Protecting our Assets, aka Catching Pillagers and Thieves

Since planting my garden about 2 weeks ago, I've been dealing with a few issues.  One issue is that something has been digging around in the garden. Who knows where the zucchini seeds have ended up! At the same time, many of my flower pots were being upended and rummaged through. They even broke my favorite pot (wah!). Hubby thought it was the cats (he says he hates the cats, but I know he loves them deep down, hehe).

Another issue is that something has been nipping off my pepper plants and my beans that are sprouting and have their first leaves.

Then there is the mole, but that's another story...

Two nights ago, I set the live trap directly on the spot I planted the zucchini seeds in. This is what I caught:

Last night, hubby saw a groundhog run under the shop (where the stray cat had been living...come to think of it, I haven't seen him around for a week or so...) and this is who we caught:

These creatures are now Turkey Buzzard Cuisine. Relocation is illegal--and besides, moving critters to someone else's woods is just making the critter someone else's problem.  Even our local "nature preserve" backs onto people's backyards. This is just the way things go when raising food and dealing with "the competition".  Lowering the population of raccoons will lessen the chance that our chickens will be ravaged later in the season. Lowering both the coon and groundhog population will help us to get a better harvest this summer. And....as I hear my hubby quote Clint Eastwood: "Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms."

In case you are wondering, our kids know the reasons we catch and dispose of these animals. It's not because we enjoy doing it. It's because these animals are, or have great potential of, destroying our crops and the chickens. 

I'm wondering what we might catch next. The trap is now set by one of the far outbuildings, where hubby caught some 15 critters last year.

I'm betting on another coon. 

Allergy Update

I recently went in for what I call an "Allergy Tune-up".  I've been taking Zyrtec due to some allergy issues. My allergies are not nearly as bad as in previous years, and they're not as bad as some of my friends' allergies, but there are just enough flare-ups to let me know I'm ailing.

I have been keeping a food/environmental diary for the last month, and a great many of my issues seem to lie with chemicals, mold and fungus. (Placing moldy straw with mushrooms on the garden, anyone?) Not all of them, but most of them. I expressed my desire to get a general scan, because at this point I feel a bit like I am chasing rabbits in having little things treated when I feel there is one underlying thing, but I am not entirely certain what it is.

The first thing that was checked was that my polarity was not blocked, as has happened in the past when things were "off". It was fine.

The Bax system was then used to scan and see where my problems lie, and the results were mainly in the area of molds and fungus.No surprise to me. A homeopathic treatment was suggested to me rather than a full BaxAura scan (which would have required 3 hours of fasting prior) and homeopathic sprays, in the interest of my budget.

So, I am trying a homeopathic remedy from Dynamic Nutritional Associates, called Mold Mix 1 (A-21). I will use 3 drops, 3 times/day for a week, then up the dosage to 4 drops, 3 times a day. I will continue to up the dosage by 1 drop/dose per week until I get to 10 drops, 3 times a day.

If needed, I will still be able to take a Zyrtec w/o causing any cross-reactions. It may take a week or two of dosages for it to build up in my system and my stem to behave itself more normally.

Chick Update: May 23, 2012 ~12 days old

The chicks are about 12 days old now.  I am not sure which one is the crooked-necked one, so I guess that is a good thing s/he is doing well.  I will have to go in this evening when they are tired and see if I can tell which one it is.

I took about 2 minutes of video and uploaded it to YouTube to share with my readers.

And here are some pics of our daughter and the chick she was holding. She is the only one of the kids that really wants anything to do with them. She wants to hold them and play with them every day (so far). LOL

The Main Garden: May 21, 2012

Some of the garden seeds I planted a week ago are coming up!

Royal Burgundy Bush Bean

Kale Mix

Burgundy Okra

Picklebush Cucumber

Jacob's Cattle Beans

There are moles that keep digging up and eating my onion sets. They don't particularly care for eating the red ones, but they dig them up anyway.  I put a live trap out there and haven't caught anything, which reinforces my thoughts that it's moles. I will have to figure out how to deal with them, as the vintage mole trap bit the dust last year...

I have seen a gigantic bunny outside on the property the last couple days. I am willing to bet that it's him or one of his buddies that have nipped off two of my banana pepper plants! I saw him this morning and ran out and scared him away, but I know that won't last for long!

Row-to-Row Carpeting in the Garden...aka Mulching

Since the garden was put in in the last week, today was dubbed Mulching Day.

Where we live, the soil around here is mainly clay. Not the best soil to grow things in, as it turns into a brick in the heat of the summer.  If the summer is particularly dry, the clay soil cracks. Picturesque, but not great for the plants.
 
Over the last 4(maybe 5) years, we have been mulching between our garden rows. This adds nutrients to the soil as it breaks down, makes pathways that we can walk on to get to our plants even if it's just rained heavily, helps keep the weeds down, and over time has made our garden less clay-like and more gardening friendly.

Our mulch of choice has often been grass clippings from mowing our acreage. It's work, but I'd rather be mulching than weeding, any day! 

Our second choice, and what I used today, is old straw. This year, we are using what was donated to us from the church's Live Nativity last December.  They didn't need it and were looking for someone to take it, so they brought it on over last winter. Win!

I do not recommend hay. Hay will have a lot of seed in it, and you don't want to be introducing that to your garden.  

Here's the straw I had to work with:

Here's the garden, with complete Row-to-Row Carpeting:

I think I ended up using 12 bales of straw. I need to water later tonite...those boards I think I will leave there so as to help the sprinkler head to sit level when I am watering.

Quite a change from 2 months ago, eh?