Old NFO commented on an earlier post. He said that the foundation gave him the willies because it looks like rattlesnake heaven.
We only have one kind of rattlesnake in Michigan, the Massasauga rattlesnake. He is a shy and retiring fellow and not very common.
This is a great time of year for this kind of work. It is cool. The highs are in the forties. Low temps make it easier to wear boots and stout clothing. Late winter is almost bug free, and that includes yellow jackets and other stinging insects. Reptiles are torpid and if you see them it is because they are sunning and are extremely visible.
Gooseberries
I ran across two gooseberry bushes while working on the barn.
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| This is a domestic "type" gooseberry with few thorns. |
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| This is a wild type gooseberry. |
Still a nope... :-) I have seen five big rattlers come out from under ONE 12x2x12 board.
ReplyDeleteMy advice: Use smaller lumber.
DeleteAggie, it was an old Texas barn. the 12bys were the loft boards. and it was a big old pole barn.
DeleteHi Joe.
ReplyDelete2 questions today:
Do you use rooting hormone for woody cuttings, if so what strength, and what success rate?
Have you ever heard of using rooting hormone with seeds? Just planted a bunch of redbud seeds (hundreds, in a natural lowland setting), which have a hard outer coating. After shelling them out of the pods, I set them in a vibrating case cleaner over night (i.e. a cleaner for brass shells), then poured boiling water over them and sat them for a couple of days. Then, into a shaker jar with rooting hormone powder - shake it up to coat the seeds, shake out a few at a time to plant. Just got done planting them. Will advise result.