Sprouting Old Seeds

a reply to: JAGStorm

That sucks,

I have a fence I needed to put up for the deer,but the smaller varmint were getting through..

When I planned the fence I wasn't thinking tight mesh, I was just thinking deer...

So I put up a tighter mesh fence about three feet up..

Plants were still getting ate up..

Turns out fences don't work so good for moles or voles.

Lol..

So I resorted to trapping those..

Life will find a way..

Good Luck!



Pthena,
I suggest getting four small stakes and marking that plant if you don't want the landscaper hitting it again.


Respectfully,
~meathead

a reply to: Mike Stivic

Don't even get me started on moles/voles. Having a bad problem with them right now.
I just put a ton of that repel stuff down. If that doesn't work, I'll have to resort to something I really don't want to do.

The bucket walk of death. I won't use poison because we have so many birds of prey. I can't just leave them be because they are near my septic areas.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Lol the 5 gallon pail, filled with 4 inches of water, a small ramp that leads to a thin metal rod that can spin ,impaling an empty small plastic water bottle coated with peanut butter..



With voles you need a much wider less steep baited ramp.

Emptying those buckets sucks.. but I work hard for my produce...hell I even plant extra greens Outside the garden to appease my guilt...

They had a choice....


Respectfully,
~meathead

originally posted by: pthena


I saw your update and then went out to check, The stem has grown back a couple of inches and there is a new bud, with the pink just visible.

Sweet! Love the resiliency of plants.

a reply to: Mike Stivic

I suggest getting four small stakes and marking that plant if you don't want the landscaper hitting it again.

Thanks. I'll see what I can find. I can usually hear the mower coming. I was thinking of talking to him before he gets too close. But it's not always the same guy.

Stakes and talk.

ETA: He comes around in the daytime. Probably not a vampire. I won't get carried away with the stakes then. LOL

a reply to: pthena

He may be a daywalker... so bring at least one extra stake....


Seriously though my buddy used to own a landscaping business and I would pick up extra hours with him.. if we saw something staked we went around it or asked..usually didn't bother asking..just went around it..


This will save you having to have the talk, every time a different employee shows up..as well as avoiding it being chopped if your not home to catch them in time..



Good Luck!

Respectfully,
~meathead

a reply to: Mike Stivic

I do mine differently.

A big home depot bucket, a long plank.

Put sunflower seeds on plank and fill the bucket with water and put sunflower seeds in. The sunflower seeds will float and hide the water.
The little creatures think they are in sunflower heaven and dive in to their watery death. Works like crazy, very very gross to exhume the bodies.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I've tried havahart traps, to no avail. This was a last resort. I grow enough organic potatoes to last us all year.. It's a huge blow to lose six months worth of food...

That sounds better than my method.

I agree, the final step in the process is as disgusting as it is heavy on the heart.

Respectfully,
~meathead

originally posted by: Mike Stivic
a reply to: JAGStorm

I've tried havahart traps, to no avail. This was a last resort. I grow enough organic potatoes to last us all year.. It's a huge blow to lose six months worth of food...

That sounds better than my method.

I agree, the final step in the process is as disgusting as it is heavy on the heart.

Respectfully,
~meathead

Let's just put it this way, it is almost too effective.. You have to bait them with a little trail of the seeds on the plank though. In the morning you'll have to empty the bucket, it will be almost full

a reply to: JAGStorm

Sry for the delay, took a walkabout with the Layna-bear.

Checked the asparagus, garlic,rhubarb,,chives, and potatoes ,looking good even for the weather.. I'm gonna need to mulch the garlic the rain has pounded my sifted soil down two inches...

Maple trees started opening their leaves as well as the apples..

Status report for the fiddleheads..
Missed them..

They are down in the lower field ..so the flooding made them inaccessible while they where tight.

Oh well..
more seedlingsfor next year..


Sliding back on topic, it's amazing how bulbs and perennials have the tenacity too live under four feet of snow for 5months, then come back with a vengeance even in an uninviting spring.




Gonna take a shower and eat dinner. It was nice talking to you all this afternoon.



Respectfully,
~meathead

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Mike Stivic

Don't even get me started on moles/voles. Having a bad problem with them right now.
I just put a ton of that repel stuff down. If that doesn't work, I'll have to resort to something I really don't want to do.

The bucket walk of death. I won't use poison because we have so many birds of prey. I can't just leave them be because they are near my septic areas.

I have been able to get rid of the pesky moles...they leave and go to my neighbors. I make a ground garlic, cayenne, vinegar solution and douse a cotton ball into it. Shove them those balls into their holes and tunnels every 10 feet. They find your yard inhospitable!

someone used a tank of propane gas and a hose to asphyxiate their tunnels. Immoral and wicked. Worked like it too. Also the grass was really green the next spring.


Sharing for a friend.

a reply to: Mike Stivic

Nice chatting with you too Joe!
Sorry it has been too long.

I went outside this afternoon and found a bunch of chive flowers riddling the ground. I suspect a rabbit found it pleasing to gnaw through a bunch of chive flower stalks and leave the mess behind.

Lol the agonies and ecstasies of gardening.

a reply to: zosimov

I've seen a few of those... they can eat through a plant in no time!!

And you're right they have quite the grip to them.

The trick to plucking them off is to wait until they start walking, then snatch them real quick before they have a chance to clamp their legs down.

If you miss, then you have to wait again.

a reply to: Mike Stivic

if we saw something staked we went around it or asked..usually didn't bother asking..just went around it..

Okay. I found a long bamboo skewer and broke it in half, stuck those in the ground. Then stretched some 2" masking tape between the two with Flower written on it.

When I looked up, there was a squirrel watching me, like, "Well that's different."

Update on the Flower

My Granddaughter saw the warning tape. When I told her about the flower she looked at it and said, "That's the same as Fluffy."

Last August her dad bought some pots and flower seeds for her to plant. Fluffy was her favorite flower that grew from the seeds. When I mentioned how far the pot was from where Fluffy's Sister is now and speculated about how the seed got there, she said: "No, the pot was right there when I put the seeds in."

Mystery solved. The seed from which Fluffy's sister grew was in the grass since August, and just came up about a month ago. Does that count as an Old Seed ?

a reply to: zosimov

Greetings zosimov.

A while ago, I met a woman online living in Alaska and we PM'd each other and ended up agreeing to send each other seeds. She sent me heirloom spinach 'Bloomsdale Long Standing' 1925 and 'Alaska Peas' earliest of them all, heirloom 1880s. She asked me for Canadian wildflowers, so I can only remember that I sent her many wild 'Milkweed' seeds, but I did mail her many others.

So, in-between working full-time and moving I Iost track of the seeds and have just now found them. I am sure the seeds are between ten and twelve years old.

I just created an herb garden in a large planter and have just sowed the spinach seeds there. I will keep everyone posted on whether or not they sprout in regular potting soil.

I will also make another planter for the Alaska Peas either today or within a few days and see if they sprout as well. But for the peas I will use a special soil mixture that was recommended to me for growing tomatoes. This soil is peat-based with MYCOactive ingredients which touts excellent drainage and nutrition. If the peas don't sprout in this soil then they can be considered dried up.

originally posted by: pthena
a reply to: Mike Stivic

Update on the Flower

My Granddaughter saw the warning tape. When I told her about the flower she looked at it and said, "That's the same as Fluffy."

Last August her dad bought some pots and flower seeds for her to plant. Fluffy was her favorite flower that grew from the seeds. When I mentioned how far the pot was from where Fluffy's Sister is now and speculated about how the seed got there, she said: "No, the pot was right there when I put the seeds in."

Mystery solved. The seed from which Fluffy's sister grew was in the grass since August, and just came up about a month ago. Does that count as an Old Seed ?

Oh I love this update!!

Cute, so it's Fluffy's sister. No wonder you knew it was worth the effort to save.

a reply to: InTheLight

Hi InTheLight!!

I'd be delighted to hear any updates! How exciting just to try.

originally posted by: Graysen
someone used a tank of propane gas and a hose to asphyxiate their tunnels. Immoral and wicked. Worked like it too. Also the grass was really green the next spring.


Sharing for a friend.

I would try this if it were just my regular yard, but the tunnels are on my mound and septic tank. I don't want any chance of an explosion.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I really like CynConcepts idea! But I am admittedly very unconventional (read: weird), even resorting to telling the invaders in plain English they're not welcome and expecting they'll listen. Which I've employed to various effects lol.

Here's an interesting example of one such exchange from my garden last year:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

After writing the thread, I caught the little critters destroying a cucumber plant and gave them a stern warning after which I've never again had trouble.
Hard to say if the strategy worked, or if I'm just plain crazy.