TOPIC: opening day...

TN, thanks for the pic of the three-prong, gives me an idea what to look for. Last year everything was up and formed when I stumbled upon them.

Yes, I've been running trails for 30 years now, started when I was stationed in GE in 89'. I began running "ultra marathons" in 96'. The most common distances in the US are 50k (31.1 miles), 50 miles and 100 miles.

Most ultras are on trails and some get you into spectacular places. One example was a 50k in OR near Mt. St. Helens which provided a great view of the hole from the eruption as well as views down on alpine lakes where thousands of trees that were blown away ended up. I was running and chatting with a guy from KS, at one point the trail dropped off steeply a hundred feet or so on both sides, he asked me to take his pic saying the guys back home in KS wouldn't believe the terrain if he simply described it to them.

I'm almost 60 years old but still able to finish ahead of the cutoff times. When the day comes I can't and my running life fades away, I have among a couple of other interests, ginseng as a new hobby.

I actually won an event last month and received a bottle of moonshine as an award, I haven't opened it yet but will eventually. I was supposed to run a 50k last weekend but it was postponed due to the virus. My next race in May has also been postponed, I don't think many ultras will happen this year because of the virus.

BTW, many of the miles covered in an ultra are walking miles for many of us. My motto is I run when I can and walk when I need to.

Take care all.

woodsrunner...

I am 58 yo... will be 59 in Sept...

Impressed that you are 60 and doing all that running and walking... It sure sounds like you are getting to visit some nice places to do these races.

If I was going to race, that would be my kind of race. Out there in Gods Creation... no better place.

TNHunter

Top pic was 3/11, middle one 3/19 and last one 4/3.

Both my older peaches have a good fruit set right now and no danger in site (7 day forcast).

Looks like it might be a year with peaches

TNHunter

Today I finally got a chance to break up my veggie garden...

I planted it in collards, spinach, kale last fall, and it still had a bunch of that growing on... plus weeds.. with all the rain this spring have not been able to work it yet, until today.

First break pic below... In a couple weeks I will have it looking really good.

Sweet Corn, Tomatoes, Squash, Cukes, etc... will be grown there.

You can see my row of Ilinni Blackberryes just past this garden bed, and one of my Mac Apple trees just past that.

Fine Sunny Day here today - got up in the 80's.... Nice.

TNHunter

TN, the middle photo of your peach trees look like my peach trees currently which are still in pots. I hope to get my 7 fruit trees planted in the next couple of weeks. I may have said that before. I managed to plant 2 each, blueberry, raspberry and blackberry plants this weekend.

I don't see a fence around your garden, are deer not a problem where you live? I'd be glad to send you a few dozen.

I noticed yesterday a couple folks breaking up their gardens, I'll wait another week or two, our nights are still subject to near freezing temps. The past few days have been nice despite night temps in the 30s. Last night was high 40s.

I've decided to stop checking my honey holes for about a week, if I can. Kind of like watching and waiting for the pot to boil or however that phrase goes. I can't recall where every plant was and I don't want to compact the soil where they may have been last year.

Woodsrunner... no fences and we do have plenty of deer..

We like to eat em too.. so they have to watch out for us.

They do not bother my garden stuff too much... one of my apple trees and my crab apple have scars from buck rubs...

They browse my wild simulated ginseng some, just eat the tops, but they come back the next year.

In the fall they eventually clean up most of the greens in my garden... but I plant those in big patches and have enough to share a little.

If any critter start bothering me too much... I usually just end up eating them... with the exception of dillo's which I just toss out in the field and let the buzzards do the eating

TNHunter

TN, My neighbor has an electric fence around his garden. Every year he's fixing the wire and last year he said his solar thingy which supplies the juice wasn't working. He and his wife have a "hands off" approach to gardening, they plant and they harvest, nothing in between, no watering, no weeding, no monitoring, no nothing. It shouldn't but it drives me nuts. I start every morning with a walk through my garden and weed a bit but mainly just observe how things are going.

My neighbor said he placed Irish Spring in his garden last year to ward off the deer. I think they probably ate that too. lol

Last year their garden was a buffet for deer, I think the deer were even bedding down in the garden.

I can see browse signs right up to my porch and they trigger my motion sensitive lights all the time. So I put up a fence.

By "dillo", do you mean armadillo? I didn't know they were so far north as TN. I've seen them in TX and OK, maybe AR.

Have you had issues with raccoons and if so are they good eating? One took out my corn my first year here, I trapped him/her and relocated it. No problems since except with rabbits munching my green beans but some chicken wire took care of that.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Woodsrunner... yes by dillow I mean the armored kind

Possum on the half shell. They are here in TN... have been for the last 10 years or so best I remember. Never saw one before that.
They followed the fire ants here I think... they both showed up about the same time.

Coons... I have had a little trouble in the past with coons... One hot dry summer, something was eating my tomatoes, just ripping them to shreds... got 3-4 of them and I sure did not like that. I work from a home office and have a good view of my back yard and side yard from my office (windows on 3 sides)... and about 3 pm one evening I saw a young coon running across my back yard towards the garden. I grabbed my 22 mag and got to the garden and found him up in a tomato cage working on another one... that was his last day.

I have had some coons and squirrel get my sweet corn just a few times, If I left it on the stalk too long... have found that if I harvest it on time, to early... no problem with that.

Speaking of Coons... back in the mid-late 80's I was a trapper. Here is a Pic with a few Coons in it...
That is me on the right there adjusting my hat as the pic was taken... and my old friend and trapping and ginseng hunting buddy on the left.

We caught 103 coons in 3 weekends on the river that year (could only trap coons in December) and the other weekend the river was up and falling, could not set.

TNHunter

Here is another couple pics of the other weekends on the river that year...

Last trapping haul pic...