Tangentially related to lawn care: pest control. Specifically, fucking scorpions. Aside from hunting them with a black light and a .22 revolver full of rat shot (which is quite effective but not scale-able), y'all have any ideas? Those creepy pieces of shit are trying to get in the house from every which way -- it's been unseasonably wet here in Texas, might have something to do with it -- and I've tried everything short of napalming the yard. Help?
I think you found the answer to your problem. The real question is how many GoPro's you're going to use to film this. Dont forget a drone for overhead shots
To do it properly (and ensure we get the footage), I do believe a dedicated (long-distance) cameraman will have to be employed to capture the event.
Before I had kids (and was thus worried about making too much noise at night) I actually would run a black light on my AR-15 and hunt them that way. It had the side benefit of aerating the yard. I didn’t have to hit them per se, just land the round close enough that the flying debris made them disappear.
Yeah I’ll probably put some kind of spray down at some point, and then lime sometime in July, the back part of the yard seems to have some pH issues and isn’t conducive for good grass growth.
You should be able to pick up a cheap soil probe to test the pH well enough to determine how much lime you might need. Usually for like $8.00. It's a good idea to make sure you have some idea where you are starting from. If you have moss issues or barren strawberry weed issues it's a pretty good indicator you're pH is too low. If you're not in a hurry to put down liquid weed killer it's most effective if you can wait until the end of the season and put it down as some of the weeds will lose the waxiness of their foliage in the late season and absorb it better. I'm generally not willing to wait so I just hit it early on and then again midsummer and it seems to work out very well at getting things under control. After that as long as the feed program is sufficient the grass should take care of out choking out most things.
Good tip, thanks. Im on year two of attempting to repair the yard that the previous homeowner neglected. Well see how the spring seeding attempt works out. I’m in zone 6B so I should see some results since it doesn’t get blazing hot until a month from now.
The cold weather vegetables are winding down, but the onions are still bulbing, getting pretty big. I went out tonight, got enough greens for maybe 4 rice bowls.
My seedlings survived my 10 days away. Weather is finally nice enough to transplant them this weekend.
I feel like I am behind. It's hot as hell already. In my defense it was snowing til the end of February. I got all the plants in the ground yesterday. Still fixing the duck run up and need to tidy up the area. Found a free tub off craigslist and it needs to be set up so I can water my garden with their shitwater instead of scooping and carrying. I have exhausted my use of fences and trellises for tomatoes (9 in place currently) and still have about a dozen extra. I hope someone buys them off me, otherwise the back yard is about to get weird.
I’m trying to train my grape vines to go around my front porch spindles. It works ok but after a spindle or two they’re stalling. Can I twist tie the vines to the spindles for more support? Most vines aren’t long enough to wrap around the top bannister and provide more support.
The weather is finally good enough, and I have time, to transplant the seedlings to the bed. I haven't had time to finish off the 2nd raised wicking bed, but that shoulnd't be a problem. So far my seedlings have done so well that the cucumbers have 5 small cukes growing on them, and the basil is almost full size and ready to use. I hope I haven't left it too late, but here goes. And for those wondering, THIS is why I do the seedlings. Literally last week was the last week so far this year (knock on wood) that we got down to 4°C at night. It's been a cold, wet start to "Spring" never mind Summer, so at least we can hit the ground running a bit.
Well, here are the results. I always find it interesting to see how the seedlings go in and look like they're going to just die off... but then seem to kick in and thrive. Here's hoping this year is no different. I've got a solar-powered time-lapse camera system I've built out from an Arduino so I'm going to try and set it up this week. (Hopefully my 3d-printed case is as water resistant as I'm hoping). So begins the season! (FINALLY!)
Biggest problem I have now is that one of the cats thinks it's totally cool to climb up into the planter and lie down in the new catnip seedlings. They may not make it.
@Nettdata maybe try covering in mesh or wire to protect? Or add a series of short pointy stakes that deter comfortable laying about. Everyone's gardens are looking fine! Keep up the good work!
Nice work, Nett! Everything gets a little bit shocked at transplant, those plants will bounce right back for sure. My garden has been underwater so much the corn is trying to lay over. we have had something like 15 inches of rain in 30ish days, more flooding yesterday. I like someone else watering my stuff, but c'mon, give me a bit of sunshine!
Yeah, they did last year... and it's calling for overcast and rain all week so they shouldn't dry out or get sunstroke... I'm confident they'll take hold.