Mighty green things

I can hardly believe I only planted this apricot tree 2 weeks ago. This is the same tree that's in the last post.

Husband has been working on getting rid of an old circular horse-training type thing. He's dismantling it since we don't have any plans to get horses and we can reuse the railroad ties in other projects. We've had a lot of rain lately so it was a good time to get the railroad ties out. He had the idea to strap them to the bucket of the tractor with a chain and pull them out. I was a little wary of this plan but it mostly worked quite well.

Work day

Today we did some work around the Hovel. We took a few loads of junk from the west end of the property to the junk area. We still need to sort through it but at least it will all be in one spot. Part of the fun of cleaning up is riding around on the mini-trailer.

We also sunk a railroad tie and hung a new gate. This is part of the work that needed to be done to move the garden up near the house. We have to fence the entire yard to keep javelina out. Since the fence will also enclose our porch, we're putting in a few gates so we don't have to jump the fences all the time. The fence is only 2.5 feet tall but that's just tall enough to catch pant legs and cause trips and falls. I'll save someone some embarrassment and not tell the story about the trip over the garden fence, the subsequent fall, and the resulting roll in fresh doggie turds.

Lovely Miss Wildflowerhouse gave us some apricot sprouts from fruit off one of her trees. I've always wanted to try growing a tree from a seed but so many of them need to be grafted. These are supposed to "come true."

Skunk catch and release program

Caught a skunk
Originally uploaded by Beaver w/ a Toothbrush

2010 came in with a stink. I was awoken in the middle of the night by a strong skunk smell a couple weeks ago. I got up and sniffed around the house but couldn't find the source of the smell so I tucked my nose under the covers and went back to sleep.

We investigated the next day and found a hole where a skunk probably got under our house. I immediately started searching forums and found some suggestions for getting skunks out from under the house.

That night we sprinkled DE around the three holes we had found and waited for nightfall. When we checked later we found that all three holes had tracks. We couldn't make out what the tracks might be. Since each hole was vacated we piled rocks and other rubble into them and went back inside.

Around 8:00 we heard a mad chattering sound and went outside to check. One of the holes was open again. We figured we'd try again the next day and didn't think much more about it.

We woke in the middle of the night to more mad chattering and wafting smells. We traced the smell to the middle bathroom and when I opened the cabinet and looked under the smell was intense and terrible. Skunk smell is an amazing thing. When you start to get used to it, it seems to magically change so that you can smell it again. It smells like terrible BO and rotten onions among other disgusting aromas.

We think the skunks that had previously been living in separate holes were forced into the same hole and fought under the house. One of them sprayed. I spent the next half hour taping trash bags over the cabinet so no air could come up from under the house. I put out coffee beans, lit candles, sprayed Ozium and other air fresheners, and sprinkled peppermint oil on cotton balls for our night stands. Just thinking about the smell makes me slightly sick.

Husband tried to sit out in the dark for a few nights and actually see one come out from under the house but it didn't work. It was too dark and the skunks would somehow sneak past him or wait for the moment he came inside to warm up and then escape.

We finally bought a trap. We didn't catch anything the first night. The second night, when we came back from a trip we found a skunk in the trap. We were very wary and careful but the traps are made so that the skunk can't lift its tail and we didn't have any problems.

We thought we might be done but each night the rocks we put over the holes continued to be moved. We left the trap out and baited and finally caught another skunk last night.

This time we were less freaked out so I took the opportunity to take a couple quick pics. After we find a skunk in the trap we toss a blanket over the cage and put it in the back of the truck. Then we drive 7 miles up the road to a turn off far from where anyone lives and set the trap near the forest edge.

Then husband uses a stick with a hook on it to lift the cage door locks on either side. We never catch a skunk before complete dark so he holds a flashlight and scolds me to aim mine in the right direction. (I'm an easily distracted flashlight holder and my light's always swinging this way or that).

After the door locks are up, he puts the hook in the door latch and puts a rock on it to hold it in place so we can be far away when the stunk gets out.

The first skunk we released went into the forest right away and didn't look back at us. This one just sat in the cage. First we sat in the truck for a few minutes with the lights off to see if he was just too scared to leave. That didn't work. I got a piece of lumber from the back of the truck and tried gently pushing him from the front and the back but he just wouldn't budge.

Husband noticed that he might be stuck so we got pretty close with our lights and checked him out. His little front paw did seem to be slightly under one of the bars. I lifted the cage handle and Husband used the hook stick to lift it slightly and replace it. Then we opened the doors again and gave him a slight push from the back. This time he gradually moved through the cage and went creeping into the nearby forest.

We thought we might be done moving skunks but we replaced the rocks again last night and they're moved again this morning. Maybe we'll catch skunk #3 tonight.

**2/21/10 update**

We ended up catching 6 skunks. Skunk #6 was a little smaller than the other ones and managed to spray me when I was trying to rearrange the pillowcase draped over the cage. That was pretty terrible. Everything I had on stunk, including my purse. After treatment with vinegar, bleach on the clothes that could take it, baking soda, dish soap, vodka, and many days on the line in the rain and sun , my best pair of jeans and my nice coat still have a faint smell clinging to them. (I did try tomato sauce and V8 on myself and wasn't that happy with the results).

New worm farmers

Handfuls of worms
Originally uploaded by Beaver w/ a Toothbrush

We went to a wormshop last weekend at the local library.

We got about a pound of red wrigglers. Worm farmer and former Biospherian, Linda Leigh, showed us how to put the worm container together. They live on a base of coconut fiber. We added composted horse manure, coffee grounds, and pulverized egg shells for worm food and grit. After we added the worms and a little water we covered them all over with paper shreds. The shreds help regulate moisture and I think worms might eat them too.

Linda said to leave the light on for the first few days if we kept them inside because there might be some escape attempts. No worms tried to escape the first day but the second day they were poking their heads out of the holes in the sides of the container. Only one got out. We put it back.

The worms make castings that are great for the garden. They can also be fed to the chickens. I want to get a bunch working on composting the kitchen scraps though before we start feeding any of them to the chickens.

Droid smoker

Droid smoker
Originally uploaded by Beaver w/ a Toothbrush

Husband created an ugly drum smoker from a 55-gallon drum. He's calling it The Droid.

We tried it out for the first time today.

He made chicken. It only cooked for about an hour and it was yummy.

He put a dry rub on it first and let it sit for about an hour. The rub was a little strong so we know not to put so much on next time. Overall though, success!

Handsome rooster

Handsome rooster
Originally uploaded by Beaver w/ a Toothbrush

We picked up a rooster in town yesterday. We had been talking about getting one to help keep the hens behaved because they pick on each other sometimes.

Lately one of us gets up around 6 to let the chickens out of their coop. If it's a weekend we let them out quick and then go back to bed for a while.

Yesterday morning around 6:30 I let the girls out and one of the leghorns jumped the fence. She's been doing that lately but she normally waits until mid-morning and by the time we go back outside later she wants back in so she's easy to catch. Since she has just gotten out though, she didn't want back in.

I chased her around for about 15 minutes, thinking the whole time about going back to bed. I didn't want to leave her out by herself but I started to think we should just get rid of their fence and let them wander.

I'm still worried about predators though since the leghorns seem oblivious to their surroundings. So I thought to myself, maybe we can get a rooster to look after them and then just let them have free range on the whole property.

Then I finally caught the chicken and went back to bed.

When we got up a few hours later, I told Husband about my plan. He thought it was worth a try and perused Craigs for some free roosters. There were a couple available around town. I gave one lady a call and arranged to go over.

After we finished our town errands we headed over there. This lady had quite a set of chickens and roosters. The one we got was hatched two weeks before Easter. Since he was younger, some of the old roosters were picking on him.

Me and the lady chased him around her chicken yard a few times and then she finally nabbed him. He is strong. And a lot harder to catch then I'm used to.

We put him in a box with air holes and drove him home. He didn't make much noise on the ride. When we got home it was dusk and the girls where already inside snoozing. I lifted him out of the box and put him on a roost near the others. One of the old girls flipped and landed on the floor at the sight of a new rooster sitting next to her but the rest just bocked a bit.

I was a little worried this morning that he might be mean to the girls but so far he's keeping a cautious distance. He seems to be afraid of the dark colored chickens. When I went out a little while ago, one of the leghorns (they're all white) approached him and, um, made friends.

He got pretty excited and did a funny dance. He dropped one wing then hopped lopsided back and forth a bit before jumping on her back. She gave him a friendly peck or two in return.

Hovel Happenings

Tiny Egg!
Originally uploaded by Beaver w/ a Toothbrush

The chickens have been laying and the bees have been buzzing. Too bad the bees buzzed out.

As best we can tell, the bees we caught didn't have a queen. Or they did and she died and they weren't successful at raising another one. So they stayed until they had sucked all the honey out of the combs and then they left. We're still looking for swarms but we'll probably have to wait until next spring to get some more bees.

The chickens have been good though. We doubled their fenced yard and they like the extra space. A couple of the lighter ones fly over the fence now and then. We have to chase them and grab them because they can never figure out how to get back in even though it's clear they want to.

The spring/summer garden is almost done. The pumpkins and luffas are still spreading. We learned some good lessons. We're going to put the fall vegetable garden right by the house so we see it and weed it conveniently. We are also spreading out a bunch of stray bales to help keep the weeds down.

In other news, I got a job writing for the local newspapers. That might be why I've waited so long to post again. New things are in the works at the Hovel though, so I'll make sure to report them!