Wood chips, and first picking of the strawberries this year!

Wood chips

I finally got around to using the woodchipper again - first time since I "refurbished" it.  It works much nicer now!

I made about 2 cubic yards of chips.  I used them on the strawberries and blueberries.

Mulched the new blueberries

They are blooming!

Mulched the new strawberries

Strawberry Progress

The old strawberries are getting closer to ripe!  There are lots of them on the plants, but there are lots of them being eaten by critters too.

These plants are taking over the world with those runners!

First picking of the berries!

Smoe are still a bit green here, but they would be gone if I waited until next weekend!

Tree damages

Well, some kind of critter, probably a ground hog, (maybe a rabbit?), has been gnawing on the base of some of my trees!

I put chicken mesh wire around the base of these tree cages to stop whatever is doing this damage.

Weird

Also, something is snipping OFF some of my new trees!  At least 3 of the osage orange have been cut off about 3-4 inches from the ground!   I am betting on rabbits.  I have seen rabbits near these trees.  I made chicken wire cages for all of the osage orange.  Fingers crossed they don't go after the ginko trees nearby!

Trixie is back!

Our three-legged deer is back!  She looks pregnant!  We hadn't seen her for quite sometime and thought she didn't survive the winter, but she showed up one day all of the sudden!  

Shes hard to see in these photos, but she is there!

Cherries are ripening!

They are small, but I am lucky to have any at all.  The deer seem to go freaking crazy over these things and tear down the lower limbs to get them!

I picked a few and froze them (and ate some).  These are the sour cherries.  The sweet cherries had some on too, but far fewer.

Locust blooming

Locust trees are in bloom!

They are all over!  I can't believe that I never noticed them before!  Just goes to show me that I don't pay attention to the here and now enough.  I have to focus on being more mindful,

I mean - they are everywhere!  I even noticed them all along the roadways.  How did I miss these?

Strawberries

They are growing!  The old plants have lots of berries coming along.  The new plants are grabbing hold.

Even the new plants are starting to bloom!

Both rows of the new plants are ever-bearing varieties.

Tree status

Went around the farm checking on the status of the trees.  Some that looked dead are spruting out!  Most ofthe new ones have some signs of life.  

I believe this is a prior year pecan tree.  Some got set back due to wet weather and cold (I  think).

Butternut tree that was girded by some critter is sprouting out near the base!

One of this years pecans?   Or maybe one of this years black walnuts?

Ginko!  Some are showing these brown edges on their leaves.  In fact, some look dead from whatever that is.  Possibly too much water?  Or maybe the roots did not seat well?  I did plant these in rough sod, so good root contact with soil was hard to ensure.

Raspberry trellis

I finally got around to putting the wire between the stakes to make the raspberry trellis.  Mixed feelings about this because the plant spreads by runners - putting all of the branches up on the trellis will make it hard for the plant to spread.  I do want it to spread - at least some.  The patch is sparse in a few areas.

Baby birds. Auger holder. Deer damage

Baby birds

This crazy wren had build her nest inside my workshop ON TOP of my bolts and other fasteners! The bugger.  Well, the eggs finally hatched (actually - they hatched fairly quickly I think).  So the nest was full of little birds this weekend!

There sure are a bunch of them in there!  I have no idea how she is going to get them outside to learn to fly!

 Broken Cherry Trees!

Dang deer are after these cherry trees in a major way!

Nibbled off the new sprouts!

And broke the top clear out of this tree!  Buggers!  Now I will have to put tree cages on all of these

I got most of the cherry trees caged now.

Auger holder

When I went to attached the auger to the tractor to dig the holes for the garden fence I found it to be less than cooperative!  Actually, it almost crushed me.  Grrr.  So I finally got to working on this auger holder idea I have had.  Built mostly of locust wood (some of the cross supports are oak) - it is heavy but sturdy!  It works great!  I managed to move it out of the garage (where I built it) and remove the auger onto it without much trouble.  I guess the real test is when I go to re-attach the auger!