Larsen Poultry Ranch - homesteading journey

[SageHill]

I don't have a tick puller, but I had doused them with rubbing alcohol and after a little bit they back out - catch and squish (rolling the bottle cap over it).

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Sorry y'all are staying so sick. Little kids catch everything and share with family. I remember those days!

I feel like we've been sick just about every other week this spring so far. I'm so tired of being sick. I just want a nice weekend where we aren't sick and aren't getting pressured into going to some stupid event. I still haven't planted most of the seedlings I started yet, they are going to get root bound or die if they haven't done so already.

And I'm really frustrated I missed most of my irises blooming this year. I can see the stalk, so I know they bloomed, but I didn't get to see them flower and take a picture.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Still fighting rats going after the rabbit food. I kept setting the rat trap but it was always empty and snapped the next time I went out. But it was clearly moved and not where I'd left it, although the tether was still on. Then two days ago I found a rat head in it, no body just a messed up head. So I think I have been catching rats the whole time and something is just coming along and eating the rat. I know there's still rats because of the poop, but I have decreased the numbers at least a little.

 

[Baymule]

@Ridgetop swears by the Ratinator trap.

 

[SageHill]

@Ridgetop swears by the Ratinator trap.

Add me to that list - gets rats and anything else that happens into it.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

I bought a squirrelinator last year, I need to dig that out and try it.

 

[Ridgetop]

It works great, unless you have several Anatolians that find it full of live squirrels and they try to help you eradicate them! LOL

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Still trying to get garden going properly, I'm really hoping we can get things going this weekend. Boys are in swim school, so transport to/from takes a lot of the day. I did not plan well in regards to timing. Probably would have been better to have bumped them to the next session and had more time slots to choose from. Lessons end Friday then we can be back to normal routine, it is for 2 weeks.

Kid 1 likes swimming, but finally is listening to the teacher more instead of trying to do his own thing. Kid 2 screams the whole time. We missed Thursday/Friday last week from strep throat (everyone is medicated now), and the kids started back up today. Kid 2 was fine getting to the swim school, getting changed, watching the other kids, but as soon as his teacher came towards him started screaming. This swim school has one on one with the teacher basically holding the kiddo the whole time, talking and transitioning them through the different types of swimming, floating, and getting to the side of the pool.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

We have just discovered the orchard water system got messed up, and hasn't been going... weather has been hot, low 90s? For about a week. I'm hoping the trees will be ok, the newer ones are looking very crispy.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

We have just discovered the orchard water system got messed up, and hasn't been going... weather has been hot, low 90s? For about a week. I'm hoping the trees will be ok, the newer ones are looking very crispy.

Surprisingly only 2-3 look crispy fried. A bunch look sad but still have green to them. I think they will come back with water. We got the broken bits of hose repaired and the trunk line run a little better. We need more big hose for a new trunk line to the newest rows, but all except 5 trees are set up, plus the nut trees we didn't check on. I didn't realize we were out there over 1.5 hours.

There is fruit on some of the trees, two apricots and two apples. I'm excited to try it. Need to prune and shape the trees more, see if I can widen the branches on most.