norseofcourse's journal - spring and show update

[purplequeenvt]

Brandywines all the way!!

 

[norseofcourse]

If ya wanted to have an early bed, ya could use a raised bed to get above the mud. Use 2"x6" with 2"x4" corners, use 3-4" deck screws and ya can put your dirt in and plant....come fall just unscrew and let it weather out, set it up in a different spot next spring. It might get ya started sooner, and have a head-start on the season.....just a thought.

I'll be heaping two long rows of sheep and/or horse manure below each trellis, lay black plastic over them, and plant in the 'ditch' in the middle. The black plastic heats up the ground faster and conserves moisture, the manure feeds the plants, and there's no weeding. Did that last year on one trellis and it worked great, so I'll do it that way on them all this year.

Brandywines all the way!!

Sorry, the Brandwine got cut, and the Carmello. I just could not cut any more, so I figured I have 6 weeks to figure out where to put another trellis, and put it up

 

[Mike CHS]

I love Brandywines but they just don't put on enough harvest when we grew them.

 

[norseofcourse]

I added back the Brandywine and the Carmello - just need to find some more space

The tomato seeds have started sprouting! I like to get them outside as soon as possible, weather permitting, so there's a couple trays outside now. A few others are in the enclosed back porch getting some sun, and one tray is still on top of the fridge, it was planted later than the others and nothing's sprouted yet.

My peach tree has blossoms, and I think they survived the cold weather and snow we had last Friday. The other peach tree hasn't shown any signs of life yet, it might not have survived the winter. Not due to the cold - I think something was chewing on the bark at the very base of it

The mud is finally drying up. This has been the worse winter and spring I think I've seen, with so much rain and so often that it never fully dried out in between, so the ground stayed super saturated. I guess it could have been worse, all that rain could have been snow... we were actually lucky this winter, with no really big snowfalls, and only a few spells of temperatures in the single digits.

I'm still on lamb watch, 2 ewes lambed, 3 to go. I've been posting pics and updates on my lambing thread.

While in the barn today watching the sheep, I noticed wasps! I hate wasps! I sprayed above the entrance to the run-in, but that only got a few of them (and got them a little mad). There are some nests started in the barn, near the top of the peak of the roof. I can't spray them - the spray won't reach, and besides I don't want to spray poison right above where the sheep live, and their hay/grain feeders are right below and would get sprayed, too. I'm thinking to connect some long pieces of poles or conduit together, long enough to reach up and scrape them off. The barn wall height is 12', the peak of the roof is maybe 5' above that, so I'm thinking a 20 to 25 foot pole would give me enough reach to get them from a slight angle so I'm not right below them. The roof trusses will help support the pole as I'm doing it. Anybody got any other ideas?

The ponies are doing well and shedding like crazy, the grass needs cut, there's tons of branches down from the winter and winds, I've had the windows open with the beautiful fresh air coming in - spring is here!

 

[CntryBoy777]

Something we use to use on extremely high nests in the barn was a long cane pole, wrap some newspaper around the end and secure it with some scrap wire....light the newspaper, raise it up and ya have dead wasp and nest...do it in the evening or early morning and catch as many as possible on the nest. Wasp die @118°....something that can be used around animals if the nest is a bit lower is a glass with a 3:1 of tap water and liquid disp soap. Put water in glass 1st, then add dish soap....slosh it around in the glass a couple of times and toss on the nest...the wasp will drop to the floor immediately most of which will be dead. There isn't a chemical trail, so they won't zero in on ya. It works in a spray bottle too, and will knock them out of the air. It works on wasps, hornets, bees, and yellow jackets....guaranteed!!

 

[purplequeenvt]

I've used the dish soap and water in a spray bottle before with success.

 

[norseofcourse]

Wonder if I could rig up some kind of remote trigger or something that would let me spray a spray bottle of soapy water from 20 feet away...

 

[norseofcourse]

I'm getting an idea, I think I need to get some small aquarium tubing...

 

[CntryBoy777]

One of those tank sprayers should get ya there, if ya pump the handle enough to build some pressure in it....they can shoot a fairly good distance and ya won't wear your hand out squirting it...

 

[Bruce]

Something we use to use on extremely high nests in the barn was a long cane pole, wrap some newspaper around the end and secure it with some scrap wire....light the newspaper, raise it up and ya have dead wasp and nest.

Does the fire department approve of this method??