Herding Cats and Mice: The Farm Report 03-15-2020

Herding Cats and Mice

The Farm Report 03-15-2020

The crocus are up! Spring is on the way. Joyce planted these in the little hill by my shop door when we first moved to the farm in 2000. It seems like yesterday, but not. They're still saying 'Hello' to me every spring - and now I love it more than ever.

Annie seems to like 'em too. Or maybe not. How do you know? She's 9 months old now, so that's probably as big as she'll get. She's a full sized small dog - or a small full sized dog. Just right as far as I'm concerned.

Annie has to herd just EVERYTHING! This is a rare pic of the Official Shop Cat, Miss Kitty. Neither of my cats are afraid of Annie; she's a herder not a fighter. Annie is pushy, but she's a playful lover.  Miss Kitty will play with Annie more than O.J. does, but both hold a certain grudge against her. Cats are aloof and disdainful sometimes. People can learn a lot from animals. Out of mutual respect, they seldom make direct eye contact - because that is an animal way to 'get up in your face' and be challenging. They don't do it. OK, this morning O.J. did it, but then he ATTACKED! Annie. Annie's little eyes just looked like 'Help Me! I didn't do nuthin' - honest.' 

When Miss Kitty looked at Annie, Annie found something on the floor she should inspect for a minute.

After a few rounds of this dance, Miss Kitty lost interest and decided to go to her 'Safe Place' and have breakfast. See how Annie brought her back end around to block Miss Kitty? Annie let her through, but she wanted Miss Kitty to know it was only with Annie's permission that Miss Kitty could pass. What a dance!

A pan of food, a comfy box, and what else could a shop cat want?

So I decided since it was the right day and a nice one at that, I should make up some potting mix. I make my own.

I use an old fashioned cement mixer to do it with - ya gotta have equipment! I mix peat with DE and blend it up good in the mixer.

This makes a great sterile and absorbent mix with lots of air spaces and it doesn't get soggy or gooey. Peat is controversial now, but I'm too old to change - and I don't get the controversy. DE is Diatomaceous Earth - little 2-celled shells that are mined. It is very absorbent and adds calcium. Plants love it. I buy mine at the Auto Supply store. They sell it as 'Green' floor dry. Much cheaper than buying the same stuff from a greenhouse supplier with a plant label on it. Same thing though.

Here is my seedling starter station. I put one variety in each cup and sprout the seeds. Then later I transplant the little guys into their own nursery pots for a few weeks when it is time to set them out into the garden. They are sitting on heat mats that are controlled with a thermostat. Heat starts them much faster. 

Aren't these Dahlias beautiful?! 

Well, this gives you a better idea of what they'll be. Nurseries sell potential. 'Buy our brown stems and just look what you might get.' You can't be anything but an optimist when you're a gardener. My favorite philosopher and comedian, Red Green, says 'The optimists live longer, but the pessimists are more accurate.' Advice for our times? I'll just keep gardening!

Time to re-activate the dormant Beekeeper in me. My life took a major left turn as most of you know. So for the last few years, I've been more of a 'Bee-haver' than a true Beekeeper. The bees didn't survive well without me, but I never give up! So I'm pledged to do better this year. I don't eat much honey, but I have a purpose to my project. I want to produce all the honey we can, and sell it to help fund 'Orma's Orphans.' She is a lady in Africa who is feeding orphaned children - most of whom have lost their parents to HIV-AIDS. I've met Orma, I know people who go to Africa and visit her, and I know that my $$$ go right to the kids mouths. So I'm enlisting the bees to help feed the kids. A project with a purpose is lots more fun than just a project alone. 

Damn and Blast! That extra ugly box to the left of the stacked hive was full of mice when I looked in. We have 'Deer Mice' here. Peromyscus maniculatus for you science types. They love to live in a cluster/colony.  That's their litter/nest you're seeing in the bottom of the box. There must have been a dozen or more in there when I opened the lid. Carrying over from last time, you'll have to use your imagination again. Another Theater of the Mind: When I popped the lid, I had Annie right next to me. I suspected what was going to happen and I thought (laugh now) she would start killing them like a terrier. No. She was all over 'em but there isn't any killer instinct in her! She was going nuts in the excitement. Then I realized that what she was trying to do was corral them and keep them in a herd! Now just imagine a dog like Annie, quick as a cat, being in about 6 places all at once trying to convince panic stricken mice that they should form up a platoon and march in formation. I just stood there laughing out loud! She had about half of 'em under control for a little while, too; but then they broke rank and she lost interest.

So time for Spring Cleaning. I've got a couple of boxes painted up and ready for a change out. 

I use plastic foundation. It is easy to use and clean. It has the comb pattern embossed into the plastic so the bees build out the comb the way I want it. Bees don't like plastic though. I melt recovered bee's wax and use this little paint roller to put bee's wax onto the foundation. It gives the bees some starter wax to work with and makes them happier to accept plastic bottoms.

Disease and pesticide accumulation are problems for bees and beekeepers. I'm using new wood for the frames. The plastic foundation snaps into these frames and then that all goes into a hive box. I'll show you more as the season goes on. I'll put one hive box full of new foundation and frames on and take one empty one off. They will get to keep their one active 'home' brooder chamber though. They'll build up into this new box as the flowers begin to bloom Right now, I'm having to feed them. Did you think honey was free? Not.

And guess who survived the winter?  A little (a lot) the worse for wear, but Fuzzy is back.... I don't know where Annie had Fuzzy hidden, but she did. Oh my. I'd dispose of Fuzzy if I could get my hands on him. Annie seems to know this, so she always - always! - puts him away when I'm not looking. A small problem on a farm, I guess. All is hopeful and well at Oakdale Farm. We've been self-sequestered for a long time out here. I'll probably survive. Cheers until next time.