jdmidwest

I used to dig my fish guts into the garden until I found that the feral dogs my neighbors let run loose like to roll in them as they fester. Now I just toss them out on the ground and the dogs disappear. Seems like when a smelly fido comes thru the doggy door, they take better care of them.

He is just jealous that us country folk know more about the outdoors than he ever will living in that concrete jungle.

It started here last Sunday morning about 5 am and has been rolling rainstorms thru several times a day since. Wed. it rained all day a steady rain till almost dark, 3 inches that day. 3 rains came thru last evening. Today is our last chance, coming in tonight. Then hot and dry next week.

4. People should start acting like they do anywhere else in public when they are in a rented canoe in a river. It is not a closed bar where everyone would expect that behaviour going in and with bouncers to control their actions and toss them out.

They usually do it in March or April if the river permits.

I plan on that when the ground dries out a little. We are going on 8" for the week now, more storms rolling thru. I am not too worried about frost here. Cloudy, rainy, and windy should not lead to a frost tonight.

That is the quickest way to add a mated queen to a few frames of bees. But I did 2 walk away splits with a frame of brood, queen cells that they had made getting ready to swarm, and a frame of honey and pollen. The nurse bees stay with the frames and tend the brood, the queens hatch, mate, and start laying. Same thing they would have done in a swarm, but only one queen would have lived and killed the rest. The original queen would have swarmed and left with a group of the bees. I prevented it, I also make splits with a frame of eggs, frame of brood, and frame of honey and pollen. The new hive realizes it is queenless and turns a few eggs to queen cells and in about 4 weeks she is mated and laying. The swarm cells cut that time in half. A mated queen in a split will start laying as soon as she is released. Either way, it is a start to a new hive.

You could probably float many streams this weekend and check out the high water marks. Then you would know where you can pee or not.

Cloud cover here, probably not a chance of frost. As wet as the ground is there will probably be enough ice to protect them. Mine have been puny and a nice shade of yellow. It has been almost a week since we have had dry sunshine. Over 8 inches so far since it started on Sunday and another rolling thru.

The peppers are in the same mix too and yellow. The bags said pine bark and other wood debris. I was wonder if the ph is off some also. Now that the rain has leeched off all of the dirt on top, it looks more like a mulch than topsoil.

Truth of the matter is, if you want to shoot a trespasser, you better have some witnesses on your side when you do it. Your word against 50 drunks on a gravel bar will not hold up in court.

Guilty, Second Degree Murder. http://www.stltoday.com/news/state-and-regional/missouri/jury-finds-property-owner-guilty-in-river-shooting/article_200f13aa-9901-52fb-947e-102b97ec049e.html Does not look like any river right of way issues were even brought up. That part still looms in limbo and will remain the same little fuzzy gray area. Of course, that part was not on trial.

I went to raised beds this year. 2x8's filled partly with original garden soil and topped with 4" of Walmart Composted Manure and Topsoil mixed. I thought it was going to be the way to go. My tomato plants have been in the ground for about 3 weeks now and they have not grown more than an inch or so. Cucumbers and tomatoes are turning a little yellow. At first I thought it was the cool nights 2 weeks ago. Then there has been the excessive moisture of the past few weeks. Now we have another cool spell with days with clouds only. I noticed that there was alot of chopped bark and wood in the mix, more so than what I bought last year for the other beds. I thought maybe the mix was too hot and burning the plants. I was at a loss. Then a friend told me that the bark was using up all of the nitrogen in the soil and the plants were not getting any. So, I sprinkled a miracle grow packet on the beds and let the rain soak it in. Then I hit them with some pelleted 12-12-12 to give them more in a time release manner. If the sun ever comes out, maybe they will perk up! The corn and okra is starting to come up. Taters are up now too. They are planted in the rest of the garden. Started picking a few strawberries, but they are suffering and rotting in the rain soaked beds. Bees are doing great, I have already split one hive into 3 and am well on my way to my goal of 12 by the fall. It will probably be more like 20 by then the way things are going. I have another hive that I will split into 3, the rest will be doubled by June at the least. We need less rain and cold temps. How about a little sun for a change?

It was a poor season around here. I hunted opening day and the first weekend. Saw one hen and never heard a gobble. Only heard a few shots on the Sunday of the first weekend, none on the other days. Went to Reelfoot the second weekend to fish. Rain this weekend, tall green foliage, ticks, were all good excuses to stay out of the woods. Bluegill were biting was the best reason. My job puts me on the road alot in the countryside. All season I was seeing single hens milling around. I did not even see a beard until yesterday, two gobblers in the edge of a field by the road. I rolled down the window and cut loose with a mouth gobble and one answered. I cussed him out loud and he answered. Next year, I think I will just road hunt in the middle of the day and not even bother with the woods....

If you want good flows and fishing, Whitten to Narrows for a multi-day float. Trout at the start. But if you target them, smallies and goggle eyes too. From Riverton down, Smallies and other warmer water species.

Nice area. Trout for the most part. No stamp needed unless you keep one. It is the lower end of the restricted area, depends on where you go from the access. I like coming in from the East side thru the Wilderness. You can see the old mill and spring without crossing the river.

We were standing around the local C Store waiting in a long line to pay. Round here you would hear grumbling, but there they were all visiting and not in any hurry. We arrived at the campground and noticed the NO Alcohol signs everywhere. No Rangers circled all nights keeping tabs on you. Everyone went to bed by 10 and we sit around a campfire listening to the crickets instead of dogs barking, kids hollering, and drunks yucking it up. And all of the sites had water and sewer hookups. It is a laid back, relaxing area.

It was a busy weekend last week and many boats were running on plane. I hear that is an ususal occurance because of the stumps. That will go away when the lake drops back to normal. The people around the area are great too. Friendly and helpful, good ole southern hospitality.

I have been fishing TN waters for the past few years and the state is really starting to grow on me. Buffalo River and Pickwick Lake for big Smallies. Pickwick tailwaters for Sauger in the winter time. Last weekend I finally hit a lake that I have wanted to fish since the late 80's, Reelfoot. Located only a few short hours south off nice 4 lane interstates, it is an easy drive. It is surrounded by nice campgrounds and affordable lodges. It is a hunting and fishing lake, no jet ski's or powerboats. Plenty of trees and cover. We camped in the State Park campground, which was partly under water from last weeks 9 inch rain. Fishing was slow due to the rain and goofy temps. We caught a few on Saturday, but the bite was not on. Local tourney was won with an 8 lb catch of crappie. Did not even go out on Sunday as there was a lake wind advisory. Spent the day cruising around getting to know the area. Normally this time of year, the crappie are spawning and catches run in the hundreds, but the spawn is late. Bluegills were just starting to move into shallows also. Lots of catfish, no limit on those with the exception of only 1 34" or better in possession. Redear are there too with a limit of 20. I am going to make a few more trips down in the following weeks to catch a few coolers of panfish for the freezer. Then hit it later on in the summer for some bass or cats.

The plants seem to wear out with age like everything else. I restart with fresh plants every 3 years and it seems to work well. If a patch has a slow season, I will dig it up. Been doing them for about 15 years now and pick about a quart a day when they start, maybe 2. I have one 8x3 bed and 3 5' circle beds. I started another in the garden this year with about 70 plants I dug from last years runners. They should start putting on good next season. I have heard commercial growers till alternate rows each year or so and let the runners fill the empty spot to generate new plants. I always plant the ones that produce the smaller berries like Ozark Beauty or Everbearing. I have tried some with the giant berries, but they were never sweet like the smaller variety.

My rule of thumb, when it hits 80, they are done. Last Friday was my last time out. I found several yellows that were too far gone. It was a short and sweet season here. Very few grays, all yellows for the short 2 weeks I was finding them here. Maybe farther North.

I have a few berries starting to show some red blush. They are about on the same time schedule as normal, unlike everything else. All of my plants are loaded with berries and blooms. It looks like a banner year for them. You should be seeing little green berries starting to form when the bloom falls off. They will put on for several weeks. You should keep them watered. Don't fertilize till the berries stop. I usually just hit mine with Miracle Grow a few times during the summer when I water them. The runners are young plants. You can thin the bed out in the spring when they start to put on small green leaves. Take the root clusters and move them to another bed. Thin them to about a 3 to 5 inch spacing between plants and you will have good vigorous growth. After about 3 seasons, they tend to slow down in production. I will dig out all of the old plants, add fresh soil, and put in new root stock plants. The next season, that planting will be a good producer. I have several beds and rotate them around to keep at least 2 really good beds. The others will make a few berries in the first season that you plant them. Second and third season will be really productive. After that they slow down. I put the old plants I pull out of the beds in an unused area of the garden. They will produce runner plants that are good starts for a new bed or give to a friend. And you will get a few berries off of them too. Keep old dead leaves cleaned out to prevent ripe berries from rottening. Pull weeds. If you have a problem with slugs eating berries, put dishes of beer in the bed to kill the slugs.

Nice. Alot of time and patience goes into those full dress flies.

I have been out twice this week and found some dried out rotten yellow ones. I think I was several days late looking for the ones that I have found. This cold spell after the rain did a number on them.

The power of google, there is an asparagus lover website. This link may help you out. http://www.asparagus-lover.com/freezing-asparagus.html