Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

[Bruce]

No surprise Mike! When I read 7 hours of weed whacking didn't even come close!

That MSMA stuff sounds really nasty
https://www.solutionsstores.com/msma-target-6-plus-herbicide

 

[CntryBoy777]

Ya have to go to a class and take a test to get a licese to purchase that here.....but it definitely works and is used widely here. We have all these blame oak tress and they produce tons of acorns which in turn sprout and unless you cut with more to keep them down, they will take over, not to mention the viney stuff, sumac, and blackberry briars. I used to could swing a pretty mean "Joe Blade" back in my day, but those days are long gone. I just need to find out about livestock and aquatics around the pond....to make sure I stay a safe distance away.

 

[Mike CHS]

The generic Roundup does the job on the driveway. We almost always have a lot of wind and it doesn't seem to have as much drift affect.

 

[Mike CHS]

We decided to take a day off. We just got back from an auction where we spent half a day. There was a ton of antiques and other collectibles and some farm equipment. They did have a 3 point hitch hay spear that I bid on and got it for $65. We bid on a few antique oak furniture pieces but the prices were silly.

Teresa got a #3 galvanized wash tub for $12 that we will use in the ram pen for water.

 

[Mike CHS]

The day started off with zero wind so I got out first thing and sprayed our driveway and the neighbors. I usually spray his side also but made sure I got his really well today since I had to use his sprayer. I mounted my 3 point hitch sprayer yesterday and brought it up to the house to fill it with water to use this morning. I saw some water coming out of the drain area and when I looked at it to see where it was coming from I saw that a rodent of some king had literally chewed the drain plug and about two inches of plastic completely off. I got it on sale at TSC but the regular price is around $349. It looks like I can get a replacement and at least reuse the rest of the assembly.

A just because picture of the cabbage beds and another with the dwarf cherry trees in full bloom. They had a decent load of cherries last August but since we were not here for most of that month the birds got all of them. We have netting to use this year so hopefully we will get some. This is their third year in the ground here and they seem to be thriving with all the composted sheep manure mulch around them.

Saturday I started germinating a dozen of the Russian tomato seeds that we got recently. I germinate the seeds in damp paper towels and plant them in a potting mix as soon as they break dormancy so they are already popping up. It's an extra step but it saves a lot of time when the weather is still cool.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Glad ya was able to get your spraying done...the Gails have stopped here too, gotta get to work outside and get somethings done. I would venture to say that the damage had to be fairly sizeable to do that kind of chewing on your equipment...either rat or chuck. Just out of curiosity...what was the last thing ya had in it? Just wondering if there was a smell that was an attractant to it.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Everything seems to be thriving and looking great!

 

[Mike CHS]

The last thing I sprayed was 2-4-D but I used a cleaning solvent to clean the sprayer. It did have to be something big since the tank was a good piece above the frame.

 

[Mike CHS]

We had to go back and install some 24" poultry netting on the inside of the chicken pen. The Delawares figured out that they can get out and go exploring. Fortunately for the one that got out it got out on the yard side where there are no dogs roaming. That pen is right at 250' of fence but we were able to get it all done yesterday.

We got another Manager's Special at TSC (picture attached) and got it put together today. It will hold up to 15 birds but we are going to move the Rhode Island Reds (4 hens and 1 rooster) into this pen and use the now safer pen for all of the younger birds. It borders the sheep pen on two sides so Maisy keeps them safe even though she doesn't know it. We have started introducing her to the chickens and she seems to so far understand that they are supposed to be there.

 

[CntryBoy777]

That looks really good!!....I'm in the process of rethinking our poultry plans and directions, but it is behind some goat additions, steers, and may be feeder pigs....so, I have some time to ponder it for a bit.