there is a man here in SC that grows oranges. He hangs Christmas lights in the trees on cold nights. We are also fighting a freeze the next couple of nights. Praying for God's mercy on us all!
I WOKE UP ONE NIGHT TO THE SOUND OF COONS HARVESTING THEIR GRAPES ONE NIGHT ON MY PATIO. LOL ( not really) I LEARNED TO PLANT CLIMBING ROSES WITH THE GRAPES. I shake my head sometimes at what I don’t know. It’s nice to listen to farmers from all over our earth. You are doing good work.
My momma grew peach trees from seeds. They often out produced the grafted trees she acquired through mail order catalogs. We over produced in case a late freeze destroyed the early crops of some varieties. On good yrs we filled the pantry with enough preserves to last 3 yrs if possible. I avoid sugar so I don't need high carb fruits. Low glycemic crops like strawberries & blueberries are the exception. I miss the horticultural process of caring for fruit trees. Momma experimented with planting early blooming peaches & plumbs real close to evergreen windbreaks. It works.
You know I heard that unlike other fruits peaches if you have a great peach, it will grow out from that peach stone into another good peach where other trees like apples the seeds are a crapshoot on whether or not you'll get an edible fruit. Now I want to plant some peach pits lol a local roadside stand has this huge peach that has fabulous flavor. I do remember it has flame in the name tho but I might just save the stones and plant them out!
You are right about planting plenty to get some. We have always had big dogs to help with much of the wildlife, keeping them at bay. Blooming fruit tree's is something none of us have control over. Prayers for a successful harvest for all of us.
I'm in SW TN and we are getting down to 28 tonight as well with a wind chill below that. It got up to 52 here today. But, it didn't feel 52 with the wind blowing. I covered what I could of my cool weather. Nothing I can do about our fruit. It is what it is. It was a blessing that I seeded everything a couple weeks late this year for sure!
I've seen everything bloom in early February then a snowstorm in March. Some stuff makes it some stuff don't. Adam by the sweat of his brow he will toil.
When I first started canning in 1974, I canned a lot of everything in the garden and always had extra the next year. I figured out how many quarts of green beans I actually needed for the year and that is all that I canned. The next year we had a bad year for the garden. I ran out of green beans for the year and had to buy canned beans. I learned my lesson always can as long as that garden produces. From my first garden I battled rabbits, then ground hogs. I installed a 4 ft garden fence. Now it's deers, I had to install deer netting around the garden. About a month ago a critter chewed the wires into in two places next to the fuel pump on my truck. This I'm blaming on the squirrels, rat, chipmunk or maybe a cat. My neighbor has a lot of barn cats and they like to get on the hood of our vehicles when it gets cold. I do not have a garage. The squirrels dug up all the small spring small spring bulbs the first night I had planted them. I found the bulbs laying on the ground. I had to put fence wire over the replanted bulbs and cover it with more garden soil. Not only do we fight the weather we are constantly fighting critters. Monday it was 70° this morning it was 30° and the next 2 days it's going to be in the 20°s. Our fruit trees are all in bloom. I never plant my garden until May 15th here in Loveland, Ohio. Praying your orchard and garden survive. Have a blessed day, stay safe and healthy 🙏🥰👍👌🙏🦅🔔🗽🇺🇸🙏🇺🇸🙏🇺🇸🙏🇺🇸🙏
Barn cats or any cats won't chew wires or car things or go for anything in your garden. They just don't do that. They may love to lay under the leaves of things in the garden for coolness but they won't chew anything. I'm in Wadsworth Ohio and last year I couldn't plant until June 1st because it was so cool and normally we can plant by May 15. I have also taken a bar of the green Irish Spring soap and taken a vegetable peeler and sliced off longwise ribbons of the soap and put around the perimeter of the garden and it kept out all the critters! I was shocked. Thought it was just a old wives tale but it actually worked. They don't like the strong smell of it and it lasts a long time. I think I did it 3 times the entire growing season and didn't have a problem one with critters!
@@Jomama02 Sorry cats do chew the wires into if they get stuck under your hood. My mechanic asked me if I had cats. Personally I do think it was the squirrels. They are fun to watch but, are so destructive. Yes, cats use your freshly tilled and newly planted garden seeds or plants as a litter box. I had to train Ms Kitty as well as our dog, Shane the garden was off limits to them. Yes, we loved our pets and farm animals, we gave them the beat life they could have. We respected them and they learned to respect us also.
Campers sometimes use Bounce brand dryer sheets to deter mice from their campers and trucks.. I spread some around my camper and under my mobile home. I also took a couple and wiped down wires that I could easily reach, like I was cleaning dirt or dust off of them, but also they pick up the chemical scent. It turns out that some insulation on the wiring is made with soybean products, the oil or fiber or something, that is what attracts animals. I always thought the installer or mechanics had been eating chocolate bars while they worked. Bounce is cheap and seems to be as effective at deterring mouse nests as the Fresh Cab. Fighting critters off is a farmers continual issue. You know fireworks are legal in Florida as a deterrent for wildlife attacking your crops?
Yep. Fighting against the critters out there is not easy. My good friend moved from Florida to Arkansas. She made friends with a neighbor. She told the neighbor her intention was to get a garden going...the neighbor laughed. Now, she knows why...early morning hours...she counted 25 deer in her yard! I am in Florida...good luck...I had a beautiful peach tree...squirrels stole all of them, had tomatoes, berries,etc...those became toast to the wildlife. Planted some flowers in front of my house...possums came and plucked up the lavender- colored ones first, next couple of nights...devoured the red ones. My mother has avocado trees, mangos, etc. little squirrels come by and take a bite out of this fruit and that ruining the crop. Got to watch out for citrus fruit too...little hungry buggers...take the whole fruit.
When I lived in GA, a old time Southern fella told me to put reg grits on the mound and it worked. They would take it back in their hill, eat it, and poof they would explode and die. Then I would mow over the hill with the bush hog. Kept them down in my fields. Garden I just spread it around my veggie plants. 👍
This is my second growing season gardening in the country as a brother-in-law told me years ago about country life "Every thing is trying to get you" after one season I know what he was talking about.
Thanks Danny.I'm praying for everyone's fruit harvest. I'm lucky this year. Most of my fruit trees are small and in containers that I can put against a protected wall and cover them. The apple trees in tires are whips so I'll be able to use brown paper bags over the bloom buds and then cover it all with feed bags. My container blueberries I'll put against the wall with my fruit trees and cover with a sheet. It's only supposed to get to 30 tonight, 29 tomorrow night and 36 Sat. morning. My mulberry harvest last year was so abundant that I still have some in the freezer lol. I'm not worried about losing them. Much Love
You know Danny if you had a pyrenees you would not have any of those pest problems except the ants. They chase away even the big birds from your property. I saw mine chase away an eagle from my yard. He landed in a small tree behind my house and Doug stayed under that tree barking until he finally left and saved my chickens.
You know how reading one story reminds you of another? Had a neighbor in the suburbs...can have a few chickens. Told my husband...I hear the clucking of chickens...he thought I was nuts until we had people over for dinner and there was no denying it. They put a net across the yard...my husband said...so, looks like badmiton game? Later, The woman was shooting water from a hose upward toward a tree...in the tree was a hawk spreading its wings and enjoying the bath...she then placed a ladder nearby, climbed up...looked like a gun in her hand...probably a b-b gun...tried to shoot at it...the bird barely moved until annoyed and flew away.
Oh I love white peaches! My grandma had a bunch of white peaches trees I don't know what variety they were but they were so good. I couldn't tell you how many time we ate ourselves sick on them as a kid. Here in the north the saying for us is when the oak leaves are as big as a mouse's ear the cold weather has passed and if the oak holds on to it leaves in the fall it going to be a cold rough winter.
First time after I moved here I planted 2 avacado trees a sweet cherry, a lemon, an tangerine, and a plum tree. I wrapped the trunks, and covered them with frost cover. But sure enough every tree died after the freeze that winter. I lost every single tree. I never got new trees. I've decided this isn't going to be my forever home I need to move somewhere where I can have the fruit trees, bushes, and garden vegetables! All my corn wilted, the strawberries didn't berry out, I got tomatoes and spaghetti squash! But lost everything else. It made me so sad I did all that work by myself and lost all most everything. So now I'm not planting much. Much love from So.Cal.💟
We had frost last night; supposed to have more tonight in E TN. Thank God for giving me the message to plant my snap bush beans and peppers in the Greenstalks. The radish, carrots, onions and garlic are good so far. The neighbors pears are in bloom; ours is not. In Florida, the birds were an issue with tomatoes...then, the squirrels would move in. Looking at building a high tunnel here. We have grow lights in an unfinished basement and many plants in containers so that we can move them in and out as necessary through the dogwood winter and blackberry winter.
It was 26 degrees last night on our homestead and tonight we are forcasted to be down to 21 here in TN. I am afraid it is going to be a lean year for some crops. Great video.
I have seen on UA-cam a fella who sprays fire ants with an orange oil solution, says they kill fire ants on contact. That might be something cheap to try for the onion bed. I plan to try it soon myself.
This was the kick in the rear I needed...going to get a notebook and write down today’s temps and what I did/saw right now. And starting tomorrow I will be keeping it up. Thank you for repeating yourself so those of us that are a little stubborn/lazy will get the message eventually. ❤️
I live in the north east USA so some of our methods are different, but I love your channel. You guys are very sweet to share your knowledge and you're both very thoughtful and articulate. Thank you for your content.
There’s no getting rid of ants in Alabama. I think mine are mutant and this rain has run them up higher into garden beds, it’s horrible. They covered my corn last year. Black plastic I use to help kill off grass provides vole/mole housing complexes😁 ants love when they make the tunnels for them.
I learned a few years ago to plant several of the same tree. I had to plant 4 fig trees before I finally produced enough figs to feed the birds and squirrels with a few leftover for me.
thanks so much, each year we've been slowly increasing the size of our garden and when we do, we encounter a host of new challenges, just like what youre describing, and we get pretty disheartened. but its helpful to see its not just us and you just find ways to overcome it
Morning Y’all , boy there sure is a lot to it , so many factors , thank you both. These videos are learning experiences for us & we love it, may the Lord Bless your harvest this year . I’ve learned so much in this last year and a half, you keep teaching and I’ll keep learning !!
I lived in Florida we had terrible fire ants. I would stir them up and spray them with vinegar. Vinegar reacts with the chemical that sting a person. They do not like that and move and many die. It will limit the mounds if you do a regular search, stir and spray routine. Most people only attack the ants when they see them. You need to search them out at least once a week to slow them down. You cannot stop them from coming you can only slow their departure.
I was just thinking if the ants move when being disturbed maybe try a whirly bird. Those little toy things that I used to hang out the car window when I was a kid.
The squirrels devastate our orchard. We're trying to solve that issue. Last year was better than the year before & I hope this year will be better than last year. I'm a wildlife rehabber & love them but when it comes to our food, they have to go.
Thank you for all your helpful info. A tip 4u. Protect your gardens and fruit trees from all 4 footed animals with solar electric fencing. It works for moose, elk, bear, deer, skunks, coons, possums, dogs, cats you name it. And even drunks who stumble in the night.
Danny, I've never tried this. But, I saw somewhere that if you place a black planter or pot with dirt over the ant pile, it will provide a warm environment for the ants to want to move into. You can then discard them as needed. Food for thought. I'll be trying this soon.
I remember well the year we were having our very best sweet corn crop EVER. Sixteen 50 ft. rows. I was working afternoon turn and checked the corn before leaving for work. Told hubby that it was ready for the freezer and since I had the next day off, to plan on harvesting. I went out early the next morning....raccoons had come during the night and left us only 4 ears! Didn't eat the rest, just pulled them down and took a few bites and moved on to the next ear. (Hubby trapped 8 in the next 2 weeks, even though we had seen no sign of any until they destroyed our crop.)
I appreciate all of the time and effort that you continue to put into making videos. Like so many others, this was very informative and makes a person think about just what goes into being sustainable on a homestead.
I am preparing for fruit trees (just moved in a couple months ago). I am keeping all this in mind and will be buying later blooming varieties/varieties hardy at least one zone colder than mine.
Great tutorial Most people dont understand the perils and they dont understand all the work a homestead requires but they will learn fig man myself god bless also farmer has 2 strikes against him already.
I love the Weather Bug app which I have on both my tablet and cell phone. It uses the weather station closest to our location so it's more accurate than the news which sometimes comes from neighboring states. Also get alerts for storms and when the pollen levels are medium to high. We've gotten the high pollen notifications a week before Spring started. Also our grass has already needed to be cut. There's lots of mud and algae around here which is typically in all seasons here. Even in the Winter we usually get more rain than snow.
I'm so thankful we don't have fire ants here, that I know of, anyway. Those little critters combine two of my greatest dislikes! They are quiet and sneaky like spiders and they sting like wasps.
It will be below freezing in GA so the few peaches I have left after the storms will be gone. The storms got my plums and apples from my small trees too. I’m just glad I waited to plant anything else outside.
i'm hoping my Contender peach will fruit this year, it's it's third year, I would be so excited. Just very tiny buds now, it's still cold in PA......sigh.... God bless Deep South
I live in the Ohio River Valley (Cincinnati-ish). We're in a bad area for this. Most years if we were 100 miles North or South we'd be OK. North, it stays cold and they stay in dormancy until Spring. South it warms up an stays warm. Here? It's perfect for freezing the buds. Warms up for 3 weeks or so in March and they come out of dormancy ...and then there's random freeze in April. We generally get Peaches and Cherries every 3 to 5 years. I was just looking at the blooms on the Peaches last night - they're perfect and beautiful.. This will be year 7 without Peaches. Gonna be 24 degrees tonight.
You mentioned a wild white peach. I have not tasted one in 68 years when I was five years old. We had one at the foot of the back steps. No doubt it was a seedling. Somebody must have thrown a peach seed out the back door and it grew. It produced hundreds of small peaches. About the size of a baseball and very firm and tasty. That was back when a sassy kid would get a switching. Those peach switches were the handiest. I chopped it down when I got old enough to swing an axe.
Grits for those fire ants has always worked for me but I do it a certain way I stir the ant pile sprinkle grits then I water around the pile not getting water On the grits Or pile then the next day I stir it one more time and they are usually gone In a day or two ! they need water for the grits to swell up in them and kill them and the queen
Gm DSH.. try equal parts vinegar, baking soda & water, then spray it in their high traffic areas.. the smell should repel them from the unwanted areas.
I love white peaches..we are here in 9a ,Florida.. We have the potatoe bugs looks like a shield? Not sure what it is, but I did 1 whole bed, 3.5 deep and 4x8....I do have the netting cloth ,to help keep the bugs off. I HOPE IT works I've done planted 2 full beds of onions several kinds the beds are full ,guess I'll be freeze drying onions..I appreciate all your wonderful videos and your books!!
Wildlife is necessary for the ecosystem, but they sure are maddeningly distructive for a homestead! Last year we lost 38 chickens in one morning to a raccoon family, and a strawberry bed to deer. 😖 Don't know which is worse, the weather or wildlife.
Its real cold here today. We have snow flurries. We will probably loose our peaches. Our young trees did good last year and they was so good. Our last frost is May 12
Good morning thank you for all the good tips I have an idea I know you can't save all your trees with the fruit but if you took a water sprinkler put it on a pole above the tree moving water does not freeze therefore it should protect that one tree you have to watch your temps to be able to turn it on and turn it off at the right times I woke up this morning with snow on the ground and it's 21 degrees up here in northern Michigan it's coming your way God bless and keep you in prayers🙏❤️🙏🙏🙏
I'm in Indiana. I'm having a hell of a bad year on my stonefruit orchard. I've tried using frost blankets with little luck. I'm gonna go ahead and install a system like used at orchards and attempt misting on freezing nights.
Danny, I just put 3 year old canning pear tree (2 of them) and now 21 degrees tonight while it is in full bloom! So, I researched and wrapped the trunk - I know - but that is what they said to save the fruit. I make pear mincemeat (so delicious) - I will work so hard to make this because it is my favorite food in the world (OK) a little hyperbole - but truthful. Wildlife love me - UGH! especially underground critters.
Crops are always so unpredictable- different every year. We are in AZ, but zone 9 and sometimes we get a late freeze. Lately its been total lack of monsoon (rainy) season during longgggg hot summers.
The best thing for fire ants is warm water and dawn dish liquid in a bug sprayer. The soap coats them and they breathe through there skin so it suffocates them. Works on wasps and carpenter bees
Thank you Danny very informative! I have experienced the overnight raid of the pear trees! Very disheartening when it happens. I feel for you guys with the fire ants, my biggest pest last year was white flies. I am saying a prayer your beautiful fruit trees survive the weather.
Have to be educated on correct species for your area. Even then as Danny pointed out there’s no guarantee that you’ll have success. Living now in a rural area, I was surprised at the wildlife that come in the night. Been walking the dogs around garden edge hoping their scent may be a deterrent. Thanks Danny and Wanda! 💕from Ky.
Have you tried mulching with compost? It works great here in the UK, your summers might be too hot for it but if you get a lot of rain (which you seem to) things should balance out.
I love huckleberries! I remember going to my grandmothers house in Meridian and picking them for a pie for supper. One year, when I was still out in the country, we picked one Bushel of blueberries off of 16 plants. Our youngest son was out with us and the next day he pooped out blueberries, he had eaten so many. Imagine my face when I saw That!
trim the apple almost through, and put moss in a plastic bag, and let it root. then you can cut the good off of the bad part of the tree, and re-plant it... :)
I’m sure hoping this is the last cold snap because a lot of my plants are getting impatient in there little cups but the weather got me last year and the year before and it ain’t getting me again we had the same massive rain storms last year at the same time and now comes the big freeze that followed just like last year. But can’t protect my fruit trees there on there own. Good luck to everyone with the coming weather protect what you can and pray for the rest much love Danny and Wanda take care
Both you and Wanda have a beautiful place Danny. You mentioned several times about having problems with raccoons, possums, birds, deer, etc. I know you had a dog a couple of years ago, but am not sure what happened to it. Wouldn't a dog at least help keep some of the animals at bay and away from your gardens and fruit trees? Best always! Cheers
My neighbor planted a huge field of field peas one year, went out and looked at them all Friday evening they were loaded and ready so he called a bunch of his family and a few neighbors to come pick what they wanted the next day and the deer completely demolished them over one night!
@@snsmystic yep cherry tomatoes, I had in small raised garden with plastic fence around it. I had tomatoes just starting to ripen and went somewhere a few days, came back and they reached over fence and topped off the tomatoes. Ate everything they could reach.
@@Terri_Stauffer That's terrible! Hopefully your crop's all protected for the year. Deer ate my sweet potatoes last year and had to fence them. Now I'm wondering what else I'd have to fence this year.
Danny, put diatomaceous earth in the ant beds around your onions. I had a huge ant bed in my strawberries. Couldn’t use poison, so I got out the DE. It took a few applications, but it worked! I know it’ll be a bit labor intensive to put it in your onion bed, but it’ll be worth it. I just put a handful in and used a trowel to mix it into the ant bed. Like I said, it’ll take a few times doing it, but it does the job and no poison!
there is a man here in SC that grows oranges. He hangs Christmas lights in the trees on cold nights. We are also fighting a freeze the next couple of nights. Praying for God's mercy on us all!
I WOKE UP ONE NIGHT TO THE SOUND OF COONS HARVESTING THEIR GRAPES ONE NIGHT ON MY PATIO. LOL ( not really) I LEARNED TO PLANT CLIMBING ROSES WITH THE GRAPES. I shake my head sometimes at what I don’t know. It’s nice to listen to farmers from all over our earth. You are doing good work.
Good idea. Same problem here.
My momma grew peach trees from seeds. They often out produced the grafted trees she acquired through mail order catalogs. We over produced in case a late freeze destroyed the early crops of some varieties. On good yrs we filled the pantry with enough preserves to last 3 yrs if possible. I avoid sugar so I don't need high carb fruits. Low glycemic crops like strawberries & blueberries are the exception. I miss the horticultural process of caring for fruit trees. Momma experimented with planting early blooming peaches & plumbs real close to evergreen windbreaks. It works.
You know I heard that unlike other fruits peaches if you have a great peach, it will grow out from that peach stone into another good peach where other trees like apples the seeds are a crapshoot on whether or not you'll get an edible fruit.
Now I want to plant some peach pits lol a local roadside stand has this huge peach that has fabulous flavor. I do remember it has flame in the name tho but I might just save the stones and plant them out!
I have a few coming up right now! Love to experiment.
You are right about planting plenty to get some. We have always had big dogs to help with much of the wildlife, keeping them at bay. Blooming fruit tree's is something none of us have control over. Prayers for a successful harvest for all of us.
Missourians up here are praying for you all. I’m not getting in any hurry to plant anything in middle Missouri. 28 degrees low tonight.
I'm in SW TN and we are getting down to 28 tonight as well with a wind chill below that. It got up to 52 here today. But, it didn't feel 52 with the wind blowing. I covered what I could of my cool weather. Nothing I can do about our fruit. It is what it is. It was a blessing that I seeded everything a couple weeks late this year for sure!
My grandma always said to grow 2x what you need and barter or give away the extra. You're absolutely correct Danny, anything can happen.
I've seen everything bloom in early February then a snowstorm in March. Some stuff makes it some stuff don't. Adam by the sweat of his brow he will toil.
Great information as always!
When I first started canning in 1974, I canned a lot of everything in the garden and always had extra the next year. I figured out how many quarts of green beans I actually needed for the year and that is all that I canned. The next year we had a bad year for the garden. I ran out of green beans for the year and had to buy canned beans. I learned my lesson always can as long as that garden produces.
From my first garden I battled rabbits, then ground hogs. I installed a 4 ft garden fence. Now it's deers, I had to install deer netting around the garden.
About a month ago a critter chewed the wires into in two places next to the fuel pump on my truck. This I'm blaming on the squirrels, rat, chipmunk or maybe a cat. My neighbor has a lot of barn cats and they like to get on the hood of our vehicles when it gets cold. I do not have a garage.
The squirrels dug up all the small spring small spring bulbs the first night I had planted them. I found the bulbs laying on the ground. I had to put fence wire over the replanted bulbs and cover it with more garden soil.
Not only do we fight the weather we are constantly fighting critters.
Monday it was 70° this morning it was 30° and the next 2 days it's going to be in the 20°s. Our fruit trees are all in bloom. I never plant my garden until May 15th here in Loveland, Ohio.
Praying your orchard and garden survive.
Have a blessed day, stay safe and healthy 🙏🥰👍👌🙏🦅🔔🗽🇺🇸🙏🇺🇸🙏🇺🇸🙏🇺🇸🙏
Barn cats or any cats won't chew wires or car things or go for anything in your garden. They just don't do that. They may love to lay under the leaves of things in the garden for coolness but they won't chew anything. I'm in Wadsworth Ohio and last year I couldn't plant until June 1st because it was so cool and normally we can plant by May 15.
I have also taken a bar of the green Irish Spring soap and taken a vegetable peeler and sliced off longwise ribbons of the soap and put around the perimeter of the garden and it kept out all the critters! I was shocked. Thought it was just a old wives tale but it actually worked. They don't like the strong smell of it and it lasts a long time. I think I did it 3 times the entire growing season and didn't have a problem one with critters!
@@Jomama02 Sorry cats do chew the wires into if they get stuck under your hood. My mechanic asked me if I had cats. Personally I do think it was the squirrels. They are fun to watch but, are so destructive. Yes, cats use your freshly tilled and newly planted garden seeds or plants as a litter box. I had to train Ms Kitty as well as our dog, Shane the garden was off limits to them. Yes, we loved our pets and farm animals, we gave them the beat life they could have. We respected them and they learned to respect us also.
Campers sometimes use Bounce brand dryer sheets to deter mice from their campers and trucks.. I spread some around my camper and under my mobile home. I also took a couple and wiped down wires that I could easily reach, like I was cleaning dirt or dust off of them, but also they pick up the chemical scent. It turns out that some insulation on the wiring is made with soybean products, the oil or fiber or something, that is what attracts animals. I always thought the installer or mechanics had been eating chocolate bars while they worked. Bounce is cheap and seems to be as effective at deterring mouse nests as the Fresh Cab. Fighting critters off is a farmers continual issue. You know fireworks are legal in Florida as a deterrent for wildlife attacking your crops?
@@camperjack2620 I use the bouce sheets for the wiring in my hot tub when I shut it down to keep mice and little critters out of it! It works.
Yep. Fighting against the critters out there is not easy. My good friend moved from Florida to Arkansas. She made friends with a neighbor. She told the neighbor her intention was to get a garden going...the neighbor laughed. Now, she knows why...early morning hours...she counted 25 deer in her yard! I am in Florida...good luck...I had a beautiful peach tree...squirrels stole all of them, had tomatoes, berries,etc...those became toast to the wildlife. Planted some flowers in front of my house...possums came and plucked up the lavender- colored ones first, next couple of nights...devoured the red ones. My mother has avocado trees, mangos, etc. little squirrels come by and take a bite out of this fruit and that ruining the crop. Got to watch out for citrus fruit too...little hungry buggers...take the whole fruit.
When I lived in GA, a old time Southern fella told me to put reg grits on the mound and it worked. They would take it back in their hill, eat it, and poof they would explode and die. Then I would mow over the hill with the bush hog. Kept them down in my fields. Garden I just spread it around my veggie plants. 👍
🙏🙏🙏💜💜💜 my plants are my "babies" too. Quails hatching as I type. God is great and you and your wife are WONDERFUL and a blessing to me. Thanks!
VERY wise advice, Danny. If it's not a disease, it's a critter or the weather. Mother Nature always has the upper hand.
Also, I love reading the comments on these type videos you do. There are always little gems and nuggets of good info and tips.
This is my second growing season gardening in the country as a brother-in-law told me years ago about country life "Every thing is trying to get you" after one season I know what he was talking about.
Thanks Danny.I'm praying for everyone's fruit harvest. I'm lucky this year. Most of my fruit trees are small and in containers that I can put against a protected wall and cover them. The apple trees in tires are whips so I'll be able to use brown paper bags over the bloom buds and then cover it all with feed bags. My container blueberries I'll put against the wall with my fruit trees and cover with a sheet. It's only supposed to get to 30 tonight, 29 tomorrow night and 36 Sat. morning. My mulberry harvest last year was so abundant that I still have some in the freezer lol. I'm not worried about losing them. Much Love
You know Danny if you had a pyrenees you would not have any of those pest problems except the ants. They chase away even the big birds from your property. I saw mine chase away an eagle from my yard. He landed in a small tree behind my house and Doug stayed under that tree barking until he finally left and saved my chickens.
I want a Pyrenees.
You know how reading one story reminds you of another? Had a neighbor in the suburbs...can have a few chickens. Told my husband...I hear the clucking of chickens...he thought I was nuts until we had people over for dinner and there was no denying it. They put a net across the yard...my husband said...so, looks like badmiton game? Later, The woman was shooting water from a hose upward toward a tree...in the tree was a hawk spreading its wings and enjoying the bath...she then placed a ladder nearby, climbed up...looked like a gun in her hand...probably a b-b gun...tried to shoot at it...the bird barely moved until annoyed and flew away.
My trees have breba figs this year too. Fingers crossed the weather doesn’t hurt all of our gardening efforts here in the south. Thanks for the video.
Oh I love white peaches! My grandma had a bunch of white peaches trees I don't know what variety they were but they were so good. I couldn't tell you how many time we ate ourselves sick on them as a kid. Here in the north the saying for us is when the oak leaves are as big as a mouse's ear the cold weather has passed and if the oak holds on to it leaves in the fall it going to be a cold rough winter.
First time after I moved here I planted 2 avacado trees a sweet cherry, a lemon, an tangerine, and a plum tree. I wrapped the trunks, and covered them with frost cover. But sure enough every tree died after the freeze that winter. I lost every single tree. I never got new trees. I've decided this isn't going to be my forever home I need to move somewhere where I can have the fruit trees, bushes, and garden vegetables! All my corn wilted, the strawberries didn't berry out, I got tomatoes and spaghetti squash! But lost everything else. It made me so sad I did all that work by myself and lost all most everything. So now I'm not planting much. Much love from So.Cal.💟
We had frost last night; supposed to have more tonight in E TN. Thank God for giving me the message to plant my snap bush beans and peppers in the Greenstalks. The radish, carrots, onions and garlic are good so far. The neighbors pears are in bloom; ours is not. In Florida, the birds were an issue with tomatoes...then, the squirrels would move in. Looking at building a high tunnel here. We have grow lights in an unfinished basement and many plants in containers so that we can move them in and out as necessary through the dogwood winter and blackberry winter.
Good morning!
Supposed to freeze tonight in tn. Thank you for the heads up 2 weeks ago. Delayed outside planting on your advice. Right again D.
Danny thanks for spending so much of you time to help others
It was 26 degrees last night on our homestead and tonight we are forcasted to be down to 21 here in TN. I am afraid it is going to be a lean year for some crops. Great video.
Good morning my friends 🙋♂️
Good morning 😃
Good morning 🌄
It went to 32° last night and dow to 24° tonight. We even got a dusting of snow.
My sis in Louisiana uses a motion detecting sprinkler to deter critters. Says it works great.
Cool idea
Sounds smart...would like a spritz of vinegar first.
True love is sharing a mulberry.
I have seen on UA-cam a fella who sprays fire ants with an orange oil solution, says they kill fire ants on contact. That might be something cheap to try for the onion bed. I plan to try it soon myself.
Highly concentrated ORANGE OIL -don't know if lemon oil would do the same
This was the kick in the rear I needed...going to get a notebook and write down today’s temps and what I did/saw right now. And starting tomorrow I will be keeping it up. Thank you for repeating yourself so those of us that are a little stubborn/lazy will get the message eventually. ❤️
I love your smaller fruit trees, that's the size I have in mind for mine. Inspiring to see how they shape up.
Last year we had high winds come through blew everything off our fruit trees.
I live in the north east USA so some of our methods are different, but I love your channel. You guys are very sweet to share your knowledge and you're both very thoughtful and articulate. Thank you for your content.
There’s no getting rid of ants in Alabama. I think mine are mutant and this rain has run them up higher into garden beds, it’s horrible. They covered my corn last year. Black plastic I use to help kill off grass provides vole/mole housing complexes😁 ants love when they make the tunnels for them.
Good Morning Everyone
Good morning 🌞
I learned a few years ago to plant several of the same tree. I had to plant 4 fig trees before I finally produced enough figs to feed the birds and squirrels with a few leftover for me.
Good morning Deep South Homestead. Love to hear that rooster crowing. ☺️
So true, I have problems with possums but my dogs take care of them, those azaleas are beautiful
Thank you for doing Gods work today it was like you were talking to me God bless you
thanks so much, each year we've been slowly increasing the size of our garden and when we do, we encounter a host of new challenges, just like what youre describing, and we get pretty disheartened. but its helpful to see its not just us and you just find ways to overcome it
Thanks for all the great info and wisdom.I'm in stone county also and it helps me by getting this info in my area.Thanks !
Morning Y’all , boy there sure is a lot to it , so many factors , thank you both. These videos are learning experiences for us & we love it, may the Lord Bless your harvest this year . I’ve learned so much in this last year and a half, you keep teaching and I’ll keep learning !!
I lived in Florida we had terrible fire ants. I would stir them up and spray them with vinegar. Vinegar reacts with the chemical that sting a person. They do not like that and move and many die. It will limit the mounds if you do a regular search, stir and spray routine. Most people only attack the ants when they see them. You need to search them out at least once a week to slow them down. You cannot stop them from coming you can only slow their departure.
Is vinegar the cure for everything? Kinda seems like it.
Here in central CT we are having high winds and late freezes. Erratic weather I dont expect to stop, ever
I was just thinking if the ants move when being disturbed maybe try a whirly bird. Those little toy things that I used to hang out the car window when I was a kid.
Its been in the 50s and 60 here. This morning 22 and there is a thin layer of snow on everything and yes by this weekend 60 and 70
The squirrels devastate our orchard. We're trying to solve that issue. Last year was better than the year before & I hope this year will be better than last year. I'm a wildlife rehabber & love them but when it comes to our food, they have to go.
🤣🤣🤣” when it comes to our food, they have to go” that is right.
Thank you for all your helpful info. A tip 4u.
Protect your gardens and fruit trees from all 4 footed animals with solar electric fencing.
It works for moose, elk, bear, deer, skunks, coons, possums, dogs, cats you name it. And even drunks who stumble in the night.
I’m in South Carolina and very nervous about tonights expected 32*. All my fruit trees have blooms right now, lots and lots of blooms!!
Danny, I've never tried this. But, I saw somewhere that if you place a black planter or pot with dirt over the ant pile, it will provide a warm environment for the ants to want to move into. You can then discard them as needed. Food for thought. I'll be trying this soon.
I remember well the year we were having our very best sweet corn crop EVER. Sixteen 50 ft. rows. I was working afternoon turn and checked the corn before leaving for work. Told hubby that it was ready for the freezer and since I had the next day off, to plan on harvesting. I went out early the next morning....raccoons had come during the night and left us only 4 ears! Didn't eat the rest, just pulled them down and took a few bites and moved on to the next ear. (Hubby trapped 8 in the next 2 weeks, even though we had seen no sign of any until they destroyed our crop.)
I appreciate all of the time and effort that you continue to put into making videos. Like so many others, this was very informative and makes a person think about just what goes into being sustainable on a homestead.
I am preparing for fruit trees (just moved in a couple months ago). I am keeping all this in mind and will be buying later blooming varieties/varieties hardy at least one zone colder than mine.
Good morning
Great tutorial
Most people dont understand the perils and they dont understand all the work a homestead requires but they will learn fig man myself god bless also farmer has 2 strikes against him already.
I love the Weather Bug app which I have on both my tablet and cell phone. It uses the weather station closest to our location so it's more accurate than the news which sometimes comes from neighboring states. Also get alerts for storms and when the pollen levels are medium to high. We've gotten the high pollen notifications a week before Spring started. Also our grass has already needed to be cut. There's lots of mud and algae around here which is typically in all seasons here. Even in the Winter we usually get more rain than snow.
Good Morning, Danny and Wanda
I'm so thankful we don't have fire ants here, that I know of, anyway. Those little critters combine two of my greatest dislikes! They are quiet and sneaky like spiders and they sting like wasps.
It will be below freezing in GA so the few peaches I have left after the storms will be gone. The storms got my plums and apples from my small trees too.
I’m just glad I waited to plant anything else outside.
i'm hoping my Contender peach will fruit this year, it's it's third year, I would be so excited. Just very tiny buds now, it's still cold in PA......sigh.... God bless Deep South
I live in the Ohio River Valley (Cincinnati-ish). We're in a bad area for this. Most years if we were 100 miles North or South we'd be OK. North, it stays cold and they stay in dormancy until Spring. South it warms up an stays warm. Here? It's perfect for freezing the buds. Warms up for 3 weeks or so in March and they come out of dormancy ...and then there's random freeze in April.
We generally get Peaches and Cherries every 3 to 5 years.
I was just looking at the blooms on the Peaches last night - they're perfect and beautiful.. This will be year 7 without Peaches. Gonna be 24 degrees tonight.
You mentioned a wild white peach. I have not tasted one in 68 years when I was five years old. We had one at the foot of the back steps. No doubt it was a seedling. Somebody must have thrown a peach seed out the back door and it grew. It produced hundreds of small peaches. About the size of a baseball and very firm and tasty. That was back when a sassy kid would get a switching. Those peach switches were the handiest. I chopped it down when I got old enough to swing an axe.
I had a wildlife issue... now I have a great pyrenees dog. Problem solved.
Grits for those fire ants has always worked for me but I do it a certain way I stir the ant pile sprinkle grits then I water around the pile not getting water On the grits Or pile then the next day I stir it one more time and they are usually gone In a day or two ! they need water for the grits to swell up in them and kill them and the queen
Thanks Danny, I am learning exactly what you just talked about.
Gm DSH.. try equal parts vinegar, baking soda & water, then spray it in their high traffic areas.. the smell should repel them from the unwanted areas.
I love white peaches..we are here in 9a ,Florida..
We have the potatoe bugs looks like a shield? Not sure what it is, but I did 1 whole bed, 3.5 deep and 4x8....I do have the netting cloth ,to help keep the bugs off. I HOPE IT works I've done planted 2 full beds of onions several kinds the beds are full ,guess I'll be freeze drying onions..I appreciate all your wonderful videos and your books!!
All great points. Frost can kill it, then another year you have more than you know what to do with. Thanks for documenting!!
Wildlife is necessary for the ecosystem, but they sure are maddeningly distructive for a homestead! Last year we lost 38 chickens in one morning to a raccoon family, and a strawberry bed to deer. 😖 Don't know which is worse, the weather or wildlife.
Only speaking for myself...the widlife.
That ground cover looks like mine after I plant lol 🤦🏾♂️
i'm in rankin county ,you look to be about 2 to 3 weeks ahead of us on fruit and nut production
Its real cold here today. We have snow flurries. We will probably loose our peaches. Our young trees did good last year and they was so good. Our last frost is May 12
Good morning thank you for all the good tips I have an idea I know you can't save all your trees with the fruit but if you took a water sprinkler put it on a pole above the tree moving water does not freeze therefore it should protect that one tree you have to watch your temps to be able to turn it on and turn it off at the right times I woke up this morning with snow on the ground and it's 21 degrees up here in northern Michigan it's coming your way God bless and keep you in prayers🙏❤️🙏🙏🙏
One year my a Azalea bush bloomed 4 times blew my mind . This year it’s Done
Thanks Danny !
Thanks Danny for the information
I'm in Indiana. I'm having a hell of a bad year on my stonefruit orchard. I've tried using frost blankets with little luck. I'm gonna go ahead and install a system like used at orchards and attempt misting on freezing nights.
Wow your trees are so far ahead of ours in Missouri
Those mulberries got me wanting some hahaha
The wind the past few days has about 1/3 of them in the ground. Not ripe. This wind is furious
I'm in chatsworth GA my plum trees look them same on the flowers. All my tree are in full bloom very early this year
Danny, I just put 3 year old canning pear tree (2 of them) and now 21 degrees tonight while it is in full bloom! So, I researched and wrapped the trunk - I know - but that is what they said to save the fruit. I make pear mincemeat (so delicious) - I will work so hard to make this because it is my favorite food in the world (OK) a little hyperbole - but truthful.
Wildlife love me - UGH! especially underground critters.
Crops are always so unpredictable- different every year. We are in AZ, but zone 9 and sometimes we get a late freeze. Lately its been total lack of monsoon (rainy) season during longgggg hot summers.
Happy Easter Danny to you and your Wife
The best thing for fire ants is warm water and dawn dish liquid in a bug sprayer. The soap coats them and they breathe through there skin so it suffocates them. Works on wasps and carpenter bees
Thanks for this video. Lots of things to think about.
Wonderful my friend! Have a nice day! 👍 21
Thank you Danny very informative! I have experienced the overnight raid of the pear trees! Very disheartening when it happens. I feel for you guys with the fire ants, my biggest pest last year was white flies. I am saying a prayer your beautiful fruit trees survive the weather.
Have to be educated on correct species for your area. Even then as Danny pointed out there’s no guarantee that you’ll have success. Living now in a rural area, I was surprised at the wildlife that come in the night. Been walking the dogs around garden edge hoping their scent may be a deterrent. Thanks Danny and Wanda! 💕from Ky.
We have blooms on blueberry bushes and peach tree. Have cold weather today and tomorrow.
Good morning from Minnesota. We have a frost warning here now and on Thursday night then warning up some
Have you tried mulching with compost? It works great here in the UK, your summers might be too hot for it but if you get a lot of rain (which you seem to) things should balance out.
I love huckleberries! I remember going to my grandmothers house in Meridian and picking them for a pie for supper. One year, when I was still out in the country, we picked one Bushel of blueberries off of 16 plants. Our youngest son was out with us and the next day he pooped out blueberries, he had eaten so many. Imagine my face when I saw That!
trim the apple almost through, and put moss in a plastic bag, and let it root. then you can cut the good off of the bad part of the tree, and re-plant it... :)
Thank you for the video. Sweet potatoes.
Saw folks in Florida with nets on poles over their blueberry field. Looks stupid but I love the berries so much I might try it some day.
Good morning Danny
I’m sure hoping this is the last cold snap because a lot of my plants are getting impatient in there little cups but the weather got me last year and the year before and it ain’t getting me again we had the same massive rain storms last year at the same time and now comes the big freeze that followed just like last year. But can’t protect my fruit trees there on there own. Good luck to everyone with the coming weather protect what you can and pray for the rest much love Danny and Wanda take care
Both you and Wanda have a beautiful place Danny. You mentioned several times about having problems with raccoons, possums, birds, deer, etc. I know you had a dog a couple of years ago, but am not sure what happened to it. Wouldn't a dog at least help keep some of the animals at bay and away from your gardens and fruit trees? Best always! Cheers
The cost was close to 100 dollars a month was to expensive.
My neighbor planted a huge field of field peas one year, went out and looked at them all Friday evening they were loaded and ready so he called a bunch of his family and a few neighbors to come pick what they wanted the next day and the deer completely demolished them over one night!
I've had that happen also.
I had that happen with tomatoes 🍅
@@Terri_Stauffer The deer ate your tomatoes?
@@snsmystic yep cherry tomatoes, I had in small raised garden with plastic fence around it. I had tomatoes just starting to ripen and went somewhere a few days, came back and they reached over fence and topped off the tomatoes. Ate everything they could reach.
@@Terri_Stauffer That's terrible! Hopefully your crop's all protected for the year. Deer ate my sweet potatoes last year and had to fence them. Now I'm wondering what else I'd have to fence this year.
Wanda it’s cold here in Tampa florida in the 40’s tonight.
Danny, put diatomaceous earth in the ant beds around your onions. I had a huge ant bed in my strawberries. Couldn’t use poison, so I got out the DE. It took a few applications, but it worked! I know it’ll be a bit labor intensive to put it in your onion bed, but it’ll be worth it. I just put a handful in and used a trowel to mix it into the ant bed. Like I said, it’ll take a few times doing it, but it does the job and no poison!
Tried it and it didn't work.
@@DeepSouthHomestead wow! That’s crazy! I hope they don’t do too much damage.