Gas Pains

No deer quite yet-

Just a collection of sweaty, stinky, middle-aged guys working on their deer stands.

And getting ready for deer camp.

True-enough - we've not outgrown our desire to build tree houses.

I mean - really - can you blame us?

This is terrific fun.

Not for the purpose of reading Mad Magazine or a purloined Playboy like when we were youngsters - but to hunt the wily whitetail. 

The rest of you deer hunters know what I'm talking about - annual maintenance on that favorite deer stand that has been battered over the previous eight months.  Including sweeping out all of the raccoon scat.  Blech.

One of my personal favorite stands is in the picture below. 

Many a nap has been taken in this stand and many deer taken as well.

It was constructed from a dismantled and recycled Tosa deck. 

High winds clobbered it following last season's hunt.

With some big lag bolts and a large quantity of nails I think we're back in business.

For another season anyway.

Just for kicks I strapped a game camera to the tree trunk at the base of the stand just to see who's hanging-around. 

Here's what was photographed...

Tom

Wisconsin is home to an estimated 740 million ash trees - most of them found in the forests across the state with more than 5 million of those trees to be found in our urban communities. 

Since I last posted on this subject in May of this year the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has been discovered in Wisconsin.

It has long been expected that EAB was here - it being only a matter of time until it was located.

Enjoy your ash trees while you can because it looks like we're in for difficult fight.

Since it's discovery in Michigan six years ago, the pest has killed-off an estimated 25 million trees in the 10 states where it has been found.  This is an efficient killer - moving faster and with deadlier results than Dutch Elm Disease.

The larva of the beetle spends its life feasting beneath the bark of ash trees. The tree suffers extensive damage to its vascular system, depriving the tree's crown of water and nutrients until it dies.

According to Wauwatosa Parks and Forestry Superintendent, Kenneth Walbrandt, about seventeen percent of the city trees are ash.  Wauwatosa has already modified its master planting plan to favor alternative species in light of the unavoidable arrival of the ash borer.   

So what's going to happen when the borer arrives?  "We intend to use all of the tools at our disposal, especially the expertise of the people at the Department of Agricultural" says Walbrandt.  

For the present, the city plans to go above and beyond what Wisconsin's Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection recommends, with a plan to identify diseased city trees, take them down and process them in the city yard - chipping them and composting the debris.

So what can you do to slow the arrival?

For starters - don't move firewood into Tosa.  Purchase and use local firewood. 

The critter doesn't travel too far on its own but can cover a great deal of territory when unsuspecting people haul infested firewood from one location to another.

Now that EAB has been located in the counties to the north - do not transport or use firewood that was purchased, stored, harvested in, or that has in any way entered Ozaukee, Washington, Sheboygan, or Fond du Lac counties.  These counties are under quarantine.

I you observe crown die-back report it.  Same for other symptoms of a potential infestation like sprouting at the tree's base and D-shaped holes in the bark.  Call 1-800-462-2803 or e-mail DATCPEmeraldAshBorer@wisconsin.gov.

In the mean time you can probably expect to see a new infestation following on the heels of the EAB - con artists looking rip you-off.

Tom

This year's nesting has drawn to a close.

However, something else that has been going-on in the background that deserves mention.

Feeding the birds.

Critters require some basics - cover, water and food.

Flowering plants are terrific for attracting insects for wild birds to feed-upon - including the native species you see below.

Nonetheless I fret over the birds.

So I planted a giant field of these:

Oil sunflowers.

If you click on the picture below it will enlarge.  It is chock-full of bugs.

The song birds have been enjoying a veritable feast of bugs.

The equivalent of an avian fast-food drive-up.

These plants are going to be left to stand and overwinter.  The seed heads will remain as a food source for the non-migrating birds during the harsh winter months.

I've been seeing a number of sunflower plantings around Tosa - more than ever before.  

In the city a patch of these will brighten your yard and brighten your day - as you enjoy the birds through the summer, fall and winter.  Think of it as a bird feeder you don't have to refill.

Tom

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Edit:

Girlfriend and I were out yesterday cleaning boxes of the old nests when we encountered one remaining batch of fledglings:

The vast garden is doing its thing. 

Considering I had to replant my sweet corn I now have high hopes of harvesting a crop before too long. 

There is also a mutant pumpkin patch on the opposite side of the corn that is not shown.

I can barely keep-up with the green beans and starting today will be distributing beans to friends and neighbors and taking the surplus commodity into the office.

I'm starting to collect a nice crop of sweet onions too - they're terrific on pizza.

The peanut butter sandwich I'll eat at my desk recently sports some mayo and a layer of fresh, crisp garden lettuce.

However - a potentially serious problem recently cropped-up.

Bacterial spots on some tomatoes - not all of them - but the Early Girl plant and the Roma plant immediately adjacent.  It might be due to contaminated seed or maybe a bacterium that lives in a host plant like the green beans - who knows. 

This is an organic garden.  I don't use pesticides or fungicides or other chemicals so I picked all of the affected fruits and disposed of them in the garbage (not the garden or the compost heap where  the bacteria might linger).  I'll have to see if it's an isolated incident due to earlier cool, damp weather or a persistent infection.

With all of that terrific lettuce it would be a shame to not have really great tomatoes to accompany the bacon...

Tom

This is a weird bit of gastronomical trivia from the Mayfair Mall of yore.

You could find a kettle of this on the salad bar of a certain restaurant.

Name the bubbling contents of the kettle and the the restaurant that served it.

I'll publish your responses and the correct answer in a couple of days.

Tom

While out on my bicycle I stumbled across this curious ode to religious expression-

Tom

The garden has recovered nicely and fresh veggies are rolling in the door and finding their way to the table and freezer.

Been picking green beans, peas, kale and a couple varieties of lettuce.  The radishes are finished for the present and I'll sow more when the weather turns cooler.

There is hope for the late sweet corn.

I had some ripening tomatoes that disappeared.  Not just a bite out of a tomato - the whole tomato - gone.

My brilliant wife solved the crime when she found Girlfriend eating something in the garden.

Thinking the dog was dining upon a mouse she found out the dog had been selectively picking and eating the ripening tomatoes.

To freeze green beans simply pick, wash, cut the ends-off and cut to size if desired.  Blanch in boiling water for a couple of minutes and plunge into cold water.  Drain and package in two-cup  batches with the FoodSaver.  Garden to freezer in about a hour or two.  Yum! 

Tom