏
Love seeing the bison.
AND the beautiful flowers!
Great job
I love when you do a herd check. I never tire of seeing those magnificent bisons. I also enjoy when you work them. My late husband and I kept cattle for many years; I guess that’s why I like it so much. Boy, do I remember being forced to help pick wild blackberries when I was a kid. We’d wear long sleeves and long pants in the heat of the summer and still got scratched up. I love the flavor of blackberries, but not the seeds, so it was never worth it to me! I shall be watching intently for news of that new red dog.
Thanks for the Ponderosa update. Hope #32 delivers soon with healthy red dog(s)! Rid the place of wild blackberries! Make room for grasses for bison. Project 189 is really great to watch as you progress with the land. Love Marissa’s flowers. Lots of work but such a beautiful reward. Thanks again for a great vlog.
My deepest empathies on the blackberries! Bane of my existence! I fought against spraying them for longer than I care to admit. We have Hymalyan blackberries out West. They spread by seed, runners, and sprout new plants anywhere a stem touches dirt. Goats work really well but you would need quite a herd of them! I have started using a mix of Crossbow and berry/brush killer. One important part of the mix is to have a surfactant (think dish soap or degreaser) to disrupt the surface tension on the plant leaves which allows for better adhesion of the chemicals. You might want to knock down the berry canes first and then spray the regrowth so you're not having to use as much spray and also it cuts the time for die off because the poison has a shorter distance to travel to the roots.
Love seeing the bison. The water must be a big relief for them. Unbelievable how much the blackberry bushes spread. I can see why you have to get rid of some of them. Blessings. ❤️
If you go into the area where the blackberries are in the spring and run a tractor digger to rip them up and remove you will get more of the root system. rake and or scrap them up and burn them. you may have to re work a few weeks after again to dig any leftover ones that reroot. but then go in and seed your grasses. use a digger though not a disc as it will just cut the runner roots. you may still have to do some spot spraying but it will be more manageable.
👍 Those runner roots can be a pain, but solid advice. As sometimes herbicides should be the last part and less used.
Yeah wild raspberries are the same way if you are just cutting or breaking off without getting the roots they will resprout off the root stock. When they get to a mass like he has they are are haven for insects as well like the chiggers, mosquitoes and bitting flies. He could even control a spot or narrow strip to harvest some berries by keeping it worked up around them each year.
Save the black berry. It may be the only fruit available to you. If you want to easily mitigate their spread just get a few goats still keep it trimmed back just fine . And provide you with another marketable commodity .
Love watching your Bison. #32 even looks uncomfortable in this heat, pray she delivers soon. Flowers are beautiful and looking good. Blackberry bushes are huge as we look at your cart in the mist of them. I remember as a child picking blackberries on the timber companies land beside our3/4 mile dirt road to the highway. Oh the memories of my grandma making blackberry cobblers with the berries we brought back. I don't remember them getting that tall so maybe they dealt with them. Hope you figure out the best way to deal with them. Love seeing the progress.
Looking forward to watching project 189. The flower garden is beautiful. Hope ya'll have a wonderful evening. Love you guys.
A very good look at the challenges we face when we are stewards of the land. One thing I thought you was going to say about the blackberry patches is that they seem to hold a lot of snakes like copperheads. Walk carefully and keep an eye out.
I can't imagine a demonrat working this hard, they're takers and weasels for the most part; God grant them light ...
Hope bill gates never sees those bison, he may want to eat them and tell Dusty to eat the flowers and chiggers. Sorry, I grew up in the south Bronx of the 50s and 60s watching the left destroy NYC and now in NC the people here are lazy politically and I don't want to see what happened in NYC happen here from lack of vigilance ...
Hi! Breaks my heart about the blackberries! Could sell plants to other parts of the country to nurseries or companies that sell fruit plants etc. Lots of work! I've never seen acres of blackberries! They are healthy too! Road side stand flowers and blackberries? I know. I know. Easy to sit back and give suggestions! You are doing a great job! Without my help! Flowers are beautiful as well as the bison! Onward!
Oh my gosh she is huge and her breathing is intense!!! I hope she has the baby soon:) it seems as if fencing is a never ending story! Tfs stay safe and cool:) oh I received my t-shirt today and something special thank you so much that was very sweet of you, I’m very excited to give this to my husband he’s going to love it:) God Bless:)
Dusty and Marissa, you are so very correct about wild blackberry bushes! I live in town and have a real mess of volunteer bushes. I have had significant difficulty trying to irradiate them from my lawn. I can't spray so I have to dig up the sprouts. They do cut my hands and my poor dogs who get too close! What a troublesome plant! Please give number 32 a name. She deserves one😃 The flowers are beautiful!💐
The flowers look beautiful! Great job Marissa!!
WOW!! LOTS of work going on! Thank you for sharing with us! As part of Marissa's flowers...Have you thought about adding some plants that especially support butterflies, and have you thought about adding some bees/beehives, and flowers that would especially attract and feed bees? Honey would be a great addition to your CTB Store! That also goes along with your organic approach. More for Project 189! Thank you for all you do!!
A wonderful suggestion to remember the bees and butterflies! And honey is medicine. 😁 Ooh - maybe Marissa will plant some lavender! It's a perennial and comes back every spring/summer. We just cut ours back close to the ground every winter.
Some could be used for flowers, and some for bees to make honey! Lavender honey is the bomb!!
❤🍯😋
I am sitting here covered in scratches, slashes and scrapes from fighting with those blackberry brambles I have in my garden here in Oregon. I usually try to cut them back and then treat the cut ends in the fall so the herbicide is sucked down to the roots. But the fight is on going and on a small scale compared to you. You cut one cane and three or five come back from the crown. Birds dropping seeds from other areas help keep them going. They are the invasive Himalayan blackberry and are on the noxious weed list here. Good luck.
Good lucky, Dusty and Melissa and Brookes, with the Project 189 and all the adventures it will hold forth. I liked seeing the bison in the pond, hearing about the reasons the berry bushes have to go, the future activities to expand the grazing areas, and the flower garden. Take care!💕🙏🏻🙋🏼♀️
Blackberry bushes would be great if they are managed like farms do. You would be able to harvest more if they are on wires and be able to cut. Yes, if let go they just go wild!
Growers will be growing thornless blackberries. I spray wild blackberries, but grow thornless.
But they're farming bison, not growing fruit. Wild blackberries are dire.
Thornless grow bigger but don’t taste as good. We grow both.
I know they are raising bison. But he also said they were going to keep some. He wasn’t going to kill all the plants. So, the best thing to do would be to transplant what you want to keep and keep them pruned up, so as to not let them go wild again. Or, trellis them where he wants to keep them. (Like up by the road by the flowers.)
We have an orchard and have to constantly keep an eye out for the berry starts that grow wherever the birds drop the seeds. (There is a big blackberry patch along a dividing fence.)
What a fantastic video. Those blackberries are wicked and I don't blame you a bit in getting rid of them. If you want blackberries you can grow them somewhere else with no thorns like I have. You and your wife are doing an amazing job. The flowers are gorgeous. God bless ❤ you all.
Our goats and pigs get rid of the wild blackberry bushes in Florida..no problem. The goats love to eat them down, then the pigs will eat all the roots. We had tons of wild blackberries on our farm when we bought it. All the ones I've put the goats and pigs in with are gone now.
Great idea of allowing 4 paddocks. Anything to keep your bison happy and healthy. Yes fencing is a never-ending hard job for all ranches, farmers, and even hobbyists at times. It also depends on the fencing and animals need safety in containment. The herds are wonderful looking, except those dang eating flies. The bane of so many types of herds, cattle, flocks. I hope you are able to catch her delivering a red dog, and preferably a heifer! I hope you also planted a garden too. The flowers are always so welcome to see.
Oh so awesome water on all the lands.
Happy they have that. I know that's what you talked about at the other place to have you surely got blessed with this.
I hope you get to see the birth and I hope you have twins!! She is big! Can't wait to see. The flowers are beautiful 😍
Love the trail cam view! Thanks for showing the fence repairs and explaining project 189. The flowers are beautiful.
I hope the red dog is born soon and momma and baby do fine.
Marisa's project, the flowers, has worked out beautifully!!! Such hard work but so well worth it! Good luck with the berry bushes! I rent and I'm trying to have a garden here. I'm battling raspberry bushes and also the dreaded and noxious field bindweed, both are nearly impossible to get rid of in a neighborhood setting. Good luck on Project 189! I'll be keeping track of how it's going.👍
Dusty you do a most awesome job with your Bison and your acreage! You know what is best for the land and for your heard ! I love 💕 the flowers what a nice addition!! Family that works together stays together!!!🎊 🎉
Well done Dusty! Thank you for caring so very much 🫂❤️💗
Love the flowers Marissa 💐❤️great job ! The blackberry bushes I totally agree Dusty they are beasts. Will tear you up in a quick minute. Grew up with them on my grandmas farm and the way she did it was to bulldoze them over and burn them and then treat the area to stop them from spreading. My grandma made jam/ jelly , pies all the yummy stuff. She had a whole mountain side of them , crazy. Good luck with the project 189 , can’t wait to see the progress along the way. Also 🙏🏻 that momma has her baby soon snd just maybe twins 🤞😉that would be awesome for first red dogs on the ponderosa ❤️
I love the aerial and trail cam views of the bison. The pastures are beautiful. My favorite bison view is of them in the shade of the trees. The flower beds are really nice. Zinnias are one of my favorite garden flowers. Years ago I saved the seed in mason jars after I dried them. The same with marigolds. The next year, plant them for your new crop. There are some amazing colors that come up. Sadly, I am allergic to both flowers. 🥺 Have a great summer. 🌞🌞🌞
Years ago in Montana we had wild blackberries and raspberry bushes like this, my stepmother was sorting and looking for cows and calves. She heard a calf bellowing and come to find out he was right in the middle of blackberry stick it just like you're talking about there she knew that she could not walk in there so she thought maybe she could get the horse to go in a little ways and then the calf would get scared and come out well the horse started in just fine and the blackberry bushes Tangled around his feet and you can just about imagine what happened down with his head up when his butt and away went my stepmother. She was thrown about 10 ft out into the middle of these BlackBerrs. My father had to take a pair of snippers and his gloves on his hands and knees and cut these things to make a path for her she was just screaming the whole time . He got her out of the bushes but she was so scratched up and cut by these bushes that she required medical attention, she spent approximately 2 Days in the hospital and many many weeks picking out BlackBerry thorns when they would Fester. They Fester up just like a small pimple you have to take a needle and pull the top off and then you take a pair of tweezers and you get a hold of the thorn that had broken off the bush and you have to pull these out. Until you pull these out and get rid of them you can find no relief I remember her telling me Mary get the tweezers get me the needle so I'd go get the the tools and the peroxide or the alcohol and I'd come back and we'd have a thorn picking session and we had little tiny round Band-Aids with cartoon characters on them they were for me but they ended up all over her back and her arms and her face and stuff for me pulling the thorns out and putting antibiotic on with a Band-Aid. She eventually recovered and about 3 months later we pulled out the last thorn, I would never wish this on anyone so please please be awfully careful, they also have a liquid on them that makes them extra sticky and they burn.
Wendy Perrins,Queensland, Australia
You have to spray no matter what people think. People seem to forget that this is your business not a hobby when they complain about spraying. Your bison are your priority and always come first so you don’t have to feel guilty about spraying when you have to. These poisons are expensive so why would you do it if you didn’t have to.
Love what you are doing with these amazing animals.
Enjoyed all the news the projects coming. Great job! God bless you all watching from Alabama. Flowers are beautiful tell her keep on planting!!!
Dusty, did I see that you had been a teacher in another career? I ask because you explain things so well. I understand your plans and your explanations. Thank you for sharing your life with us!
Dusty, thanks for sharing another great video, it’s so nice to the the bison cooling off in the pond. Your plans for expanding the pastures seems great although lots of hard work. Marissa definitely has a green thumb and her flowers look beautiful 😍. Stay safe and healthy . Blessings to all 🙏🙏🙏🥰
Love the Big Jor herd. I would definitely get rid of the blackberry mess. Don’t want a baby red dog getting tangled in that mess and get cut up. Love seeing all of the new projects.
I would suggest choosing like 8 good blackberry cains trellis them so you can get the plant to produce more and because once the tree is established you are working with like 6 cains cutting out the rest and securing them to the wire you don't get torn up picking them. Love the 186 project. Lots of work but you don't seem to be afraid of that. ❤️ Bam guessing you will have a new red dog by the weekend.
Loved watching all the bison and the beautiful land! Love the flower!
Had friends in Ohio that continually had to control the Blackberry bushes. Yes a pain. They kept one area easy to access for picking!! We used soft but thick leather arm wraps to keep from being torn up during picking. Hand still took a beating.
Love the update. 🤞 with 32!
I know your meaning we picked Blackberries as kids so much sweeter than Cultured ones. I remember my mom fixing Blackberry Cobbler!
I got my worst case of chiggers ever picking wild blackberries. Love your videos so keep them coming.
Big Joe Herd! Cow 🐄 #32! Big Cow! Project 189! Pastures: one, two, three and four! All have Ponds! Now, I understand what Project 189 means! One or two calves for #32! This Heat is really hard on All Animals! Blackberry Bushes! Great Jam! The Thorns are very Large! Great Video and Update! Thank-you!
As long as you have glass your Bison will stay and enjoy the glass . Your Bison are beautiful and thank you for keeping them safe to grow into a herd for all of us to enjoy to watch . Love your videos on your Bison.
Thank you for the explanation and the images to show your property and the subdivisions. Very helpful.
Happy you are publishing Project 189 It answers a lot of questions. I look forward to every one of your videos they are so interesting. What many people don't understand, you are wanting food (grass) for the Bison, if you want blackberry's plant them along the garden and you can keep control of these invasive plants. Dusty there are times when you have to spray. The only thing that I found to control the growth of blackberry bushes was to have some goats and a donkey who killed them out in a couple years.
Can't wait for 32 cow to have that baby. She looks like she can anytime from what I could see if her back end. We raised cattle. I know the signs. Those flowers are beautiful Marissa. I wish I lived in Oklahoma I'd love to see them and buy some. I just love to follow along. A manager here where I live went on vacation and she was going towards Wyoming & Montana. I told her to go see some bison for me. She could tell me all a out of later. I told her I follow your channel and I love bison. They fascinate me so much. Thanks for sharing Dusty.
Love seeing the Buffalo in the pond cooling off.
The flowers are beautiful that's a big flower bed.
You've got ALOT of blackberries.
👍👍
the blackberry bushes are considered CARNIVOROUS. like you said the curled thorn latches and pulls. the direction is down towards the root. the trapped bird or animal, or piece of animal, will get wrapped in pulling it towards the base of the plant. when not able to remove itself, it breaks down in death closer to the base of the plant. !!!
Pretty cool that last aerial shot shows the bison almost laying in a perfect spiral.
I agree the aerial footage adds to it
You've got a great smile
Are you concerned that #32 will have any issues with calving since she's so large? The flowers look great and I agree - blackberries are crazy! No one wants to get too close to a blackberry patch - although I'd rather be close to a blackberry pie!
Blackberry and apple pie! The best!
Hi and I hope by the time this airs, #32 has had a healthy red dog
Enjoy your videos very much and look forward to them. TC and God Bless
PS Your flower garden is just gorgeous! A nice addition to your Bison ranch
Since finding your channel, u really demonstrate good work ethic, plus the love and admiration u display for the animals and the farm are great to see. The bison are my favorite!!! Big Joe✌
On the blackberries get some goats or a sheep herd in the fields for about a month and rotate them around many herds will come rent fields to graze or arrange a deal to let them come eat it. They will eat way more than the spraying kills. they love them, or the hard way spray, rip up plants at root balls, and burn and seed redo several times. On the flowers if you pinch the tops they will grow multiple flowers turn into a bush more than stalky tall plants. Great progress in all you are doing. Looking so good. Lots of hard work, blood, sweat and tears but so worth it.
True about blackberry bushes. They are dangerous. They are like giant velcro and grab and entangle you. The thorns shred your body and if you are not vigilant about cleaning wounds, you can get deathly infections. They are so difficult to get rid of. Love your variety of videos. Bless you all
Wow that's lot's more land than ao thought. Good for you!!!
Wow: Ponds in all the pastures? That is some seriously Prime land! You did very well getting it. You were quite fortunate.
The flowers are absolutely beautiful. She’s done a great job for the both of you have done a great job. I hope the baby comes soon she definitely looks ready.
I’m also one that likes to burn weeds and I would definitely be burning that many blackberries specially if they took over like that. Look up green that Patek is when you had The accidental fire the grass is growing beautifully there so if you burn and get rid of all of those blackberries and maybe if you can rototill The ground with it’s a fertilizer that has a weed kill in it just to kill that weed the BlackBerry. Just a suggestion. God bless
If you want to keep Blackberry bushes from growing back; pile on all your collected brush, cedar trees, and other things you want to get rid of. Then stoke it into a hot fire, as hot as you can get it. If you get it hot enough the ground (dirt) will be sterile for a year or so. If any sprouts show spray them.
Hi Dusty. Blackberries are invasive where I live, too. Up here we use goats to eradicate them. Have you considered using goats to destroy your blackberries? Goats'll eat um to the ground. Then you just bring the goats back once in a while to eat up the fresh starts. Eventually, they don't re-grow. The nice thing about goats is you can avoid the harmful herbicidal chemicals. And there's no need to burn either. Do you have any goat herders in your area? Up here it's common for herders to hire their goats out for vegetative management projects like yours.
Great video. The Bison in the water cooling off was funny, I bet it feels great to them . Number 32 definitely looks like is about to have her baby ... bless her heart as hot as it is ! The Ponderosa is sure a work in progress .. but every little thing you do makes it more special ! I love the Ariel views, it is so pretty ! The flowers are beautiful .. great curb appeal .. Lol
Goats! You could rent a herd of them and BOOM...nothing but grass in a short period of time.
Wow, that cow is so close! 🙏🙏 Beautiful!
Project 189! Yay! Those flowers are so beautiful! ♥️
Great job Dusty. The Blackberry Bushes r Terrible. We had them on Papa's Farm, and u r so right, they will lock on to ur skin, and do some Major Damage. The more they sprayed and burned, they came back even thicker. I wish luck with them though. She is Hugh, I think she is going to have Twins. She is certainly huge and uncomfortable for sure. Hope she has an easy labor. Thank u so much for sharing, such a pleasure watching All of u!
Hey Dusty! What about tlling the ground after you burn, and the sprouts come back? Won't that break up the root system? Good luck! I know it's an uphill battle with those bushes. Blessings to you and your family!
I love everything you two have done. Lots work. But that's what farming is all about. WORK. And we loved it.
I had hoped I would be able to pick berries this year for jelly but couldn't get my back going. Come on girl have that Red Dog tonight.
Wild Blackberries make a great Cobbler!
Marissa's zinnias are magnificent! Good luck at bringing the blackberries under control!! 🤞🤞🤞
Brambles, they’re called in England, Use what you call a brush hog in spring a couple of times then spot spray, Bramble thorns on new growth are a lot less savage than the old ones ! So, hack it down, burn it a week later where there’s a knot of roots. mow the new growth off, keep at it, you’re young yet !
Not sure if this is possible, but can you use goats to address the blackberry chutes / new growth? They may also help in areas where the bison can't get to.
That was my suggestion too. They use them in the Seattle metro area a lot. County parks even hired them to clear out their blackberry overgrowth.
@@GuantanamoBayBarbie2 Nice. My thoughts exactly. PA uses them for clearing overgrowth and people can rent them to naturally deal with the land they need cleared. Versatile animals and a new pet for the kids.
Raising them together is an issue. Goats and sheep can carry MCF, which bad news for bison. Too bad, the bison could eat the grass and the goats the browse. And he could get goats from Daniel.
Blackberry bushes and acres of them . Poor Dusty , now that is going to be an ongoing issue for a few years !!! Stick with it Dusty and hopefully you will have more pasture . Yes , they are delicious but they do make you earn them . I love your videos and all your bison . Take care , be well , and prosper .
Not sure about bison, but a very hot wire in front of a barbed wire fence does wonders in keeping cattle from going through fences. Once again, for cattle we use 3 hot wires for splitting up pastures also for perimeter fences. Much, much less expensive and many times faster to install and very durable when using high tensile wire.
Dusty, y’all have greatly improved The ponderosa. I can’t wait until y’all can sit back & enjoy your beautiful ranch.
Thank you!
We have lots of wild blackberry bushes in Ireland and they will take over if you let them. When the branches get long and heavy, they will root from the stem anywhere they touch soil, also birds eat the fruit and poop out the seeds so they can spread very easily and very rapidly. I cut them down and dig out the roots to get rid of them and bear the scars from doing so. 😂😂
We had a cultivated blackberry patch. Oh my gosh!! It got to where they were taking over the patch we designated for them. The kids were trying to get berries and getting scratched up and I could hardly keep the bees away! We finally gave up (even though blackberries are our favorites, we just couldn't do it anymore. And the removal.......well what a mess! Hard work for us. Nope don't blame you. Too much trouble.
Thanks for the video's. Love them.
Cheers & Blessings. 👍
Hey Dusty. I was concerned when I saw the bison in your pond. Yes, animals like to cool themselves in the water on those hot days, but the trouble is they end up fouling the pond with their poop and pee. And if the pond is the only water source for your animals, it's not healthy for them to drink that fouled water. We learned from Greg Judy (in Missouri) about this and now use his method of fencing off the pond from livestock access, then building a rock skirt in a very specific way to allow animals to drink from the pond but not walk into it. Check out Greg Judy's RUclips channel on this topic. We found it extremely helpful.
Hello Dusty, could you share a link to Remedy. I have an overgrown blackberry patch I. My backyard that you can't reach the center for picking and it's a hideaway for animals.
Looking forward to your upcoming videos, I'd love to see twins as long as they're healthy.
Thanks for sharing Dusty.
Stay happy, healthy, hydrated and safe. May God continue to bless you, your family and your adventures.
chiggers I was covered in them as a kid after mowing a 2 1/2 acre lot with a push mower with the weeds over 4 ft tall. I spent nearly 2 weeks in the bath tub with Epsom salt
Yes, we have that problem with blackberries (in WA,St). I take a weed trimmer with a blade and cut it down and then dig up roots, so they don't come back. It's the only way I can completely get rid of them (I don't have extra monies to spray mine. I live on 7 acres with woods and lots and lots of blackberries ;).. Take care and God bless, can't for another red dog to hit the ground
Great video. Looking forward to the fence building. Invasive wild blackberries out and more farm friendly blackberries in. Waiting with you for little (?) Red dog 32. Hugs from N.C..❤️
They do a really good job with their fence splicing. Dusty and his wife have a beautiful acreage.
Dusty, Regardless of wonderful blackberries are, the fast growth and thorns are not welcomed...here in Maine we had a corner of the backyard that
had a thicket of blackberries...we picked what we wanted...we have more high bush wild blueberries that we always pick before the birds and turkeys
demo them...our best natural spray for blackberry bushes is table salt, liquid laundry soap, bleach, and water...we have used this since 1996 when we bought this property...it works great in sprayers for those fence lines you can't get close to, works on poison ivy and poison oak...we got rid of the blackberry runners after a few months, just kept spraying on those hot sunny days...Cheers from Maine.
Get a goat herder to get rid of Blackberry bushes. This technique has been used in Seattle.
Or get your own goats move them around using electric fencing. That are eat it fast but will take time. How ever you do it will take time.
I know what you mean by those awful wild black berry bushes. I got caught up in some while deer hunting. It's a good thing I had on a good hunting outfit that kept them from going into my skin too much. They grabbed hold and I thought I would never get out of there. Haha I love hearing about your progress on the Ponderosa. I think I am a couple of videos behind but I will catch up. God bless you and Marissa and Brooks and all your family. You are all great at working together and getting things done.
Yes, get rid of the Blackberry bushes. Bees are also a problem too with them.
I follow daily and it's fun to watch all the happenings. We had tons of wild black raspberries up in Minnesota and I would harvest them for jam. But, you do pay a heavy price, the thorns are wicked nasty. Instead of chiggers we had to deal with an abundance of mosquitos. Wish I had a easier plan to rid your pastures of them. I think you are doing about the only thing you can outside of running a bulldozer and tearing up your land. Good luck, stay cool.
I am a year late in telling you this. I am old (72) but before there were selected sprays that targeted certain plants. The farmers used goats, not the nicely improved gene type, but the good old feral types. Definitely no long haired type. Just pick up a few dozen, I promise you won't regret it. They need very little looking after..just let them run wild... let Brooks have a female and hand raise it..💓🇦🇺 then you could have a good supply of milk..
Have you ever thought about goats for clearing the blackberry bushes? I've heard of some farmers borrowing/renting a small heard to help clear the land.
Poor #32, in the heat! Flower garden looks great. The last house I owned had a hillside of blackberries that creeped into the back yard. Spent a couple of years getting them cut back and hand dug out the roots - horrible work. One day I slipped a bit and the darned things grabbed me and pulled me down into them. I was sure I wasn't going to make out alive! hahaha. I was a mess of deep scrapes and welts. Most vicious plant ever!
@Dusty - How to get rid of blackberries: GOATS! LOTS of them! Borrow, rent, trade for their services, or raise them for meat. Have you tried letting the bison EAT the blackberries? It took several years, but my llamas and alpacas have mostly eliminated blackberries from my property, and believe me, Oregon is COVERED with berries!
We have those mullberry/blackberry bushes out on our land in the tx panhandle. They are crazy plants, some of my cousins have gone out to pick them for jelly haha but not fun at all! We only use the land for cattle lease with our other cousins, so we havenT tried getting rid of them. They do survive wildfires! We had a bad fire a while back and they didn’t die off at all.
Thanks great job. ✌🏻👊
Dusty I came across a video about the Prinoth M450s-1600 Skid Steer Mulcher, on IDigit4 Channel just by chance and watched his information and actual operation of this machine. You could tear up those Black Raspberry bushes in no time. It was an amazing machine to go with your Skid Steer. Hope you check it out.
I have 3 Trail Cams here to keep track of the feral cats who come to dinner in our garage. When I check the SD cards, I've seen cats, a couple of dogs, skunks, opossum, raccoons and even a fox! But I haven't seen any Bison yet. I keep hoping, but I don't think we have too many bison in northwest Ohio!
Be sure to keep some of those Blackberry bushes for yourselves. They're so delicious to eat right off the bush, baked into pies and made into jam. YUM!
The flowers are beautiful!
Chiggers are bad news! Just thinking about them… *shiver*
Blessings to you and yours, Dusty
My first exposure to your website was watching you build fencing at original place and thinking ‘man, that’s a lot of hard work’. I’ve since become fascinated by the bison. Great job y’all are doing!
Have you tried Tordon on your blackberries? I haven’t used it specifically for blackberries but it did a great job killing off some roots that would not die!!
Can you get what we in the uk call a flail mower attachment for your skid steer it’s a rotating bar with several short chains attached and as it rotates at high speed it pulverises the”blackberry bushes” that way you will be left with the bare soil and chopped up blackberry bushes and then you’ll be able to spot kill the new growth and get it done a lot quicker.