Rabbits and Traps

Hewwo! Acme Pest Contwol? Weww I have a pest I want contwolled. - Elmer Fudd - Looney Tunes

 

As above, we have tried the large trap for raccoons and skunks (one of our volunteers has had great success trapping  rabbits with this trap). Previously, we had tried the medium trap that is designed for rabbits and squirrels - however, we sense a rabbit reluctance to enter because of its smaller size.

Take a close look at the above picture and you will see the rabbit directly above the highest corner of the cage. I took the picture after I had almost stepped on the rabbit when I was removing the unsuccessful cage from the Produce Garden. The majority of the food we had placed inside and around the cage had been eaten - but - it appears the rabbit was too light weight to trip the metal plate that causes the doors to drop.  

I dumped the remaining bait back in the Produce Garden. Ten minutes later, I took the following picture:

He is very tame . . .

  . . . but not tame in enough to grab by the ears and drive him off the property!

Why, you wascally wabbit!

In gardening, there is always next year.

Precipitation

We are vastly ahead of rainfall from previous years.
This year 20 inches (500 mm). Last year 14 inches (350mm). In 1886, 11 inches (275mm).

I would be surprised if anything was harvested in 1886 given lack of rain and lack of modern water delivery.
See References for month end comparisons of temperature, precipitation and heat.

Year End for Riel House: Saturday August 29

There were 495 guests at the Saturday year end event hosted by the Louis Riel Institute. These are the folks that provide the on-site interpretation at Riel House.

When we returned on Monday, all the corn husks from their corn roast were piled in front of the compost bin (thanks!). All husks went into the middle bin:

Until the end of August . . .

Eggplant - 11 August 2015

Watch the garden grow. This is an eggplant in the Kitchen Garden. Eggplants have great stage presence. I think we will plant more of these next year.

Weed. Water. Prune.

Consider what we want to accomplish in 2016 . . .

Mulching or Weeding?

I was weeding out the plantain in one of the Produce Garden paths and came across this demonstration of the benefits of mulching (in this case with a "weed" cover-crop). The original cut grass mulch covering the path had rotted away leaving bare soil. After removing one of the plantains (it's at the top of the photo), I realized that the soil underneath was dark, wet and somewhat friable, whereas the exposed soil nearby was crusted and dry.

The purpose of the original mulch was to protect the path soil, allowing the underlying moisture to soak towards the beds. It seemed counter productive to now weed some living thing that had picked up the slack from lack of mulch. 

I stopped weeding that path.

Once we have enough mulch to protect all the soil in each path, then we can remove whatever weeds are still growing.