Mr Bill's Dirt Garden

iammr.bill · **Posted:** Sat Jul 21, 2012 12:51 pm

A HORSE??? No thank you. I'll pass.

Been working on the wooden raised beds. Would like to have a hoop over top of them that raises up to weed and harvest. Probably covered in chicken wire or some type of mesh. Maybe even shadecloth if it isn't too dark. Can even have it in two sections for the longer beds. More than likely it will have to wait until our winter season. Trying to keep my tasks at least one preferrably two seasons ahead. Idealistic, ain't it?

iammr.bill · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 4:25 am

Other than the dirty chicken water container... what's wrong with this picture?

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I don't usually kill snakes. This one is either a king snake or a black snake. They eat mice, rats, and moles, so he was relocated to another part of the property.

My office window opens towards the chicken run so I am very aware when they start a ruckus. This little dude was caught right away because the girls were acting strange. Took me a few minutes to realize that there was a shadow where it didn't need to be.

gazza · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 10:02 am

Wish I could train one of those up to protect my beetroots!

iammr.bill · **Posted:** Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:47 am

Ever try putting a rubber snake out there? Might have to put a small sign out there that says "Please don't kill me, I'm only a rubber snake". Pretty sure mice, rats, and moles can't read.

Moles can't see very well, but they do have a very good sense of smell. Next time I'm in town, I might pick up some Vicks Vapor Rub or something to smear in their tunnels. Rotten little buggers.

Bender · **Posted:** Sat Aug 18, 2012 4:24 pm

Wow what a beauty! Hope he was just after the mice and not the eggs or chicks. Like the fact that no snakes or humans were injured in the relocation process

iammr.bill · **Posted:** Sun Sep 02, 2012 1:41 pm

It hurts so bad.
I lay here in the bed doped up on painkiller and Benadryl (an allergy medicine). Nothing seems to be able to take away the pain of beestings on my face, right eyelid, both ears, neck, arms and a few on my upper body.

This morning, I was cleaning out some brush with the tractor and hit a yellow jackets nest in the ground. Since I was in a bad spot to drive away, I left the tractor and walked away killing the ones I could. I hate being disabled and not able to RUN

Put my head under the running water in the sink and rubbed ice on my head and ears.

That pretty much blew away my whole day.

I'm gonna kill em.

Jaymie · **Posted:** Wed Sep 19, 2012 6:29 pm

damn, are you feeling better now?

Simo · **Posted:** Wed Sep 19, 2012 7:07 pm

I feel for you, ouch.

iammr.bill · **Posted:** Thu Sep 20, 2012 2:08 am

Appreciate the concern. Still alive, thank you. They have been identified as ground hornets. Nasty little buggers they are.

Ironically, I attended my first bee-keeping meeting five days after that incident. My sarcastic humor personality asks the question "Are you stupid or stubborn?"

Since then I have learned quite alot about our buzzing honeybee friends and their evil kin folk.

Have plans to make a few top-bar beehives. The usual Langstroth type hives are too heavy for me to handle. As in lift and move around. So I figure I'll make my top-bar hives on skids that I can move around with a tractor or riding mower.

Now that I am making more of a point to notice, we must have seen 8-10 types of bees around my garden this year. So much to learn.

Faye · **Posted:** Fri Sep 28, 2012 2:42 pm

I feel the pain of your stings, eeew! Hope all is well now. Respect their space I say.
It is amazing how many flying things there are. I recently found what I thought was a bee and discovered there are things called bee mimic, it was actually a fly and hardly a picture to be found on the net because it is not a common garden insect, many people would never have seen them unless they are photographers or bushwalkers.
Just shows how little I really know and how much we still have to learn.
It is a wonderful thing to make those new discoveries, isn't it Mr Bill?

iammr.bill · **Posted:** Fri Sep 28, 2012 4:25 pm

Faye wrote:

I feel the pain of your stings, eeew! Hope all is well now. Respect their space I say.
It is amazing how many flying things there are. I recently found what I thought was a bee and discovered there are things called bee mimic, it was actually a fly and hardly a picture to be found on the net because it is not a common garden insect, many people would never have seen them unless they are photographers or bushwalkers.
Just shows how little I really know and how much we still have to learn.
It is a wonderful thing to make those new discoveries, isn't it Mr Bill?

No offense my dear, but some things are better left undiscovered.

:lol:

Just joking. Of course it wouldn't have pained me to read about them in the safety of my own home, but it is what it is. Afraid I don't quite appreciate nature to the extent that you do. You really ought to send in some of your pics and observations for publication. They are quite good.

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