My problem is that I have maybe a mile of wood fenceline. It has grass growing around it that the hay guy does not get and shrubby stuff and saplings that need to be cut out every few years. I have to haul it to a place to burn all the cut stuff without ruining hay. Have to get it away from the piney woods, the railroad tracks, the buildings. Wish I could burn it near the pond but it is too far away. We had a few good cool days but they were after rains so it was too wet. And it can't be too dry or it can spread. We haven't been using the wood stove enough to use all the fuel, I guess. My sheep are too picky to keep the pasture neat and clean and thistleless and I don't have horses or cows anymore. I think I am just making excuses. Will get to chores as the weather cools a bit. Cuz winter will come!
@Mary Stetler: Mary, I know you are an expert on stinging nettles. The plants along the fence Saturday were about knee high. I walked through them in shorts and didn't get any "bites." Could they be some kind of nettles anyway? I only took a picture of the leaves. Didn't think the stems would be important at the time. Some close ups (The leaves look too smooth to me.)
Are they more protective/territorial than horses? One farm around here had a donkey with their sheep herd. They said it was very protective of the sheep (coyotes, stray dogs?).
From what I learned on a goat health forum, donkeys can be very good guardians. Yes, more territorial than horses. But if you don't train them early, then it's just the luck of the draw. They may work out and they may not. One good thing is they eat the same stuff goats eat. Unlike dogs. Dogs are way too much trouble and they mostly just bark.
I guess I am fired. Not sure what they are. Nettles have little hairs on the stems and leaves (underside) The toothiness of the leaves is a bit too deep, I think. Maybe Don will know.
You are not fired. It took me hours just to narrow it down to possibly nettles, based on only pictures. Now that I know what to look for, I'd look for the hairs. Hoped not to have to go all the way back there again until spring. Maybe I can find some closer by. Anyway I sprayed it already. If it stings, I don't want to have to walk through it. There will be plenty around the edges left to eat.
I have a weed out my front door that I haven't yet identified. I know I am not going to eat it. But it, like yours, has very toothy leaves. As I looked around the area that I have not sprayed or weeded I noted clear weed, which I hate although I read it is edible if you are starving,(tastes terrible) and some peppermint which I just leave as a pest repellent. Both look a little like short nettle plants. I am getting quite excited about an upcoming wild foods dinner. I put up some lambs quarters to make a creamed soup with and my neighbor called to alert me to chicken of the woods mushrooms up now. I also found some in our woods so I have POUNDS of it for yummy creations. I may have frozen some nettle but I forgot to label it so it may just be some greens for a home dinner. The sting is unpleasant but has health benefits. Nettle usually grows near the antidote which is jewel weed. You just crush it up and rub it on the stung area. You may have to reapply a few times if it is too dry.
I've been reading about nettles. There are at least 4 different kinds other than stinging nettles. Then there's a group called "False Nettles". It doesn't match any of them. And some can be annuals and some perennials. I don't think it's clearweed. The veins come from one main stem up the middle. Not the same. I was hoping it would be valuable so I could bale it and sell it.
I'm getting repetitive. Just like an old person. The spraying trip Saturday was probably almost word for word like the one the previous year. Some other things happened, but only of interest if you live out there. As I mentioned before, there were 11 adjoining properties, all with different neighbors, last time I checked. The mobile home that belonged to the young man up at the corner with the crazy wife (literally, according to the neighbors), and barking dogs, is gone! New fence went up around an adjoining pasture up near the road. New pink surveyor's tape strung on the fence in several places in the back. A fancy split-level house going up about a half mile down the road. The new farm with the menagerie of animals is looking shabby. Vines now growing on the fence. All this finally made me curious about what the neighbors were up to, so I got on the qpublic.net website (shows property sales) again. I've been out of the loop. The couple with all the animals sold their farm 2 years ago for $500K and bought a new farm for $1,550K a few miles away. The man in the trailer must have been renting from them. That's likely why he's gone. But why 2 years later? Another house, whose back yard adjoins, was sold to someone for $40K in 2018 for a flip. They sold it to someone a year later for $151K. That person sold it in 2021 for $200K. That explains the new fence. The old man who owned property on the back side died recently. I met him in the woods only one time. That property transferred to a relative. Explains some pink tape. Mrs. H, who lives 3 houses down, had property adjoining mine only on the back side. She split hers into 3 parts and sold the 22 acres that adjoins for $193K. More pink tape. A second part went to a grandson, who in turn sold it to another couple and they are building the fancy house. The part she lives on has transferred ownership to her daughter. Now there are only 10 neighbors, and 5 are new. The lawyers and surveyors must be doing well. County appraisals have gone up 70% in just the last 4 years. None of the new neighbors ever come by to gossip about each other. I like that. It may be worth it.
With all the building and subdividing, properties are worth a lot more. I wanted to sell and find something further out but too many others looking for the same thing I want so I can't afford it.
I've already talked myself out of doing several things that should have been done today. Instead I mowed the front lawn (15 minute job). As punishment I'm going to straighten up the kitchen and put up new curtains that were bought a month ago. Bottom line I can just move all the junk in the kitchen to the junk room.
The hedge in the back yard grows too fast, vines grow up through it, and it is too much work to keep trimmed. The last time I talked to GC he was going to take out the hedge and replace it with a wood fence to extend across the back. He called Wednesday and said he was ready to start and would give 3 days heads up. This fence would stop at the cedar trees on both sides of the house, because they are likely in the way, and I don't want them removed. I showed him a picture from the web of what I would like. This has wire mesh sandwiched between the wood to keeps dogs out, or at least make them work a little to get around it. Unless GC says he can't do it, I would also like this made with separate segments of wire mesh between each post, instead of one long run. Worst case scenario a neighbor's car backs into a post and breaks it. At most two segments would have to be replaced. I could probably do the repairs myself then. After the fence goes up, I may plant a row of cedars just inside. The two I brought in from the country last winter are doing well. Hopefully it won't take too many years for them to grow tall enough so you can't see the neighbor's back yard from the deck. Wishful thinking?