It looks like April 22 and 23 will be prime days for planting potatoes, asparagus and transplanting some broccoli. The soil will be dry enough to till and walk on.
In terms of planting nursery stock, I am balancing soil conditions against my ability to keep plants cool and dormant. Today, God willing, I will be putting thornless blackberry plants into the ground, and maybe two peach trees, one plum and four apples. The holes for the blackberries are pre-dug.
I also have some round, galvanized, 3" duct to install on some mulberry trees to deter raccoons. I need to liberally grease them with Crisco because I think they can shinny up 3" round if it is dry. The raccoons and woodchucks climb the trees to eat the berries and the woodchucks also strip and eat the leaves. They break the branches on the young saplings and is not good. Black bears cause the same problems with apple and pear trees but they are extremely uncommon in this part of Michigan.
An accidental discovery
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| I lifted up the cell-pack to show the roots dangling down into the water |
I put a stringer from a pallet, nominally 5/8" thick, in the bottom of the tray to keep the cells from sagging in the middle. Then, on a whim I added water to the tray figuring the humidity would slow down the drying-out of the potting mix.
Danged if the tomato roots didn't reach right out and start sucking up that water without my even thinking about it. They look pretty healthy. I will continue to water the plants as the potting soil dries out but it is always nice to have a back-up plan.
Today's Quicksilver music selection
Is 3" galvanized duct the optimum size for preventing raccoons climbing the tree trunks? Would something like 5" or 6" work better? You would have to somehow center a larger size around the trunk, a few disks of dense flexible foam (think much larger version of pipe insulation, or maybe make your own with a form of some kind (round dish pan?) and expandable foam) or semi-rigid plastic might work.
ReplyDeleteDo raccoons like Crisco? What happens if a heavy concentration of cayenne pepper is mixed in with it?
I plan to use a swim-noodle to keep it centered.
DeleteI have some pepper-spray that expired. I was considering giving the crisco coating a blast of that after liberally smearing it.
The deer absolutely decimate anything 'thornless' I try to plant that they have access to. The one variety of raspberries has very soft thorns when young, so have a hard time propagating that one... they usually spread like weeds on their own! Need to get more doe tags this year.
ReplyDeleteAnother trick you might try is dog hair in a knee hi or part of panty hose hanging from the tree/bush you want to protect. I used to get a big bag of hair from the local dog groomer. It is looking like Monday morning is going to be a fruit thinning event. Maybe a crop loss if you get 23 degrees. It is supposed to get to 25 here in Covid township so we will see. Good luck and hope they are wrong with the forecast.
ReplyDeleteGrumpy Old Macdonald
Convis township
DeleteJust out of curiosity, do you know Larry Sibley?
DeleteLarry passed away last year, sorry I thought you knew. He was a tough old bird with a heart of gold.
DeleteGrumpy Old Macdonald