Garlic Bed

More than a month has passed since our last blog entry.  Most of our gardens have been captured by weeds requiring a great amount of work to find the ground.  Overnight frost followed by clear skies created an environment conducive to outdoor work today and we spent two hours working outside.  When Becky returned to the house with her garden cart in tow, two snakes were soaking up the sunshine in the curved stone lined path to the basement door.  The one at ground level quickly disappeared into the stone wall while this more mature snake remained motionless higher up on the wall.  Becky was able to scoot by and get her camera without moving this snake.  We gladly share our homesite with them since they eat varmints that feast on our garden plants.

 

 

In the center of this sea of weeds lies a painstakingly prepared bed of rich garden soil.  Removing the entire weed has been our goal.  Considerable time and effort has been expended clearing weeds from this sixty square foot  section of a planting bed.  Working only with hand tools has required many days to get to this point.  I use a four tined spade to loosen small clumps of weeds.  Then a hand held cultivator is inserted to pull free small clumps of weeds and their roots.  The surface of the bed looks great but we know that persistent evil lurks just under the soil surface.

Quack grass is the most evil weed weed here.  This entire plant mass remained buried in soil that I had painstakenly cleared.  Only the small green shoots hinted that not all of the plant had been removed.  Working carefully in the loosened soil, this monster was removed in tact.  Experience has taught us that despite our application of careful persistence, more of these missed weed pieces will grow alongside of our soon to be planted garlic.

One of the issues that makes gardening difficult is the down side of growing older.  In my wilder younger days much time was spent building dry stone walls.  That could be the cause of the arthritis that has settled in my spine right at belt level.  This morning's use of a long handled potato hook  on already loosened soil set that section of my spine ablaze.  Using the cold grass from last night's frost and removing the need for my spine to support my upper body sent the pain packing.  Becky did not return to find me on the ground.  After she returned I told her that a ground bed might help.  It did but when the pain disappeared, she spoke in favor of the end of today's outside work.  We will try again tomorrow.
 

Eighty Degrees In The Shade

The past several days have been summer like.  Every house has someone outside happily cleaning up winter's debris.  Perennial plants are appearing everywhere and showing major growth changes each day.  Pleasant as it is to be once again working outside in shirt sleeves, we cannot forget the new growth turned to yellowish mush last year when seasonably cold weather followed early hot days.

Arbutus flowers appear to be only days away.  These plants have been under frequent watch since the buds first formed last fall.  The exposed white tips of the soon to be opened flowers are new.  Despite their location under a white pine tree, afternoon sun strikes these plants daily.  As a result these buds are developing ahead of our other more shaded plantings.  Huge quantities of work cry out for our immediate attention but the arbutus will be checked daily.  We want to see every stage of the development of arbutus flowers.

Our first snake of the season lives in a hole in the wall that separates lane traffic from the arbutus.  Becky spotted it without the ear piercing scream that usually greets the first snake.

Our garlic bed is a regular stop on our tour of the back meadow.  270 cloves were fall planted in this bed.  Leaves made small by an encounter with the lawn mower were placed over the planted garlic.  Soil temperature moderation, weed suppression and water retention were the goals of the leaf cover.  Still some of the emerging garlic leaf blades were trapped by the bigger pieces of mulch.  A helping hand set them free.  Very little work will be required here as this crop moves toward harvest.  Mulch will suppress weed growth giving the garlic a tremendous head start.

Here we see a piece of a Royal Jelly Siberian Iris removed from its former home.  The Smith & Hawkins spade purchased in Manhattan and transported to a Brooklyn apartment before being delivered here by daughter Amy is only used to divide plants.  We wish to avoid a broken tine that might result from contact with stones in the wilder sections of the garden.

The harvested iris was taken from the gap between the wall and the large clump.  It will not be missed as the older plant still holds a large spot in the planting.  Despite their being a common garden plant, the crocus are making a rare appearance here.  Browsing deer usually bite off the early green leaves before the cages are placed.  This year we won that race.

Eye Of The Beholder

This Italian parsley plant is not having a very good year.  It is small and now it is being eaten by a parsley worm.  On the other hand this caterpillar will turn that parsley into a beautiful black swallowtail butterfly. I have a passion for black swallowtail butterflies

The pink hibiscus has been frosted , dried out, then drenched and skeletonized by bugs. I think the Japanese beetles did it, but I didn't actually see them and I won't since there are no leaves left for them to eat  Pressing on regardless the large pink flowers open to show off their beauty just the same.  It is quite magnificent for this plant to put on such a display under these conditions.  The large pink flowers with pleated petals flowers look perfect!  To give credit where credit is due, we borrowed the expression "press on regardless" from Sue Hubble.  She used that expression as the name of her old pickup truck.  We read her books when we were trying to define what our retirement life would look like.

Things being what they are this year the garden has gotten away from us.  There are plenty of weeds in this picture.  In this case Ed's stone wall and the red cardinal flowers look so sensational it's difficult for almost anyone to see weeds.  I have always loved the lush overgrown look anyway!

By now I hope you are seeing beauty in the garden and feeling serene! WARNING: If you really get freaked out by snakes STOP reading here.  If you are looking for a different kind of beauty and some excitement in your life, read on!

We have more tools than the shed will hold.  As a result the three wheelbarrows remain outside.  Stored up side down and propped up on large stones or an abandoned bale of hay, we know that creatures live under them. I went to get a wheelbarrow and let out a piercing scream when I righted it.  This was no ordinary scream.  I was still making noise when the sound returned after echoing off of the ridge. Ed knew that I had uncovered an impressive snake, one worth seeing!  When the snake straightened out to slither away, it displayed more than three feet in length.  That is about as large as milk snakes get here.  This one had recently shed its skin.  That is apparent because of the sharp lines of separation between the colors.  The skin is also blemish free.

Later in the day the serenity of the garden was broken with another of my snake shrieks, but it wasn't nearly as intense.  After all these years, Ed could tell it was  only a garter snake and less than a foot long.  He didn't bother to come to see it and the snake was long gone anyway!

One of our lawn tractors must also be parked out of doors.  It has been transported to the dealer twice this year to try and repair the damage done by nesting rodents.  We now park that tractor near a stone wall where we know milk snakes gather.  We are counting on these beautiful constrictors to decrease the number rodents living in the immediate area.

Off To A Fantastic Start

This is the kind of March day we have been waiting for.  No longer frigid, the wood anemone flowers are open and look happy.  Today was perfect for getting out there in the garden.  Ed started the morning working on removing the trees and brush under the electric wires.  I decided to work close to the house.  The sky was blue with a few fluffy white clouds, but the wind was blowing  pretty hard from the south.   I looked for a spot to work that was a little sheltered from the wind.

Ready for something different, Ed cut back one clump of the Siberian Iris .  This one is Lavender Bounty. We leave the dead foliage in place for its insulative value during winter.  Removing it now before new growth appears avoids the disappointment of cutting off new growth tips.  When he was working on the Roaring Jelly plants  he discovered the beginnings of a rabbit nest in the crown of the plant.  If that bunny is smart she will move on and build her nest elsewhere.  When it comes to rabbits Ed roots for Mr. McGregor  while I'm a softy, but even I have my limits!  No rabbit is welcome in the garden but baby bunnies are a particular nuisance.  They can slip right through my wire fencing.  Nothing is safe from their meal time.

I had a fabulous time clearing under the Clove Currant bushes.  Wild white asters really took over this bed.  The plants are still there. They are a weed, native plant that grows incredibly well here.  I feel like I accomplished a great deal this morning.  I also got to see 7 different flocks of geese fly over heading north. They we so high up that they were tiny. Their honking was still loud enough to make me look up from my work.

After lunch and a short nap, Ed and I both headed back outside.  Clouds had moved in but it was still too nice to stay inside.   First, Ed drove to the back to clean out the rest of the bluebird boxes.  Having seen a pair of bluebirds house hunting, that job could be put off no longer.   I worked removing the stems from  red bee balm.  It's fragrance filled the air while I worked.  Wow it's good to be back in the garden!  When he returned we both worked on the bed in front of the house.

Ed's work displaced the first snake of the season.  It was a small garter snake with a bright red tongue.  He was not happy.  Clearly Ed was between him and where he wanted to go.  When Ed moved away  we both watched in amazement as the snake disappeared down a small space between the house foundation and the stone path.  I will be watching for him since he has distinctive markings just behind his head.  It will be neat to see how much he grows if he manages to avoid the milk snakes that live here too!

We worked until we were both very tired and spent some time sitting on the bench together.  Tomorrow is another day.  We are off to a fantastic start!

Wild Neighbors

When we decided to live in a rural setting we knew that many other inhabitants were already here.  For the most part we enjoy an occasional glimpse of the wild life that calls this place home.  Plant loss is part of the equation and we accept that consequence.  A partial bucket of crushed oyster shell is stored under an inverted trash can.  Snakes were discovered between the two containers.  On this day I asked Becky if she wanted to try for snake photos.  Lifting the outer covering can revealed a mouse nest in the bucket.  One quick jump to the rim was followed by a drop to the ground.  The mouse ran over the snake and disappeared into the weeds.

That bulge in the center of the Eastern Garter snake's body may well be an earlier mouse meal.  Only one mouse was in the nest where there should have been two.  If the snake is digesting a mouse, that is fine with us.  We never molest a snake when we encounter one because we want them working on rodent control.

Clearly, there are two snakes in the picture and a shed skin.  The scale pattern on the shed skin matches the stripes on the garter snake.  Scales on the milk snake are more regular in shape.  A cloudy blue eye can be seen on the milk snake indicating that it is about to shed its skin.  We will look for this snake again soon.  The bright colors on new skin are worth seeing.

It would be less than honest to fail to mention our standard response when we happen across a snake. Becky always screams with a sharp volume only heard when a snake is unexpectedly underfoot.  I always leap into the air where I remain for a really long time.  My airborne gyrations defy the laws of physics while sending me away from the snake.  You would think we would get over it, but our response is still the same whenever the unexpected slither is underfoot.