Farm News 05-29-05

Sunday morning, after chores, 62°

Runaway Rabbit Returns

The runaway rabbit decided to end her brief foray into freedom. Sunday evening she was quietly waiting underneath her cage. She quit waiting quietly when Trusty barged in, but I managed to capture her. She seemed happy to be back in her cage and calmed down.

Wednesday, Calvin came to visit, and he immediately noticed that she had a bad leg. Sure enough, she must have suffered a serious sprain at some point. She seems to be recovering.

Planting Trees

It's time to plant trees. Why do most of us, me included, continually try to cut corners when planting trees? It seldom seems to work to our advantage. I was fixing to cut some corners when Calvin reappeared! Not only did he reappear, but he was dragging along what I guess he thinks will be his replacement, Caleb.

When you have two horses and a wilderness to tame, what do you do? You clear and plow. Before Calvin left we had started clearing a small area east of the house, a football shaped space about 40' by 20'. It includes a 40' tall Red Cedar and a pile of dirt, stumps, rocks, roots, and weeds created as a result of clearing and digging for the septic system lateral bed. At various times this tangle has housed foxes, groundhogs, pack rats, opossums, raccoons, numerous Southern Grasshopper Mice, and lots of other stuff, too.

I used to have a campfire site on the east side of the mound; it was there that I saw two Grasshopper mice (one male and one female), mate in the wild. Only wild mouse orgy I have ever seen. After fifteen years the stumps are rotting and the mound is settling. The gaps and openings that allowed little creatures to hide in it filled in as it settled, and they moved away. In the past few years the wildlife population has dwindled and the area has become nothing more than an eyesore.

Calvin and Caleb, working under my wise supervision, finished clearing the area, picked up all the little sticks, chopped out small tree stumps, and then ran the tiller over the whole thing. It's ready for the major landscaping work to begin.

Wooded areas have a strong tendency to rapidly develop a border of shrubs and there isn't much future in fighting that tendency. Something has to replace the border of Dogwood, Honeysuckle, and Prickly Ash which we removed. When practical, I would like to use plants already growing on the place, either in the wild or in the nursery bed, to build the new landscape. Top candidates for plants to use include a lot of Viburnums, especially High Bush Cranberry, Viburnum trilobum, and Koreanspice Viburnum, V. cephali.

Koreanspice Viburnum is extremely fragrant for about a week and just a nice shrub after that. Highbush Cranberry is a good plant year round. There are several seedling plants on this place, one of which is markedly superior. The choice plant is bushier, has more flowers, and grows leaves all the way to the ground. The plant propagates easily from softwood cuttings; that means I better think about writing an article about taking cuttings for next week.

Global warming has made it possible to grow Chaste Tree, Vitex agnus-castus, right here in Kansas. This far north it dies back to the ground in the winter and is slow to sprout in the spring. When it does start new growth, it looks like pot. Late in the summer it is topped with spikes of blue flowers but the leaves still look like pot. It is a Mediterranean plant, it can handle gravelly soil, dry soil, and lots of sun. Treated more gently it will thrive and have lots of pretty blue flowers.

Chaste Tree leaves were used to make a tea. In the Thirteenth Century, when important men left their households for trips to Jerusalem and such they would often leave instructions for their women to drink a daily draft of Chaste Tree tea. The men thought this regimen would help achieve the same ends as the chastity belt. Women, on the other hand, knew that the tea produced not chastity but sterility. The whole story is, of course, an urban legend, but one of such antiquity that it is now considered to contain some sort of wisdom.

Ting Fights for Her Rights

Ting likes to roost on top of the cat feeder. I seem to be the only individual in the barn that objects to this, but I am High Sheriff of the Barn, and I don't want her her on top of the cat feeder. The cats never notice her, of course.

Late Wednesday afternoon a cold front rolled across and the sky darkened. Ting, who wouldn't think of wearing a watch, it being her escort's responsibility to provider her with the time, whenever such a mundane piece of information is needed, went to her roost, as any proper young pullet should do when the bars are closed. Actually, there are no bars, at least none that serve Polish Crested chickens, but Ting likes to express herself in such a manner. Anyway, Ting went to bed a bit early by clock time.

When I came in to do chores, a bit late, perhaps, by clock time, it was to find Ting roosting atop the cat feeder. “Off, tedious fowl!” I called, and swept her from her roost, an insult that no decent Polish Crested chicken could tolerate. Poor Ting.

Ting was convinced that I was late with her evening feed; after all, she had been roosting when I finally appeared. Perhaps the physical assault made her think that I had been drinking, again. Starting somewhere in her abdomen, a burning sense of outrage slowly spread, finally enveloping her entire body. Such treatment could not be permitted.

Many fowl know that humans are vulnerable to attack on the shoe laces. Ting has discovered this and has learned to target the most sensitive parts of the shoe lace.

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Farm News 05-22-05

Sunday morning, after chores, 69°

Somerset Twins Hold Press Conference

The Somerset Twins, who are not twins, but use the name 'Somerset Twins' as a stage name, although they have never been on a stage, held a press conference early in the week to announce that Ling Somerset (their names are Ting and Ling) is in her confinement. For those of you who are a bit rusty on Victorian English Euphemisms, it means that Ling is pregnant.

What nonsense. Chickens don't get pregnant, they lay their eggs in a nest and incubate them there. Ling has indeed laid a clutch of eggs in a hidden nest and is now sitting on the eggs and hoping to become a mother. Ting has promised to bring me a weekly update; an offer which stirs thoughts other than gratitude.

Honey Locusts

A reader writes:

I have 10 acres of grassy woods. There is a growing stand of Honey Locusts,
and though I agree, the flowers smell wonderful, this mass of thorny trees is
unwanted. In one area of otherwise open grass, there are about 5 large (20 foot)
trees and many of various sizes smaller. They seem to be somewhat
indestructible.

Do you have any suggestions of how to get rid of them?

Do you have a goat? You will need one but they won't eat the thorns. Mice and rabbits will eat fresh green thorns but not the mature, hard, sharp ones. So plan on building a big pile of thorny brush. Cut the larger stuff for firewood or outdoor chopping blocks, even though it might be dangerous to pick up, now. Two people, both wearing leather gloves, can pick up a log with one at each end and set it on a stack with minimal injury.
Put on lots of leather, sharpen the chain saw, take along a shovel and rake, and start clearing. Whenever possible, clean everything away from the base of the tree before cutting the tree about 14” above the ground. Then cut off the stump as low as practical.

Use the tip of the chain saw to cut some grooves, perhaps 3/4” deep in the top of the remaining stump. Try to cut the grooves so that they don't go beyond the inner bark of the stump, we want them to hold water. Sprinkle some dry chemical fertilizer in the grooves, and then cover the whole thing with a little dirt. With the fertilizer and soil trapped on top, the stump will rot in about half the time an untreated one will.

The first spring after you cut it, the stump is going to send up a lot of sucker growth. As soon as it gets started good, about this time of the year, spray the leaves with Roundup. Roundup will kill just about anything if you spray it on the leaves, so be careful and don't spray it all over. If you do it while the new growth is low enough you can apply it with a paint brush. Roundup, according to one of my environmentalist friends, is not as bad as most herbicides in it's long term effects. You might have to apply Roundup several times the first year and again the following year before the stumps die and quit sending up suckers.

A goat will happily eat all new growth on the stumps, if you prefer organic controls. Honey Locust seeds will continue to germinate for four or five years after you cut down the trees. Sheep, goats, or mowing will keep them cut back. Mice, rats, and rabbits like to nibble the seedlings, too. Fire is the most natural way of controlling them but might not be legal in your area.

Honey Locust burns slowly and smells a lot like popcorn. When tossed on a hot bed of coals, the thorn bundles can provide some nice fountains of sparks. Slices of the logs can be used for pavers and log circle walls. The thorns come off when the bark starts peeling off, usually the second year after they are cut.

Now, to the brushy parts. What do you do with all those little branches and twigs, all covered with thorns? You can build a bird shelter. Using rocks, cement blocks, old tires, or whatever, build a rough circle of 16”-20” high piers, five or six of them about five feet apart with another one or two in the center of the circle. Cut the larger branches (1”-4” diameter) into six to ten foot lengths and place them criss-crossed up on top of the piers. Then pile all the smaller stuff on top of that.

You should now have a pile of thorny stuff sheltering a patch of grass and weeds. Birds can feed on the ground, see predators coming, and fly up into the thorns for shelter. In the winter it will be a snow-free area where they can get to the soil.

At several points around the outer edge dig holes about 1' deep and 18” across. Dump some manure in each and replace the dirt. When it is warm in the spring plant gourds in each of the holes. The gourds will cover and hold together the thicket as well as providing material for bird houses.

You can throw bird seed on the shelter every week or so year round; the birds will love you and the rodents will thrive. A good, well fed mouse and rat population will help make up for the habitat loss to the hawks and owls. A 50 lb. bag of chicken scratch from the local feed store, fed at the rate of about a quart per week, should last for a few months and make a great difference in the density of wildlife in the area.

Heavenly Scents

The Russian Olive, Eleagnus angustifolia, trees are blooming. Paula describes the fragrance as 'heavenly', and I agree. Just after sunset they begin releasing a wonderful scent. The Russian Olive's cousin, the Autumn Olive, E. umbellata, sometimes called 'Cardinal Shrub' or something similar, also smells great. Both of these plants will grow in Kansas but they don't necessarily live a long time.

More Bunnies

Monday morning, when I went out to do chores, Rosie had a batch of fur in her mouth. An hour later she had a box of bunnies. Oh, boy! These are little mini-lops, sweet little rabbits with droopy ears. Fluff, the buck, is a mini-lop. Rosie is the only mini-lop doe, Svenna, Ayte, and Nyn, the other three does, are Checkered Giants, great big rabbits. I'm fairly sure Svenna outweighs Tessie, the old Westie who guards the barn.

Fluff's bunnies are not very efficient converters of rabbit food into some kind of value. When bred to Rosie, the result are very cute, gentle, friendly little bunnies which can be sold for top dollar, sometimes, at the auction. When bred to Ayte or Nyn, though (Svenna is in a convent), the product is a lot of slow-growing bunnies. So, I'm thinking about purchasing a New Zealand or Californian buck, to be used for breeding Ayte and Nyn.

It is time for Svenna to graduate from the convent to the deep freeze, an event which will help reduce the feed bill. Seven young rabbits are ready to butcher, also, one of which escaped its cage and is running loose.

Monday and Tuesday I had the opportunity to chat for a while with an old fart somewhat older than I am. We were discussing rabbits, and he mentioned that his father, who had served in WWII, had mentioned to him something about the amount of rabbit they ate while in the military. I can vaguely remember that, during WWII, some of my family raised rabbits for sale to the military. The old fart said that a friend of his father had been a rabbit inspector during the war. After the war he published some papers about the forensic pathology of dead rabbits and made some money giving lectures to rabbit breeders. CSI:bunny.

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Farm News 05-15-05

Sunday morning, after chores, 46° and clear




Swallows Return
Sunday morning after sending Farm News, I took a cup of tea and wandered back to the barn. As I got there a Barn Swallow flew in and checked out last year's nest. I hope they have better luck this year. The problem is that they build their nests as close up under the metal roof as possible. Their babies tend to bake on hot days. I have placed several nesting ledges in likely spots, but they insist on going just under the roof.

It's nice to have them in the barn. It takes them a few days to get used to my coming and going, but then they settle down and speak nicely to me when I enter. They have kindly moved their nest site to a location where they are slightly less likely to poop on the mower seat.

Honey Locust

There are two kinds of Locust trees around here, the Honey Locust, Gleditsia triacanthos, and the Black Locust, Robinia pseudoacacia. The Honey Locust is the one with the long, branching thorns. If one wished to make a crown of thorns, the Honey Locust would be the only tree around here with the right kinds of thorns. The Black Locust has small pairs of thorns on the younger branches, similar to Rose thorns. Both bloom with white pea blossoms on drooping stems; the Honey Locust blooms first and then the Black Locust, generally. The Honey Locust smells good, the Black Locust smells like Heaven.

Monday evening seemed to be the peak of the Black Locust flowering. It was warm and humid and there was little breeze. A sweet fragrance drifted around the place, sometimes intense, sometimes delicate, but always there. Even alcoholism has it's rewards.

Locust trees were planted in groves and lines by the early land developers for the purpose of feeding bees. The bees would then create honey, which could be harvested. The honey could then be fermented to make mead, which could then be spiced to produce metheglin, one of the favorite beverages of the frontier, when the 'frontier' was east of the High Plains. Somebody still produces it, Metheglin for California Wannabes.

It's a miracle that our ancestors survived. Many of them drank great quantities of alcoholic beverages. In the towns, the water was probably unsafe, so fermented beverages became the norm. And, if a little bit makes you feel good, a little bit more will make you feel better. That rule of human nature has been around since before we learned to stand on two legs, probably.

Planting Flowers

The geese took a liking to Bronze Fennel, a fern-like plant that smells and tastes like licorice, grows about four feet high, and helps increase the number of Anise Swallowtail butterflies. In the winter, on a sunny day, one can sit near a Fennel plant and enjoy a rich licorice fragrance. In the summer they usually have quite a few caterpillars of the Anise Swallowtail, an interesting caterpillar with an ultra-cool defense mechanism. The blasted geese completely killed out the stand of Fennel.

After looking in half a dozen different seed and plant stores I gave up and went online to order some Fennel seed. I couldn't find it there, either! This year there is definitely some sort of war against Fennel. Paula finally found a pill bottle with seed I had collected from plants two years ago. Today I planted five six-packs with Fennel and crossed my fingers.

While I was at it I planted some Moonflower, they smell really good at night, and ten seeds of Royal Purple Millet. For some reason Royal Purple Millet seed is outrageously expensive. I bought two packets of seed for about $3 per packet, and each packet contained exactly five seeds.

By Saturday evening six Royal Purple Millet seeds had germinated, as had two Moonflower seeds. I think a couple of Fennel seeds are germinating, but it is too early to know for certain.

Ayte's Dozen Bailing Out

Monday morning I found two of Ayte's twelve bunnies out of the nest. Their eyes are not fully opened yet but the bunnies were ready to start exploring. Actually, they were probably pushed out, with twelve bunnies in there it is becoming crowded. By Wednesday eight of them had left the nest, so I took the nest box out. The bunnies are still young enough to enjoy sleeping on their backs. A pile of twelve sleeping bunnies, about a fourth of them with their legs sticking up, is a delightful sight.




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Farm News 05-08-05

Farm News
Sunday morning, after chores, 70° and sunny

Editor Misses an Issue
Sorry about that. I had a week of diarrhea and completely ran out of shit.

Peanuts

That is her name, Peanuts. This winter I decided that Lucy wasn't pregnant. Friday I found out that I was wrong, for after Paula and I made a trip to Lawrence we returned home to find a new goat in the pasture. She is light brown with dark brown markings, definitely a nice little goat.

When I did Friday morning chores I realized I was mistaken about Lucy's reproductive status. She had 'bagged up', her udder was enlarged and her teats were engorged and sticking out. She was holding her tail high and making a lot of noise. She looked plump, not pregnant, and holding her tail high and making a lot of noise could indicate she was in heat. Bagging up, though, means a baby is on the way.

Lucy found a patch of bare soil in the pasture and dropped her baby there. There was a full placenta, covered in dust, lying there to show me that she had cleaned out. Lucy ate most of the umbilical cord and it's various attached membranes, a behavior which gives her a burst of various hormones that all work together to set her up for motherhood.

By having her baby on a patch of bare earth, Lucy was able to cover her teats with dust. That dust, contaminated with goad manure, will the contain bacteria and spores that will find Peanut's rumen to be an ideal habitat. By the time Peanut is ready to eat greens she will have a complete population of rumen symbiotes.

We are told that ruminants, animals that chew their cuds, have a rumen, a stomach-like pouch where bacteria break down their coarse green feed. That is true, but it misses the most interesting point, I think. Ruminants have micro-organisms living in their rumens, several different kinds. Living inside of those micro-organisms are smaller micro-organisms that help them do their job. Living inside those smaller micro-organisms are yet smaller micro-organisms that help their hosts do their job. Living inside the yet smaller micro-organisms . . .. Actually, there are over twelve levels of things living inside things in at least one of the chains. Peanut was born with a 'sterile' rumen, but in a few days she will have an amazingly complex biosystem in her rumen that contains at least one chain of twelve or more of organisms inside organisms.

Before the sun went down Peanuts did her part by finding a teat and starting to nurse. Mother and daughter spent Friday night in the barn, sheltered from the weather and shut in together so that they can bond a bit more. This is Lucy's first excursion into motherhood and she will benefit from a bit of assistance.

Saturday afternoon Lucy went out into the pasture to graze. Peanut, well bonded by now, stuck close to her side; in a few days Peanut will learn to curl up and nap in a sunny spot while Lucy browses, but, for now, she is sticking close to mama.

Omigod! The First Tree Order is Here

The order from Musser Forests came in today. Now I have to get off my butt and start digging holes; actually, I should have dug the holes a long time ago. I limited myself, so I only have to dig 22 holes. Here's what I got:

5 Serbian Spruce, Picea omoronika, $12.95
5 Black Gum, Nyssa sylvatica, $12.95
2 Sourwood, Oxydendron arboreum, $7.00
5 Shadlow Serviceberry, Amelanchier canadensis, $13.95
5 Black Chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa, $12.95

The most reliable evergreen around here is the wild Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana. Pines grow quickly but tend to die quickly, also. Serbian Spruce is a very elegant tree which grows tall and slender with gently drooping branches. Red Cedars tend to have a 'shaggy' outline and Serbian Spruce have a smoother outline. Three Spruces will go near the northeast corner of the yard and two will go into pots for the next year.

Black Gum trees have great Fall color. Two of them will go down near the pond and the rest into pots for now.

Sourwood is a pretty Appalachian shrub. Global warming has increased the chance that it will succeed here. One will go at the northeast corner of the house and one in the southeast corner of the yard.

Serviceberry is a nice local shrub. Two or three will go on the east side of the yard, just under the edges of taller trees. The rest will go into pots.

Aronia is a small shrub with brilliant white flowers and black berries. It grows well in the shade and I will put all of them along the paths in the woods.

I've planted a few of them and heeled in the rest to hold them until I can dig more holes.

Ayte Does It Again

Rabbits are wonderful: they produce cute little bunnies with great regularity. Ayte did it last week, right on schedule. I didn't check the bunnies for a week, and when I finally did I found an even dozen baby rabbits, too many even for a big cow like Ayte. Two of the bunnies are tiny runts and I should toss them out for the owls, but I get tender-hearted.

Are the Frosts Finally Over?

The potatoes look terrible, even though they were covered with heavy duty row cover during the frosts. Rabbits are starting to nibble on the peas and I've seen signs of what looks like an early burst of Flea Beetles. Sevin will probably help and also stop the insect outbreaks that are just now beginning.

It's time to plant squash, melons, and cucumbers. That means I need to finish tilling the garden, which will be a bit rough this year. There are two old strawberry beds and a bed of wheat in the part that is left. All that should make the tiller grunt and groan a bit, as well as the tiller operator.