Gardening 2022

shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
There's a grey ratsnake known to be in Tennessee. Rat snakes are pretty harmless. Did he look like this? Gray Ratsnake | State of Tennessee, Wildlife Resources Agency

We had a ginormous charcoal grey rat snake scurry in a frightened manner underneath our cabin front porch one day. He had been up on the porch eating the eggs from a wren's nest in a potted plant there. He had eaten 2 and left one. He was about 4' long and 1½" in diameter. Biggest snake I ever saw that close. He looked a lot like this photo, but this is not him. Found this photo on the net.
 

Attachments

  • Rat snake front porch below.jpg
    Rat snake front porch below.jpg
    158.7 KB · Views: 0
Arcticdude said:
We lost 3 hens over the last 2 days. Can't figure out what is killing them. They're alive, bearly in the morning and very little blood on their head. The only thing new here is the wife took in a rooster from her friend. Its a little POS bantam.
Click to expand...
Maybe you could make sure they are only in the coop to sleep. Let them out asap in the mornings so that they can escape a fight and don't close them in at night until all is calm.

No idea if the bantam is hurting them or not. Just an idea.
 
Robinjopo1 said:
Was cleaning pantry and found some sprouted potatoes and sweet potatoes. Set them out for a late crop. Hopefully.......
Click to expand...

I‘m chitting potatoes for my fall garden too! Looking forward to getting them in the ground the first of September! Fall gardening is going to be a dream compared to this summer heat!
 
We pulled the last of the early potatos and got another 75 lbs. The tomatos this year are a different type that I do not know. Funny shape and ridges from top to bottom. Almost all of them are going bad on the vine but those which turn ripe are really good. Never got any carrots or parsnips, except about 10 carrots who came up late and are growing at the moment. I only got a handfull of cherries from our tree and will cut it way back this year to get it another "last" chance before pulling it and planting another new one. Apricots all died half way ripe, that tree is going this year too.
 
My plum tree is going this fall too. Has never really produced much and is 7 years old now. Same with one of my cherry trees. Total waste of space and time.
Didn’t grow any parsnips, but my turnips did awesome! Planted a variety pack of different colors. Man do the bunnies love the greens!! Chickens will eat them, but not with the joy the rabbits do.
 
A cold snap killed most of the blossoms in early May. That's OK. Better luck next year. Frequently a bad year means a bumper crop next year, but in a survival situation that could be very bad. We are going to plant potatoes next year. They are so easy to grow and so cheap that I stopped growing them. I am very concerned about food in the near future. 3 years or so. What will people do when they can't feed their families? We all know. That's why we're here. Worse, they say the population will hit 8 billion by this Thanksgiving. There is going to be a reset, and there is nothing that our species can do about it now.
 
Harvesting yellow squash, cucumbers, okra. Kraut fermenting, freezing squash and okra. Plans to make dill relish with some of the cucumbers. Lots of tomatoes just not ripe yet. Will have another picking of beans in a week or so if nothing happens. Cantaloupe and watermelon sizing up nicely just not ripe yet. Sweet potatoes running everywhere. Picking blueberries every other day and made 8 jars of blue berry jam day before yesterday. Thus far have frozen about 30 pounds of fruit and jam set up nicely and all sealed. Storm night before last took out one of my peach trees loaded with fruit so I am trying to salvage what I can. Lightning split it all the way to the ground. Squirrels are attacking my immature winter squash fruit so thus far have shot 5. One got away but he'll be back!

I am one man down as Mr. DD has severe case of pneumonia. He is home for the moment but on bed rest. Breathing treatments 4 times a day.
 
DrHenley said:
Sorry to hear that DD. 😟

Hope he recovers quickly!
Click to expand...
Thanks Doc.

We have been through this many times. He was deployed many years ago when we were stationed at Fort Gordon not far from you. He managed to catch a nasty case of something that scarred his lungs and ever since he has been particularly vulnerable to pneumonia. We stock a Cpap and nebulizer at all times.

This heat can be tough on him.
 
DirtDiva said:
Thanks Doc.

We have been through this many times. He was deployed many years ago when we were stationed at Fort Gordon not far from you. He managed to catch a nasty case of something that scarred his lungs and ever since he has been particularly vulnerable to pneumonia. We stock a Cpap and nebulizer at all times.

This heat can be tough on him.
Click to expand...

CDS nebulizer treatment protocol works successfully everytime for me and everyone I know that has used it. I hope he has a speedy recovery.
 
Just looked around at my citrus trees, loaded with fruit. Persimmon got me a little concerned keeps dropping about 10 a day. My boxer is 😃. Giving it some extra water at the moment. Got a wine recipe I want to try with the persimmons.
 
Robinjopo1 said:
Best wishes for Mr. DD. I still don't have beans to can. Finally, getting some blooms. Any tomatoes I get are a gift because mine never produce for canning. I'm taking the small yellow tomatoes and freezing them until I get enough to process.
Click to expand...
It has been a rough gardening year for many in Tennessee. Temperatures have been brutal for many and rain scarce. It can be discouraging and gardening sometimes is not for the faint of heart.
 
Exactly why we need to save as much as we can every year. One of my son's teachers was asking me questions about gardening because they are building raised beds. I was telling her stuff and she said they were waiting until next year to plant because they are so tired this year.

I wanted to yell at her and say that this little garden could help save her life, but I didn't. One season, even a bad one is capable of providing lots of food. Heck, even this year, the amount of squash and cucumbers could help someone survive.
 
For me I always look at bumper crops as a blessing and can, dehydrate or freeze as much of extras as possible because in my experience you never see the same bumper crop two years in a row. There is always an over achiever and always failures crop wise every single year and they are rarely the same crop.
 
Another phenomenon that many are unaware of is alternate or biannual bearing in many fruit crops. This is where a fruit or nut tree will bear heavily one year and then very lightly the next in cycles. You especially see this in pecans and apples.

Alternate Bearing

What Is Biennial Bearing:
 
Last edited:
Cindyd said:
I'm completely disgusted this year with my garden! No idea what is going on but everything is looking worthless!
Click to expand...
I lived and gardened in Central Florida for many years. Of all the zones I have gardened in I think Florida was the toughest. Sandy soil, scorching heat and every pest known to man.
 
DirtDiva said:
For me I always look at bumper crops as a blessing and can, dehydrate or freeze as much of extras as possible because in my experience you never see the same bumper crop two years in a row. There is always an over achiever and always failures crop wise every single year and they are rarely the same crop.
Click to expand...
That is how people all over the world survived for thousands of years. It's how my grandparents' generation got their families through the Great Depression without starving to death.
 
DrHenley said:
That is how people all over the world survived for thousands of years. It's how my grandparents' generation got their families through the Great Depression without starving to death.
Click to expand...
Yep! My depression era grandparents passed on that nugget of knowledge very well to subsequent generations.
 
I haven't been gardening in terms of " seriously" very long. I'm still learning these things, plus I don't have a lot of extra time to put in with keeping up. Reading, trying new ways of growing, etc. Last year being much better harvest for what I planted motivated me to try n do more this year. Gonna get my son to clear out most of this years plants and try n start over if it's not too late. You are right, the soil sucks here, as well as all the various pests. I'm thinking to do a combination of more raised beds and containers. I had a green house built this year, so maybe I can continue on through winter months with some plants. I'm frustrated but not giving up. I am still going to make trip/s to farmers market though and get supplemented what didn't turn out in my garden for canning, freezing, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top