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[Beekissed]

Make sure the leaves are not piled against the trunk near the ground. Mice are active all winter even under the snow. The many girdle the young trees. They make plastic tree guards to prevent rodent damage.

I've been thinking about those...until then I'm counting on the dogs and cats for rodent control. I've been checking the trunks for signs of voles and such. Apparently, this BTE method seems to attract voles in other areas of the country....I haven't ever seen a vole here, nor have the cats or dogs killed one.

Jake is death on small rodents, so if the cats don't find them, Jake likely will.

 

[digitS']

Voles were a primary reason for me to stop using mulch in the vegetable garden. I still use compost mulch on the potatoes as they begin to show up on the soil surface but back in the 70's, I tried growing them under hay, more or less, like Ruth Stout's No-Work method.

I had all the rain-damaged alfalfa hay I cared to carry off from a nearby cattle ranch. It made good compost but I just laid the flakes around the seed potatoes lying on tilled ground. The sprouts showed up, leafed out and grew nicely ... for awhile. The 2 dogs were not allowed in the fenced garden. The 2 cats must not have been up to the security job. I knew something was wrong late in the season.

It was a fairly large area - about 30' by 50'. I had grown spuds successfully so this was another commitment of garden space for a winter storage crop. There was none to take in. What I called "meadow mice" had chewed on every potato but one that I found after moving the hay out of the way. Relating this story, I was once asked what I did with that untouched potato. Probably, I threw it angrily into the trees!

Oh, and the mice -- they began high-tailing it out of the spud patch as soon as I began moving the hay. I could see them after awhile but they got off with just losing their "mouse city" and food supply.

Steve

 

[Beekissed]

Voles were a primary reason for me to stop using mulch in the vegetable garden. I still use compost mulch on the potatoes as they begin to show up on the soil surface but back in the 70's, I tried growing them under hay, more or less, like Ruth Stout's No-Work method.

I had all the rain-damaged alfalfa hay I cared to carry off from a nearby cattle ranch. It made good compost but I just laid the flakes around the seed potatoes lying on tilled ground. The sprouts showed up, leafed out and grew nicely ... for awhile. The 2 dogs were not allowed in the fenced garden. The 2 cats must not have been up to the security job. I knew something was wrong late in the season.

It was a fairly large area - about 30' by 50'. I had grown spuds successfully so this was another commitment of garden space for a winter storage crop. There was none to take in. What I called "meadow mice" had chewed on every potato but one that I found after moving the hay out of the way. Relating this story, I was once asked what I did with that untouched potato. Probably, I threw it angrily into the trees!

Oh, and the mice -- they began high-tailing it out of the spud patch as soon as I began moving the hay. I could see them after awhile but they got off with just losing their "mouse city" and food supply.

Steve

Digit's, there's a vast difference between using hay and straw. Hay will attract the mice and voles like crazy due to all the seeds to be found in hay. Straw usually has nothing edible to attract any mice. Ruth Stout used straw instead of hay. That's also one reason they build straw bale houses but not hay bale houses.

That being said, some folks have reported problems with voles in their wood chip and leaf covered gardens all the same. The solution, of course, is using cats and dogs in the area to dissuade these rodents from moving in but not everyone is set up that way.

The only thing I've found in my wood chips in the garden has been small toads and small, harmless snake varieties. I'd say both were after pests so I let them be.

 

[ninnymary]

Bee, can we have an update? Anything new going on in your garden? I love to follow your garden and Bay's.

Mary

 

[Beekissed]

Sure can! Right off the bat this spring I grew a nice crop of weed seedlings, which Mom attacked with the Mantis tiller,lightly tilling the surface of the chips....will likely have to repeat that after this rainy spell~not bad as it only takes a mere few minutes to lightly scuff up those weeds in this chip. I think depositing leaves on top of the wood chips created a fine layer of decomposed matter where it shouldn't have been, allowing all these weeds a purchase place.

Lesson learned there. Will get the garden planted and start hauling chips to cover the surface of the garden once again.

A good many of the strawberries returned after being covered with chips/leaves for the winter. Looking good. The chives are blooming like crazy...very pretty. All the divides I did on those in the fall took root and are doing well. The rhubarb is looking good after I fed it some fertilizer...was looking a little yellow in the veins prior to that, as did the garlic, so there still seems to be some nitrogen leaching going on, even after 3 yrs of chips being on the soil.

I planted sugar snap peas around the perimeter of the garden so they could climb the fence....this is the very first year I've had healthy looking peas! Could be the fertilizer, could be presoaking them and getting them out early, not sure. Some of those are sweet pea flowers, so can't wait to see those blooming.

I'm planting lettuce, carrots, broccoli, and pak choy differently this year and will have them under a low tunnel....started those seeds in trays so I could get the right spacing for all these things without having to thin later. I'm using landscaping fabric, then a CP as a grid and to help anchor my arches and keep the cover cloth in place.

Only planting taters in the apple tree rings this year and some of those are already up a foot high, looking good! I have some left over taters I may plant in a container or two, but none will be planted in the garden.

Planted a lot of zinnias and marigolds in the garden and have more still to plant there. Need to get my squash, cukes, beans, pumpkins,etc. in the ground soon, though I may wait until next week or so, as we are having a real cold and wet May right now.

Got some raspberries started, a sweet lady sent me this fall...just a few survived the winter but I'm sure they will spread with time. She also sent me some garlic that is doing very well right now.

The honeysuckle over the garden gate is flourishing this year and many blooms are developing. The pink honeysuckle I planted beside it is already blooming...VERY pretty.

I moved all my tomato and bean/cuke trellising this year to new places...trying to arrange them so that none are downwind of the others, in case I get blight spores in the garden again this year. Am also putting out things later this season in an attempt to avoid them sitting there in this sopping wet garden/chip layer, cold and wet, likely victims to mold spores.

Won't be planting corn this year and will be planting less squash, pumpkin, watermelon and such. Any vines will be managed better this year so I can walk through the rows easily and keep up on weeds and bugs.

Now, I normally ask the boys not to buy gifts for birthdays or Mother's Day, but this year they asked and I told them they could buy me a Rogue scuffle hoe that will help me keep this chip garden more weed free. Sent them the link, per their request, and hope to have the edge on weeding this year.

Anyhoo....will try to get pics of things soon, just really cold and rainy right now, so hard to get into the garden and work.

I moved Aliza's little daybed out to the garden as my new garden bench....may paint it a different color, but am sooooo glad I have it out there. Now I have a place to sit my tools, my flats, my seed packets, gloves, etc. while I'm working in there. Love it!

 

[lcertuche]

I used to have a hoe like this but all my tools were stolen out of my garage. I liked it a lot while I had it, easy to work around plants.

 

[Beekissed]

Something major wrong when someone is stealing a hoe....usually folks who steal won't work, so what do they need a hoe for????

 

[Nyboy]

Bee was on news last night metal garbage cans are being stolen here. Scrap paying 20 cents a pound. If it has steel in it someone might steal it for scrap.

 

[thistlebloom]

Bee was on news last night metal garbage cans are being stolen here. Scrap paying 20 cents a pound. If it has steel in it someone might steal it for scrap.

The news about what scrap is going for hasn't hit my area yet. I took one of those carport frames to the recycler and got a whopping $2.80.

And yes, of course I'm going to declare it as income on 2017's tax return.

If I'd known how little I'd get at the recycler I would have sold it on CL. We intended to turn it into a greenhouse, but after sitting stacked on a pallet for 3 years I decided it wasn't getting any higher on the project list. (I'm keeping dh busy with horse shelters and tack rooms and home improvements/repairs).

 

[ninnymary]

The news about what scrap is going for hasn't hit my area yet. I took one of those carport frames to the recycler and got a whopping $2.80.

And yes, of course I'm going to declare it as income on 2017's tax return.

If I'd known how little I'd get at the recycler I would have sold it on CL. We intended to turn it into a greenhouse, but after sitting stacked on a pallet for 3 years I decided it wasn't getting any higher on the project list. (I'm keeping dh busy with horse shelters and tack rooms and home improvements/repairs).

Bobm will be happy that you are declaring it as income.

Mary