Beltainne is coming! (Also Flora and Fauna update)

I know, it says May 3 on the calendar, but you'll recall from my ridiculously infrequent postings, that I don't celebrate Beltainne until the frost-free date, when planting can happen, so we're at least two weeks away.

"Spring" as defined by warm weather has not official sprung in Central Ohio until this week, and has basically bounced right into the 80s.  "Spring"  as defined astronomically (which, let's face it, is what it anyway) has of course been here and even through snow and sub-freezing temperatures, the birds and plants have been doing their thing, although annual ant-migration inward was delayed a bit, starting a few days ago.  While I try to ignore them, if they get on ME they may get squished. Except last night we watched the Marvel movie Ant-Man, so now I'll probably feel bad about it.

Official pre-Beltainne has begun.  It has moved from the mere "musing about what to do" to getting down to the brass tacks of what to do.  The current to-do list:

• Begin the round of weeding. Somewhere, some botanist probably knows why weed tend to sprout forth before the things you actually planted did (please answer in the comments), but either way weeding must start.
• Clean out beds and planters of last years' stuff.  I did clean out the vegetable garden beds last year, and two got torn out. The planters I just left in place, mostly to attempt to hold the soil over winter.  I'm hoping to score a few more from a colleague who's elderly neighbors keep dumping them on her.
• Fix rototiller. Seamus has everything we need to fix it, so hopefully I can get him to do it, or better yet show me how to do it.
• Survey raised beds for repairs. Some of the planks are coming apart, so we may need to just re-attach them somehow.
• Re-establish new beds to replace the ones ripped out.
• Make list of herbs and plants.  It's in my head, but if I don't have it in writing before I go to various sales, I'll come home with NOTHING I actually need.
• Order dirt/mulch.

This year, I am switching it up. Because I like to can, this year is going to be tomatoes in all four beds.  Two beds of "slicers" and two beds of paste tomatoes.  Hopefully that can get us a nice stockpile, including sauces and salsas, in addition to just plain ol' canned. Next year I'm thinking all string beans, all the time, for the same reason, and then the year after that is back to adding zucchini, squash, peppers, etc.  Maybe I'll try corn again.

I have however done some spring harvesting.  Last night, with the help of a neighborhood girl, we sat in my front yard and picked dandelions, some of which are hopefully fermenting in my kitchen for dandelion wine, the rest of which will get made into dandelion bread.  I thought we had picked the front yard clean, but when I walked out this morning, it was like we hadn't even done a thing! 

That's all to update for now. The birds and squirrels are back.  The blue jays come for their morning peanuts when we whistle for them, and the squirrels don't automatically run when they hear the back door open.  I'm not sure when the juncos left, but they've been replaced by goldfinches it seems.  I haven't seen the hawks yet, so I'm not sure if they returned, but as I think about it, it might be an every other year thing.  Mr. Cardinal and Mrs. Cardinal II are back also, and still waiting to see if Waddles the Skunk is around. Stay  tuned!

I Did One Thing Right This Summer...

... But I will get to that in the minute.

We had three mornings in a row of me having to scrape my windows, and one was right after a hard frost.  And thus, summer has come to an end.  The Celts called it Samhain (SOW-ayn, roughly, translates to "summer's end") and as many know it's calendered on November 1.  Mother Nature, however, has her own calendar, so Samhain came to my back 40 feet this past weekend.  So Sunday, after yoga, I set about the task of closing the garden for the season.

On Saturday, with foreknowledge of the coming hard frost, I gathered the last of the late tomatoes, green or not, from their vines.  Sunday was cool, in the upper 40s but with a coat, earmuffs and the occasional hot flash I was perfectly fine.  I pulled the broccoli I had allowed to bolt, the leftover vines of the tomatoes and peppers, the Brussel sprouts that got worms so never sprouted, and put those all into the yard waste bin.  I decided at first to leave the weeds and such in the beds over the winter, to at least hold the soil in case of high winds. I turned my attention then to my compost bin.

Now, I had started to turn it at one point but was thwarted by bees... I just noticed I didn't blog about that!  Long story short:

Dry compost leads to bumble bees. They are cute, fuzzy, slow, and not aggressive...they were annoyed and buzzing, but I decided to leave them alone.  Rain was coming, so I left the last layer open in hopes they'd move out.

Rain happened and the bumblebees did indeed move out.  Sadly, they had sublet their space to some yellow jackets I think.  I don't know they were smaller, faster, definitely not as cute, and were way more aggressive.  I only got stung once, but that was quite enough of dealing with compost for the season.  (Other than occasionally putting stuff in it, but it had gotten full so even that had stopped).


Okay, back to this past weekend.  I figured the frost had taken care of any stinging things, so decided to at least move things so the bin was together.  I got to the middle of the larger part and things were starting to look good.  Like dirt, rather than paper, eggshells, miscellaneous vegetables. Slightly encouraged I kept going until I got to the last level and lo and behold there it was.  Brown, crumbly, ...COMPOST!  I had done it!  SOMETHING this summer had gone right.

Immediately, I decided to pull weeds and rake straw out of beds and start spreading.  I got two of the three beds done that way before I ran out, so it wasn't MUCH, but it was there.  I got done with that and put the bin back together, feeling fairly pleased with myself.  My plan now is to put raked leaves over those beds to protect them (the rest into the compost bin) and when I turn compost in the spring, see what I can add, especially to bed number three.

Also, our apple tree continues to give us proper size apples.  We now need to learn how to manage them so they don't get diseased.

Harvest time is a time of reflection, and there's certainly been a lot of that in a lot of areas.  As far as the back 40 goes, "Hands off gardening" has to come to an end.  If I had noticed the parasites on the Brussel sprouts, if I had done a few other things, the yield may have been less frustrating.  So next year, my hope is to be a bit more involved rather than JUST letting nature take its course.

I'm considering renaming the blog, too.  I named it thusly because it was my hope that getting Janet involved would help, but Alzheimer's has it's own idea, and it's own timeline, and there's nothing that one can do to change that.  But we'll see...I will let that incubate over the winter.

Happy Samhain!

Last Harvest

I always think to myself, "Self, you should blog."  But there's just not much to blog about with the ol' back 40 feet.

(I should really measure that out some day.)

Today, though I did things.  The nights are getting cooler, and we've come perilously close to our first frost, but not quite yet.  Folklore in Ireland and Scotland says that you need to get all the crops in before the first frost; anything left after that belongs to some spirit or another (it seems to vary by region) and good grief you don't want to take it from them!  That way lies bad stuff.

When I got home, then, I got dinner started (turkey meatloaf...yum), and headed outside.  First task was to take down the beans from the poles.  There were some beans that had grown since the last picking, so those all went in a bowl.  Some may be okay for eating...but the rest I think I shall save for seed.  In all likelihood I have more than I need, so if anyone is interested in trading, or just having some bean seeds.  They tasted good and vined with very little assistance.  If you've been following you know of my very "hands off" (read: lazy) approach to gardening, so the fact they were so easy is a definitely plus.  I suppose I should see if I can find what variety they were.  I may still have the seed pouch, but I wouldn't be so confident about that.

Next I hit the sunflowers.  I managed to get three large heads and one medium sized head that are FULL of seeds.  I can't wait to grab those all and roast them for Jim.

Finally, it was time to grab the rest of the brussel sprouts. I pulled all the stalks and cut the leaves off into the compost.  (That's where the bean stalks went too.)  The stalks are sitting on the porch on the table next to the sunflower heads so I can get the sprouts off of them tomorrow, hopefully.  Then the remaining stalks will go into the compost as well.

Now I have a full compost bin, but it is full of greens.  I need Jim to rip up the many cardboard boxes in the garage and put those in there.

I left the tomatoes and bell peppers in.  I want to pull the green tomatoes off and then see what happens.  And, the strawberries have some late berries that will be a nice dessert at some point.  I guess that could have been tonight, but time was up.

To review...my second harvest since this experiment began was...lackluster.  I  did get six pints of zucchini canned, and I have a boatload of strawberries in the freezer to be jam.  But I got nowhere near the tomatoes and bell peppers of last year.  Similarly, while I did well, with rosemary, the remaining herbs were not so great.  I am not entirely sure what I did differently, so I will just chalk it up to the fickleness of Mother Nature.  This does mean the home made Yule baskets may be a bit light in the food department, but I think that's okay.  The point is to give of myself and what I have, and if that's a whole lot of zucchini bread and strawberry jam (not a bad combination, actually), then that's what it is.

I am already thinking ahead to next year, of course.  I certainly want to get with Misty about the grapes, and then talk to Jim about, yes, another bed.  I've learned that with some things you can't wait -- if they bolt or get beyond ripe, then you've wasted that garden space, and gotten no food out of it.

The wheel has turned, and the signs of autumn are everywhere.  I would like to get some straw (I don't know why...I just do) to cover all the beds with a nice blanket (that will also decompose), so they can be ready to go for spring.

Have a great autumn!

First Harvest!

Well, it has actually been happening for a while now, but the zucchini is putting out fruit like you wouldn't believe and they are BIG.  It's like I'll check in the morning, and there are little or no zucchini, and then later I'll look and holy COW!  I anticipate a lot of zucchini bread in my future.

The raspberries have finally started to come in, but this looks like it will be a low harvest year for those.  Strawberries have stopped, but then there was new foliage and new blooms, so perhaps a second harvest on those.  One of the neighborhood kids LOVES strawberries and has occasionally asked to help me pick them, although I haven't seen him since I got back from Starwood.  He is very interested in strawberry jam, however.  We have also gotten about half a serving of green beans.  And there may finally be sprouts on the brussels.

It is time to take in the last of the lettuce, I think and maybe throw some more seeds out to 'see what happens.'  The tomatoes and peppers are getting a slow start, but I anticipate that will fix itself.  Two of the cucumber plants look like they'll not make it and the bean seeds I planted later only yielded two plants that are just kinda...there.  I do still have a pretty bean pyramid structure ready for them, in case they take off.

Tonight, therefore, we'll be celebrating our first harvest, commonly referred to among druidy parts as Lughnasadh.  The calendar says that is on Aug 1, but in keeping with my plan discussed elsewhere of going with the energy of the land, we're doing it today.  I had hoped to time it with the tomatoes or the sunflowers but as those both got in later than anticipated, that may put it after the Equinox! As part of that, we'll be sacrificing last year's Corn Dolly to the fire, and blessing the new one I just finished making.  Here is last year's:

The shawl she has on was one of my first crochet attempts last year.  She's made of corn husks not from corn I grew (because I don't...yet) but from the area.  Ohio is corn country (some call it maize) and so that's what I use.  Because it's for our land, I augmented it with a piece of bean stalk, and some flowers and herbs we're growing.

Here is next year's.  She is unadorned, as of yet.

Hopefully this will bring on the harvest of many things

Janet had a visit with a social worker to get her on a program whereby they will take her to "adult day care" five days a week and maybe get some other assistance.  It's a temporary fix, however, as she continues to decline.  Today was a good day though.  We went to Goodwill so she could drop of clothes, because "Someone else might get some use out of them."  Then to Walgreen's so she could get some Gas X and finally, Tim Hortons.  Coffee and a doughnut has become our thing while running errands.

I sat outside for a bit after dinner, eating my new favorite dessert of cherries and almonds, listening to the birds.  We appear to have a late nest of robins, as a mother (I'm guessing) and juvenile were bipping around the yard.  They need to get on that eating of bugs they are allegedly so good at.

I had hoped she would participate some in the evening festivities, mainly distributing fairies and placing Elsie.  I purchased the fairies when we bought the house and hoped to decorate the yard with them.  Finally the yard feels like a place worth decorating.

I also found a place for Elsie the Owl.  Elsie had been sitting by the backdoor, looking like an extra cat out of the corner of an eye.  Elsie's head also had the eerie habit of spinning around for no damn good reason.  Sure, maybe it was slightly nudged by someone as they walked by, but it just wouldn't stop.   The first time it did that, Jim said, "Oh, that thing needs to GO."  Agreed, and now she's outside where hopefully she can freak out whatever is eating the flowers.

Regardless, Janet didn't feel good, which she blamed on having to take too much insulin (really it's because her glucose is too high, but whatever.  Picking battles.)  Jim came home and ate, we had a fire, we made offerings and got omens.  The wheel keeps turning.

Watching leaves grow

Gardening is kind of boring.  You walk out, you check things, nothing has happened, you come back in.  Next day, wash, rinse, repeat.

BUT THEN...some day, you peak out the window, wondering why you should bother and you find your squash plants are HUGE!  You rush out to see lots of large yellow flowers, and then you notice the cucumbers have blossoms too.  And there are tiny green beans and tiny bell peppers.  The tomatoes...well, they're growing.  They smell like tomatoes, so you take that as a good sign.

Then there's a holding pattern again, and suddenly it's August 5.  Which brings us to today.

Janet had pulled a few onions already, and cleaned them and put them in the fridge.  She said we could use the leaves as seasoning too.  She is not sure about the potatoes, as she only saw one or two blossoms on one plant.  I don't know what that means, or if it even matters, so I just agree.

Well, backing up a bit, I had gone out to see if ANY of the blossoms on the squash were turning into actual squash and that's when I saw it.  The dreaded cucumber beetle!  It flew away before I could do anything, but it confirmed what exactly was eating my squash blossoms.  To the Googlesphere I went, and there found all sorts of helpful information on cucumber beetles, including that not only did they like squash, but also cucumbers (hence the name) and beans.  All of which I have in the same raised bed.  It's like I made a buffet specifically for them.

In searching for what to do about them, there was the usual round of toxic chemical advice.  However, since I want to actually eat the stuff I'm growing, that is out.  The organic options are not much help.  "Find beetles and squish them."  Okay, they fly away.  "Plant baby blue Hubbard squash to distract them, since they like it better."  Yeah, I don't have room for that.  There's rumors of traps as well.  But the basic solution for everyone is to find them and squish them.

Thus, I have been looking.  And looking.  And looking.  And not since I saw the one have I seen any others.  I did go to a garden store in search of the aforementioned traps, but no one there knew anything.  I did get some insecticidal soap.  This will do pretty much nothing to the beetles, what with their hard shells, but it will make me feel better.  I think I will apply it in the morning.

Tonight when I got home I raked up some of the grass and tossed it into the compost bin, which is not really composting as much as it is just holding leaves and garbage.  I need to get a pitchfork to help stir that up.  Then I picked about 5 or 6 more tiny strawberries (a grand total of 10!), and then turned to the onions.  I picked about 12-15 of them (I didn't count) and watered everything.  At that point the leaves were probably too wet for the soap, or maybe they weren't, hell if I know.  I'm just winging most of this.  I was thinking of pulling the potatoes too, but I'll ask Janet what she thinks.

That raises the question of what to do with the empty bed.  I think I might take the lettuce and spinach seeds and toss them in there just to see what happens.  Trying to sprout them from seed indoors hasn't worked, so what could it hurt.

Our harvest thus far is kind of disappointing, and it's largely because much of it went in late.  The canning and preserving I was hoping to do is going to be either way delayed or there won't be enough to preserve.  Already I'll have to supplement the raspberries, and maybe the apples, for jellies.  I don't know that we'll get enough cucumbers for pickles or tomatoes for salsa.  I'm a little disappointed, but again, it's a learning process.  Janet is going to go with us to a farmer's market so we can get some cukes and I'll see if they have raspberries, and hopefully we can get started.