TOPIC: getting excited now boys!

Good day for me.Planted 10-12 Berries.Probably 100-150 More if I can get them before the Turkeys and Deer get to them.Found several 2-3 Prongs that I missed back in the Spring.I'm going to Dig Most of the 3's and 4's as soon as all those Berries get ripe.

Thanks Latt, Here is a pic of a small cave and the creek bed just below it in that same holler that I took those pics in yesterday.



Latt wrote:

5prong, it's cool to see your pics. As you know I am originally from Muskingum County just west of you. Your pics remind me of the areas I hunt over East of where I live now.

I think I am one heck of a leaf raker and seed planter. I can really go at it when planting.
However you guys are killing me time wise on digging roots. I still use a long screw driver. A big root can take me up to 20 minutes to get out of the ground depending on how dry the soil is along with the root depth and amount of surrounding plant or tree roots.

I have yet to switch to a tool like many of you are using resembling an axe type tool with the long handle. I have read many post and seen the videos and it looks like the long handled tool is the way to go speed wise. I would like to try it but it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
If I ever do get to dig my wild simulated plants it ain't going to be with a screwdriver. So I will need to learn how to swing that long handled ax looking tool sooner than later.
Latt

is it all that rocky ,5 ..that looks like hard digging...

There is some hard digging around here, but most of it is due to tree roots. There are times when I've had to pry one rock and then another and another to get one out. A guy wouldn't think that seng would grow good like that, but those are usually the better ones. But to answer your question Chief, There are some rocky areas around, but for the most part it isn't all that rocky. That is just some big limestone That the creek has uncovered over the last 1000 years. The steepness of the terrain just really isn't shown well in that pic, but those rocks were 30 feet below me in the creek bed. Bigger than they appear too. Those bigger ones 7-8 feet long and 4-5 feet across.

Chieftain wrote:

is it all that rocky ,5 ..that looks like hard digging...

good old tree roots,I think we all have them..some days I wish I had a chainsaw....

Chainsaw... LOL. I know wht you mean Chief. Been in some of those spots over the years....chopping 2 inch thick tree roots out of the way to get down to a root. or tunnelling under a 4 or 5 inch one...

Hey Latt and others on that long handle hoe type digger.

You probably know that Billy and I both have the same digger.

Mine has a 36\" long hickory handle and I think the only difference in Billy's is he has a oak handle.

I used flat head and small hoe type tools (short handle like a hammer) in the past and used a short handle hoe for years that I really liked.

One day I was trying to get a root out of a rocky place and the head on it broke - that was the end of that little short handle digger.

I found the hoe head that I am using now on my Grandfathers shed wall hanging on a nail. No handle and I took it and got the 36\" hickory handle installed.

When I tried that digger out - I tell you I fell in love with it compared to anything else I have ever used.

The trick to digging seng with a long handle hoe type tool (and not damaging the root) is to dig that circle around the root. I look at how broad the seng plant leaves are and basically dig a circle around where the stem goes into the ground that big around.

I don't dig right where the root would be, but dig that circle around where the root will be.

Then once I get all of that dirt around the root area good and broke up I go in with my hands and extract the root.

Hardly ever damage one that way and if you do it will be way out there in a long feeler/hair root on the end.

If I ever do damage a root I just put it in my keeper pile and will slice it up and eat it myself.

And I can say for sure that I don't damage any more roots with the long handle digger than I did with a flat head or short handle tool.

On digging speed I get the roots out a LOT faster with the long handle digger.

In 2008 me and my partner dug that 6 lbs 3 oz of green seng in something like 5-6 hours (best day I have ever had) and I can tell you for sure that if I had been digging with a flat head I would not have dug half of that (that day).

The long handle digger comes in handy for other stuff too like:

Serving as a walking stick.
Beating briars and weeds out of the way.
Rattlesnake - you can sure take care of him.
You can reach up the hill and hook around a tree or root and pull yourself up on those extra steep places.
When you have a long handle tool you can test the other side of logs or over hang in rock before you step there (checking for snake).
You can also use it to poke around a seng plant before you dig which could reveal a snake you did not see.

I would just hate to go senging without my long handle digger.

If you ever change to one don't think you would ever go back.

TNhunter

Amen Trev that is it.I love these diggers it has improved my digging considerable especialy the time facotor and always around trees etc as the guys are talking about.

I noticed that you said your Grandpa had that old head,and I got mine from a man old enough to be my Grandfather.I have looked and looked for along time for a couple more of those for two sons and they are near imposible to find,well for me it is imposible to find another one.I look at the flea markets and every where else all the time.They are so light and with my handle my digger is less than 5 pounds im sure,yet very strong,as you said a weed beater,and them dreded water weeds I can smack a big path through them with it,etc....

I wouldnt take any other digger I ever had for that one.The old timer told me that those heads where around 60 years old at least and some where older,he said they did have a mark on them,but they had all wore off that he had seen,and he hadent saw many.He has 1 more but he want part with it.

Billy.



TNhunter wrote:

Hey Latt and others on that long handle hoe type digger.

You probably know that Billy and I both have the same digger.

Mine has a 36\" long hickory handle and I think the only difference in Billy's is he has a oak handle.

I used flat head and small hoe type tools (short handle like a hammer) in the past and used a short handle hoe for years that I really liked.

One day I was trying to get a root out of a rocky place and the head on it broke - that was the end of that little short handle digger.

I found the hoe head that I am using now on my Grandfathers shed wall hanging on a nail. No handle and I took it and got the 36\" hickory handle installed.

When I tried that digger out - I tell you I fell in love with it compared to anything else I have ever used.

The trick to digging seng with a long handle hoe type tool (and not damaging the root) is to dig that circle around the root. I look at how broad the seng plant leaves are and basically dig a circle around where the stem goes into the ground that big around.

I don't dig right where the root would be, but dig that circle around where the root will be.

Then once I get all of that dirt around the root area good and broke up I go in with my hands and extract the root.

Hardly ever damage one that way and if you do it will be way out there in a long feeler/hair root on the end.

If I ever do damage a root I just put it in my keeper pile and will slice it up and eat it myself.

And I can say for sure that I don't damage any more roots with the long handle digger than I did with a flat head or short handle tool.

On digging speed I get the roots out a LOT faster with the long handle digger.

In 2008 me and my partner dug that 6 lbs 3 oz of green seng in something like 5-6 hours (best day I have ever had) and I can tell you for sure that if I had been digging with a flat head I would not have dug half of that (that day).

The long handle digger comes in handy for other stuff too like:

Serving as a walking stick.
Beating briars and weeds out of the way.
Rattlesnake - you can sure take care of him.
You can reach up the hill and hook around a tree or root and pull yourself up on those extra steep places.
When you have a long handle tool you can test the other side of logs or over hang in rock before you step there (checking for snake).
You can also use it to poke around a seng plant before you dig which could reveal a snake you did not see.

I would just hate to go senging without my long handle digger.

If you ever change to one don't think you would ever go back.

TNhunter

Tn and Billy,

You guys are right on with your diggers. I have one just like Billy's.

I feel around the plant with the pick end stabbing the ground and if the ground has no rocks or large tree roots I switch to the blade side with a good swing or two and lift it up.

rootman

any pictures of ya'll diggers (long handle tn hunter )