shades of information

I was quite non productive this week as far as the orchards go,but I do have a few tid bits of info regarding the flood plains. The president of the spoon river conservation committee has contacted me twice in regards to my flood plains.  We have talked about some changes that need to be made involving my renovation methods as well as issues concerning ownership of the properties.  I of course am very flexible on both these issues,the overall project is important.I can even see the up side to renting the properties,like affording good insurance to allow public access as well as a little "long arm of the law" vested interest....Both are needed and welcomed as the locals seem to be becoming more vicious over the last few months.
PS we should all be putting away some food for the upcoming months as there is a distinct possibility the drought will cause a rise in food prices.. preparedness gives us a little piece of peace..

drought relief

I have access to a bunch of these barrels and finally now I have a use for them.They do work very although I hope I am not too late getting them installed.
I believe I got the half gallon per minute drip emitters but I am not sure,I havent sat down to do the math because it is not important at this point .What is important is that they work , now if I could just keep them filled!!!!

Garden club

I shall be speaking in front of the Kewanee garden club in the morning for about a half an hour. Chad will be recording the ordeal so I can post it on you tube if it doesnt suck.I felt weird about the TV interview,and  the radio interview. I hope I get better at this kind of stuff but I like to speak from the heart unscripted..If its choppy or strays a little that is fine,as long as it is truth..I should be nervous,because I am not nervous.

cowards

This cowardly contraption showed up on one of my flood plain lots.In the bowl with the green ring is a bunch of chunks of steak and cheetos, the other bowl is milk.I am certain this was an attempt to poison local wildlife..This is unacceptable in my world..You kill it face to face,dont just randomly poison whatever  haphazardly wanders by,and yes you should feel bad when you kill IT IS THE COST OF KEEPING YOU ALIVE!
I buried the poisonous food and threw away the cooler.I also bitched loudly around the neighborhood so it does not happen again.

man down

 This plum tree "seems" to have suffered a blow about a foot from the ground which has rendered it  "man down" status.I have my theories about how it was injured but nothing concrete,I did however ask the neighbor to stop mowing and we havent had any scarred trees since. Accountability would have been nicer than the route that was taken. Enough said,so.

Here is the repair kit I used to try to save the tree,and I am happy to report that so, far so good..The tree seems to be doing well.In addition to the tools you see here a "drip barrel" was plased near the tree with superthrive in it to help with the healing process..You should notice the phone and check book were handy in case ordering a new tree was needed.LOL

Mickey mouse(the brother)

I love my brother,when I have crazy ideas he helps out. When we were kids there was a pond full of leopard frogs(mostly tadpoles)by the thousands.I wanted to go back and see how they were doing..Who do you call in this situation,Mouse! We went up there and checked it out.The bullfrog tadpoles had taken over..The whole eco system was snails bullfrog tadpoles and baby snapping turtles. I had fun doing the research even though it was a bust..I guess that bullfrog tadpoles eat the leopard frog tadpoles. Any way here are some photos for you to enjoy of our excursion.

PS I  had hoped that the leopard frog tadpoles were still there so I could try to "spread them out".

THE PLANTER

 Seems to be a John Deere model 71 planter with a dry fertilizer barrel(the big one you see in the front) with side dress.

It also has insecticide boxes( I believe this is an organic corn planter or maybe just a good old fashioned planter)..It has several different plates for planting corn, beans, oats and wheat ect.. I used it too plant beans in the flood plain and in one of the orchards so far..I paid 1,300.00 and I feel I did well...

watered all the trees

2 to 5 gallons of water on each tree times nearly 500 trees equals eight hours of watering for me and Wilson. Don't forget Chads contribution of mowing all the lots last week. I can hardly believe the amount of work that is required to keep the whole project afloat. I was out of town for nearly three days for my job,which was a huge waste of time and money.  I wont go into details, but I am not impressed with my new job again..I will have to find some place "safer" to work to say the least.I have said it before ..accountability is the only way out of the mess the world is in..I hold myself to that set of standards and I expect everyone else to do the same..I am accountable for my actions and so are you...Sorry but this job will surely cost me dearly if lost,nearly 30.00 per hour down the drain..I was using this money(all but 250.00 each week) to fund operations and expansion..I have recieved an interest free loan from a dear friend Barbara for 12,000 dollars that I cannot spend until I have a reasonable way to pay it back. I placed a call to a company that I used to work for in hopes of rejoining their crew..They have good workers and good jobs,they expect your best and no less..They are very professional and they let you do your job..I actually enjoyed them when they were around.I am not sure what Monday will bring,but I dont think it will be good(current employer thinks I am making up stuff to cause problems and it is just the opposite).It has always been bad in the painters union since the new business agent took over...I am not sure if its just him or if its a combination of me out growing the members childish behavior as well..I was even offered a non union position for great money(remember I built a factory from nothing that was worth over a million at one time)that doesnt happen for people who make up stuff..We will see how it goes..(it requires lots of stressful dirty work of running an industrial crew )
I will be expanding soon enough though if it is Gods will and that is just how it goes,if not then I wont and I will return the money from Barbara..I am also waiting on a response from the Corps of Engineers on who can help and what can be done to best help everyone in the flood plain(animals and humans).I have made contact with the spoon river conservation group and will be interested in what they have going on..You see I dont really have time to fight about a job,but I guess I will do whatever it takes..

The lots are planted

Wow planting was interesting to say the least.I had to play with the planter for hours to get it right,or close.Winter will be a  busy time fixing things.Its about 95 degrees and no rain in the for cast for quite some time.I believe I will need to be watering again soon(just the trees).I have some info on the deer problem.I have spoken to some DNR agents and if their is no city ordinance banning bow hunting, I hope to get  a deer management group involved in organizing a hunt inside city limits to remove the deer that were fed dog food(this can cause chronic wastings).The raccoons must go as well.People dont feed deer any type meat and for Gods sake stop feeding raccoons.We have sick animals everywhere,mostly mange and rabies.I still need to keep moving so I will share more later.