How to get rid of Japanese Beetles.

Unless you have Japanese Beetles, you're not going to care that your neighbor's lawn, or the farmers' crops are completely devastated.  The last thing anyone is going to do is go to the trouble of pest control for someone else.  But, if you're reading this, you probably wish they would.  Everyone says the traps don't work.  Well, here are the facts.  You decide for yourself.

The traps are designed to only catch the males.  Therefore, to actually lessen the population, you will have to use more than just the traps.  One things we do is spray plants that are decorative, or not consumed any more (but not flowering plants, please).  For example, that leftover lettuce or cabbage stump that they're eating.  Another way we do it is to hand pick them.

1-EVERY DAY I go out in the morning AND in the evening and hand pick every last little bugger off the beans and corn.  They love the beans, and the little hairs that grow out of corn ears.  I also check the apple tree, cherry tree, raspberries, and a few areas that are prone.  
2-It doesn't matter if they are on a weed or something that matters.  Get everyone you can.  If you don't that's just more for next year.  They are most active in the heat and dry of the day.  They will readily fall off the plants with the slightest breath in the mornings and evenings.  I always do at least two passes because many of them will fly back up to the plant if you miss them.
3-Set up LOTS of traps.  Now, if you are on a little lot, you will probably set up 5 or so.  We set up quite a bit, but we have about an acre just in garden space.  We put them about 20 feet from the garden, close enough to lure them away, but far enough to lure them away.
4-EVERY DAY I go out and empty the bags.  I don't replace the bags, I just hang them back up until they wear out.  I've had bags last for weeks.  I empty them all into a gallon glass pickle jar with plain water in it and close the lid.  Here is why the traps don't work for most people.  Dead beetles are about the foulest smell there is, and I shovel chicken poo.  They are driven away by the smell of the dead and drawn to the scent of the bait.  So the traps will lure them in, but only close enough to be a nuisance and not get trapped.  Therefore, you will have to empty them out often enough to prevent the bad smell.
5-Dispose of your beetles in several ways.  Put a lid on them and let them roast in the sun and drown.  Use soap in the water to make them drown faster.  We feed ours to the chickens and ducks, so we don't use soap.  I just call the birds and dump them on the ground.  They fight over them.  It saves on feed and helps the atmosphere.  Dead beetles really smell BAD!!!

Now, the hardest part of all is convincing your neighbors to do the same.  If you're lucky, you'll convince them to let you buy them the traps and empty them every day for them.  But I doubt it.  I have neighbors that lose their entire vineyard every year, and they won't do anything about them.

We have used this method for two years, and have noticed a reduction in the number of beetles from last year.  You can also buy and use Milky Spore, but is so expensive, and takes so long to actually affect anything, that you will have to do something in the meantime.  I hope this helps you. 

What eight year old rams taste like

I was originally going to write this about the new kitten we got.  See "Knight" looks exactly like Toothless, even acts like him, but Marcus insists we stick with Knight.  He is solid black save about 15 white or grey hairs under his chin that you really have to look for to see.  He was perfectly fine the night we got him, but the next day, his eye started getting gooey.  The next day it was obviously gooey, and he felt like he had a fever.  The next day he was lethargic and would not open his eye.  The vet gave us some meds, and believe it or not, the eye dropper of Amoxicillin is far harder to get down him than the antibiotic ointment going into his painful eye.  Yeah, mornings are a real blast now.

SO...anyway...he must be feeling much better as last night I woke up screaming for Arlis to help me.  The kitten had embedded itself in my hair and was eating my brains, at least that's what it felt like.  It was difficult to remove, especially for a sleep deprived husband.  We had already been awoken to computer wires being played with and a kitten climbing my husband's clothes in the closet only to get stuck at the top of the hangers and mew until someone got him down.  The next occurrence was when Arlis woke up with a yell.  He raised his left arm only to find a kitten with all four sets of claws fully embedded and wrapped around his tricep.  His skin was being pulled away from his body by little pointy kitten teeth.

He hates cats.

Now, the reason I'm writing today is b/c we decided to eat some of Buck's chops.  Buck was probably around 8 years old.  In fact, he was turning grey just in the last month.  Most people just sell them for dog food at this time, but we wanted to try it.  We have a meat grinder, so we kept some of the cuts whole, like chops and shoulders and such.  We sold the lamb, assuming it would be much better, at $2/pound live weight.  We got less than 40% return.  Buck never sold, and he got 49% return, or something like that.  That's REALLY good.  

FYI
Holstein (dairy)- expect a 30% return of the hoof weight.
beef (Red was a beef steer)-expect more than 30%, but less than 40%
sheep and goats-expect around 42%

Some people will try to tell you more like 60% or 70%.  They are more than likely talking dressage weight or hanging weight.  Hanging weight is where they remove the hoof, head, entrails, and skin, and hang it.  Of course you're going to get a larger return from hanging than hoof.  Don't let the seller fool you.  Presley was a Holstein, and although better than store bought-rocks are better than store bought-he was tough and grisly and pitiful looking.  Shaun was a haired sheep, not a wool sheep.  He was confined and grain fed b4 we bought him.  He was extremely tender, but also full of so much fat you threw away half of what you got.  Buck was pasture raised and fed and old.  He weighed in at 162 pounds.  We had Buck chops tonight seasoned very lightly with rosemary and salt and fried without oil.  It was some of the best meat I've ever had.  It was also very tender.  In fact, he looks better than that lamb we sold.

Shear happiness was on us all!!

yay!!!

Things are starting to look up now.  We are starting to sell things, and starting to almost break even on a few things.  Our goal is to make a profit of at least $1000 this year or the next and apply for farm tax.  That looks possible now and I, for one, am very excited about it!

I'm beginning to wonder about my guns now.

I grew up shooting.  I do believe the first gun I actually shot was a tank, but I may be wrong on that.  I grew up with tank shells in the bedroom-I should probably find that and use it as a lamp stool or something, helicopter parts in the basement, and nobody looking twice at me when my dad took us to the range.  When I dated a "good ol boy" for a good long while, and he brought me "home" to meet his family, I beat him at skeet shot.  He wasn't happy and broke up with me shortly thereafter-although I believe for other reasons.  So I found it quite odd when I quit wanting to shoot after moving here.  I dunno, maybe b/c I don't feel safe at night, especially in the winter without a gun strapped to me, or maybe b/c I've started slaughtering my own food, or maybe the lack of ear protection that one night we had to hunt down that rackin frackin raccoon that was trying to eat our chickens.

All I know is Arlis REALLY wanted to go practice today.  So, we set up a target, aimed for the woods, and succeeded in freaking me out.  Boy came for a visit and had to be held at all times.  Arlis lost some blood in the process.  He then passed the cat on to Marcus who held it down because the stupid thing kept rubbing up against the target.  Cat secured and Marcus well in view, Arlis shot his rifle that has a scope attached to it.  Nobody can shoot that thing but him, but that's fine as he's the blind man.  So then I wanted to practice with my 9mm.  Hmm...that's funny, I think I'm off.  The second shot was conducted AFTER I returned with ear plugs and the ringing subsided.  Ahhh-that was much better!  Wait, I don't think it actually shot.  So, I cocked it again.  Lo and behold, the chamber had two bullets, one of which was caddywumpus to the other.  "Whoa!"

"Put the safety on!"

If one of us is going to lose their hands, it's best it's the one who can't drive to begin with.  I do as commanded and lay it down and BACK AWAY.  He fixes it all up and fires it...I think.  I'm still off.  So, he has me fire his little pistol, which I think is a 22.  It doesn't fire either.  He can't get the bullet in right, takes it out and wonders loudly as to why it's all gummed up.  He places another one only to have it do the same.  Meanwhile, Marcus is practically sitting on Boy to keep him safe.  I announce that I'm going in.  Arlis gets all mad and asks why.

"Well, it could be because of the mosquitoes."

"It could be because I really didn't want to come out here anyway and now all the guns are booby trapped."

"Or it could be because I think I have gas!"

I told him I would stay a little while longer but that I wanted to shoot my pistol, not his.  He said OK.  I started and shot 2-3 feet higher than I should at 20-30 feet away.  That's insane.  Must be weak wrists and the kickback is causing trouble.  Arlis comes up and watches from the side, nope I'm aiming WAY too high.  So, we start to fool around to see how much we should adjust the sights.  It doesn't fire again.  The bullet wasn't messed up, just didn't shoot.

"That's it!  I'm going in!"

I took Boy in, who didn't want to go.  Not once did he jump from the gun shots, and in fact he wanted to go back out to join them.  Stupid cat.  Great mouser, gets moles, eats rabbits, kills birds in the garden, and even knows the difference between a small bantam and a large bird that's uninvited, but STUPID cat.

I'll still carry one with me when I need to.  I'll still use it if I need to.  But this experience has NOT improved my gun relationship at ALL.

Maybe I should start throwing knives...

Praise be to God

To the tune of Joy to the World

Praise be to God

The foot rot is gone

Let sheep...run forth...in joy

There's no more foot baths

And no more injections

And shepherd and shepherdess sing.
And shepherd and shepherdess sing
It's such a, it's such a great relief!


Thanks especially to my facebook friend Nicole for her priceless help in all of this!!

We do still have to trim every two weeks, but we are working on putting them in the lower field where it is more rocky and weedy.  The upper field is used for hay production and seeded.  The lower field is used, but is more suited for sheep than cattle.  See cattle eat tall grass, sheep eat short grass.  Cattle like lush pasture, lush pasture causes foot trouble in sheep.  We'll have to put them with the cattle in the upper field during the winter due to coyotes and mountain lions.  The cattle should protect them.

So, what exactly happened?  I'm not sure they had foot rot to begin with, but it they did God certainly helped us out I am sure.  Foot rot starts in between the toes with rotted meat smell and hair loss and such.  Ours started from the outside with hoof wall separation from the actual padding  That is backwards from foot rot.  We had Shelley toe, shelly hoof, or white line disease.  It has many names.  White line disease is more often than not diagnosed by shepherds as foot rot.  But it is not.  It is where the white line that is between the wall and the hoof is replaced with dirt and manure.  This can lead to infections, of course, but is not one to begin with.  Simply dig out the dirt and clip off the wall to open up the pocket.  Continue this until the pocket grows out.  If you want, you can foot bath or treat with Koppertox as a preventative measure.

Wet days and the movies they don't make

We're on our way to a well deserved movie last night.  For those of you living nearby, you know the torrential downpours we have had.  For those of you not from around here, just imagine rain, buckets and all, falling from the sky.  This is after Knoxville has already received enough damage to cause over 100k people to lose power, and several places to flood, drowning a few people.  Thankfully we live high enough not to flood (1880 feet above sea level), but runoff is a problem.

So, I go out to put the chickens up a little early.  Marcus meets me and we run to the back porch.  It's just raining a bit, and we have quite a few trees in the back yard and chicken run, so I'm barely wet at all at this point.  I reach for the door-my husband has already locked the house up.  He was going to put the calf up for the night so we could milk his momma in the morning, but I saw both calves running around in the field.  I knocked-loudly (we have a metal roof)-for several minutes.  I give up and sacrifice myself by running to the front porch to see if the door is locked.  Well, of course it is.  This 30 yard sprint halfway under trees has already drenched me.  The car is up at the barn.  Arlis must have driven it to get the calf.  I run to the van.  The 10 feet sprint left me so wet that I am dripping and my underwear is soaked-through thick jeans.  I crack the door and scream for Marcus to come to the van.  He runs to the front porch.  I beep and beep.  He finally catches on and gets in the van.

Now, why didn't we just stay under the porch?  Well, the front porch doesn't offer a great deal of protection.  And the back porch was starting to get wet as well.  The back porch goes about 15 feet square, so you can imagine the rain at this point.  The wind is also blowing, and the nuts are falling off the trees.  We were getting chilly.  Marcus gets in and we dry off with a used grease towel I find in the van floor.  It wasn't in bad condition.  He then asks, "Why are we in the van?"

"BECAUSE YOUR STUPID FATHER LOCKED US OUT OF THE HOUSE AND STOLE THE CAR!!"  (for those of you concerned-I did not actually say this, no matter how much I wanted to)

Arlis pulls up.  He lets us in and we strip down, underwear and all, and dry off with towels.  We had to hang our clothes on the back porch to keep from ruining the floor.

There was no movie.

We did watch How to Train a Dragon which was far better than I expected.  I now want a stuffed Toothless.  He was too cute!

Oddities

When bad things happen to good angel food.

 What to do with that left over leg of lamb

 Homemade mozzarella cheese balls (battered and deep fried)

 Learning to make pasta-yet another way to use up eggs.

 My chickens are archeologists (seriously, it's amazing the things they and we have dug up around here.  We even found a saw blade this spring in the garden-A SAW BLADE!!!  What was wrong with these people that lived here before us!)

 So I pulled it out.  (and threw it away)

 It's raspberry season!!!  These taste AMAZING with Boog's whipped cream!)

 What you find when mowing the neighbor's hay.

Ducklings and Chicks-All Grown Up

Here are pictures, (supposed to be) one for every week of the little ducklings life (but I somehow didn't get it that way).  They are Peking.  They are flightless and able to be "harvested" at just 8 weeks of age.  They are our pets.  Although, if there is one of each gender, their children will get sold or...harvested...  when full grown.  Otherwise, we'll just eat the eggs or enjoy their presence.  They really are fun!

2 Ducklings, 6 bantams, and 4 Wyandottes....

At three weeks of age, we took them out to the coop.  They were too big for the brooder, and were being used as heaters/pillows by the chicks.  It was time, and warm outside enough. (note-this was a very hard day for us in terms of work, as you can see from Arlis's shirt)

We were really quite concerned as how the hens and cat would react.  The hens left them alone.  The ducks eventually dominated them.

 The pool from our last ducks which were Mallards.

 Oh my!  Boy sure is interested!

 He takes the position...

Not to worry.  Boy leaves them alone and the ducks are bigger than he is now.  In fact, the grey bantam (you'll see later) gets out all the time and Boy leaves him completely alone even though I've seen him eat birds that size!
Another week goes by, and you can tell when it's time to put the chicks in the coop:

 They missed their ducks.

 Molting continues.

 Up-another week, and tail feathers start to come in
Down-another week-they really are too big for the pool now.  See that tiny grey speck to the right of the pool?  That's a bantam cockerel.  He's already roosting and getting out and everything.  Feisty little bugger.

 The Wyandottes are brought in and start roosting rather quickly.

(We lost one silver laced one the first week they were out.  It somehow got in the duck pool and got chilled or something.  It didn't drown.  We still haven't figured that one out.)

 The bantams join in.

 They all remember each other-ahhhh, sibling rivalry.

 Full grown-as far as we can tell.

 Off topic-we had a branch fall during a bad storm.  The chickens have tore it to shreds!!  They actually jump up wings flapping trying to get a beakful of leaves-quite amusing!

The ducks have a much larger pool now that they enjoy.