The Old Folks Home

[KnobbyOaks]

Knobbyoaks, I'd always heard they repelled spiders. The wood from those trees is some of the hardest around and many a fencepost was made from them in early settling of the country, I understand. Horse apples are extremely dense, hard and heavy. We had one in the yard where I grew up.

Spiders, huh? I didn't have any of those either. Now where I live now, I could really use a bushel of those things, even though this is new construction, or maybe because it's new construction, I don't know.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Spiders, huh? I didn't have any of those either. Now where I live now, I could really use a bushel of those things, even though this is new construction, or maybe because it's new construction, I don't know.

Yeah, maybe I can get on a horse apple hospitality list - someone can send me ones their trees drop. Every fall when we stack the wood inside the house the basement is crawling with Shelob like creatures.

 

[IAFarmGirl]

'Twas somethin' that looked like this:
http://www.wildflower.org/gallery/result.php?id_image=23212


Obviously, something that one should save. I would still bring something like that in the house if I found it today.

There was all kinds of weird trees down there that we don't have up here. I remember these insane green pollen ball things that looked like grape bunches, and I used to play with them, too.

If you want to come to Iowa I have a LOT of these! LOL We call them hedge balls. The tree is called an Osage Orange and gets to about 20 feet tall and the wood is really hard. A fence post made of them will last forever. I have seen some that were used to build a fence 100 years ago and it is still as solid as the day they put it in the ground. If you use it in a woodstove you have to be very careful because it burns so hot that it can melt your stovepipe. It also burns a long time. Worst part about hedge trees is the really long ( 3 to 6 inch) thorns on them, even on the trunk of the tree.

 

[Stumpy]

. Worst part about hedge trees is the really long ( 3 to 6 inch) thorns on them, even on the trunk of the tree.

I remember those well.

 

[Wisher1000]

Down here in the south, it's called a BoDock tree. There is another one with balls like that called a Mock Orange (or some type of Locust that I can't recall at the moment) that has all the terrifying thorns. We have lots of those on our place.

 

[gryeyes]

Every fall when we stack the wood inside the house the basement is crawling with Shelob like creatures.

First, I grinned widely, loving the Shelob reference, then saw the problem right away. I suppose in Vacationland, one could die in the drifts you showed us, just bringing in stacked firewood from outside. I dunno, freezing to death, or a basement full of Shelobites? That would be a tough choice for me.

 

[Wisher1000]

What, pray tell, is a Shelob or a Shelobite?

We had a dog in the yard this afternoon. It was a gorgeous red pit bull and the boys shot at it with the BB gun. They thought it would not come back, but just after dark, it was on our driveway outside the garage door. I took it a piece of sausage (to be able to catch it) and got a leash on it, but not before it bit my finger (going for the meat.) I took it to the only neighbor that is within earshot and asked if it belonged to them. It did. I told her that it had been over in the afternoon and the boys shot it with the BBgun but that it came again this evening. She apoligized and asked if it killed any chickens. No, but it will be back.

I won't take it home again.

This is the second time a dog of her son's had been on my property. Last time they said it couldnt be their dog, because it never left the yard. I took her a pic of her dog that the game camera on my place captured. It was mean and growled at my sons when they waited for the bus in the mornings. They got rid of it, but not before it killed one of my hens.

 

[Bunnylady]

Shelob is a LOTR reference.

It's a huge. evil spider *shudders*

 

[Wisher1000]

Ahhh, I should have known.....

 

[sourland]

Horse Apple, Knobby Oak, Osage Orange - same tree, same country, so many different names. Up here they were used as hedgerow trees, closely planted to form natural fencng. Once they take root, they are lmost impossible to kill. Hard wood that will KILL a chain saw. When hunting, I would pick up several, put them in my jacket and when my BIL was not looking underhand one in front of him through the brush. He shot many an Osage orange thinking it was a rabbit. No offense meant,

lady.