Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Barb we make our own hay. I too will be happy when we are done. I think my donkeys have longer than my goats have. My goats are 10 years old and one is 8 years. On average they seem to live about 10-13 before they start going downhill. The donkeys are 24 and 25. They will probably go another 5-10 years.

Thankfully it's cooling off a bit finally. My corn and tomatoes are thriving.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Here's 2 of them from last winter. It looks so refreshing. And the two donkeys.

 

[jvls1942]

the Japanese beetle invasion is not too severe,,,,yet.
Annie dusted some of the grape leaves with Savin. I don't like
that stuff. I am going to mix up some soapy water:
1 teaspoon/1quart water. it is supposed to suffocate them.
that is what I sprayed the paper wasps nest with and they were
gone in a day.
I bet that less than 1% of all donkeys in the US are not used for
farm work. one of our neighbor ladies had about 30 of them. all sizes.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

30 donkeys? I would go deaf. These two are loud enough.

We had to put their mom down years ago because she ran out of good teeth. I adopted her from the BLM program back in the 90's for 75 dollars along with another one. Had to sell both when we sold our dairy farm, but we got her back again with a young one and one in the belly which are these 2.

Donkeys in general are hard to get to cooperate in any manner. They would be better at being dinner than at working. Horses you can always get to move forward because that's their instinct. Donkeys sometimes drop down instead of running. That's why there was always the joke about them sitting down. When frightened or confused a donkey will refuse to move. They are more like dogs than like horses.

 

[ShrekDawg]

They’re beautiful.

 

[jvls1942]

good morning, probably good day to you early
risers. for the first time in years, I slept until 9AM
without waking up.
the dirt along the north wall of the house has
settled toward the house,,, again. this time I am
going to get real drastic when fixing it. I am going
to slope it , lay down plastic and back fill with granite,
that should hold it until I die. then afterwards it is
somebody's else's problem..
We had Amish chicken's eggs today. I told Annie that I
thought they seemed old. the whites ran all over in the pan.
she checked the date. ''use by July 30'' .. they are still OK.
only 4 left in the carton.
the squirrels have been busy. there are black walnut trees
popping up all over the place.. I wonder what it looks like
down in the woods where the grey squirrels were carrying
their nuts. ?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You deserve a good Jim. I like a 9 am wake up time too, but don't always get that far especially Wil a young dog, and 6 others.

They claim eggs don't get too old. They just evaporate away. So as long as they aren't rattling inside you should be okay.

 

[jvls1942]

so, is that where the army got dried eggs from ? lol
today Annie found just one Japanese beetle on a
grape vine. she squashed it. I guess the Savin helped.
I still don't like that stuff.
We bought traps. Not going to put them out. No sense
attracting bugs if there aren't many to contend with.
Japanese beetles lay their eggs in the ground in July and
August.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My mother has spent years trapping and spraying for Japanese beetles and she's still overrun. I think she attracted them all because we don't see many here, and we are about 3 miles away.

 

[Callender Girl]

In a couple of hours, my sister and I will be leaving for our annual trip to Grand Marais, MN, up on the North Shore of Lake Superior. It's a week at a lovely little lodge without cell phones or internet.

And, without the responsibilities of caring for critters. My long-time pet sitter is back from Arkansas and will spend the week at my house, tending to everyone's every needs.

Hope everyone else has a great week, too. But, I think mine will be better!