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

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Goats are good at destroying browse. They also can test your patience at time, but they are generally good natured creatures.

I only have 6 now, with plans for only 2-4 going forward. I keep dairy goat wethers. I used to breed pygmy, than the Nigerian dwarf, but had to stop as I couldn't part with them anymore, and I ended up with nearly too many. I topped out at 29, before fixing everyone. Those babies are too adorable.

 

[jvls1942]

One of my blackberry patches got so out of hand that we couldn't push ourselves to the center of it to get the berries. that fall I took my tractor and the six foot wide bucket and drove through the middle of the patch with the bucket down. that made a nice lane for the next year, but the year after that, everything was grown back . I should go and do it again. One patch I knocked down completely and even mowed it afterwards. It came back ..
.......jiminwisc....

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We have a king cutter. That works on the brambles in the back field. I don't wander out there too often because of all the brambles that don't ever have berries, and that darn razor grass. I don't think that's the technical term for it, but it's what we call it here. It grabs your skin and scratches you up, so I don't go out there too often.

 

[jvls1942]

I would like to use a brush cutter like that in my pine trees. there is a succulent plant that grows back over and over. I hate to go in there with the riding mower because there are
so many small fallen branches on the ground.
I am putting off starting this batch of beer until I am sure that I have 40 flip top bottles..
I have some in the lean to behind the garage. kind of hard to get to them right now. Nephew Dan said he will get them out for me.
......jiminwaUSAu......

 

[jvls1942]

good news, DW and nephew went to the big lean to behind the garage and dug out my
Grolsch flip top bottles for me. There are 61
of them, I need 40 for this batch of beer.
I will replace the rubber rings.
I have a lot of washing and disinfecting to do.
......jiminwaUSAu........

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That is a lot of bottles. Happy washing.

I ordered some seeds from Seeds n Such last night. Never ordered from them. Hopefully they are a decent company.

 

[jvls1942]

whoops ! something happened here. all of my posts from byc have been deleted. If someone would post here, I will be back in the immediate notification mode. thanks.
yesterday, I washed all 58 beer bottles.
then I started the 3rd batch of wine..
let me tell you. that long at the kitchen sink does make my back ache.
.......jiminwaUSAu......

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sorry we lost you for a bit Jim. I can imagine your back hurt. I'm guessing you have no dishwasher either. We don't have room for one, and I doubt I would use it.

 

[jvls1942]

I do have a dish washer. but I used a bottle brush on each bottle. I don't care much for
the dish washer. If and when I do dishes,, I do them by hand.. The dishwasher often bakes food residue onto the dishes.
Often I will take all the plates and bowls out of the cupboard and wash them by hand.
If I do dishes each morning, I can usually get them done in about the same time as it takes to brew a pot of coffee. If there are kettles, it might take twice as long. but it is still faster than the dishwasher can do it. and even with rinsing each dish with hot water, I use way less hot water than the dish washer does..

......jiminwisc.........

 

[jvls1942]

Today it was warm enough to put the metal roofing up to extend the drip edge about 4 inches. Now maybe the icicles wont attach themselves to the fascia.
Nephew spotted an ermine darting around my trailer next to the pine trees. First one he ever saw. I will leave it alone. we don't have any chickens and weasels kill mice..
.....jiminwisc......