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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