Notes from Today
Today we had the first potatoes out of this year’s garden. Volunteer potatoes are some persistent weeds and an excellent source of new potatoes. I had Irish Cobs, Yukon Golds and All Reds on my plate. Creamed. With green garlic. And pepper. And we had spring snap peas out of the freezer but we’ll have a mess ready in the garden as early as, oh, tomorrow.
Today we were fiddling with another spring and there was a little copperhead striking at the shovel. He was quickly dispatched. I don’t know that I could be convinced to not kill the poisonous ones. The others are all welcome.
And you know I always say, “Every year is different” about this whole life of ours -- gardening, the weather, what the kids are doing, where the foci are. Every year is different. So I am finally reading Logson’s All Flesh Is Grass and right there, in the middle of chapter 2 where he is talking about what he does at that moment in time, he says, “Every year is different.” Hey, Gene agrees with me!
10 comments:
I can't let anything but black snakes survive around here...don't blame you at all.
I wonder - are they like the coyotes that Kingsolver talked about, reproducing even more vigorously when some are killed? I just keep noticing things where we humans take an action that seems clearly beneficial, and then find out that it has the opposite effect to what we intended.
But I still keep those gopher traps in the shed. Herbivores are different, maybe...
well, we happened upon a groundhog the other day and killed him too, because as surely as we don't, he'll be raiding our garden and making holes in our pastures. I am personally convinced that there is no such thing as bloodless eating -- all food has a face. And we long ago learned to not suffer a loose dog who's owner wouldn't keep him up -- they will end up killing *every* time. An accidentally loose dog is a different thing than a dog someone allows to roam.
i would kill the poison snakes also. the others shake me up but if its in my hen house and i can i would kill thoese also. i keep a hoe close for that purpose.
ground hogs taste a lot like lean beef belive it or not!
Aaaaa, validation. Always feels good. Run into a few snakes in Arkansas when I run the Buffalo, and every once and a while when fishing along the bank of this pond or another. Just leave 'em alone. Back off and go my way. Always hear stories about them "chasing" you. Not really buyin' it, but in that case they'd HAVE to go.
Wow, I fixed some potatoes just the other day too, the same way. I swear I am simply the worst potato-grubber. Even if I do the no-bury method, they still manage to pop up the next spring where I don't want them. But they're great eating, though.
(fwiw, I would certainly kill any poisonous snake I would find, not that I have seen any. But rodents? I just fed three baby voles I found to my chickens yesterday.)
oh yeah, fhb, if I just SEE them, say out fishing, we tend to just walk away. In the garden, in the road, and where I am trying to dig out a spring however, they dead. Just the poison ones. We never ever kill the others.
We tried to leave the poisonus ones alone too, unless they decided our territory was theirs. Killed a cottonmouth that was striking at my son, who was simply trying to bike up the street.
Almost stepped on a pygmy rattler once, just left him alone as we were out in the woods, I figured that was his space.:)
We found a cute little snake in our garage not long after moving here. My oldest child announced that he had grabbed it and taken it outside. "how did you know it was safe??" I ask.
"It didn't have a pit viper head Mom, but I grabbed it right behind the head just to be safe" (turns out it was a rat snake in the end).
I guess living in snake country has learned him a few things. hehe
Oh, and I planted a few potatoes in my miserable soil. Working a patch of ground a bit at a time.
I just tagged you for "8 things about me meme"
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