I hear ya on the birds r3 'cept my problem is they cause detours in my driveway.  Don't know which one is the daddy waiting for his new brood but today, could be the day.  Hope ya have a "berry" good crop.
 
                                                
 
 
 
"HAPPY FATHERS DAY" to all. 

I have finally started Getting so Oriole's.  Turkeys are getting big, pig is getting big. Garden is wilting.I need to get on my wood. It is down , but needs to be cut and split.

Nothing yet here but with the lack of rain I'm sure they will be swarming the pool soon

That is one nasty critter,my poor dog "Mollie" got stung by one years ago and her head swelled up real bad I had a big vet bill to get her relief.

Most of my structures are rough cut mill. I get a ton of wood boring. They don't bother me but wreak havoc on my buildings.
After putting up with them for 50 years , thanks for the tip

Wish I could grow summer squash but that darn "powdery mildew" wipes out my squash, pumpkins, cukes, etc. Tried for past couple years using copper based sprays to ward the mildew off but no luck. Blight takes out my tomatoes too so, no more gardening for me. 😩 Stupid mildew!!


About those wood boring bees. I have several traps around my house and they do work. I prefer soda bottles like the one pictured. When full, just unscrew it throwing it away and replace with another bottle. The bottle is a 16oz and yes, like the others, is half full of carpenter bees. ummm, plus a few other brands.

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Bee happy to HT.😏 But it's more about the block of wood, hole DIA. and angle. I've tried using a 2x4 with entry holes on the narrow side but have had much better luck with 4x4 stock. Old dried out material seems to work better also. Each piece of wood is 7 1/2" long. Each "entry hole" is 7/8" dia centered 1 " from the bottom and drilled at a 45 degree angle into the stock.

The trick is to get all four entry holes to meet inside the block.

Beecause😒 you need now center, on the bottom of the stock, and drill a 1" DIA hole deep enough to just join the entry holes. Do not drill the holes past each other, they should just meet. Also make certain all holes are free of chips, dust, and splinters. You may need to ream the bottom hole a bit but the soda bottle should screw into the block.

I have better success with traps located just under the eves at the gable ends of my buildings. You may need to experiment with location. Also, rubbing a flower around the entry holes may help entice the first bee then it's follow the leader.

BTW, I was serious about bumble bee badminton. It's nearly impossible to sit on my deck on a hot day and not be annoyed by bees hovering in your face. My best so far this past spring is 18 in one hour. This weekend the temps are forecast to be low 90s and sunny. Game on! 😎


PS. The diameter of the entry hole is important. Check an established bore hole.

Those established nest can be cleaned out using a can of WD 40 having a red straw. Insert the straw as far into the hole as possible and fire. If a bee exist it will come out, respray the hole to get any larvae. Plug the hole with caulking or another bee will take over.

You may need to probe and find the correct angle, the bore hole goes into the wood but the straw should go completely into an established bore hole.

If I Don't get the larvae, the wood peckers do and that ain't a pretty sight on a log home.

I have one of those battery powered “zapper” rackets. Never used it on carpenter bees, but it makes a heck of a crack when swatting horse flies.

They are mean and nasty. I don't even go in the pen anymore if I don't have to. They bite.
I will have no qualms putting them on the cutting table in October.

Ok it's really too hot for tuna outside. Only saving grace is a very SLIGHT breeze.
Need to get a bunch of yard work done as I'm gone off to a concert / clam bake all day tomorrow and a bunch of people here for the same on the 4th.

Started today with hogs. Picked up another 200 lbs feed . Wife had a bright idea of putting a kiddie pool in there cor them . Humm. Try try to eat it, flip it over and wallow in the thing. Now there's more mud in the pen then the ocean .Great ,,,,
Next was to try and clean their stall.
Caugh, caugh, gag, gag. I certainly feel like I'm going to get swine flu without a dust mask , of course I'm not wearing 1.
Now I'm trying to muster enough gas to clean the poop and put in compost bin. This may take awhile 😶.
Oh yea btw, my day actually started by trying to repair a washing machine.
Watched YouTube on how to disassemble the thing. Did that and couldn't find a problem. About to call it junk, watched another video on why it won't spin. So simple it was stupid. Unplug for 1 min. Plug in , lift lid 6 times within 30 seconds. It resets the motor and works fine.
My gosh, the things you can find on the internet.
Stay dry folks and hydrated, back to work here

Peace and tuna

It's way too soon to think about ICE Rich,I'm thinking about a cool fall breeze in Sept. and hopefully a full resevour to run water for silly season.

So my garden has been weeded ( seems they thrive) and waterd. Did some more weedwacker duty, again as they thrive, feed and waterd the hogs. I now call them hogs..
They have mud holes everywhere in their 30×30 pen. On Monday I bought 100 lbs feed, probably have just enough until this coming Monday. My cost is now about $22.00 a week in feed. We don't have many leftover or household food to supplement. My bakery supply is dried up .
They are about 3.5 months old and approx 140 lbs maybe 150.
People think I'm crazy. In a sense they are right but it's a path I often follow.

Halfway through this adventure I'm already looking at improvements and options on the next time. There WILL be a next time.

Options are seeing how much we harvest.
1.Would we need more going into 2019, as in any next year and just lime the crap out of the area in fall then raise meat chickens next season, which would need a lot more security reinforcement from the fox den behind the house.
2. Doing 2 and slaughter 1 at this time , the other in the fall.
3. Doing 3 instead of 2 and selling 1or 2 for slaughtering . ( I'm not a seller type guy )

Improvements
1. I would want to move location if possible.
2. Lay kiln firebrick so there is no MUD ( remember, I can get truckloads).
3. If none of above, I'd have to put some sort of lean -too to get more shade So they don't did mud holes so much.

I think I'm on a path I wish to continue. Any and all experience welcomed.

Pics. There are 33 tomato plants in all. About 20 pickling cukes , 25 pepper plants A few beans ,squash and various herbs.
Early stuff shuch as lettuce , spinach and radishes are done until later summer.
Garlic , horseradish and asparagus are doing well.

Not done yet .
There are a few stragglers I didn't take pictures such as the fruit trees , garlic and berries

I started to get some bottom rot on my tomato. Last time this happened I mixed up some bone meal with water an applied the liquid to the soil so that's what I just did today.
My squash and zucchini all have lots of flowers and some small vegetables but a few of the veggies have turned to rot.
I applied bone meal to them as well, any suggestions there ?
Also my green beans went to crap. First time trying pole beans. Ripped them out and just replanted a bunch of Bush beans instead.

Question:
I been saving the pig manure and straw in a compost bin. Would it be a good idea to mix that in my soil this fall or should I let it winter over and do it in the spring before planting?