Early Spring activities

 You know, I thought I posted a few times last year...but they aren't here. Huh...

Anyway, spring has sprung at the Sacred Hart Suburban Animal Sanctuary and "Farm."   The phlox, Queen of the Nigth tulips, and one or two lonely daffodils bloomed and have faded, but just in time for the irises (pictured).

We have another batch of kittens born April 11ish and April 17.  We've seen three little black or dark grey ones a few days ago, but not since. Mamas Marbles and Patches are coparenting and have moved them twice but still in our yard.

We also had a litter of raccoons, which are just so stinkin' cute.  Mama Ricki still comes around for food, but I don't know where she moved them.

I'll post my 'done' list but I've spent most of my time since April-ish weeding. The first thing to come up in the spring is typically NOT anything I planted, but weeds. All those things that I need to evict from the beds.  So I spend 15 minutes a day, starting in the front and gradually move around the house. I am about halfway done now.

It is so interesting to see the diversity. There was a huge batch of chickweed, which looked like it would be easy to pull, but was not. Some plants spread out and so their roots are shallow; once you find the correct root, you can clear a whole bunch all at once. Of course some spread out and that root ISN'T that shallow.  Some have thick stems with sharp thingies but if you hold them the right way, even barehanded and pull, they come out really easily. Then others have thick steps with sharp thingies and the only right way to hold them is with gloves, and they are not going to come out easily.  (My favorites are the ones with sharp thingies ON their roots.)    Some are even super useful if you get them harvested at the right time. I did get the dandelions to make wine with. I did not get the purple dead nettle in time.  

So, what I have now is a mental library of various things growing where they're not allowed, and a repertoire of how to evict them.  I usually explain that they can have the whole yard, just stay out of the flower/vegetable beds.  

There's probably some deeper wisdom about all that. I invite you to find it :)

Here's what's happened so far. It took so much longer than it appears in writing... but also never takes as long as I think it will:

• 24 red onions planted Easter weekend (harvest around July 13)
• May 9
• red and white petunias around border of the front flower bed
• Marigolds around onions bed
• Red salvia of some kind in front bed near hummingbird feeder
• May 10
• Chadwick plant sale: bought and planted parsley, basil, marjoram, rosemary, and chamomile 
• All sorts of bird feeder maintenance
• Weeded second vegetable garden bed
• May 11 (Mother's Day)
• Made a hanging planter for mom (I didn't like any of the premade ones)
• May 12
• Jim finished second veggie garden bed for me, started on third
• planted 4 bell peppers and 4 'mystery tomatoes'.  
• planted marigolds (Need more marigolds)
• More birdfeeder stuff. All the hummingbird feeders are up (as of 5/11 I think). more regular bird feeders to get sorted, and probably need two more for the front.

Oh goodness....let's try this again! April 2023

 I have resisted even the MEAGEREST of garden journaling, even ignoring the pretty book I bought. Until this year when a friend at work suggested we journal stuff, and we would talk about it on Sundays when we worked. So... she started and I did not. Then... I just started.

So I've got handwritten journal entries.  Those have been somewhat easier as I keep the journal on the patio (a new edition, but that's another story) and write down things as they happen...INCLUDING wildlife sights and sounds.  Thus far we can count cats, several birds, raccoons, skunks, and as of a couple of nights ago, a toad sighting on the front porch where the bugs congregate around the light.  

I am not going to get distracted right now with pictures. I just want to get caught up. So we'll start with my entries for April.

4/8/2023  

• Birds I have heard, but yet seen (thanks to Merlin app) -- Northern Flicker, Bluebird
• New sunroom (the aforementioned patio) final walk through is Monday
• Getting late start but...
• Testing seed packs for viability. It says to check in 3 weeks but I may not wait that long
• Sugar snap peas
• Cilantro
• Orach
• Anna-something lettuce (my handwriting remains horrendous)
• Jericho lettuce
• Romaine lettuce
• Swiss Chard
• Buttercrunch lettuce
• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Danvers carrots
• Soil temperature is 47 degrees so still too early.
• Filled main bird feeder, ground feeder, meal worm cups and last suet cake
• FIRST BEES SEEN!!!

4/10/2023

• More clearing of future perennial vegetable plot - I had planted winter rye over the winter (duh); clearing it out was not quite as easy as advertised, at least in my beds
• Discovered the hand sickle is REALLY SHARP.
• Captured Goldfinch song on Merlin -- they are back!! filled and hung seed socks.
• Heard Bluebird again
• Other newbies heard:
• Worm-eating Warbler
• Tufted titmous
• Saw red head or downy woodpecker (couldn't get good look)

4/15/2023

• Planted 2 asparagus crowns from Jennifer. Tried to move the third one I have established into that bed, but it's pretty well in there; may need Jim's help, or just wait until after the season.

4/16/2023

• Replanted asparagus right side up (oops). I think I will make that whole bed asparagus so I will need 2-3 more (if I can't move the other one).
• Weeded front of new patio door -- lots of stuff from before popping up, so pulled roots too.
• FOUND A POTATO from last year! Yay, seed potato!

4/18/2023

• New humming bird feeder and bluebird feeder.  ALL feeders up and filled, or will be once I wash the bluebird ones.  I discovered I put the yellow bird feeder back together wrong so I will fix that when it gets half empty again.
• Got a bag-garden bed for the surprise potato

4/20/2023

• BLUEBIRD SPOTTED LAST NIGHT!
• Planted potatoes in the new bed-planter.  
• Jim is doing the platform on the side door of the patio
• LOVING the new rain barrel!!
• Lots of bees loving the flowers on the apple tree.

Next up ... MAY!!

What a year...

 Has it really been over a year? 

I had grand designs like always to update more. I thought 'with the pandemic, clearly I'll have time do this stuff."  And yet...

I did do a garden and it was okay. I didn't go anywhere so I was able to pay more attention to it.  Still, some things didn't work quite right.  I tried starting seeds and got MORE successful with it this year, but some stuff just died. I may be the ONLY person who can kill zucchini/summer squash plants.  

I did get lettuce and spinach.  The tomatoes didn't come full on until after classes started so my plans for those were scuttled and we just tried to keep up.  I was able to freeze spinach (I have pictures..maybe I'll post those); I made pickles, canned tomatoes eventually. I even canned some corn from when we bought 6 ears but only ate three.

So far, I've ordered seeds and am awaiting them. The greenhouse is ready to receive them. I need to buy more seed pods (those little things to start them).  

I found a crop rotation 'map' in a book so that will help that.  

Right now I hear birds singing in our 'fake spring' that comes between first and second winter in Ohio. The geese are moving, and I smelled evidence of one of our skunks that is now out of hibernation (or whatever they do).  My irises are starting to poke up too. 

It's been a long, dark year.  I don't know if we're out of that particular tunnel yet, but at least Mother Earth is proceeding accordingly.

Planted!

 Nearly all the things got planted the week of May 15-16.   So here's what they looked like then (I am so bad at updating this...)

This first bed is dedicated specifically to the spirits of the land.  You can see the milkweed growing on the left, and I planted goldenrod as well.  The third thing that was going in there I accidentally didn't buy and now I don't know what it was. So stay tuned. There's also a hummingbird feeder in this one but I'm about done with this design.  The humming birds don't seem to see it and it's hard to clean, so now it's all gross and mildewy inside.

Nature Spirits

 This next bed is in the other corner of the house and just by default is dedicated to the ancestors. I'm not sure what else to put in there.  That is a crap ton of sage that is blooming beautifully. There's room for something else behind it (besides the weeds I dug out) and I'm still thinking of what that might be. It gets the fullest sun of all but one bed in the garden.

Ancestors

 This is a bit of the moongarden.  If I remember right, those are some kind of primrose? They come on like gangbusters.  I think we're going to get some fairy houses to put in there, knowing full well the controversy over the nature of the Good People.  I don't think it could to give them some nice houses though, right?

Moon Garden

 First of the food beds, and it's somewhat sparsely planted right now.   One of those is the Lazy Wife beans (no strings) and the other is some sort of dwarf melon.  I have plans to add more beans (good for the soil and the peeps, too!)  but I'm also not sure how much room the melon is going to end up needing.  Up in the top left-ish corner you can see the volunteer chives from last year.

Next bed is all tomatoes all the time.  And I think one of the peppers.  Right now, something is munching on the leaves, so I applied so Neem in the hopes I wasn't too late.

(TBC...I have more pictures but I they won't post for some reason..)

Weekend? More like GREENKend....

Okay, not funny.

This is, however THE weekend of gardening. If Spring/Beltane/Summer had a "Black Friday" weekend, this would be it.

Today, I went to Chadwick Arboretum's Plant Sale and Auction.  I had heard about this, but last year was the first year I went, with the Lovely and Talented Misty. Misty is so lovely and talented, she now as a job, so I went by myself.  I arrived at OSU, kicking myself for not making a List to Be Adhered To (as to avoid overspending), and resolved to be Sensible and not get more than the cart would allow.

The carts hold quite a lot.

I meandered around. I'm never sure what to get, even if I know what I'm looking for.  I mean, I want a 'tomato' but there's 87 million varieties, and each booth has overlapping types and they're organic and stuff and....*sigh*  I let intuition guide me, usually.  They have lots of good stuff, so if you're available Saturday you should check it out.

I probably got there at 8:30 and was home by 10, with:

Flowers:  Nasturtium, Brutus Hosta ("created" there at OSU, hence the name), blue salvia, pink salvia, and goldenrod for the butterfly garden. I got something else for that garden, but it didn't have a tag, and I couldn't remember where I got it.  Sadly, that did not mean I got it for free and since at the time I didn't know what it was or where it belonged, back it went.

Herbs:  Marjoram, oregano, lavendar, basil, parsley, lemon grass, and rosemary

Vegetables:  2 zucchini, 2 pickling cucumbers, lunchbox peppers, 2 yankee bell peppers, 2 amish paste tomatoes, 2 some other slicing tomato (heirloom!), 1 black cherry tomato.

You'd think I'd be done, but tomorrow is the Gahanna Herb Show.  I'll be meeting Beth, Misty, maybe Julie and Teresa for breakfast before we descend upon it.  I really don't have much to get after today, but I liked their pole beans from last year (although I have seeds I got last year too), and I'm sure I can find something.

The seeds I sprouted are doing okay. I forgot to bring them in one night, so I'm not sure how they're going to do.  I might want to replace them with actual plantlings, but we'll see.  I do need to replace some strawberry plants. I wish I had seen that before this morning; they had some there.

I came home and had second breakfast, and then after cleaning up from that, I pulled weeds in the raised beds to get them ready.  Almost every bed has had it's spring weeding, except the moon garden, and that's almost done.  I just don't know what belongs there and what doesn't.  Seamus will have to do that, and then roto-till the beds.  I may want to turn the compost and see if I get some good stuff to roto-till in there.

Pictures forthcoming.

As I look at my big box of green-kins, I remember last year how excited I was for the summer growing season to come, and the plans I had...and then how that was completely kicked to the curb by random mystery illness....it's hard to raise that level of hope again, but such is the lingering emotional challenge of the past year.  I almost didn't do any gardening at all this year, but that would be to admit defeat and while I don't always feel like it, I follow the maxim sometimes of "Fake it, 'til you make it." So much doesn't seem real, like it happened to someone else....but not all.

So I plant.  The Earth heals.

New Year

I look at the date of my last post... June 2.  The last half-or-so of June was tied up with Festivals and I was going to update things....but.....

I was hospitalized on July 11 for what has turned out to be Acute Disseminating Encephalomyelitis.  (We think.)  It has been a long process of treatment, then in-patient rehab, then home rehab, then outpatient rehab.  I've had to relearn how to talk, walk, write...basically everything.

And that's all I want to dwell on that.  I'm back to about 90-95 percent from where I started and so now, in addition to heading back to work, I turn my mind towards the things I love to do, and one of those is the garden.

While I was incapacitated, I had great friends who looked after my land, harvesting things, weeding, and just generally upkeeping stuff.  I can't thank them enough.  They helped me put the land to sleep in the fall, too.  Since then, we've been enjoying the wildlife that seems to have just decided our yard is home.  Our census is below, with our guesses as to how to tell critters apart:

• Three grey squirrels, Punky (the Hawk-Harasser), Itchy and Scratchy.  Itchy and Scratchy are smaller and usually together.  
• Fireball, the white squirrel. I thought he was long gone, but then I saw him on December 28.
• Four blue jays. Jim has named them (Jay, Jerry, Jackie, and Ruth?).  Every time I think they've moved on for the year, the next day I hear them squawking and begging for peanuts.
• Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal
• Mr. and Mrs. Purple Finch (We are more creative with the names some times rather than others.)
• Little brown birds of undetermined species (LBBOUS). Too many to name (although less than usual in the winter).
• Three crows.  They show up about once every two weeks. Huginn and Muninn and...I can't remember the third name. I'm told it was 'Jim' because that's funny.   Either way, the last time they came around though there were only two.
• Freyja the hawk (rarely seen after the "nest incident.")
• Dizzy and Lizzy the grey juncos, a.k.a snowbirds.  Dizzy was a male snowbird that hit the glass patio door running from Freyja.  He was stunned, so I picked him up and put him under the yew bush for some shelter from the wind and Freyja.  He was gone later.  We have so many that all the males are Dizzy and the females are Lizzy.  It's just easier that way.
• One of the neighborhood feral cats from Stormy's family.  Her size and long hair, but dark grey or black.

Jim tosses about a cup of peanuts out every morning; some out to the yard (away from the vegetable garden!) and some placed on the deck railings.  The bird feeder is pretty active, and doesn't get empty quickly despite being raided by the squirrels.  The snowbirds and LBBOUS finally found the suet feeder in the maple tree. 

As you can maybe guess, there's often a lot of activity, and they never sit still for pictures. Today, we are finally getting some snow, and while that makes me want to stay indoors and sleep, the critters are having a good ol' time.  Freyja the hawk was on the back fence with her head tucked down low against the wind. Either that, or we have to add an owl to our inventory. I couldn't get a good look even with binoculars.

The Dizzys and Lizzys are flitting about the deck, and Mr. Cardinal also made an appearance.  They all seem to be happier about the snow than we hairless apes. Actually, this hairless ape is not so sad about it either.  Snow melts and goes down into the water table (hopefully), and is a Good Thing for gardens.

Before the weather turned, Jim raked leaves (usually my job, but...)  and all five of the garden beds got a nice blanket to keep down weeds (we'll see) and keep the soil warmer over the winter.  The snow is laying upon that, and will help break down the leaves so we can till them under in the spring.

Which means, it's time to look for seeds.  Last year I got interested in seed catalogues, but it was too late.  This year, I have some my friend Misty gave me, and I'll look to those and decide what to try.  I' managed to save seeds from our bell and banana peppers last year.  I even managed to can the banana peppers, even though I had to use a walker for most of the time.  I need to get to Dill's Green House for seed starting supplies and maybe some hand tools.

I don't do resolutions, but I'm going to try to be better at keeping this up.  Feel free to share to other people if you think they'll be interested, and comment down below.  Happy New Year!

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.

Bolting for Solstice

From Wikipedia:

Bolting is when agricultural and horticultural crops prematurely produce a flowering stem (or stems) before the crop is harvested, in a natural attempt to produce seeds and hence reproduce. These flowering stems are usually vigorous extensions of existing leaf-bearing stems, and in order to produce them, a plant diverts resources away from producing the edible parts such as leaves or roots, resulting in a poor quality harvest from the grower's point of view. Plants that have produced flowering stems in this way are said to have bolted.



From me: 

Bolting is when I realize I am not getting fresh broccoli this season.

This past few weeks I have learned about bolting.  Both my spinach and my broccoli did so.  I managed to salvage enough spinach leaves to get barely two servings for Janet and I.  Despite warnings that the leaves would be tough, they were fine.  I credit the healing power of bacon grease.  Bacon fixes all things.  That and a little lemon juice, then crumble the bacon used to get the grease from, ta da! Delish.

I am not so lucky with the broccoli.  I cut everything off in the empty hope that maybe it will sprout anew.  
My head lettuce also liquified from the insides out.

For those keeping score that's a yield of 2 servings of spinach out of six plants, no broccoli out of six and no head lettuce out of six. 

Ah well. 

The strawberries however were going like gangbusters, until yesterday.  We finally have raspberries on the plants, and tiny little apples.  I didn't think we'd get any apples, as I thought the frost killed all the blossoms.  

This past weekend we finally finished planting everything we have to plant.  After I pulled the spinach and slimy lettuce, there was room to plant the tomatoes and bell peppers.  I bought a yellow squash and a zucchini so I will at least get three of one or the other.  (For those who didn't watch the video, I lost track of which plant was what, so I have no idea whether I've already planted two zucchinis or two squashes).  The beans are looking good so I put up the twine scaffolding I had last year.  Janet came out and turned over the onion leaves so they would bulb.  

The herb pots have expanded.  In the big one I put basil, oregano, and parsley, and then the smaller ones have rosemary, lavender, and a LOT of sweet woodruff.  I got one plant from a friend and then bought what ended up being six more at Dill's. They are small enough that I can bring them inside over the winter, but I do want to get another large planter.  While I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all the woodruff, there was one benefit.  When it rained a little bit ago and I went outside, the scent was AMAZING.

Really, the only thing left is finding some cucumbers we can make pickles out of, and then maybe some more beans.  We have one more pallet and some dirt, so we shall be good.

Last night we opened the deck in style with an impromptu cookout.  Three friends came over spur of the moment.  Janet made lemonade, showing me how to do it, and she ate with us.  The lights are on the canopy, torches were filled and lit, and it was basically THE perfect evening.  The only thing that would have been better would have been the fire lit, but I need to fix up the firepit.  That is the plan for this evening. Maybe once that is all done we'll take another video tour so you can see how stuff has changed.

In other news, Janet bought an owl.  Not a real one, one of the garden ones used to deter pests.  She said "Owls are good people," and since it's both her money and something with which I totally agree, I didn't argue.  She named it Elsie after her best friend.  Elsie was also an asshole, I hear.  Right now the owl is sitting inside as we decide what to do with her.  She continues to freak us out, as she looks like a cat...or...something....

We have reached the point in this odyssey where outside assistance with her is necessary.  We have someone coming for an assessment in July.  While it will be nice for help, this is just an unpleasant reminder that things are not going to get better.  Ever.  And that is heartbreaking.

But....The garden still grows, and I still get stories, and help, and occasionally little gems of wisdom. When she told me about the owl she tried to keep as a pet, I showed her my shelf of owl figurines, and that made her smile. 

Solstice is in a few days and I will be at festival.  Hopefully everyone will take care of the garden while I'm gone.  May the blessings of the shining sun be upon you and yours!

Stories and pots

Today, I finally got around to planting things with the soil I got from Beth a few weeks ago.  I planted two seeds each of zucchini, squash, and cucumber, and then four seeds of spinach.

The hope, obviously, is they will sprout and I can plant them in the garden when the time comes.  Since that's a good two months away, at least, they should be ready to go, I hope.

The spinach of course can maybe go out earlier, and the jury is still out on the lettuce seeds I planted during one of the thaws.

Lots of hope in that there introduction.  But that is the point of the season.  We hope things will grow that we plant.  We hope we are able to do all the things we've dreamed about doing this winter.  Heck, the way this winter has gone, we just hope it does end, and these few days above 40 degrees aren't just teasers.

But inside needs to be attended to as well.  Jim and I are participating in something called "40 Bags in 40 Days."  It's a Lent-inspired thing, where instead of giving up chocolate or Facebook, people are encouraged to fill one trashbag per day.  We could certainly use the decluttering, that's for sure.  We are starting indoors, the basement and the loft.  So far, despite get a late start, we've filled seven trashbags.  After we are done in here, it will hopefully be more securely warm enough to work in the backyard.  Under the deck and in the shed definitely need attention, and then there's the infamous garage.

The other day, Janet was talking about growing up.  If they didn't raise their own vegetables, she said, they would have starved.  We talked a bit about how people don't do that anymore.  I told her we're trying, and every year we get a little bit better.  She talked about the garden she used to have when she and Jim's dad were first married, and how her dad and mom knew all sorts of stuff.  I could tell she was melancholy; she said "We had a good life." I told her she did.  I haven't quite gotten the whole story memorized yet, but I'm getting there.  She tends to forget she's told me all that before, but it's not like I mind hearing it again.

We talked about what we wanted to plant and how to maybe get the potatoes to turn out better.  She once again said she'd help me, and that she liked to do that stuff.  I reflected back on her amazing ability to be scarce when I was going to go out and do something and smiled to myself, but I still told her that I would really like that.  It's not a lie, after all.

Hope.  Hope that she'll still be able to to help (as she wants) when the spring comes.  Hope that her disease has somehow been misdiagnosed and she's doing just fine, after all.  Hope that we have zucchini and squash to sit down to on a warm summer evening on the deck, with homemade pickles from our cucumbers.

It's all about the hope.