Recent content by drumminj

We have a red fox that frequents our property. He usually goes to check out the chicken coop/run but so far hasn't been able to get in. Hoping "Fort Clucker" continues to live up to its name! I didn't realize that hollow logs were a thing for them. Do they live in them vs dens dug in the...

In my experience it's the sewer/wastewater fee that's the killer, not the water. Luckily I'm on a well/septic now so don't have to deal with that (hopefully ever again!)

I didn't expect getting into bees to make me pay closer attention to what's growing and blooming, but alas here we are :). At the end of our private drive/street I've discovered we have a number of large mimosa trees. They're invasive, but supposedly a good source of nectar so I'm hoping my...

I ran into the same issue when looking for a replacement shaft for my woodland mills grinder. Ended up biting the bullet and buying direct through them, was just under $300 if I recall correctly. Just looked it up and it's $335 shipped these days: Series 5 PTO Shaft with Slip Clutch (Trimmable)...

Do you sell off produce, or can? We're drowning in beans with just 16 or so plants, and just planted some more where we pulled up the potatoes.

Interesting. Thanks for the suggestion - we did just buy a pressure canner!

Harvested potatoes today. This was from 2/3 of a 3x8 bed. If only we had a root cellar...

We have bats around here, I assume living in some of our dead trees that I need to take down soon. Been meaning to build bat boxes and have a pile of cedar logs I intend to use as posts for them. I assume you've built some -- can you share where/how you've placed them, as I understand they...

I still feel like I get more clumping with the gator blades, but haven't sharpened the stock blades and put them back on to verify. Turns out I'm lazy. I just hit 50hrs on mine and was planning to do an oil+filter change, but the Kohler manual actually doesn't recommend that when using their...

And they take forever to heal! Seems like they take a month or so for me here.

This is also why I haven't sought a mentor. I suspect I would be 'fired' as a mentee pretty quickly as I'm not very good at being dogmatic.

Curious to see more detail. Any chance you can share a photo with the springs and link the ones you used?

We have box turtles all over the property but I've not seen any water-based turtles. There are several types of frogs and salamanders in there though. And hawks that eat the turtles. And a blue heron that comes by every so often... Honestly it's fun to observe it all.

Thanks for clarifying. My g/f took the photo and I just assumed the wings didn't get captured for some reasons... But...looks like the robber fly eats bees AND dragonflies?!?! I'm going to have to spend more time insect-watching at the garden this summer for sure.

Dragonflies eat wasps from what I read, so I'm not sure I want to get rid of them? Always hard to evaluate who's a net positive in the ecosystem! Just fathead minnows in the pond b/c it's small - about 1/10th acre or so. Could probably support a few bluegill or redear sunfish but I'm happy...