Glorious Autumn

For the past two days it has been a delight to be in the garden, enjoying  blue skies  sunshine and fall color.  The chaotic sound of  Canada geese on the river always gets our attention. It's fun to watch the birds prepare to get organized for their flight south.  A trial run down  the river is made in somewhat disorganized fashion. When the large group returns back up the river, we delight in the stragglers as they take the short cut over the garden. Since the river is at a lower level, and  the bird's altitude remains the same, we get a very close look at the birds even hearing the beats of their wings. It happens every year, but it never fails to thrill.

Several hawks soared over the garden, but our most exciting visitor was a piliated woodpecker. Ed recognized its dippy flight. He watched to see where this large bird went, then he came to get me. What a guy! The woodpecker had flown to the large wild cherry tree.  I hurried outside hoping for a glimpse of the shy bird. Ed and I took different paths to try to sneak up on the bird. We both got a chance to see it , but  when it saw us, it squawked loudly and dropped down to ground level. Still making plenty of noise the bird flew out of sight. Seeing one of these big,  red headed, black and white woodpeckers is a real coup. It made an already glorious autumn day incredibly special!

Garlic Ready

New ground has been made ready for planting garlic. A mid October planting date here usually allows for six weeks of root growth before the ground freezes. This U shaped bed comes with a problem. I can reach to the middle of the five foot wide beds. Across the corner is more than five feet. We do not walk on the planting beds so a piece of board will provide a kneeling place to plant from. Once planted, weeds here will be out of reach. Stone paths provide a dump for the all too common stones the glacier left in our soil. An active compost trench will replace the field grass next to the bed.

Removing the sod was the first step in preparing this garden. We may avoid that step if the grass clippings kill the grass in next year's new bed. Raking out the larger stones allowed us to grow potatoes and squash here this year. Sifting out the smaller stones will allow finer crops to be tended. Trying to pull weeds with the stones in the ground is an unpleasant chore. Pulling weeds from the sifted soil is a breeze.


Disease made developing this new ground necessary. This year we harvested perhaps one hundred pathetic garlic bulbs from the seven hundred twenty planted. Pink root, Pyenochaeta terrestris, plagues onions and garlic in the garden near the house. A three year crop rotation has failed to remove this pest. Both the soil and our compost are infected. New seed stock has been found. No garden compost was added to the new planting beds. More than the usual anticipation surrounds this year's garlic planting.

Deer can easily jump over a four foot high fence. The small area inside the fence does not provide enough space for the deer to land the jump. A circular running start would be required to jump out. So far the fence system has prevented any deer from entering the area. I gain access by untying twine that secures fence to posts. Laying sections of fence aside opens the entire area to me. Nest building birds do take fiber from the twine but to date none have opened a gate.