I've been considering that. I've been eyeing up one that's right about her age and male. I don't like the people that run that particular shelter however, and I'd have to get Miss Yin in to get her vaccines updated before they'd take my $250. That's why I've been keeping a sharp ear out when I'm outside LOL. It's just about kitten season!

$250 fee for a rescue cat?

Yep, kitten season is upon us. The other night in the wee hours I thought I heard a somewhat plaintiff cry outside. Lester was curled up next to my feet so it wasn't him so I listened some more. Yep, it sounded like a cat desperately wanting some "company".

Haven't heard any more of that so I guess whatever it was moved on.

Yup, $250 for one and $495 for a pair! Plus the cats aren't even purebreds! Specialty Purebred Cat Rescue charges that for purebreds, although rares can go as high as $600! Domestics go for $75-$175 while purebred mixes can go as high as $250. So Safe Haven's prices aren't too far out of line. To their credit, all rescues tend to include vaccinations and microchipping, plus the animals are fixed. Miss Yin cost me $1300 in vet fees. That included her wellness exam, vaccines, medication for two infections, and having six teeth pulled. Animals are NOT cheap!

But we love them so, and they love us! Better company than most people, really.

It's almost time for spring planting, one task at a time. Yesterday I put up the poles for the pole beans.


The circle at the end of the bed is where I will plant a circle of Boone County White corn, a flour type. They're big suckers, about 7-8' tall with big fat ears from the big fat white kernels. I just want to have some new seed on hand. What will be planted has been in the freezer since 2017 and germination test came in at 100%. I was shocked. Still, it won't hurt to refresh the seed supply. This photo is from that 2017 grow. That's an 8' pole leaning against the corn.









Today I busted up a 3'x18' area for planting Mississippi Silver cowpeas in a couple of weeks.


This evening Pickles and I will replace old pallets with new in the double row of them that the tomato buckets sit on and we'll put down new cardboard under them for weed control. There's always something to do this time of year!

The extension agents in Nebraska always said you need to plant, at a minimum, at least 4 rows in a 10' by 10' square block to get proper pollination. I tried raising sweetcorn in a bed about the size you have and I had ears that were about 50% filled out. Looks like you get A+ pollination on your corn. Do you hand pollinate?

@Wildcat82, special stuff I want to try like that Boone County I do 7 circles in 4x18' beds and it's a dense enough spacing that I have no germination problems. It's a method I read about a long time ago. If I remember right, the circles are 18" in diameter and are set 27" apart on center. I sow around the outside edge of that template I made and thin to 8 plants per circle once seeds are up. Shots from 2021:






I usually grow my main corn in a flat area, five 18' rows with 3' between rows and it does well. This year the flat area will be planted with both Top Hat (77 days) and Silver Queen (88 days). Today or tomorrow I will plant the first 5' of each row with the Top Hat, something new to me that is supposed to have "good cold soil emergence". Soil temp right now is 68 but starting today we're heading into upper 80 temps. Two weeks later the Silver Queen will go into the rest of each row. Between the DTM difference and a two week delay there should be no cross pollination.

The Boone County will be planted in the circle the same day as the Silver Queen. BC is a 120 day corn so definitely no problem there!

Yup, one task at a time and it all gets done! We're far from 18 but we're not dead yet, are we? Putting the garden in is probably the most labor-intensive part; even weeding takes a back seat once things get established. That reminds me. The next time someone asks what I'm going to do with all of that free food I'm going to hit them with a rake! LOL /jk

Wouldn't you just LOVE to?

BTW, Lester says hi.

The annual Pallet Row Rejuvenation Project is done. After a year of holding big heavy tomato buckets, wooden pallets are more than ready to retire. They beg for it every time I walk by. Their wish has finally been granted as 12 new pallets were rescued from a company's burn pile. The cavalry has arrived!

First step: remove the oldies and stack them for later demolition. We decided to leave all the old mostly composted weed-surpressing cardboard in situ. Why make more work?


Second step: Lay down new cardboard. Pickles has been saving boxes and stashing them in the tool shed and is very glad to have them gone. Me too!


Third step: Lay down the new pallets with bricks under the corners.


Well, the deed is done. It's not completely level but good enough for gardening work! It will serve the purpose. The next big project will be rejuvenating all the old tomato soil with compost and a bit of new soil left over from last year. I think I'll take a day off first. Tomatoes are scheduled to go into their forever homes Wednesday or Thursday so I can't tarry too long!

Hi Lester! You're such a good boy! A beautiful boy! Be sure to bring Momma a nice, dead mouse when she's hungry! I'm sure she'll find it very tasty. LOL

I think your house probably looks like mine: piles of project materials scattered hither and yon! A pile for the deck, a pile for each of various garden projects. I'm cleaning out leftovers from previous years and discovering several partial cans of white paint! At least I won't have to buy any for a few years. Deck stain ditto.

Another big chunk of the elephant chomped yesterday and that's mixing last year's tomato bucket soil with new compost and the last of last year's unused potting mix. It took most of morning hauling compose and potting mix up to the tomato pallet area, cartload by cartload, where old soil would be dumped into the cart and mix in along with some fert and a little lime. Each load filled two 15 gallon buckets. By lunch I got the twelve 15 gallon buckets filled and after lunch did four 7 gallon buckets for dwarf tomatoes. I am so glad that is done!

Last year there was some commercial potting mix left over from filling the buckets. Pickles and I loaded it onto a tarp laid over a pallet and shoveled the soil onto the tarp. Then the tarp was pulled up around the soil and tied up like a giant Christmas package. Being on the pallet would keep it off the ground and wrapping it up would hopefully keep the fire ants out of it.





So yesterday when I undid the bundle to use for the tomato buckets, I carefully pulled back the tarp because you just never know if anything got in there over the winter. Yep! There was a young black snake curled up in there just snoozing away. When I gently poked it with the rake handle it headed immediately for a hole in the soil.


I eventually got it to leave but in the process something else wiggled up out of the soil and dashed away. It was a big salamander/lizard sort of thing, maybe 8"-10" long and tan, heading away fast! Right after that a pretty little five-lined skink also appeared and made its getaway. I've seen that big thing about twice before, the most recent being two days ago when it came out of the pile of pots by the shed and zoomed under the shed. Wow! You never know what you're going to see around here. At least there were no fire ants in the pile!

First rhododendron buds of the year!

Tomorrow is Planting Day! In will go some of the bush and pole beans (more a few weeks later), the tomatoes, peppers, squash and maybe the cucumbers if one knee isn't hollering too loudly. I've been busy getting planting areas prepped so all I have to do is drop in seeds and plug in plants. The tomato buckets are ready and other beds have had some fert and a touch of lime turned in and covered with leaf mulch. Pull back the mulch and plant. That will be a lot easier than planting and having to mulch a few weeks later.

Meanwhile the broccoli is coming. I've already cut and used two Packman and given two away. These are Blue Wind and will be ready in about two days. The heads are a bit darker than they appear.


Last year I tried planting a pretty reddish-purple cabbage called Kalibos. That's what the seed pack said but the plants sure weren't. I eventually got some seed from a different source and they sure are pretty. Big plants! And they haven't started wrapping yet. These are 85 day cabbage, way too long for my spring time frame but I just wanted to see what they really looked like.


Finally, here's a cute little tomato volunteer growing on the compost pile. It's really healthy and pretty stocky. That makes me think it's either a dwarf or micro-dwarf. I'm going to pot it up and see what comes of it.

I find that when my joints are screaming but I have to work anyway, a brace can be helpful. Knee or elbow, even an Ace bandage can make a difference.

@GoDawgs I thought of you when I saw this hack that they use in China to protect their corn from the critters. They take a soda bottle and cut the bottom off and then place it over the ear of corn to deter the predators.