Deadly Nightshade

Well, I want you to get a good look at the plant below:

Chances are if you have some ground that has been neglected or ignored, such as an old garden spot, or a field you don't normally mow anyway, it's there. This plant is called nightshade (it gets berries on it from the blooms) and it is extremely toxic. The berries start out green and then then turn black. Several years ago when we lived in Missouri we lost a couple cows and when we opened their mouths to see if they ate something (before we did a dreaded necropsy/autopsy by actually opening them up) we found several leaves of nightshade in their mouths. It only takes a few leaves and the berries are worse. Last year I had several sheep die on me and one I saw dying. It was very sad to watch but he went so fast I didn't have time to call a vet (not that I have ever heard of a cure for nightshade poisoning). My son asked me if I had checked the pen for nightshade, something he knew was there growing around the silos but I didn't. We just barricaded them to keep the sheep from getting behind the silos, but they jumped it and went in anyway. I found the half-eaten plants and knew he was right.

When you mow your rural lot or yard or even weed your garden (I found some in mine this year for the first time), before you get the bright idea to be helpful to the farmer next door and feed the clippings to his animals rather than composting, please ask their permission first. If you see nightshade on your lot, don't give it to them, and in fact please do pull it up by the root- using gloves you will dispose of. You'll notice I am touching this one and I thought afterward how stupid that was and immediately washed my hands. If they mature and go to berries, the birds will plant them for you. If you burn, don't be anywhere near the smoke (or your pets) as this is also toxic. I'm not sure of the toxicity to humans, but I wouldn't chance it. By the way, nightshade is related to the tomato plant, so don't give that to them either.

Thank you from a farmer!!

Silly Bulls and Rascal Rabits

The funniest thing this morning... I went to the barn to do the chores and I found the silly bull in the water tank! I guess he needed to cool his heels a while. We have a set of head locks out there too. Those are where the cows stick their heads to get to the feed trough and they can be set to lock so that the cattle can be vaccinated or sorted, (or castrated- but he got away when we did the other bulls), or any other assorted things one would need the cow to stay in one place for. Their heads can't come out when in the locked position but the rest of them sure can move. We didn't have it set to lock but we had the adjuster bars in it (so that smaller cattle can be caught) and he somehow got his head in it and I like to have not been able to get him out. Sometimes you can say, "I bet he won't do that again," and sometimes not. Time will tell with him. He doesn't learn all that well, so I imagine I will be dislodging him again the next time he decides cool off in his water tank.

After all the rain we had this spring and summer, most of my garden had to be replanted and every time it rains the weeds grow like it's raining Miracle Grow. My strawberries are a lost cause (one plant survived) and the sweet potatoes were DOA except for three and they died shortly after planting. I don't get it. I have run that tiller more this year than any other and the season is just getting started, mostly because of the replanting, but I usually can get by with only a couple rounds of the tiller and I've already been through there four times this year. I had a nice stand of peas the last time I tilled it; the operative word here being 'had'. Last winter we had rabbits for the first time since we moved here in 1998. I suppose we've had some, we just didn't see them; but this year they are really making their presence known. They get on the porch via high steps, and climb some other ones to get onto our deck and look through the glass doors taunting our poor dog. They ate the strings off of about ten bales of grade A alfalfa hay in the machine shed and of course left 'gifts' everywhere. I told my husband he needed to nip it in the bud and get a small gave permit and then go hunting. He said they weren't hurting anything other than the taunting of the dog of course. I had visions of my garden being nibbled to the ground. Yep, my nice stand of sweet, sugar snap peas are all but gone. They are working on the lettuce and the green beans now.

Just wait until small game season rolls around again. I'll get the permit. Can you say hasenpfeffer?

Mowing the Lawn and Apple Trees

My yard grows unnaturally fast when it rains. I could mow it two times a week and still not keep up with it. However, I truly enjoy mowing the yard. The mower is so loud that no one can disturb me because I can't hear them. I get to be lost in my own thoughts while I attack the grass with the precision of a military action. That's why I mow instead of someone else- I'm pretty picky about it. This time of year the front yard is my favorite. We have a lot of huge lilac bushes and they are all in bloom so their fragrance is all over the yard. I also have a Jonathan apple tree crossed with a choke cherry tree and there is also some other kind of apple tree (crab?), so when everything is in bloom with the lilacs, instead of a putrid, too-much perfume scent one would expect, it actually smells really nice. (Move over Fabreeze!)When we moved here sixteen years ago, we couldn't tell what kind of tree that apple-cherry cross was; couldn't even tell it was a cross. There was no label on any of the limbs to give it away and since the farm had been abandoned the year before, no one in the area knew what it was either. It took ten years for it to do anything but grow. I thought it was a choke cherry tree as there was another one nearby in front of a window (we cut it down as it really is not a good idea to plant a tree next to the foundation of the house and it kept interfering with the operation of the window). That mixed tree looks a little strange, but I tried to trim out most of the cherry to leave the apple, and I'm afraid I may have trimmed out the wrong limbs. It seems mostly cherry this year. Rats. Anybody know what I can do with the cherries besides make wine or attract birds?

       What happens when you have a grafted tree (cherry-apple cross)? You get a Chapple Tree!
        This is a shot of my crazy, mixed up tree with both fruits on it. Isn't that wild!

I noticed that one of those rabbits that took up residence in our machine shed went from hopping lazily across the yard to running really fast. Man, that bunny could really go too. I knew the dogs were in the house, so they weren't chasing it, and Chaos would only go a couple feet and stop anyway; the bunnies know this by now. Then I saw a shadow cross the lawn and I looked up. I should carry a camera or my cell phone which has a camera, when I mow. There was a beautiful bald eagle gliding on the breeze. It's hard to miss that black body with the white head and tail. Bunny must have thought he was cruising for his dinner. Eagles used to live in a tree across from my house but a storm took out their nest and the tree a few years ago. They must have rebuilt at my neighbors farm across what is now my corn field to the east. He has lots of trees and I saw the eagle head that way. I used to love watching them go after the field mice (and thanked them) as they fed their eaglets. It was cool.