Posted on 06/04/2022 6:23:06 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
I mulched with leaves this year, mostly shredded, mostly oak/hickory. I would like to move to half composted hardwood mulch. Stuff from tree companies has plenty of green in it and a big pile will get hot. That’s what Back to Eden guy does.
I’ve been looking at the no-till method lately and think it’s the way to go, at least in my case. I have Loamy Silt for soil, kind of a yellowish brown. One year I dragged a bunch of leaf mold/humus on to the garden and dug it in. Made for some nice brown fluffy soil and grew the best potatoes I’ve ever seen. Second year with nothing added was still decent soil. Third year with nothing added and it was almost back to original. If I’d have added compost/leaf mold/wood chips on top, I think it would have stayed really nice or gotten better.
I plan to use anything I can get my hands on. I need a chipper/shredder. We heat with wood and have plenty of trees so as I cut them down, I can chip the branches. Tons of leaves fall every year so I could shred those for leaf mold. I have animals for manure and am growing comfrey so I should be able to make some decent compost too.
Some of the no-till market gardeners are buying compost in bulk and mulching with it but I don’t want to buy it but also can’t make that much. I can make enough to use as an ingredient in potting soil and put in planting holes. Leaf mold and mulch can compost in place.
Vermicompost is something else I want to do as well.
Six 22 foot rows. Got a root cellar?
Nice taters! Mine are just starting to come up. Zone 4/5.
I planted Kennebeck, Red Norland and German Butterball this season. Can’t WAIT for those first new potatoes, steamed with butter and chives from the garden. :)
We have a chipper attachment for our tractor and chip our own mulch from downed branches and tree trimming.
I planted Kennebec and Red Pontiac.
Both kept VERY well.
Wow, my hat’s off to you and your taters! Those look great!
Weeds! Awesome.
Creepy Charlie is in my cross-hairs. And my plant beds. Non-native perennial invasive
What are weeds?
Violets? No
Goldenrod? No.
Night shade. Yes
Multi-flora Rosa. Yes.
White mulberry trees? I’m leaning YES.
WILD Grape. Leaning NO.
I weeded the woods last month, so I should be able to handle the Creepy Charlie.
The multiflora Rose is a weed, but very pretty for a couple of weeks.
Weed the woods? Who has the time for that? Weeding my yard is enough of a challenge.
We got our 2nd saying of rain in the last 10 days. This one lasted for about
5 hours with some folks reporting 2+ inches of rain. Last one was a downpour but lasted less than an hour.
The undergrw9th grass is all getting bright green and the cattle n sheep are all happy as can be.
My dog is half black lab and half hound and 99% barking dog.
I have kept him away from the sheep on our walks on the property and the cows as well.but my land is so luscious green right now all the cattle had congregated on it this a.m. (run him every morning and evening.)
I decided it was time for him to meet the cattle and learn he isn’t the dominant animal in town.
He left them alone at 1st but his hound genes decided he had to chase one of the adults. He got alongside it and determined he didn’t know what he wpuld do with it if he were to actually catch it....then he heard me yelling “no bear!!” And he came back to me and I greater his hind quarters with the handle end of my walking stick.
This was new to him and he bowed his head in shame.
He did a good job leaving them alone after that but the heard was congregating in our path back to the truck....he did great staying by my side but one largest and most protective of the cows squared up on us to protect the youngish.
The cow snorted at him and bear stood his ground about feet away. He didn’t bark or charge but the two were shouldered up facing eachother.
I said “Bear....no. go get your water” and he turned and trotted to the truck where his water dish was waiting.
Then I threw him the tennis ball about a dozen times.. the cows all walked closer and closer as he sprinted back and forth fro getting rhe ball and delivering it to me.
He chases the tennis ball like he is chasing a rabbit so the cows’cinterests were piqued.
I decided to load up before 40 cows abd calves decided to tell us we had to go in their own special way.
I think he knows he would get clobbered by the cows now and will leave them alone.
That’s a tough lesson to learn! Glad Bear took to it so quickly. (99% bark - we’ve got a few of those, unfortunately.)
I adopted two Lady Basset Hounds a few years back. The very FIRST day I had Belle and Pearl, Belle got kicked in the head by our mule and needed stitches! (No concussion, thank goodness, just nicked her with a hoof.)
She gave the mule a wide berth from there on out - as did Pearl, who witnessed the whole thing.
My goats keep the woods weeded. The poison ivy is gone as is pretty much everything else from ground level up to 5-6 feet above including multiflora Rose. I can see a lot further now. Makes it easier to thin out the trees too. Less to trip over. Get enough trees thinned out and I’ll have a mostly shaded savana/glade setting.
I have a couple of multiflora Rose up near the house and am keeping them. They’re a small variety that never get more than a couple of feet tall and don’t spread. Got pink flowers on them right now and I can use all the color I can get besides green and brown.
I’ll have to keep an eye out for PTO chipper/shredder but it will have to be a small one because my tractor is a sub-compact.
*** Got pink flowers on them right now and I can use all the color I can get besides green and brown.***
The color is the reason I do so many flowers around. I need all the color I can get too. I’ve heard my property described as park-like or like a botanical garden. That’s what I’m aiming for anyway.
Who has the time? Very few.
I spent a month pulling garlic mustard in 1/2 acre of woods. Pulled Asiatic Bittersweet and Norway Maple saplings while I was at it.
If I don’t, my woods will turn to a garbage jungle within a generation or sooner.
https://www.lhprism.org/species/acer-platanoides
Saplings and mature trees may be either cut or girdled, but they usually resprout from the stump. (9) We recommend trying a type of girdling that has been used with success on tree-ofheaven (Ailanthus altissima): In winter or early spring, partially girdle adult trees, by using a drawknife to remove approximately 12” of bark around the whole tree (but not the cambium underneath). This will kill the trees slowly, resulting in fewer stump sprouts. (10) Decrowning (removing all branches from) a mature tree may also have this effect. (11) Kill any sprouts at the end of the growing season, and annually thereafter.
https://sewisc.org/garlic-mustard-pull-a-thon
Since the Pull-A-Thon began 10 years ago, teams have collectively pulled nearly 87 tons of garlic mustard
You may find some value in this:
Wood Chips for Garden Mulch – Beneficial or Not?
https://melissaknorris.com/wood-chips-for-garden-mulch-beneficial-or-not/
Short answer is “yes”.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a sturdy “catch and release” (cage style) raccoon trap? Apparently the formerly well regarded “Havahart 1079” trap has been lightened up* to be not much better than the Rural King trap we have been using — which was fine for opossums and small raccoons, but which a larger raccoon (around 20 lbs.) totally destroyed the trigger mechanism and trip plate a few days ago.
*See Amazon reviews on same.
I sometimes use “dog proof” paw traps which work fairly well (although a good size raccoon may be able to pull out of even one of those - had that happen the week B4 last). The problem with the dog proof traps is that pretty much the only option once the animal is trapped it to shoot it. I don’t have too much trouble with that for opossums, but, raccoons... I’d swear they KNOW what guns (in this case a high power .22 air rifle) are, and many will give me a “You don’t really want to do this, do you?” look as I take aim... And then one has to dispose of a decent size animal (or butcher and cook it for our chickens). Despite the trouble and gas cost, I’d much rather spend the $5 or so in gas $$ to run the ‘coon to a refuge or Wildlife management area and release it.
Research online has been inconclusive: Pricier traps get negative reviews for being insufficiently constructed almost as often as cheaper traps.
Anyone here have some recent experience with this?
What are the raccoons getting into?
I have a very persistent one that loves to eat and/or steal my bird suet cages.
After I figured it out, (because they were disappearing overnight when birds aren’t feeding and having my Beagle tree it one night) I just took the cages in when I was closing up shop for the night. He moved on.
If there’s a food source they’re getting into, such as your bird feeders or trash cans, put them in the garage at night. Raccoon are opportunists of the highest order.
I checked with Beau and he says Havahart have always been ‘junk.’ The traps he has are made by a local Amish guy, so if you can check with anyone in your area, you may be able to find one of better quality.
I check at Lehman’s and they only sell the Havahart brand. Made in China. Disappointing! :(
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