Wisdom is knowing when to settle for "It works"

 

Of course Mr Raccoon came back last night. Luckily, he didn't chew the hose to shreds.

Sometimes it is advisable to have a quiet way to euthanize an animal caught in a trap. The three-minute video linked above shows one way to do it. Trappers call it a "dispatch pole".  All it takes is a 160 body-grip trap (a.k.a. a Conibear trap) and a long, forked stick. It makes less noise than a pellet gun discharging.

 Another option. Five minute video. Link to mounting clip he used

Watering

The weather-guessers promised us 0.4" of rain. Maybe we will get it.

I watered last night anyway.

The darker brown in the background is where I was watering. Lighter dirt is not wet

Potatoes will survive in dry soil but they thrive when you pamper them by never letting the soil get crispy-dry. You cannot let the soil moisture levels fluctuate wildly if you want smooth, uniformly shaped, not-lumpy potatoes.

I saw my first Colorado Potato Beetles yesterday. NOT-yippie!

Work-ticket

Today's work-ticket was to move two brush piles that were getting in the way of cutting the grass. The total area was about 600 square-feet. That is not a lot of area in the overall scheme of things, but it disrupted the orderly management of the areas around them.

This is where the north brush-pile was.

 

This is where I dragged the brush to

It took two-and-a-half hours to yank the brush out of the tall grass and then drag the brush to the swamp and finally mow the cleared areas with a push mower.

One brush-pile as 40 yards from where I was dumping the brush. The other as about 90 yards.

I really wanted to burn the brush in-place. It irks me to have nutrients migrate away from where they can be used and end up in a swamp where they are of less direct benefit. Sometimes wisdom is knowing when to settle for "It works" rather than hold out for "Optimum".