On 5/11/2018 8:47 AM, Nyssa wrote:
Terry Coombs wrote:

On 5/10/2018 5:56 PM, songbird wrote:
had a nice rain/thunder/lightning storm last night,
made sure yesterday to have plenty of materials on-hand
for projects i can do on a rainy day.

it didn't rain today but was gloomy and threatening
several times, as i'd just finished up weeding one
garden yesterday afternoon i was ready to take a break
anyways. so i worked on making different stairs so
Mom can get in and out easier. i still have to get the
railing height settled but needed Mom here to make sure
it wasn't too high or too low.

otherwise, gardens are doing ok, i also have more
fence on order. too many deer coming through this
year and i've found a few deer ticks already. normally
i don't find any. new fence will also help with the
rabbits and groundhogs. won't be able to do the entire
border this year, but should get the worst areas blocked
this year and then next year finish up.

haven't planted yet, but getting close to doing
cucumbers. we're still having frosts/frost warnings so
i won't be planting any of the warm weather crops for
several weeks yet at the soonest. peas and onion seeds
i may start scratching some in here or there when i get
a chance.

the other rainy day project is to fix the garden shed
which is attached to the back of the garage (and thus
also
attached to the house). the walls inside there were
never finished properly and mice can use that as an
access for getting in the walls.

emptying the garden shed mostly happened this morning.
wasn't too bad since most of the decorations and plants
were already removed and put out in their spots. i'm not
sure if we'll ever find the rain gauge...

first hummingbird seen today.

strawberries blooming.


songbird
My tomato plants are getting up to around 18" tall now ,
the white greasy's are about 4" tall as are the red
rippers . I reseeded a cou[le of gaps in the peas/beans
today , set the cages on 2 dozen tomato plants and planted
a 20' row of the Mattie Beane bush beans today . I have
one 20 foot row left to plant when the soil warms just a
bit more , reserved for okra and maybe a vine crop of some
sort . I finished the straw mulch a couple of days ago ,
sure makes a difference in moisture loss !

I've gotten four tomato plants out in one of the main garden
beds. I ended up putting a large tomato cage over each one,
then wrapping bird netting around each cage. The deer have
been visiting and one managed to find a gap in one net and
chomp the top and several side leaves off of my Roma tomato
plant. I have re-jiggered the netting so there shouldn't
be a repeat of that.

Â* My garden (and apiary) are surrounded with a fence consisting of 18"
of 2" chicken wire at the bottom , topped by 3 rows of electric fence .
The wire at the bottom is folded to the outside at the bottom so the
rabbits can't dig under , the 3 wires on top discourage the deer and an
occasional bear - for real , I had a bee hive torn up last spring by a
bear !

The deep even tried tasting one of the marigold plants I
put in the same bed, but decided that those weren't as
tasty and just put some foot prints nearby instead.

My plans for trying a row of green beans will be to plant
the seeds, then put tall stakes at each end, run a line of
string, then use bird netting as a tent over the tow. We'll
see how well that works once they sprout.

Â* That better be a stout string or supported more than just at the ends .

Any more inexpensive ideas for discouraging Bambi and his
pals?

Â* You might try a mixture of water , milk , and an egg , with a drop or
two of detergent to act as a wetting agent . Spray it on the plants ,
renew after it rains . Makes them smell like protein , deer don't eat
protein .

Oh, and a few rabbits have gotten curious about the netting
around the mater plants and have tried digging under them.
Silly wabbits!

And still to come, the Canada geese who have decided a nearby
pond is perfect for them have now presented the neighborhood
with 10 new goslings. More honking and pooping to look forward
to as they grow. argh!

Nyssa, who is fighting a war against the animal kingdom
lately

Â* I feel your pain , it's taken me a few years to find a system that
works for me .

--
Snag
Ain't no dollar sign on
peace of mind - Zac Brown