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It keeps amazing me that it wasn't until after I got rid of poultry that I have seen or (more accurately in this case) heard more predatory birds. Not that I'm complaining... didn't really want them around to eat the chickens; but now I LOVE that the wild birds are enjoying this little piece of Earth as much as we are. On August 13th, the hubby spotted the newest edition... a Barred Owl. And soon after, we discovered there are a PAIR! He has been having much greater success seeing them perched, he even has gotten a few photos (from quite a ways away). I have only seen one perched a couple of times on a post of the front yard fence, but I have been seeing them fly because I have ventured too near (for their comfort that is, not because I knew they were there). Once I was lucky enough to see one pounce from the fence post to the ground and leave with a mouse or vole or something. I am so grateful that these beautiful birds have joined our family and are assisting the cats with pest control. Once again my conjecture that a predator will arrive because it finds a food source is proven correct. Below are the photos the hubby was able to capture (as always, images on this website are copyright protected; please contact Bobbi if you want permission to use any of them). I'm copying information from the Audubon website next to the images. For complete info here is the link to the Audubon website: www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/barred-owl
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If you have been reading this page from top to bottom, you will know about Japanese Beetles and my love/hate relationship with them. Honestly, I think they are beautiful and I could live with them in moderation. (Don't tell them, but they kind of help me out with the Aronia berry plants by making the leaves lacy after the berries have set... makes it really easier to see the berries at harvest time. But I digress.) The trouble is getting the number down to moderate. The assassin bugs have started in on the adult beetles which is great! But the eggs are the problem in that they lay SO MANY which just increases the number of adults the next year. Yes, the moles do eat the larvae and then they make these long tunnels and great big mounds of soil and eventually other things use the tunnels and the ground settles and makes holes to trip in and... oh, it's just not pleasant. So, what's a sustainably minded farmer to do? Beneficial Insects (or in this case, micro organisms) called Nematodes (Heterorhabditis bacteriophora). Here is some information from the site where I purchased them: Arbico Organics (www.arbico-organics.com)
Sounds pretty good, eh? Sure, I think so. Trouble is I have a small farm... which translates to LOTS OF AREA TO APPLY THEM. So, since they recommend two applications (7 to 10 days apart), it cost me $270 to purchase enough to cover 5-acres of area. (Yes, I did look for the best price, this was it.) AND, you have to use a sprayer to apply them. Sure, I already have a 4-gallon backpack sprayer... which is great for spraying my 5 fruit trees and spot spraying other small areas with the microbial teas. But this is 5-acres of spraying the ground first with the nematodes in water and then again with just water to push them down past the grass/plants to the soil. And then doing the same thing a week (or so) later. OY VEY, my back hurts just thinking about it! I bit the bullet and bought a 31 gallon, tow-behind boom broadcast and spot sprayer with an electric pump (that connects to my riding lawn mower) which I happily found on sale at Northern Tool for a mere $279.99. (And may I say this? WORTH EVERY ----ING PENNY!) *If you follow the farm on Facebook, you can skip this next bit (LOL).* On September 1st, I spent 3 hours applying nematodes in and around the plants that drew the most Japanese Beetles. Thankfully, the farm was able to afford a 31-gallon electric pump sprayer that is towed behind the riding mower. It has boom sprayers in addition to a wand.
I hate to think how many hours over how many days using the 4 gallon backpack sprayer would have taken.
Between applying the nematodes and then watering them in took about 80 gallons of water. I get to do this all again in 7 to 10 days (as recommended). Sure hope it reduces the Japanese Beetle population next year. Please share this with the next person who complains to you about the high cost of healthy food that is grown WITHOUT the "icides". I don't sell enough berries/fruits to be able to pass the one-year application of nematodes on to my customers and only a portion of the sprayer cost (which I can amortize over several years), and lest we forget the price of water and fuel and wear/tear on equipment and my time. Cross your fingers and toes for me and my berry customers, will you? Hurray for you my nematode friends, I hope you enjoy the feast and PLEASE feast! Thank You. UPDATE: October 2020. As you know, in the Fall of 2016, I spent a TON of money on nematodes. The lesson I learned from this was... DO SMALL BATCHES, not one big batch. Looking at the patterns of mole mounds and trails over the past several years SINCE I sprayed, it is VERY apparent that all my expensive nematodes made their way into the first part of the spraying under the crab apple tree. Which is GREAT because the crab apple is a HUGE draw for the JB and even 4 years later, there must be enough in the soil under that tree to eat the JB larvae so that the moles don't find any larvae to hoard and therefore, don't make mole mounds. Result: nematodes when applied correctly (in small batches - so you don't get a ton of them sprayed in one spot and then just water everywhere else) are highly effective. I have decided that while moles and their mounds/trails are a real pain, they are a whole lot less expensive (at this point in time) than nematodes. |
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When we purchased the house, there were screen versions at both the front door and back patio door. Unfortunately, the front door's screen door was really just decorative in that it did not have a latch to keep it closed and it had a 2 inch gap at the bottom which would have allowed ANYTHING to wiggle or crawl it's way into the house should the front door be left open. Seeing that it was completely ineffective for our purposes, I did not put it back up after taking it down to paint around the door. This was not a problem, because we hardly ever use that door. So I just put a curtain over the glass and that was enough to minimize insects at the door due to light showing through. Plus the light for the front porch is positioned above and away from the door. We use the patio door as our primary entry and exit. It is a french, double door inswing style where one door is secured closed using an astragal until you want to open up the entire space. It had a sliding screen like you find for a sliding glass door. And, granted, it was fine if the door wasn't opened and closed multiple times a day; but that was not our situation because we specifically fenced the back yard so we could let our dogs out as needed. The dogs did not respect the flimsy sliding screen door. And so we opted to remove it and store it in the basement. This left our primary entry/exit vulnerable to insects congregating on the glass of the door in the evenings because the light from the house shone out. The porch light was also directly next to the door, making it impossible for us to use without a flurry of insects entering the house every time we opened the door. My solution for the patio door was to put a curtain rod on the outside of the door (since it is an inswing) and put heavy woven curtains on it that we closed just before dusk to minimize the light coming through to attract insects. The door could be opened enough for the dog(s) and they quickly figured out how to find the opening in the curtains. They would even put just their head through the curtain opening and bark when they wanted back in. It worked quite well... most of the time. In 2020, we finally were able to replace the patio french doors (click here to go there). We debated about getting the screen sliding door attachment and opted not to. BUT, we saved the track from the previous door frame and it is stored with the screen doors in the basement in case we decide to sell at some point and want to put it in place. We also took down the exterior curtain rod because of the door replacement and decided to take a different approach to controlling the whole insects at the door problem: BugOff Screen. |
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This is a temporary solution that doesn't keep keep things from passing underneath, but since we are accustomed to NOT leaving our doors open, this is not a problem for us. It uses pressure rods to hold the curtains at the top, velcro attachments on the sides to make a "seal" on either side and magnets at the middle and bottom to keep them closed. |
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Above is the outside view of the front door. I didn't take a pic from the inside since I have curtains over the glass. At left is the outside view of the patio french doors. This double screen version is also two (2) curtain panels: a long one in front of the stationary door making the opening in the middle of the operational door. I'm hoping that the screen is visible enough that the birds see it and don't fly into the glass (which started happening when we replaced the door -- I guess the new glass is more reflective than the old glass was). |
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And a pic from the inside. The screen doesn't inhibit the view at all but I have noticed it diffuses the early morning sun that peaks in for a short time (this is a good thing) without making the room darker. We are also changing the way the porches are lit... that will be a different page once it is finished. |
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