A new kind of gardening...

...and not for the weak-hearted, either!

So we went to Lowe's and bought a few "distressed" plants (they're cheaper of course), and some tomato plants, and brought them home.  As I was trying to decide what to put in which pot, Dennis was digging in the freezer in the shop.

Some of you might know that we keep dead, frozen, rats, mice, etc to feed the snakes.  Of course sometimes they stay in there too long, get freezer burn, and become inedible.   Even for a snake.  Getting a picture yet?

So he brings me out a few baggies of frozen baby mice, and says "just bury them deep so nothing tries to dig them up!"  Fertilizer!!!   And I did. 

Time will tell if the tomatoes (Romas) taste  different (more like "Beefsteak") and I'll be sure to let you know if they, along with the geraniums, grow better with this rather unorthodox type of fertilizer.

Gardening in the Ozarks

In today's paper there was a nice article about a featured garden in Springfield.  The homeowner's son said he used the "soil left over" from the ponds he dug in the rear of the house, to make raised beds for his mother so she could garden more easily.  Very noble thing, indeed.

However, this does NOT work in my area, ony about 15-20 miles south of this person.  When we "dug out" for our  pond, the only soil we had left over was in the form of large rocks!   And those rocks were not the nice flat rocks everyone wants to edge their ponds with.  They were all shapes and sizes, some being split in two while we were attempting to get them out of the way of the liner we chose.

Amazing what a few miles and millions of years of the earth changing it's appearance can do to a gardener's dreams, and the veritable shape of his or her garden!

Just an observation...

Today I took a hike to the river to let three sliders (water turtles) go.  One of which showed up in our driveway even though we live a mile from the river.  One was a "rescue" from town (!), and the third we found on the road, also far from home.   I took them in a 5 gallon bucket thinking I could pick up aluminum cans on the way home.  When one is unemployed, one does think of other alternativves to make a few extra bucks...

But I digress...

Whomever thinks drinking and driving is on the wane, is probably badly mistaken.   I picked up 99.5% beer cans.  They were mostly the cheaper variety.  I'm assuming that those alcoholics who must have a beer in their hand at almost every turn, cannot afford the higher quality (supposedly) in the quantities they consume.   The few soda cans I picked up were the name brands.  There were quite a few plastic bottles, but those I left...only had a 5 gallon bucket, you will recall.

The majority of the cans were also on the road leading away from town!  I guess after they buy some, they must drink some immediately.  Let's not let it warm up on the way home!  And the reason there weren't more on the way to town...well, that's why they were going to town!

All this in a mile.  I could probably go further in depth with my research.  I'll have to start an outline and see what information is relevant.  Perhaps the beer companies will want to know more too?   Maybe I could become a paid consultant???!!  There might be more than  just "can" money in this idea...

Annoying animals part 2!

I did not know there would be a Part 2 to this story, and there are no pictures, but something is getting my bird suet!!!  I have two suet feeders, for a total of 4 suet cakes, outside my back door.  The other day I filled one of them because it was empty.   In fact one of the plastic trays the suet comes in was also missing.  I shrugged and went on.  The very next day, looking outside, without my glasses on, I notice the suet feeder seemed to be empty!  When I put my glasses on, I noticed the plastic tray was also missing!

I went outside and saw that the other suet feeder had also been "robbed" and somewhat damaged by whatever was getting my suet!  I assumed it had to be something with "hands."  Could be an opossum, or more likely, a raccoon!  Then my ever faithful hushand says "maybe it's a bear!"  THANK YOU for that positive asssessment!  I do NOT want bears at my back door!!!  Even if they are now being spotted in SW Missouri!  That being said, the bear probably would have ripped the entire suet feeder off the pole, so I feel more confident it's NOT a bear!

I did talk to a friend who said she had raccoons get into her suet.  I took mine off the pole last night and hid them.  No one touched the hiding place.  For grins, we put a banana on the pole which held the suet.  The banana is still there this morning.  What...the animals are now getting fussy?  Maybe we should have peeled the banana?

Annoying animals...

...may abound when you live in the country.   You have to remember you moved into their habitat, and try to get along with them, but there are limitations.  Most of you may know that armadillos have made their way North, even as far as Jeff City, MO, in the past few decades.  They eat insects, mostly, so they can die off during harsh winters, but it would appear that they probably just get slimmer, as their numbers don't seem to be decreasing.  We must have one now living under the shop building, as no other animal would throw rocks out of the way like this burrow would indicate.  Even Elaine (the dog) is a bit worried.

Then, there was the rat's nest that turned up on the manifold of my "garage queen!"  I already spent a whole lot of money on chewed wires, from mice.    I don't know where the rat went, but I have not seen it again.  Suffice it to say, I open the hood every time I get in the car, to make sure the nest hasn't been rebuilt!

$800 Bernese Mountain Dog puppies...

...was how the ad read in the local newspaper. 

The reason I bring this up is because I have an acquaintance who is with the "Bernese Mountain Dog Rescue!"   There are rescues all over the US like this, for purebred, unwanted, dogs.   Any breed! 

If you want one of these dogs, and you have done your homework, and know what they require as to care, then go to a rescue, or go directly to the pound, as that's where she rescues from!  You get a dog for a fraction of the price, usually already spayed, neutered, housebroken, socialized, etc, etc.  The only thing you don't get would be papers, but were you really thinking of breeding that dog anyway?  Or showing that dog?  And just because someone found another person (dumb enough) to buy a dog at such an inflated price, doesn't mean you'll be so lucky with your own litter.

 Save a life, and save your sanity when you find you do not have to go through the chewing stage, and your Jimmy Choo shoes are safe!

Turkeys in my back yard!

The other day we opened the back door and a turkey took off.   I often see them in the front yard too, but they're extremely wary and very hard to get pictures of.   This bird was in the pasture behind the house, about 100 yards away.   It started to take off when I started trying to focus and take a picture.   If you look real close at it, you can see it "going away" in the upper middle of the picture, at the upper edge of the "pond.   And NO, we don't really have a pond!   It's been raining steadily, and we have a "wash" behind the house, and sometimes the water really runs through there!

First Grosbeak of spring!

I feed the birds all year round.  I've kept a small diary of what new birds show up every year.  A couple years back I had a rose-breasted grosbeak show up.  Then I had a family of grosbeaks.  Then I had other varieties of grosbeaks.  And then a Baltimore Oriole!  They never stick around for the summer, but when they do show up, I'm always thrilled.  This is the first/best picture I could come up with today.  There's also a goldfinch on the other feeder.