Blackberry Jam July, 2011

Yeah, I know. I'm supposed to be posting about hunting and fishing. So sue me. My blog, my rules. Besides, I was doing some early deer scouting and hunting up berries, so I counted it as a hunting excursion. I'm posting this now, just before New Year's Eve, because I just gave away a pile of jam for Christmas presents and thought to include this story.

The blackberries were thick this past summer. I guess we had just the right balance of sun and rain at the ideal times for fruit production. I've never seen so many really good berries on the farm. Anyway, I'd decided to make homemade gifts for family and friends this year. I'd already been working on cucumber and watermelon pickles and have always thought blackberry preserves are summer in a jar, so.......

This large patch was in a fence row between the back hay field and the place where we store round bales for the winter. Normally, there's no fruit along this fence because cattle are in this field, but the past two years they've been in other pasture. Over two days, I picked a couple of gallons of fruit, made an awesome blackberry cake (recipe here), and started canning preserves.

I put up the preserves in small half cup jars so more friends could get a taste of blackberry come December. Then I entered them in the judged exhibits at our local county fair, along with some photos that included hunting shots. The judges must've liked the looks of my canned goodies. Not to brag, but those ribbons are all for my stuff. Country living is good. Jeremiah Johnson was advised to move down to a city to avoid the trouble he had with Indians in one of my favorite movies. Robert Redford expressed my feelings perfectly when he replied, "I've been to a city."

Food Plot Progress October 18, 2011

Ten days post planting, and some gentle rain since has gotten things rolling on the small plot planted on the 8th. Rye and peas are up, plus some rape and turnips. Looks pretty good, although I'd like it better if the leaves hadn't fallen in the interim...probably didn't help with germination rates.

Food Plot Panting Part Two October 11, 2011

We worked ahead of the rain today to finish planting; this time the bigger food plot. Another bag of Pennington seed, then over-seeded with five pounds of inoculated turnip seed, along with lime and 10-10-10 fertilizer. We'll see how she does.

The six foot tiller on the Kioti prepares a really smooth seed bed. Metering the seed was difficult with the yellow seeder on the John Deere. Turnips, rape, and clover are tiny, winter grasses are bigger, and the cowpeas are very big. Spreading this seed with any shot at even coverage was an excercise in futility. We finally settled on a setting of "7" for fertilizer and "8" for the seed. Next year, I think we'll make a small seed pass and a peas pass if we're still broadcast planting.

A quick drag with the small chain harrow behind the mule, and we're done. On these small plots, this rig is a whole lot easier to drag with than a tractor with the big harrow. Wish we had a cultipacker though. The rain started as I dragged the plot, and kept up nice and gentle all night. Some seed had sprouted within 3 days.

Food Plot Planting October 8, 2011

I was late getting fall plots in, just as I'm late posting up these notes. This is a small, secret spot. Managed to turn the tractor enough to till it, but planted the plot by hand, with a push spreader.

1 bag of Pennington Buckmaster's Feeding Frenzy, two of 10-10-10, and some lime. October is at least two weeks too late, but we'll see. This mix includes rye, wheat, oats, austrian winter peas, red clover, radishes and turnips..

Busted!

Jack made a break from the pen after dinner the other night. He's only supposed to chase rabbits. Anybody need a beagle that thinks he's a foxhound? A few sessions with the E-Collar ought to fix this.

The first shot nabs Mr. Fox hightailing it along the trail.

East end of a Westbound Fox

A minute later, it's a damning smoking gun shot of Jack doing what Jack's not supposed to do....namely, chase foxes. Goofy beagle.

Numbnuts

October Trailcam Photos

Completely missed early ducks this year. Work killed three days, and then realized too late last night I hadn't picked up my duck stamp yet. Oh, well. Some days chickens, other days feathers. Let's try making up for it with some trail cam pics.

Lots of doe action...few bucks

These guys visit this spot almost every morning

This one turned out to be a nice surprise

Another coon came by 10 minutes earlier

Still in Velvet

Checked the game camera today. Guess I know where I'll set up opening day. Don't ask...I could tell you where, but then I'd have to kill you...

Posting Up

Update:

As I post the past few catchup seasons in order, I will use a posting date that corresponds with that hunt or fishing trip. A few new ones are already appearing below. This way, the chronological sequencing of the journal will remain intact by hunt, not by writing date. It also means posts will begin to fill the space between Nov. 7, 2009 and today. You'll need to scroll back to catch the latest ones. A little different, I know...but it made sense to me when I devised the plan. My blog, my rules...

jts
Labor Day Weekend, 2011

Time to Start Anew

It's been almost two years since hunting partner Cris passed and my enthusiasm for posting here waned. The good news is I've kept a running journal of hunting and fishing events since. Leafing through it indicates not nearly enough hunts. Dad's got pains in his hips and Cris is gone...many of my hunts have been solo.

We had a pretty big earthquake here last week. Not a biggie by New Zealand or Left Coast standards maybe, but 5.9 centered 5 miles from the school I was standing in at the time, and shallow. I've been through many quakes in my time, mostly on the West Coast, but nothing that felt like this one. A fellow teacher, coincidentally from Anchorage, said the same. Lots of structural damage to homes, and two schools in the county perhaps beyond repair...it's the kind of thing that makes one take stock of what's important. I left church today (one of the few in the county that can still have services in the sanctuary after the quake) feeling revived and ready to begin anew on this project.

Here's what I propose: I'm going to review my notes and photos from hunts and fishing trips to catch us up to today. I'll pull together some stories from the best ones and post them up in the next few weeks. Subscribe to the RSS feed or check back to see what's new. My goal is to have everything current by the beginning of early duck season. Hope you'll stick around.

jts