Cati Amador

We are in our new place in the mountains of NM. Well is 400 ft deep and thank God produces a good amount. We are at the time trying to decide whether to install a water softener system or to just wait and see, but our intuition is that we do need it. Well, our neighbors have one. We are in the middle of nowhere in the mountain but have 2 neighbors that have lived here for over 20 years and they say we need it. We wish we didn't. It isn't exciting to invest all that money and then be a slave to the endless salt buying.

Searching here for posts on the subject, I find mixed experiences but to clarify a bit, here are our water test results: Hardness is 1500 mg/L, Total Dissolved Solids 1900 mg/L, Calcium 422.3 mg/L, Magnesium 99.51 mg/L, Silica 16, Sodium 59, Strontium (What is that??) 7.3, Alkalinity 180, Sulfate 1200.

We are going to get and RO system, but again, wish the softener was not necessary... but it really seems to be with that extreme hardness...

Hoping to hear from your experience and any thoughts or suggestions will be so appreciated.

Hello everyone! Wondering if anyone can give me an idea of what kind of animal munched my little fruit trees. It seemed to have happened in the middle of winter. We had a LOT of snow this year and I assumed that my dormant trees will be ok and I delayed on setting up the wire cages around them... big mistake! The bark is chewed in the middle of the trees, in all of them, the damage is at the same height (about a foot above the ground and about a foot in height). Then lots of little droppings are right next to the tree trunks! How can this be? If it was a deer they will be a bit further away from the tree, don't you think? If it was a bunny the munching would be lower... so I am at a loss.

Do you think the little trees still stand a chance? I believe little buds will sprout below the damage. Above the damage it is pretty much dead already.

I am already digging trenches to bury chicken wire to protect them from gophers (big problem around here) and will also set up cages around them.

You are right! thank you for helping me see this. So I looked up some more info online and I realize it must be gophers.

What have you guys done for gophers? Any success stories?

Hello!

We recently moved to mountains of NM, we are at 8000 ft of elevation. Other kind neighbors have tried planting fruit trees and even though the trees seem to do well in spite of the cold, snow, drought and clay soils, it seems that for all that have tried, the moles end up eating the roots of the trees by year two. No one has been successful in the last 30 years. Kind of discouraging!

Last fall we planted a few cold hardy fruit trees but just know I am wondering if I should have placed chicken wire in the ground around the holes before planting.

Do you know of any other way to protect/prevent/deter the moles from getting my trees? We did see mole trails last spring in the area where the fruit trees are.

Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom!