Gopher Gasser.
I am now carrying around the property but if I can find the hole, it's going to get gassed some night.
Posted on 05/01/2024 6:00:41 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Your tunnel frame is looking good. Won’t be long before the hard work pays off and it’s full of all kinds of green goodness.
I love my Gorilla cart! It’s one of the best investments I’ve made out here on the desert homestead. One caveat: They have regular old pneumatic tires. (I think that’s the term — tires that hold air and occasionally need to be pumped up.) One or two will likely arrive flat, so you’ll think “no biggie” and inflate them and off you go. The next time you use it, one or two flats again. Lather, rinse, repeat. Turns out this is a regular complaint with garden carts: the tires are useless. I had this very problem and ended up replacing all four tires with non-pneumatics. Gorilla knows this and makes $$$ selling replacement tires. I bought a set of four never-flats online. They’re easy to install — just reuse the cotter pins.
The mortgage lifter tomato is full of pulp and seeds. We like our tomatoes on the meaty side.
We’ve gotten one groundhog already this year. They will decimate a vegetable garden.
The past week here in Central Missouri was mostly warm and dry with a small rain shower or two mixed in.
Saturday morning we went to the local farmers’ market. Mrs. Augie and #1 Marine Daughter bought some groceries and I bought some white turtlehead and blue flag iris to plant on the pond bank. From there we went to the native plant sale at the Bass Pro Shops store and picked up a few more natives to scatter about... and that reminds me... I’ve got a big sack of Joe Pye Weed seeds that also need to be scattered about.
After we got home from the plant sale I put the pond hopper boat in the water and deep sixed the aeration diffuser. Of course I didn’t think to check to make sure it was working properly before putting it in the water so naturally it’s clogged. I’ve got a feeling the support stand is going to fall apart when I pull it back up so I’ll have to build a new one before I re-deploy after figuring out the clog.
Yesterday I stuck half a dozen tomato plants into the dirt, deployed the soaker hose and ground cloth, and set the cages up. I’ve got six more to plant. I’ll get a couple or three more in after work today if the rain holds off. I should have been done yesterday but this doggone back injury has really slowed me down the past couple weeks.
We spotted our first groundhog since moving here.
There’s no evidence of it being in the garden. Yet.
I know they can be trapped. What foods do they find irresistible enough to bait the trap with?
They have undermined the barn at our flatland house to the point we have collapsed areas, they caused a leak in the pipes & screwed up the electric wires. Of course, as you mentioned, they are pretty good at destroying gardens & getting into things like our fig bush. I have no tolerance for them.
They have been trying for years to dig a den under our barn, concrete slab. One succeeded last year and I managed to see her (females are huge) dive into the hole when she saw me. I yelled to hubby get down there. They are very fast when running but she was under the barn. Hubby hopped on the atv with a 20 gauge and shot a few shots in the hole and pushed the sand back in after her. RIP.
Thank you! I have that problem with the front tires on my zero-turn mower. Our recent ‘MacGiver Fix-It’ is to fill them with expanding foam. So far, so good - though you will get a ‘flat side’ on the tire, but that goes away after a bumpy start, LOL!
I told Beau that IF he wants the lawn mowed while he’s ‘goofing off’ and hunting this, that and the other critter Summer into Fall that there WILL be new tires on my mower before he leaves or I WILL be hiring out the mowing at his expense. End of conversation!
This Farm Wife Gig IS pretty plush - easiest ‘job’ I’ve ever had, but at times I HAVE to put my foot down! Remember - I’m dealing with a stubborn, Luddite Norwegian Farmer, here. It’s a lucky thing for him that he’s handsome! ;)
Oh, Augie! Take care of yourself! We NEED you! :)
Joe Pie Weed is probably my most favorite native wild plant. Useful and beautiful! :)
We have a Ranger and cannot imagine owning this much property without one.
It can haul about anything.
I can’t wait to go UTV shopping! :)
Gopher Gasser.
I am now carrying around the property but if I can find the hole, it's going to get gassed some night.
Tried a few different brands of these over the years. None worked.
I shot one last year with a pistol after my SIL’s dog cornered it up against a big pine - weird situation. Then I trapped another in the pole barn with some fresh figs. It was a live trap, but we do not practice catch & release. I haven’t seen one since. The heavy damage I described at the barn happened years back. We periodically get one showing up & generally, my brother shoots them with a scoped rifle (don’t have to get but so close!) or I trap them.
If you are shooting, best to wait until their backs are turned away from your line of sight. They move fast. I can’t imagine getting one with a pistol. I’ve gotten a few with a .22. Best success with a 20 gauge and birdshot.
Aw, shucks...
My back felt a lot better yesterday. Enough better that I was able to set the last six tomato plants after work. Soaker hose is down, ground cover is down, cages are up. I stuck the two cayenne pepper plants I bought in the ground while I was at it.
I’ve got a PT appointment this afternoon. If they’re not too hard on me I’ll set the rhubarb plants out and maybe get a piece of welded wire up for Mrs. Augie’s cucumbers after I get home.
I’ve got an asparagus question... the plants have been in the ground for 16 years. They aren’t in a great spot. Wait until they’ve gone dormant in the fall to dig and reset?
Asparagus doesn’t mind. You can move them in the Spring while they are still dormant (no spears poking up) as soon as the soil can be worked, or in the Fall after the green tops start dying back.
I would chose Spring over Fall, though. Our bed is pretty ratty - needs a major refresh, but I’m not looking forward to that task.
Here’s a pretty good primer on what to do:
https://www.asparagus-lover.com/transplanting-asparagus.html
The pistol was an ‘emergency’ situation. I didn’t have time to run get my 20 gauge, which for sure would have been ‘no miss’. My SIL was closer, so she was able to grab her pistol & get to me before the groundhog broke for the pole shed. The Collie was so funny ... not a hunting dog. The old Brittany Spaniel would have been all over that groundhog. I was yelling at the Collie “get it, get it” and she was barking & bouncing at it, feinting a bite (groundhog feinted back), then she’d look at me like ‘well, now what?’ I’d yell again ‘get it get it’ ... this went on until I had the pistol & could shoot it. My SIL was really shaken up - didn’t want the dog getting hurt & couldn’t shoot it herself.
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