Gardening for Old Folks (Adaptative)

[jvls1942]

we have about 80 black walnut trees.
our infestation is red squirrels.
they are storing nuts everywhere. and worse, planting them. whenever I find a new tree coming up, I jerk it out with the tractor.

 

[cavemanrich]

we have about 80 black walnut trees.
our infestation is red squirrels.
they are storing nuts everywhere. and worse, planting them. whenever I find a new tree coming up, I jerk it out with the tractor.

I have a dear friend that lives in Peoria area. He owns a large stretch of land, half forest, and half farmland. Just the opposite happened to him.. He planted a quantity of Black walnuts from his tree. (he has quite a few Black walnut trees there already,, but thinking for the future generations)
He marked where he planted, to see if they sprout. Most of those nuts were dug up, and eaten by the squirrels.
Jim,, you with that high concentration of Black walnuts,, certainly have the squirrels do the planting for you. My understanding, about squirrels,, they forget some of their buried nuts.

 

[bruceha2000]

Volunteer Plants sounds PATRIOTIC

Then I have a very patriotic gourd plant. It has small tomato size yellow "fruit". It decided to grow in the 3 bay compost bin. They are each 4' deep and 5' wide. It has taken over two of them. I did not plant it nor have I ever had any gourds. Guess the birds did the work.

He marked where he planted

That was his mistake! Told the squirrels right where to find lunch.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Reminds me of the farmer I lived near years ago. Every spring a huge flock of turkeys would swarm out of the woods and follow behind the planter - picking the corn out of the ground as he planted it. His old farm dog had passed from old age and he wanted to "borrow" the neighbor's dog to chase the turkeys away.

 

[jvls1942]

my wife's cousin was trying to get black walnut seeds to sprout. He had a small plot of ground. to keep the squirrels from digging up the nuts, he covered the bed with chicken wire.
My friend's dad used to coat the seed corn with some black liquid that dried. it smelled like tar .

 

[cavemanrich]

Every spring a huge flock of turkeys would swarm out of the woods and follow behind the planter - picking the corn out of the ground as he planted it.

I gave my idea serious thought, before posting it, so it may work for other farmers reading here.
This is what I would do.
Get a 50 pound bag of regular whole corn, and spread at edge of woods. On the ground where visible. Then go about planting the field.. Seed corn is expensive, so that 50 pound bag of whole corn would be a blessing, and costing almost nothing. (well very reasonable compared to seed corn)

 

[jvls1942]

I gave my idea serious thought, before posting it, so it may work for other farmers reading here.
This is what I would do.
Get a 50 pound bag of regular whole corn, and spread at edge of woods. On the ground where visible. Then go about planting the field.. Seed corn is expensive, so that 50 pound bag of whole corn would be a blessing, and costing almost nothing. (well very reasonable compared to seed corn)
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that certainly would be worth a try.
but were the turkeys eating the newly planted corn , or were they eating insects ??

 

[wyoDreamer]

They were plucking out the seed corn - he would have great big bare patches in his field at germination. Not sure how the birds would find the buried seed, but they were very good at it.

 

[Molpet]

They were plucking out the seed corn - he would have great big bare patches in his field at germination. Not sure how the birds would find the buried seed, but they were very good at it.

They probably can smell it

I had Japanese beetle traps and they would walk around with noses in the air until they found it. The Beatles that fell down they scooped up. Eventually they tore up the trap bag

 

[jvls1942]

turkeys are smart birds.
Daniel Webster suggested the turkey for the national bird instead of the eagle. He said it was more noble than the eagle.
crows can find buried corn seed, too.
today I am taking the day off.
going to pick up our car from the fixit shop. brake job. then going out for lunch if there is enough money left.lol