What have you done today in the Garden?

Maybe the bobcat family will clear out the various ground dwellers? The bobcats need to eat something.

My neighbor told me that this area was once teeming with voles, mice, and rats. Then someone introduced feral cats - I imagine not intending to, but their cats weren't spayed and neutered. The feral cats cleared out the majority of rodents. Not 100%, but now the populations are reduced. I put up a barn owl house, but they've never used it. Two nights ago I heard a pack of coyotes howling. I don't know if they hunt rodents.

Some of the most obnoxious critters here are the two-legged ones, but I won't get into that. I try to live and let live with all.

 

Thank you for sharing your experiences . It is a bit concerning hearing coyotes howling. A normal occurrence around here starting in fall .

We have feral cats which the coyote’s hunt along with rodents and other predators. The poor cats are so diseased it is sad. Many can't fend for themselves. A big male called ‘Red’ big orange stripe male is friendly and has 6 toes. I was at a neighbors house when they fed them all. As soon as the tin cans holding food made a sound the cats and kittens came scrambling from every direction like a river of cats. No joke. I was glad to be sitting up on a deck out of harms way.

There is also a farel cat center that collects farel cats from the wild provides shots, nuetering & health checks. They will bring them out to clients for donations, leave them to help with the rodent population. I tried that and the cats disappeared. One gal climbed up the barn ladder to place a cat and she fell off. I thought she was going to sue us, but didn’t. She insisted on placing the cat crate up there.

I have 2 domestic cats they come in at night because of the coyotes. I put bells on their collars to warn the birds. Occasionally they get a mouse/gopher or two., and leave me a present on the porch. I see the farel cats around, but not often. The dogs are always after the squirrels , ground squirrels and rabbits. The vet said not to allow the dogs to catch them because they carry diseases. However I caught my big collie swallowing a chipmunk whole and made her spit it out. Yikes gross.

 

Sorry Daniel i haven't been keeping up with this thread, no i don't need a rooting hormone for them, i put them in a peat free compost with added sand, it has to be free draining, i water them in and don't water them again until they've rooted, if they wilt i spray the leaves with water.

 

Thanks for the link about tea bags @Pacnorwest I've always put them in the compost bins. When i started making compost the outside of the tea bags would never break down properly. I found out that they use plastic so that they wouldn't fall apart when making the tea. Now they make them with reduced plastics.

 

This heat wave in Sept. today’s temp 101F. I was outside at the crack of dawn watering my buns off. Yikes.

 

We keep small containers by our sink, one for coffee grounds and the other we have for tea bags...well for their contents I should say as we open the bags and shake out the contents and dispose of the bag.

The coffee grounds are forked in around the Hydrangeas and a very small sprinkling around the Blueberries.....but only a little as they shouldn't be given more than about a couple of cupfuls in total per year. The tea 'leaves' are put in the compost bins.

 

@Oreti , acorns are edible, and very nourishing. They taste better roasted though. I sometimes give a few to my horse for treats, but not too many. A horse could founder if they ate too many. Do you know anyone who might want them?

I got out this morning and trimmed my forsythia bushes by the road. The postal service gets very upset if they are not trimmed. I took the best cuttings (two armloads) and filled two buckets and added water to try and root them. Maybe they will root? If they all rooted, I could share/sell some. I hope they all root.

I need to get back to doing something.

 

Thanks @AAnightowl , yes I know that they are edible, the leaching process is a tad tedious though !! You can use either the hot or cold method, the hot method is quicker but you reduce some of the nutrients. You can even use them to make coffee too.
Fortunately all the horses in the surrounding fields don't suffer any side effects, unless it's bred into them to ration the amount they consume.
We are in an area with lots of Oaks so everyone has their own stash to deal with.

 

I found this outside earlier this am. The Ponderosa Pine Borer - Trichocnemis spiculatus.

I do treat all my trees every fall with a stemic because of beetle borers and gypsy months. The gypsy moth larvae overwinter in the soil then by spring the larvae climb up trees and can defoliate trees and forests in no time. They are easily identified by huge webs with the worm larvae in cases. As they mature in moths the web is opened and the moths escape to replenish another layer .

Ponderosa Pine Borer. How big ? Almost as big as a bic lighter.

 

We have a small coffee shop near by and they gave me a 5 gallon bucket full in about 2-3 hours. I don't drink coffee, so it was great, for me. I may do it again when I prepare the gardens for winter.

It seems to have been a while for me being here, as well. Third day back to work and I'm tired already. I'm with the little littles (k-3, k-4, and k-5s), in the mornings. They wear me out. On the good side the upper el and I planted seeds last spring and with total neglect over the summer, we ( the 6th graders) harvested a bunch of carrots Tuesday afternoon. They peeled and cut them this afternoon and the whole class had some. I did see the kids who apparently cook with the parents. One girl could peel and cut really well.

I got home to more raspberries, so have 3 or 4 gallon bags in the freezer, now. I'll get sugar and make jelly from some of them. Not much else is going on. My tomatoes just didn't do well this year. I heard from several people, their gardens didn't do we either. Not as hot and more rain than usual.

 

Yikes! That guy looks wicked!

Sounds like what were called tent caterpillars when I was growing up.

 

This year i had trouble with tomato blight but the ones by the back door are sheltered and they're very healthy.

 

Oh bummer Blight on tomatoes this season is disappointing. Glad to hear some were good.

 

Too hot today! I watered, walked, and tried to stay indoors.

 

yes that’s another name for them.

I cut this out of my birch tree last fall. Tent cats.