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1. In addition to cleaning out horse and goat stall this weekend I had the old woodshop to use as mulch in the garden and around the fruit trees. We buy our wood chips by the truckload from a local post and pole company for $5 a load. So I have no excuse to not clean stalls on a very regular schedule. Our garden is coming along nicely but the grass and weeds are becoming a major force to reckon with. We still have peppers to transplant, but we need a few more weeks before the true last frost date in Montana. The last thing on my list is to read Liberators if the thunderstorms due in this weekend as forecast and I get trapped indoors for extended periods.

   This is also the time of year my wife and I try to attend as many estate sales as possible. In the past we have found lots of useful hand tools and canning supplies for in some cases literal pennies. I am especially proud of the handcrafted pitchforks and scythe blades I picked up for less then $5 each. You cannot but new and get the same quality produced 50+ years ago for these hand tools. I live in the Helena area and plan on attending the gun show next weekend as well, I will keep and eye out for your tables.

2. This week my son had to fix the barn road and the two roads to the lower meadows. The large amount of rain washed out all three dirt roads so he spent a couple of days with the scraper and box blade implements fixing the old roads so we could get to the meadows safely. I don’t mind the rain as it protects us from fire dangers that other areas have faced.

   We trimmed some of the lower branches of the 30’ oak trees. Need to call a professional with a bucket truck to trim up the 100 year old oaks. While tornado and thunderstorm season has been late in starting this year, it will eventually come so I need to get them thinned out so the wind can pass through without damage.

   Separated the male and female 10 week old lionhead rabbits and got them litter box trained. Treated two of my large meat rabbits for itchy eyes and ears using an antimicrobial/antifungal solution. They improved immediately and are now off my medical watch list.

   The TN Red Peanut seeds are up with their 2nd set of leaves; should be ready for transplant next week. The big garden has had a huge growth spurt with the corn and grapes being the growth leaders. The kitchen herbs are doing very well and my separate backyard wild garden of plantain, red and white clover, and chickweed is growing abundantly with the rain we’ve had. I use them for medicinal herbs but share them with my rabbits who love them and they keep them healthy.

   My thoughts are on my ancestors who have fought and died for this country in every war and conflict since 1730. It pains me to see and hear the disrespect given to those who protect our freedom coming from so many young people. They have absolutely no clue as to what this country stands for and that the freedom they have is a result of thousands of good people who served this country. They should all be shipped to Iraq or Venezuela for a year to clear their heads.

3. This week my son had to fix the barn road and the two roads to the lower meadows. The large amount of rain washed out all three dirt roads so he spent a couple of days with the scraper and box blade implements fixing the old roads so we could get to the meadows safely. I don’t mind the rain as it protects us from fire dangers that other areas have faced.

   We trimmed some of the lower branches of the 30’ oak trees. Need to call a professional with a bucket truck to trim up the 100 year old oaks. While tornado and thunderstorm season has been late in starting this year, it will eventually come so I need to get them thinned out so the wind can pass through without damage.

   Separated the male and female 10 week old lionhead rabbits and got them litter box trained. Treated two of my large meat rabbits for itcy eyes and ears using an antimicrobial/antifungal solution. They improved immediately and are now off my medical watch list.

   The TN Red Peanut seeds are up with their 2nd set of leaves; should be ready for transplant next week. The big garden has had a huge growth spurt with the corn and grapes being the growth leaders. The kitchen herbs are doing very well and my separate backyard wild garden of plantain, red and white clover, and chickweed is growing abundantly with the rain we’ve had. I use them for medicinal herbs but share them with my rabbits who love them and they keep them healthy.

   My thoughts are on my ancestors who have fought and died for this country in every war and conflict since 1730. It pains me to see and hear the disrespect given to those who protect our freedom coming from so many young people. They have absolutely no clue as to what this country stands for and that the freedom they have is a result of thousands of good people who served this country. They should all be shipped to Iraq or Venezuela for a year to clear their heads.

4. HJL we all know what the house and especially the kitchen would look like if our Wives did not hold us to a higher standard. Costco shelves! You are wise to listen to Mrs. Latimer. Hopefully you are mending well from your recent mishap.

   We decided that we needed more variety. We are in the process of adding romain and red leaf lettuce.
   We went a little crazy with starting tomato plants. We found some old heavy duty tomato cages for a buck a piece so we loaded up.

5. Already picked 40lbs of asparagus this year, I think I’ll give it a rest now. Been eating our first course of radishes, second course probably in another week. Only thing that’s left to put in is some sweet potato slips which I haven’t received. Everything in the garden is up and doing exceptionally well. My Mt. Curs got another ground hog yesterday, great fearless little varmint hunters. Always had bird dogs before this. Also this week I traded into a S&W “Bekeart” 22/32 made in 1916 and a Colt Mark IV 80 series made in the 80’s.
   Going into the 90’s for the next 4 days……unbelievable….. might just have to give up and go fishing!

   1. Oh, Hey, that’s me Brooksy posting that……

6. We’ve been focusing on property clean up and getting the garden back into shape after last year’s fiascos with our cistern/water line installation. It is NO fun living out of 55 gallon barrels and the concurrent schlepping and pumping for basic water needs. The garden and orchard had to be allowed to go by the wayside. Very depressing, but we’re cracking on this year.

   I picked up an old 1969 Case 444 garden tractor with cultivator, drag harrow, mower deck blade and roto tiller attachments at an estate sale and spent the winter getting the hydraulics into shape. Its great fun to use and surprisingly powerful with its Kohler K321-A 14 horse engine.

   I’m tearing up a lot of those pernicious invasive grasses, but this Panhandle soil! Nothing but a little dust settled between the endless rock and boulders! The only solution is raised beds.

   We also support the charming and altogether delightful trifecta of voles, ground squirrels and gophers. So the beds have a double fold of chicken wire on the bottom to keep them from tunneling up and a framed screen on top to keep them from climbing over; each is basically a self-contained covered garden / maximum security facility.

   Has anyone had success with keeping these guys out or blasting them into the twilight zone? There’s this nifty thingy that clamps a hose onto an exhaust pipe and pumps carbon monoxide down the holes….

   Oh, yea, and I’m building a simple covered porch and new steps to our front door, which is on the west-facing gable end of the house. Snow slides right off the roof and onto the stairs with each snowfall and melt off. Now well have covered access, a real mud room and shade from the hot afternoon summer sun.

   Have a great year everyone! “Next year better, next year stronger, next year’s furrows that much longer!”

   1. Gene Blister, Idaho, Several years back I had a vole/mole/armadillo problem. An old southern friend told me to get chewing gum and put an unwrapped stick down every hole I found and leave some sticking out of the dirt in the garden. Repeat every other day until the problem is solved. Since I had tried everything else I dutifully bought a bunch of gum and did as I was instructed. In less than a week I had dead varmints coming out of holes and dead armadillos and squirrels near the garden. Evidently, the small critters love the smell and taste of chewing gum but it gets stuck in their throats and they die. My dogs did not dig in the holes and my garden had a fence so my domestic animals were fine.

   2. For ground squirrels/gophers get a 5 gal. bucket 1/3rd full of water. Cover the surface with sunflower seeds. (they float) Prop a board against the bucket so the varmints can run up it, sprinkle board with sunflower seeds. The little varmints run up the board, spy the seeds in the bucket, jump in and drown. My wife has gotten as many as 9 in one day.

      1. I am SO trying this….thank you! We conquered vole issues but the ground squirrels have been the bane of our existence since we lost our forest to fire five years ago! They are so fast and skinny, shooting is hard. Traditional traps weren’t working well either. This sounds sublime!

      2. Thus is an old standby at our house….works great.

   3. So true…maximum security facilities! Am still chuckling. Thanks, I needed a good laugh.

7. Well we’ve gotten our container garden up and going. Not much but a start anyway. 12 potatoes, 7 tomatoes, 2 butternut, 4 cucumbers, 2 habaneros, and 6 containers of onion sets 5 to a container. There was garlic growing volunteer when we purchased our place. Last year we harvested it in July and dried it. But failed to get it back into the ground before freeze up. We’ll it had started to sprout last week, so planted it, 3 each into 12 containers. Covered with straw, watered deeply, and yesterday, who hoo every single one is up and growing ! And the blueberries we container planted have set a prodigious amount of berries thanks to the abundance of the humble bumblebee! This is the end of our 5th winter and beginning of our 5 year, it’s starting to feel like we’re making progress. Be of good cheer and health. Having the time of our lives even at 64.

8. Thanks to the humble bumblebee the 3 10yr old blueberry plants that we container planted now have an abundance of berries set, yahooo! They were more expensive of course than the $10/15 ones but berries we will have this year. We also found 4 and 5 gallon used tree pots for sale at. 75 cents each. So in went 12 potatoes, 7 tomatoes, 2 butternut, 2 habaneros, 4 cucumbers 4 cabbage, and 50 onions in 10 pots. Also there was volunteer garlic from the previous owner who passed away 8 years before we purchased the place. Last year we harvested it but failed to get it back into the ground before freeze up. Last week it started to sprout. So I split up the cloves and potted them into 10 pots of 5 each. This week their up and out of the soil about 3 inches! Don’t know the variety so we decided to name it “old buzzard” honoring the nickname of the previous owner. He left us quite a few items we haven’t had to purchase, and a few we’ve sold for profit. Be well, keep pushing forward if only a foot step at a time. Having the time of our lives even at 64.

9. Logging sale planning is moving along. Had a hitch when tariff talks had everyone wondering if foreign lumber demand would change. No one knew what timber should be worth for a few days. That settled out and our forester will be taking lumber mill reps on a walk through of the property next week. Bids are due in early June and then we will have a much better idea of potential profit. Fellers should start dropping trees mid-summer.

10. I took a 5 day extended week end to go camping … but rain decided our favorite area was not accessible due to flooding from melting snow up in the mountains. So we got the motorhome ready for summer, if it ever gets here seriously, and worked on the green house for my wife. Maybe next month we can get out someplace where there is no cell signal, the ham radio CW works, and just relax. Heading down to WA for business next week so hopefully loose ends will be finally tied up and the extra cash to be earned used to build a much needed permanent green house of a larger size. Started building myself a gyrocopter, ought to be good for aerial recon missions …

    God bless all, keep safe.

11. PUT MORE MULCH AROUND NEW BLACK BERRY VINES. ALL 6 TOOK ROOT WELL. TILLED BETWEEN ROWS IN THE BACK GARDEN. PUTTING TOGETHER ANOTHER RAISED BED FOR MINT, GOING TO HAVE SEATING BENCH ATTACHED TO 1 SIDE SO WE CAN SIT AND ENJOY THE RAISED BED GARDEN. ORDERED BABY CHICKS AND DUCKS FORM IDEAL POULTRY IN TEXAS. SUPPOSED TO BE IN 90’S ALL WEEK. GOT TO GO TO STROKE CONFERENCE 1 DAY.

12. Spent today at the BOL with my son. Took down a pine tree close to where our new pole barn will be going. Picked up the lawn tractor from the repair shop and Mowed the grass at the BOL which was VERY high. We try to keep the grass cut in the summer and the snow plowed in the winter to make it more “lived in”. Apple trees in the new orchard are doing great. Thought I was behind on getting the garden in until the neighbor out at the BOL said they had’ got their in either. Got an old Solo chainsaw up and running as a spare. Went to a hardware store on the other side of town on Friday. Very nice store but out of the way. Found 2 30″ blades for my bow saw. Marked down to $3.50 each. When I got to check out counter I found out they were an additional 50% off.
    Heading back out to BOL again in the morning to cut up some pine trees for camp fire wood. Will be brining in 3 empty gas cans to re-fill with Ethanol free gas. More expensive but better for my equipment and it stores longer.

13. Painting up a storm here around the rain. I have also been piling limbs and brush from this winter and wondering what to do with it all. There are quite a number of trees that need attention as well.

    We continue to chip away at the to-do list. The cabin looks better and is more productive. My admiration for our pioneering ancestors has greatly increased!

14. Painting up a storm here around the rain. I have also been piling limbs and brush from this winter and wondering what to do with it all. There are quite a number of trees that need attention as well.

    We continue to chip away at the to-do list. The cabin looks better and is more productive. My admiration for our pioneering ancestors has greatly increased!

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