Blazing Oaks 2016

[geologic]

Some of my big 6x24 raised beds have gotten over run with gophers so I though I would try some of those 'sonic spikes' on the recommendation of a friend, despite being skeptical of them. Turns out my skepticism was not unfounded the have proven to be totally and utterly worthless, the gophers burrow right up next to them and pay them no mind at all.

The sonic gopher chasers have been successful for me--
but it takes ~2 weeks for 'em to start working...

 

[Seamaiden]

Have you considered adding snakes?

Looks fantastic! Hope you're having a blast at R,W&B's this weekend. We're missing you all.

 

[Blaze]

Is there a place you can actually get live, native snakes to release? I have been seeing quite a few of them this year, but not out in the garden for some reason.

Actually can't make the R,W&B party this year, my cousin is getting married on our ranch today and I've been to overwhelmed with work to do much else these last few weeks.

 

[Seamaiden]

Oh wow! I bet everyone misses you.

I would set up 'low water'. Think of a bird bath 'dish' but on the ground. That should attract both predators and prey.

I'm reading a lot about setting up trap crops for these types of pests as well, EG, some grass or something a bit tastier for them to go after rather than what you want for yourself. Some use things like spinach, others use grasses.

 

[Blaze]

Yeah it feels weird - I haven't missed that party in a decade, and haven't not cooked and helped NC with it for a few years now. It is often the only time all year I get to see some of those folks too.

We have done the low water things, with moderate success. The live traps catch the occasional squirrel as well. If you don't want to use poison it definitely takes a multi-pronged approach for the rodents. There is a winery south of us that has started employing professional falconers with great success. How cool would that be to have a falcon to protect your garden?

Honestly though, by far the most effective means for the squirrels and the other larger rodents has been to actively hunt them. I got a long barreled hunting shot gun and a skeet shooter to practice with over the winter. That has proven to be 10 times more effective than any trap or anything else we have ever tried - without the negative environmental effects of using poison.

 

[papapayne]

Yeah it feels weird - I haven't missed that party in a decade, and haven't not cooked and helped NC with it for a few years now. It is often the only time all year I get to see some of those folks too.

We have done the low water things, with moderate success. The live traps catch the occasional squirrel as well. If you don't want to use poison it definitely takes a multi-pronged approach for the rodents. There is a winery south of us that has started employing professional falconers with great success. How cool would that be to have a falcon to protect your garden?

Honestly though, by far the most effective means for the squirrels and the other larger rodents has been to actively hunt them. I got a long barreled hunting shot gun and a skeet shooter to practice with over the winter. That has proven to be 10 times more effective than any trap or anything else we have ever tried - without the negative environmental effects of using poison.

With the added bonus of the satisfaction of knowing there's one less thing target eating your roots!

I am pretty fortunate I think...my back neighbor runs a berry farm and his property backs to my place, and our hay fields share a border, anyway he has a huge old school windmill running a pipe in the ground that chases the underground critters away. it covers my garden and greenhouse area, but the range is obvious. In my front yard and hay field it doesn't cover, and its riddled with gopher, voles, and weasels.

 

[cemchris]

I'm wondering about the whole deer thing. Do you all have the purple painted fence posts up there? Basically in Texas you paint your fence posts/tree trunks purple around the property line. This is the same as a no tresspassing sign. What this really does is basically say all the animals on this property are off limits. You come on my property and shoot anything well I'm not going to fire any warning shots. In Texas it's pretty much you see that you turn around so you don't get a wad of rock salt in your ass or worse.

 

[MrRojos]

Really nice healthy looking ladies nice job amigo:)

 

[Blaze]

I'm wondering about the whole deer thing. Do you all have the purple painted fence posts up there? Basically in Texas you paint your fence posts/tree trunks purple around the property line. This is the same as a no tresspassing sign. What this really does is basically say all the animals on this property are off limits. You come on my property and shoot anything well I'm not going to fire any warning shots. In Texas it's pretty much you see that you turn around so you don't get a wad of rock salt in your ass or worse.

No, we don't have that here in California. Great idea though! Here you are supposed to post 'no trespassing/hunting signs' every 1/3 of a mile, the purple paint sure would be faster and easier. California isn't exactly the most pro-hunter/pro gun state. I've got nothing against hunters, I just don't have a lot of tolerance for trespassers and poachers.

 

[Blaze]

With the added bonus of the satisfaction of knowing there's one less thing target eating your roots!

I am pretty fortunate I think...my back neighbor runs a berry farm and his property backs to my place, and our hay fields share a border, anyway he has a huge old school windmill running a pipe in the ground that chases the underground critters away. it covers my garden and greenhouse area, but the range is obvious. In my front yard and hay field it doesn't cover, and its riddled with gopher, voles, and weasels.

Interesting, so the pipe was set up specifically as a pest deterrent? Does it generate noise, or how does it work?

 

[papapayne]

Interesting, so the pipe was set up specifically as a pest deterrent? Does it generate noise, or how does it work?

Yea, the windmill blades when rotating rotate a metal rod thats housed in a tube in the ground at the base the windmill. So it's make noises in the ground as the windmill rotates and scares them off.

 

[Little Hill]

What is the pollen source on those wr crosses?

 

[Blaze]

From some seeds I gave a friend, they 'accidentally' selected out a male last year. Or in other words they misidentified a male and planted it, and seeded their garden.....

 

[Blaze]

Today was a big day - we had our inspection with the Sheriff department this morning. It went extremely well, we did not have a single violation or anything that needed to be changed. The inspector was very impressed with how professional and clean our set up was, and even commented that our light dep had the best looking buds he had seen so far this year LoL.

Such a huge relief to have that out of the way, I felt like I was on the verge of a panic attack all week, and had been pulling 14 hour days to get everything ready. It was totally worth it though, we couldn't have asked for a smoother inspection. Since we had no violations the Sheriff department does not even need to come back - all future inspections will be through private 3rd party inspectors and/or the county ag department.

I still have to make an appointment to go down to the Sheriff's office to buy by zip ties and pick up our permit, and we need to get some 4' x 16' banner made with our permit number to post by the gardens so it can be seen from the air, but as of today we are officially one of the first legal, permitted cannabis growers in Mendocino County!

 

[BudBogart]

No, we don't have that here in California. Great idea though! Here you are supposed to post 'no trespassing/hunting signs' every 1/3 of a mile, the purple paint sure would be faster and easier. California isn't exactly the most pro-hunter/pro gun state. I've got nothing against hunters, I just don't have a lot of tolerance for trespassers and poachers.

The sheriff has arrested 6 people off our property. They never get arrested for trespass, they all are wanted on other charges. We would be up to 9 arrested, but the 3 "most wanted" got away.
We are 1 1/2 miles inside of private property, so by the time you get here, you know you are trespassing.
There is a vacant cabin 1/2 mile behind our place, that appears to be the big attractant. Shooting a trespasser is out of the question here. We just intimidate the hell out of them, lol. (California)

 

[Seamaiden]

@Blaze -- CONGRATULATIONS!

Folks, this is the first MMRSA farm on the Farm. :D

 

[Blaze]

Thanks Seamaiden :)

 

[Blaze]

Harvested the Watermelon Rancher and Urkle Wreck from the light dep today. The other plants are 1-2 weeks out still

Watermelon Rancher:

Wifi 43 getting close. Really looking forward to this one, it has one of the best smells of any OG I have grown and was just an all around nice plant. Good structure, vigorous, looks pretty, lots of crystal. Supposedly tests very high on THC too:

OG Twist:

Light dep greenhouse right before the chop. Mostly Urkle Wreck in the front row.

 

[sanvanalona]

Congratulations @Blaze! That must be an amazing feeling to be one of the first legal gardens in mendo. Way to be a trailblazer, your dep looks terrific too!

 

[Blaze]

Thanks sanvanalona, best of luck to you with your legal ventures this year too. It is exciting to finally see some serious progress in 2016, I did not think it would happen this rapidly. Even back in the spring I would have never guessed we would be this far this fast, or have ever imagined that we would willingly invite law enforcement out to our gardens. However it does concern me that Mendocino's ordinance was just a temporary one - the permanent one won't be in place till the end of this year or even next year. So unfortunately we may have to go through this whole song and dance again next year. At least we will be established and ahead of the pack though.

Anyway, time for a garden update - I snapped a few shots of the full season outdoor over the last few days.

SFV Backcross:

Heart Attack Kush:

Watermelon Rancher:

Archive OG:

Guava Kush x Heart Attack Kush, OG Twist, and Archive OG: