Found a nicely matched pair of whitetail deer antlers on our walk around the property. Male deer naturally shed their antlers in late fall or winter after rutting season. Often squirrels and other rodents around here will chew on the antlers after they drop, so nice to see a pair in such good condition. These will no doubt be turned into antler art the next time I’m inspired.
spring traffic jam
Wild turkey hen attracting a lot of attention….
spring cleaning
Look what was buried under the snow in the yard. Some spring cleaning help, my little woodland scavengers? Okay, Tika said he’d help.
beehive bear fence
After a little trial and error, the electric fence to keep the bears away from the beehives seems to be working. It’s questionable whether what’s left of the second hive will survive, but the larger hive remains healthy and intact. Here’s to it making it through the winter! Installing the fence is relatively straightforward. For the way I set mine up, you need a 1-joule fence charger (I got one that would work plugged into an outlet, a solar charger, or a 12v battery), 4′ t-posts (however many to surround your hive spaced 3-4 feet apart), 14-gauge galvanized steel wire, 5″ offset insulators for t-posts, gate handles equal to the number of
September 25, 2016
deer winter garden prep
Planned to compost the spent garden plants this weekend anyway…. …might as well have some help since she figured out how to open the garden gate.
the bears and the bees
Lesson learned — if you live in bear country, install a high-voltage electric fence around your bee hives even if you’ve heard bears aren’t a problem in your immediate area. They can smell honey a mile away! I woke early one morning to find my weakest hive had been taken down over night. A small black bear came back just before sunup and I chased it off. I was leaving for a work trip that day, so did what I could with the time and materials on hand to secure the remaining 2 hives. I moved them inside the 8′ deer fence around my garden near a motion detector light, strapped
September 17, 2016
august jungle
Harvesting veggies is like a fun archeological expedition this time of year. I’ve been admittedly lax on the pruning and staking, and let a dozen or so sunflowers seeds take root from the leftover sunflower greens seeds in the composted soil. The result is a bit of an August jungle garden. I kind of like its wildness. Two days ago I harvested all the summer squash but the tiny starts. Today I harvested a bucketful of new mature ones. These babies grow quickly! Purple jalapenos have been my best producer so far this year. I pickled a few jars of rings so far and it looks like I have many
August 2, 2016
hummingbird training
Reading on the deck this afternoon, a baby hummingbird with her downy feathers still present kept landing near me with her wings splayed, tongue darting in and out slowly, and generally looking distressed. I decided to make her some hummingbird food to see if she was just thirsty. She was, and drank appreciatively. After her drink, she ruffled her feathers and took a 10-minute nap on the table next to me. I fed her a bit more food when she woke up, and moved the glass toward the hummingbird feeder. She caught on quickly. Last I saw she was drinking from the feeder successfully. I suppose I can add hummingbird trainer to my
July 3, 2016
doe plus 5
Earlier this winter I put up a couple trail cams to see what kind of animals are roaming about the snow. Caught a glimpse of a fox nose sniffing the camera, and the bushy tail-end of a coyote, but mostly it’s deer this time of year. This mama looks like she’s got 5 babies in tow. Hope another mama is out of frame — 5 is a lot for one doe. Or maybe the middle one is a doe, too — if so looks like a young one.
calm before the holidays
I love this time of year on the homestead. Freshly-fallen snow, winter animals peeking in windows to see what’s up inside, fireplace burning, and relaxation before the next wave of holidays. Our formerly rarely-seen Pileated woodpecker has become a regular visitor, too.