Page 5 - Annual meeting edition

2018 KBA Windbreak Award Winner- Peggy Bledsoe

In 1950 Peggy Bledsoe, her parents Frank and Wilda Grigsby
Graves and her brother Cecil moved to the farm on NE 90 Ave
near Danville. 1964 was the year that Peggy and her parents
planted the original windbreak of bare-root cedar trees on the
north side of the farmstead.
Peggy remembers an old fence with grass growing in it providing
the protection that the bare-root seedlings needed to survive
the Kansas wind. She learned to care for the trees from her Dad
who placed a barrel halfway between the well and the end of the
windbreak so she could carry water to the farthest trees.
Having spent the majority of her life on this farm and raising her
children, Jana and Jeff there, she knew the value of the wind-
break. Time and drought finally got the best of the original
windbreak and Peggy removed the last seven trees in the fall of
2014.

The winter of 2015 Peggy felt the cold north winds blowing across the farmstead and decided that a
new windbreak was needed. She visited the Harper County Extension office to develop a plan and or-
der trees from the Kansas Forest Service.

Peggy prepped the site by chiseling, disking and rotor-tilling the area she was going to plant the trees.
On April 15 of 2015 Peggy and her daughter Jana Fleming planted 50 container grown Eastern Red Ce-
dar trees which are only about 1.5 feet tall with a few leaves on them.

After planting she rotor-tilled around and hand watered each tree the first year. Peggy did have an
issue with the wind blowing some of them over so in the fall she mulched them heavily with straw to
help with winter wind protection.

Peggy continues to hand water the trees between rain events and in the winter when the weather is
nice. She also mows around each tree to keep weed and grass pressure at a minimum. This year the
bagworms have been an issue and spraying in late spring is now part of her action plan.

Only four growing seasons into their life and Peggy’s new windbreak is incredible, she has many trees
that are nine and a half feet tall and four foot across. That is an average of two feet of growth a
year!

The benefits of having the windbreak are proven to Peggy, the house will be warmer, and the crop
field will be protected as they continue
to grow. She will have habitat for more
wildlife and has already seen several
birds building nests in the trees.
Peggy loves to take care of her trees
and has help from her sidekicks Katie
and Daisy whenever she is watering or
inspecting the trees for issues. Con-
gratulations Peggy Bledsoe on your ex-
ceptional windbreak.