I haven't re-seeded the lawn in years and there are thin/bare spots. So before Tropical Storm Lee came through, I thought I would take advantage of the predicted rain for the week to keep new grass seed wet while it germinated.
I didn't realize how MUCH rain there would be and how HARD it would fall at times. Some of the seed I put down then has germinated - in thick separated bands. It looks like the lime markers on a football field! And all the formerly bare spots are still bare.
So much for THAT $42 worth of grass seed! So, today, I bought another bag and I re-seeded the lawn after mowing it down as short as I dared (1"). This time, I even raked the lawn roughly and collected dried crumbled grass clippings to cover the bare areas after seeding.
After seeding the lawn again, I sprinkled the dried grass clippings over the bare spots. Not thickly, just enough to give a little cover and hide them from the birds... Then I spent an hour gradually watering the seeds enough to let then soak up some moisture and start germinating.
I saved about a lb of grass seed for patching spots that don't grow this time. Its a blend of 3 Rebel tall fescue. I like fescue, but it isn't a spreading grass, so bare spots develop. I think I will get some bluegrass for the sunnier areas next time. It spreads. But the lawn is at least half shaded, so I need fescue on most of it.
Sorry no pictures again, but for some odd reason, I can't upload pictures on THIS blog. Works fine on the cat blog, and as far as I can tell, the settings are the same. I don't have any maximum picture upload issues, as all of mine are in the "free" range. And pictures that won't upload here WILL upload to the cat blog. It's driving me nuts. I posted a question on the Blogger Help Forum days ago, but have not gotten any responses. Any ideas are more than welcome!
Showing posts with label Outdoors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Outdoors. Show all posts
Monday, September 19, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Earthquake and Storms
[Sorry no pictures today. Blogger has been rejecting pictures on THIS blog, but not my other. Can't figure out why. I'm not exceeding any limits.]
Well it sure has been an interesting few weeks. First an earthquake on Aug 23rd, then Hurricane Irene Aug 27th/28th, and then Tropical Storm Lee Sept 5th-9th!
It was the 1st earthquake I ever felt, and while it was nothing like West Coast earthquakes, it was certainly more of a surprise. My first thought was "It CAN'T be an earthquake, they don't happen here!", but after a few seconds, it was obvious it wasn't a tree falling on the house. And then we had to wait to see if there would be aftershocks.
Hurricanes aren't terribly common here. They tend to either make landfall south and approach over land, weakening rapidly, or pass by further off the coast. But we do get serious ones occasionally. I remember Hurricane Agnes in 1972. It came right up the Chesapeake Bay and sank the family boat (a complete loss). Then there was Hurricane Floyd in 1999. That one dropped so much rain so fast that my street was flooded, half my front yard was flooded, and I stayed up all night wet-vacuuming water from the basement. It is the only time I've ever seen the 2 storm drains next to my yard actually completely covered with standing water!
So then we had Irene. Fortunately, the ground was very dry and basically absorbed all the rainfall and there wasn't even standing water afterwards on my low front lawn. Still, 7" fell here, and it was the strongest wind I have experienced in my 25 years at this location.
Tropical Storm Lee was actually worse. First, it came over Maryland and just sat there for 4 days raining almost constantly! Not as hard as Irene, but for over twice as long. Second, the rain bands were heading directly north the last 2 days. The strongest ones kept going directly through my county. It was depressing, as if the rain bands were following the highway through town! I had to empty my good rain gauge twice! The total for Lee here was 10.5"! The airport 15 miles west only got 5.5" and to the east they got only 7". That made 17.5" of rain in 13 days... Third, the ground was completely saturated from Irene, so the rainfall had nowhere to go but across the surface seeking low spots.
One of those low spots was my patio! The entire yard slopes gradually from the far back to the street front. Part of the patio has cinder block walls to hold the slope. The non-cinder block entrance is at ground level. The patio was never built properly. The house builder didn't properly slope it slightly toward the lawn to prevent water collecting there. And over the years, the lawn has risen slightly, enough so that prolonged rain can lap against the sliding glass basement doors and seep in. I have occasionally had a slight problem with that.
Well, after the 3rd day of rain, it finally started seeping in again. I tried the wet-vac, but it was too prolonged a rain to stop seeping in. I finally had to go out in the pouring rain at Midnight and dig a 6" deep and wide ditch 10' to a more downslope spot at the fence gate. Happily, the water collected in the patio started rushing out! I was relieved. In only 10 minutes, the collected rainfall was a foot away from the doors and I knew I wouldn't have any further problems in the basement.
It finally stopped raining very early this morning...
One odd note about the storm. The County came by just before Hurricane Irene and cleaned the collected debris of several years from the primary storm drain. It worked fine for Irene. But Lee covered it back up again. That shows how much more forceful rainfall drainage there was from Lee. And not only tree debris; there are golfball size stones covering the woven tree debris covering the storm drain! AND, it appears that the brick storm drain has been broken by the force of the debris and stones. The back bricks appear all loose and tilted, and the metal grate at an angle. I will have to call the County about that. I'm sure they will be thrilled!
Can I please have a break from earthquakes and hurricanes for a while? Please?
Well it sure has been an interesting few weeks. First an earthquake on Aug 23rd, then Hurricane Irene Aug 27th/28th, and then Tropical Storm Lee Sept 5th-9th!
It was the 1st earthquake I ever felt, and while it was nothing like West Coast earthquakes, it was certainly more of a surprise. My first thought was "It CAN'T be an earthquake, they don't happen here!", but after a few seconds, it was obvious it wasn't a tree falling on the house. And then we had to wait to see if there would be aftershocks.
Hurricanes aren't terribly common here. They tend to either make landfall south and approach over land, weakening rapidly, or pass by further off the coast. But we do get serious ones occasionally. I remember Hurricane Agnes in 1972. It came right up the Chesapeake Bay and sank the family boat (a complete loss). Then there was Hurricane Floyd in 1999. That one dropped so much rain so fast that my street was flooded, half my front yard was flooded, and I stayed up all night wet-vacuuming water from the basement. It is the only time I've ever seen the 2 storm drains next to my yard actually completely covered with standing water!
So then we had Irene. Fortunately, the ground was very dry and basically absorbed all the rainfall and there wasn't even standing water afterwards on my low front lawn. Still, 7" fell here, and it was the strongest wind I have experienced in my 25 years at this location.
Tropical Storm Lee was actually worse. First, it came over Maryland and just sat there for 4 days raining almost constantly! Not as hard as Irene, but for over twice as long. Second, the rain bands were heading directly north the last 2 days. The strongest ones kept going directly through my county. It was depressing, as if the rain bands were following the highway through town! I had to empty my good rain gauge twice! The total for Lee here was 10.5"! The airport 15 miles west only got 5.5" and to the east they got only 7". That made 17.5" of rain in 13 days... Third, the ground was completely saturated from Irene, so the rainfall had nowhere to go but across the surface seeking low spots.
One of those low spots was my patio! The entire yard slopes gradually from the far back to the street front. Part of the patio has cinder block walls to hold the slope. The non-cinder block entrance is at ground level. The patio was never built properly. The house builder didn't properly slope it slightly toward the lawn to prevent water collecting there. And over the years, the lawn has risen slightly, enough so that prolonged rain can lap against the sliding glass basement doors and seep in. I have occasionally had a slight problem with that.
Well, after the 3rd day of rain, it finally started seeping in again. I tried the wet-vac, but it was too prolonged a rain to stop seeping in. I finally had to go out in the pouring rain at Midnight and dig a 6" deep and wide ditch 10' to a more downslope spot at the fence gate. Happily, the water collected in the patio started rushing out! I was relieved. In only 10 minutes, the collected rainfall was a foot away from the doors and I knew I wouldn't have any further problems in the basement.
It finally stopped raining very early this morning...
One odd note about the storm. The County came by just before Hurricane Irene and cleaned the collected debris of several years from the primary storm drain. It worked fine for Irene. But Lee covered it back up again. That shows how much more forceful rainfall drainage there was from Lee. And not only tree debris; there are golfball size stones covering the woven tree debris covering the storm drain! AND, it appears that the brick storm drain has been broken by the force of the debris and stones. The back bricks appear all loose and tilted, and the metal grate at an angle. I will have to call the County about that. I'm sure they will be thrilled!
Can I please have a break from earthquakes and hurricanes for a while? Please?
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Hurricane Irene
Well, it's been an interesting week. First an earthquake, then a hurricane! Hurricanes aren't too rare here, but this was the most direct hit I've experienced as an adult (and the eye was still 80 miles east). But it was clear there was going to be major rain and wind.
So I was prepared the evening before. Aside from the usual emergency supplies (flashlights, crank radio, batteries, water, food, etc), I made sure to have a good supply of comfort foods...
Before I went to bed that evening, I noticed my 5" rain gauge was at 4.75", so I went out and emptied it. I took a quick look around the yard for any tree damage and found none. But the most intense part of the storm hadn't arrived yet. The lights dimmed a couple of times, but I never lost power. I'm very glad all the electric and cable lines are underground here!
This morning I found another 2.5" of rain in the gauge, for a total of 7.25".
There was some tree damage, but nothing serious. I haven't driven out yet, but I did hear a chain saw in the neighborhood, so someone had some larger damage.
I found some medium branches fallen.
And a few smaller ones, but those were from my favorite saucer magnolia tree.
I have some repair work to do in that tree! There are a couple of breaks like this.
Two of my tomato cages blew over in spite of being staked. One stake was bent over at ground level, the other was simply pushed over in the soaked garden soil. I was able to raise the cages without any apparent damage to the plants. I put 2 stakes on each cage for better protection.
So I came through the hurricane in good shape.
So I was prepared the evening before. Aside from the usual emergency supplies (flashlights, crank radio, batteries, water, food, etc), I made sure to have a good supply of comfort foods...
This morning I found another 2.5" of rain in the gauge, for a total of 7.25".
There was some tree damage, but nothing serious. I haven't driven out yet, but I did hear a chain saw in the neighborhood, so someone had some larger damage.
I found some medium branches fallen.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Strange Rain
I had the oddest experience today. Something that hasn't happened to me since I was about 11. Those many years ago, we kids were playing outside and realized that it was raining in our yard, but NOT across the street!
Well, it finally happened again! I was watching the rain suddenly pouring down in the front yard, so I went to the back to watch the rain gauge fill up. Nothing! It WASN"T raining in the back yard. Not a drop.
Convinced I was just not seeing it, I went out on the deck. Dry! I even went out in the yard because sometimes the trees absorb a lot of rain at first. Nothing! It was several minutes before rain finally started falling in the back.
Talk about being on the edge of a cloud!!! Has this ever happened to you?
Well, it finally happened again! I was watching the rain suddenly pouring down in the front yard, so I went to the back to watch the rain gauge fill up. Nothing! It WASN"T raining in the back yard. Not a drop.
Convinced I was just not seeing it, I went out on the deck. Dry! I even went out in the yard because sometimes the trees absorb a lot of rain at first. Nothing! It was several minutes before rain finally started falling in the back.
Talk about being on the edge of a cloud!!! Has this ever happened to you?
Monday, August 1, 2011
Weeding The Flowerbed
Between getting into a daytime sleep-cycle, the brutal heat of a couple weeks ago (but not much better now), and Ayla having medical complications all last week, the weeds took over! It sure doesn't take them long to grow and for me to get behind...
This is where I planted annuals this year. I had a large area where some evil runner grass had taken over last Fall. I dug it out carefully, but some came back this Spring.
I lifted the perennials out and searched through their roots for runners, then moved them elsewhere mostly to make larger patches of their same kind. My columbine patch is now double in size, for example.
Then I dug the runner grass out again using a spading fork to loosen the soil so that I could follow all the runners several inches underground and slide them out carefully . That worked very well. There is almost none left.
But all that digging brought a lot of other weed seeds to the surface and the planted annual bed exploded with them. As you can see here...
Here's a closeup of one part for reference.
This is the same spot after I spent over an hour of weeding. Remarkably better.
After the 1st effort I had plenty left to do...
And here is that same section after today's work!
An overview of the entire weeded area!
But that is just the annual area. As you can see, I have a few more days of work waiting for me. This spot won't be TOO bad. Most of that is actually non-weedy perennials that have already bloomed for the year and weeds in the garden path that will come up from the pea gravel easily.
This area will be harder. There are several kinds of weeds with thin roots that break off easily. That means digging.
This will be difficult, too. The close growing dianthus makes it hard to get at the wiregrass and mock strawberry embedded among them.
At least those areas are shaded after 4 pm. But did I mentioned my area is infested with Asian Tiger Mosquitoes? Deet works well enough on my arms and neck, but they still swarm around my face looking for a place to land!
And then I spent over an hour hand watering the weeded area and some parts that were most desperate. I'll water the rest of the flower and garden later when the shade arrives.
Well, I'll have more pictures when I make more progress...
This is where I planted annuals this year. I had a large area where some evil runner grass had taken over last Fall. I dug it out carefully, but some came back this Spring.
I lifted the perennials out and searched through their roots for runners, then moved them elsewhere mostly to make larger patches of their same kind. My columbine patch is now double in size, for example.
Then I dug the runner grass out again using a spading fork to loosen the soil so that I could follow all the runners several inches underground and slide them out carefully . That worked very well. There is almost none left.
But all that digging brought a lot of other weed seeds to the surface and the planted annual bed exploded with them. As you can see here...
And then I spent over an hour hand watering the weeded area and some parts that were most desperate. I'll water the rest of the flower and garden later when the shade arrives.
Well, I'll have more pictures when I make more progress...
Friday, July 29, 2011
Its Been A Hard Week
Well, I should summarize the week...
Sunday - Ayla suddenly started extruding pus from her vulva. I spent the afternoon and night keeping her as clean as I could.
Monday - Brought Ayla to my regular vet first thing in the morning. He did some tests to eliminate urinary infections, then did x-rays to search for a reproductive tract problem. He scheduled surgery for Tuesday.
Tuesday - Ayla was opened for exploratory surgery first thing in the morning. At noon, the vet called to say that he had found the spayed uterus remnant was infected, which led him to discover her left ovary was intact. He removed both. Considering that the breeder's vet had done both a first and a followup spay operation, he was quite surprised! I was very angry towards the breeder's vet.
Ayla (and I) have gone through frequent and lengthy heat cycles for 3 years. Most times lasting for 10 days separated by 2 weeks of calm. Occasionally, there was a whole month between heat episodes. The news that my vet had found the cause was a matter of extreme joy. I was thrilled. The $800 was well worth all the trouble.
Tuesday night I picked Ayla up to give her the antibiotic, and I discovered she was dripping with red stuff all over the incision. I assumed it was blood and brought her to an emergency pet hospital. I was there for 2 hours. The ER vet put a pressure bandage on her, did some tests, and decided she should see my regular vet in the morning.
Wednesday - My vet was upset and distressed that I had had to go through all the ER stuff. He explained that scar tissue is difficult to seal and that sometimes there is seepage. But he apologized for not having advised my of that, and I am OK with the apology. It DID cost me $1,000 at the ER hospital to learn that Ayla COULD have just lain on a thick towel all night. The ER vet COULD have told me that, but he is running a business and I DID request service. It was still pretty shoddy, though.
Anyway, my vet kept her for observation and examination all day at no charge.
Thursday - Brought Ayla back to my vet for further observation. He found the incision healing, not seeping, and he removed the IV catheter. No charge, more apology, and lots of discussion. And he gave me his home phone number in case of night time problems.
I hate the cone she has to wear, so I went out and bought an inflatable collar (XS dog collar, if you want to find one for a small cat, S for a regular size cat). Ayla doesn't mind the inflatable collar, it even seems to make a decent pillow!
Friday - Ayla is alert and walking around, eating, and drinking. She seems fine now, healing well with no "sera" seepage.
I spent the morning giving her lots of attention and scritching the itchy incision area that she can't get at with the inflatable collar. She enjoyed that a LOT!
In the afternoon, I unwound by watering the veggie and flower gardens. I have a nice system. Stab a spading fork with a "D" handle in the ground, fit a hose nozzle in the handle (most will fit one way or another), and turn the water on for 5 full minutes at each spot. Move the spade and repeat. All afternoon! Sit in a chair in the shade and drink a beer while listening to classical music on a little boom box. Very relaxing and theraputive.
It was 100+ outside, but I was sitting in the shade and there was a slight breeze. There was water spraying, birds around, etc. I NEEDED that!
Speaking of the gardens, the reason I was watering was because we are so dry here in MD. There have been rains, but brief and hard and not much for several weeks. How dry has it been? The hosta bed still has dry crunchy leaves from last Fall. They won't decompose! Too dry.
More bad news! A sign at the entrance to my neighborhood advises that electricity will be turned off for 5 hours August 1st! Oh joy... The forecast for that day is over 100 again. I see that Verizon is digging up the neighborhood for some reason, so that must be the cause.
More bad news! Have you ever used a garden hose and forgotten to turn the water off? And the hose burst? And not gone out there for 2 days? That happened to me Tuesday. I don't know exactly when the hose burst. If I am lucky, it burst just before I went out and noticed. If I am unlucky, it happened shortly after I went inside and it spewed water for 2 days. And, of course, the water was not even spewing near any of my plants... I will find out on the next quarterly bill.
More bad news! Because of Ayla's apparently finally successful spay Tuesday, I contacted a radio vet show (The Animal House). I had been a guest in June of last year discussing unsuccessfully "Twice-Spayed Ayla, and they asked for followup. So I was scheduled for a taping Wed afternoon. Well, Wed morning I had been up all night and morning, so I had to call to cancel (because I needed to collapse in bed). They didn't want to reschedule for the next week, so they are just going to read the email I sent them. I sure wish I could have been on-air to talk to them. That would have been thrilling! I guess I missed my 15 minutes of fame...
It will be broadcast in August and I will give details for that later.
I think it is finally safe to have "too much to drink tonight"! And I plan to. I just haven't decided whether it will be my favorite cheap wine (Twisted vine Zinfandel) or my own Sling recipe (1/2 oz gin, 1/2 oz pomegranate liquer, a shot of real pomegranate juice, fill up the glass with ginger ale over ice, and drink through straw).
I HAVE had worse weeks, but not often, and this one ranks way up on the list. My baby sister died last Summer, Mom died last Fall, Skeeter died in Dec 2008, LC died in Jan 2010, I failed out of college in 1975 (I returned and graduated in 1993), and I got fired from a job because I couldn't roll tires off a truck fast enough. All considered, I think this week places 5th. Maybe 6th because I think at least Ayla IS finally spayed and that's good.
Sunday - Ayla suddenly started extruding pus from her vulva. I spent the afternoon and night keeping her as clean as I could.
Monday - Brought Ayla to my regular vet first thing in the morning. He did some tests to eliminate urinary infections, then did x-rays to search for a reproductive tract problem. He scheduled surgery for Tuesday.
Tuesday - Ayla was opened for exploratory surgery first thing in the morning. At noon, the vet called to say that he had found the spayed uterus remnant was infected, which led him to discover her left ovary was intact. He removed both. Considering that the breeder's vet had done both a first and a followup spay operation, he was quite surprised! I was very angry towards the breeder's vet.
Ayla (and I) have gone through frequent and lengthy heat cycles for 3 years. Most times lasting for 10 days separated by 2 weeks of calm. Occasionally, there was a whole month between heat episodes. The news that my vet had found the cause was a matter of extreme joy. I was thrilled. The $800 was well worth all the trouble.
Tuesday night I picked Ayla up to give her the antibiotic, and I discovered she was dripping with red stuff all over the incision. I assumed it was blood and brought her to an emergency pet hospital. I was there for 2 hours. The ER vet put a pressure bandage on her, did some tests, and decided she should see my regular vet in the morning.
Wednesday - My vet was upset and distressed that I had had to go through all the ER stuff. He explained that scar tissue is difficult to seal and that sometimes there is seepage. But he apologized for not having advised my of that, and I am OK with the apology. It DID cost me $1,000 at the ER hospital to learn that Ayla COULD have just lain on a thick towel all night. The ER vet COULD have told me that, but he is running a business and I DID request service. It was still pretty shoddy, though.
Anyway, my vet kept her for observation and examination all day at no charge.
Thursday - Brought Ayla back to my vet for further observation. He found the incision healing, not seeping, and he removed the IV catheter. No charge, more apology, and lots of discussion. And he gave me his home phone number in case of night time problems.
I hate the cone she has to wear, so I went out and bought an inflatable collar (XS dog collar, if you want to find one for a small cat, S for a regular size cat). Ayla doesn't mind the inflatable collar, it even seems to make a decent pillow!
Friday - Ayla is alert and walking around, eating, and drinking. She seems fine now, healing well with no "sera" seepage.
I spent the morning giving her lots of attention and scritching the itchy incision area that she can't get at with the inflatable collar. She enjoyed that a LOT!
In the afternoon, I unwound by watering the veggie and flower gardens. I have a nice system. Stab a spading fork with a "D" handle in the ground, fit a hose nozzle in the handle (most will fit one way or another), and turn the water on for 5 full minutes at each spot. Move the spade and repeat. All afternoon! Sit in a chair in the shade and drink a beer while listening to classical music on a little boom box. Very relaxing and theraputive.
It was 100+ outside, but I was sitting in the shade and there was a slight breeze. There was water spraying, birds around, etc. I NEEDED that!
Speaking of the gardens, the reason I was watering was because we are so dry here in MD. There have been rains, but brief and hard and not much for several weeks. How dry has it been? The hosta bed still has dry crunchy leaves from last Fall. They won't decompose! Too dry.
More bad news! A sign at the entrance to my neighborhood advises that electricity will be turned off for 5 hours August 1st! Oh joy... The forecast for that day is over 100 again. I see that Verizon is digging up the neighborhood for some reason, so that must be the cause.
More bad news! Have you ever used a garden hose and forgotten to turn the water off? And the hose burst? And not gone out there for 2 days? That happened to me Tuesday. I don't know exactly when the hose burst. If I am lucky, it burst just before I went out and noticed. If I am unlucky, it happened shortly after I went inside and it spewed water for 2 days. And, of course, the water was not even spewing near any of my plants... I will find out on the next quarterly bill.
More bad news! Because of Ayla's apparently finally successful spay Tuesday, I contacted a radio vet show (The Animal House). I had been a guest in June of last year discussing unsuccessfully "Twice-Spayed Ayla, and they asked for followup. So I was scheduled for a taping Wed afternoon. Well, Wed morning I had been up all night and morning, so I had to call to cancel (because I needed to collapse in bed). They didn't want to reschedule for the next week, so they are just going to read the email I sent them. I sure wish I could have been on-air to talk to them. That would have been thrilling! I guess I missed my 15 minutes of fame...
It will be broadcast in August and I will give details for that later.
I think it is finally safe to have "too much to drink tonight"! And I plan to. I just haven't decided whether it will be my favorite cheap wine (Twisted vine Zinfandel) or my own Sling recipe (1/2 oz gin, 1/2 oz pomegranate liquer, a shot of real pomegranate juice, fill up the glass with ginger ale over ice, and drink through straw).
I HAVE had worse weeks, but not often, and this one ranks way up on the list. My baby sister died last Summer, Mom died last Fall, Skeeter died in Dec 2008, LC died in Jan 2010, I failed out of college in 1975 (I returned and graduated in 1993), and I got fired from a job because I couldn't roll tires off a truck fast enough. All considered, I think this week places 5th. Maybe 6th because I think at least Ayla IS finally spayed and that's good.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Groundhog Wars, Finale
A tale of regret and sadness... And don't read this if you are squeamish. Groundhogs were killed.
Some of you may know that I have been fighting with a groundhog this year. It burrowed in under my shed last Fall. I saw it several times running back to the shed when I went out to the garden. I got pictures of it with my GameSpy camera a few ties.
I used to hunt. I was good enough at it to get a deer several years in a row with bow&arrow. I stopped when I had to field-dress a lactating doe I killed. Milk ran out of her. My heart wasn't in it after that. I have generally tried to live and let live. When deer ate all the leaves from the pole beans one year and some neighbors sicced a dog after my cat a week later, I built a 6' fence around the entire back yard. Prevention is better than cure.
If I see an occasional possum or raccoon on the deck or in the yard, I live with it. Just yesterday, some raccoon or snake ate all the baby robins in a nest I was watching daily. And I don't mind what the cats catch and kill the occasional bird or mouse. Nature is nature, and I can't stop it. That doesn't mean I have to participate in it. BTW, I eat meat, so I am aware of my part in killing animals for food. They are raised to be food, and I support systems that kill them as gently as possible.
But I raise some of my own vegetable food, and I am protective about it. Groundhogs are a problem here. In the past, I have trapped them and released them in unoccupied fields. I read that was illegal. So I had to resort to other means.
I had a pond and have a Have-A-Hart trap I have used before. A dip into the pond, a minute of confusion, a few bubbles, and they are dead. Short of a .22 to the head (which I cannot do in a suburban neighborhood nor safely from a few inches away because of blood-spray), it is the least-sufferring way I can thing of. They don't seem frightened, just confused, Then "blurp" and dead.
But the pond is dry from a leak I cannot find, and with all the heavy rocks on the liner, I just haven't replaced it. I regret that very much today... I very much wish I had had a pond to drop her into. It would have been very much easier on us both.
It started when I heard a noise behind the shed while I was weeding the garden. I ran over to find 3 groundhog pups in a pile. I had a garden fork in hand, and I used it to kill them. In spite of her fear, Mrs Groundhog came out of her den to yell at me. I used the garden fork to set one dead pup in the burrow hole and one in the side of the shed.
I did not enjoy it. It was far more than slapping a mosquito or stepping on a cockroach. It was almost like killing a fawn. They cried. And I cried. I did not do physically hard work, but I was sweating terribly afterwards. It was very upsetting.
I caught Mrs Groundhog in the Have-A-Hart trap after, and tried to release her outside the fence. I expected her to run straight away from the house, but she ran straight around the fence back towards her den.
I hoped she would leave for a safer den after that, but she didn't. I caught her eating my lettuce the other afternoon. So I set the trap back up, unbaited, right in her most-observed exit point. She was in it today.
I could have spread plastic sheeting and filled up the dry pond temorarily. I wish I had. But wasting that much water didn't seem good either. People are dying from lack of water in places. I finally decided to "shoot" her with arrows. A small animal ought to die quickly from that.
I held an arrow just above her and slammed down a piece of 2x4 on it as a wide hammer. It didn't even penetrate her body. All it did was break the nock off the back. It took several other tries to actually stab through her. I felt sick. But badly wounded, she could not be released to die of infection after days.
There are some things you start that you can't stop. When you injure an animal badly enough, you have to follow through and end it. My Father was good enough to teach me that. When you injure a deer fatally with an arrow, you are obligated to spend all the time needed to follow the blood trail and finish it off to stop the pain.
I was good at that. One drop of blood in ten feet of woodland leaves, I could find them. Because it was only fair. You injure it, you kill it as quickly as possible for their sake. You kill it, you claim it and end your hunting season. Even if it is found days later and the meat is wasted. Because it is the right thing to do IF you are going to hunt animals.
I am very sorry that Mrs Groundhog lived an hour after being stabbed with arrows. If I could have thought of some less inhumane way of eliminating her from my garden, I would have. I wish I had refilled the pond temporarily. And it occurs to me now that my bathtub is bigger and deeper than the trap. I could have drowned her quickly in there.
But I don't want to kill any more groundhogs. Its the shed that attracts them. So I have decided to spray herbicides all around the edges, dig up the soil after a few weeks, and install mesh wire all around it.
I don't want to have to hurt another poor wild animal for just trying to live as best it can. Life is hard enough. Tangling with humans shouldn't be part of that. I don't want to have to kill another Mrs Groundhog again.
I an feeling rather horrible tonight. I don't want to feel that way again ever...
Cavebear
Some of you may know that I have been fighting with a groundhog this year. It burrowed in under my shed last Fall. I saw it several times running back to the shed when I went out to the garden. I got pictures of it with my GameSpy camera a few ties.
I used to hunt. I was good enough at it to get a deer several years in a row with bow&arrow. I stopped when I had to field-dress a lactating doe I killed. Milk ran out of her. My heart wasn't in it after that. I have generally tried to live and let live. When deer ate all the leaves from the pole beans one year and some neighbors sicced a dog after my cat a week later, I built a 6' fence around the entire back yard. Prevention is better than cure.
If I see an occasional possum or raccoon on the deck or in the yard, I live with it. Just yesterday, some raccoon or snake ate all the baby robins in a nest I was watching daily. And I don't mind what the cats catch and kill the occasional bird or mouse. Nature is nature, and I can't stop it. That doesn't mean I have to participate in it. BTW, I eat meat, so I am aware of my part in killing animals for food. They are raised to be food, and I support systems that kill them as gently as possible.
But I raise some of my own vegetable food, and I am protective about it. Groundhogs are a problem here. In the past, I have trapped them and released them in unoccupied fields. I read that was illegal. So I had to resort to other means.
I had a pond and have a Have-A-Hart trap I have used before. A dip into the pond, a minute of confusion, a few bubbles, and they are dead. Short of a .22 to the head (which I cannot do in a suburban neighborhood nor safely from a few inches away because of blood-spray), it is the least-sufferring way I can thing of. They don't seem frightened, just confused, Then "blurp" and dead.
But the pond is dry from a leak I cannot find, and with all the heavy rocks on the liner, I just haven't replaced it. I regret that very much today... I very much wish I had had a pond to drop her into. It would have been very much easier on us both.
It started when I heard a noise behind the shed while I was weeding the garden. I ran over to find 3 groundhog pups in a pile. I had a garden fork in hand, and I used it to kill them. In spite of her fear, Mrs Groundhog came out of her den to yell at me. I used the garden fork to set one dead pup in the burrow hole and one in the side of the shed.
I did not enjoy it. It was far more than slapping a mosquito or stepping on a cockroach. It was almost like killing a fawn. They cried. And I cried. I did not do physically hard work, but I was sweating terribly afterwards. It was very upsetting.
I caught Mrs Groundhog in the Have-A-Hart trap after, and tried to release her outside the fence. I expected her to run straight away from the house, but she ran straight around the fence back towards her den.
I hoped she would leave for a safer den after that, but she didn't. I caught her eating my lettuce the other afternoon. So I set the trap back up, unbaited, right in her most-observed exit point. She was in it today.
I could have spread plastic sheeting and filled up the dry pond temorarily. I wish I had. But wasting that much water didn't seem good either. People are dying from lack of water in places. I finally decided to "shoot" her with arrows. A small animal ought to die quickly from that.
I held an arrow just above her and slammed down a piece of 2x4 on it as a wide hammer. It didn't even penetrate her body. All it did was break the nock off the back. It took several other tries to actually stab through her. I felt sick. But badly wounded, she could not be released to die of infection after days.
There are some things you start that you can't stop. When you injure an animal badly enough, you have to follow through and end it. My Father was good enough to teach me that. When you injure a deer fatally with an arrow, you are obligated to spend all the time needed to follow the blood trail and finish it off to stop the pain.
I was good at that. One drop of blood in ten feet of woodland leaves, I could find them. Because it was only fair. You injure it, you kill it as quickly as possible for their sake. You kill it, you claim it and end your hunting season. Even if it is found days later and the meat is wasted. Because it is the right thing to do IF you are going to hunt animals.
I am very sorry that Mrs Groundhog lived an hour after being stabbed with arrows. If I could have thought of some less inhumane way of eliminating her from my garden, I would have. I wish I had refilled the pond temporarily. And it occurs to me now that my bathtub is bigger and deeper than the trap. I could have drowned her quickly in there.
But I don't want to kill any more groundhogs. Its the shed that attracts them. So I have decided to spray herbicides all around the edges, dig up the soil after a few weeks, and install mesh wire all around it.
I don't want to have to hurt another poor wild animal for just trying to live as best it can. Life is hard enough. Tangling with humans shouldn't be part of that. I don't want to have to kill another Mrs Groundhog again.
I an feeling rather horrible tonight. I don't want to feel that way again ever...
Cavebear
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Cat Fence Enclosure Idea
Well, Ayla getting over the fence is difficult enough. Today I saw Marley descending into the yard. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell if he had tried and failed or was returning to the yard. But it makes the requirement to keep them in the yard more urgent.
I've seen systems of nets attached to fences at angles, but the cost is high per foot and I have about 450 feet of 6' high backyard fence. And I have seen where smooth hard plastic sheeting is attached to the upper 2' of fencing (which I suspect works well). But that is also expensive.
So I have been pondering other, less expensive, designs. I think I have one and want opinions on it. It seems simple enough, but I haven't seen it on any "cat containment" sites. I know I can construct it (it is uncomplicated but tedious). My concerns are first, will it work, and second, is it safe.
I would provide a sketch, but my Mac doesn't seem to have a simple drawing program that can be saved in the formats demanded by Blogger. I can't figure out how to do something so simple in Photoshop, and I can't save in the required formats from Word Art, Excel Draw, or Google Layout. And Photoshop won't open those to change the format.
But it isn't complicated. There is a 6' high alternate board wood fence. I can buy vinyl coated wire mesh fence in 2'x50' rolls. I will cut the rolls into 8' lengths and bend them 90 degrees the long way. That gives an "L". One part of the "L" gets attached to the fence, the other part makes a 1' wide "ceiling". In case I'm describing it poorly, it would look something like this:
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I could bend the wire at 45 degrees upward if that improved anything. The vinyl coated wire mesh costs only $27 for 2'x50' roll, is easy for a person to bend, but pretty stiff to a cat. I've been using the stuff as plant supports and cages for years. The vinyl couating makes it quite weatherproof. I'm thinking 8' sections because that is the distance between fence posts, plus I have a couple of 8', 4"x4" posts I can use to bend it. I can attach it with a heavy duty electric staple gun.
So, I'm looking for errors, and PLEASE don't hold back. Tell me ANYTHING you think might cause a problem in construction, in safety for the cats, or safety of wildlife. Or anything else. I spent a career as a project manager where negative ideas where often the most important contributions from the team.
So, thoughts?
I've seen systems of nets attached to fences at angles, but the cost is high per foot and I have about 450 feet of 6' high backyard fence. And I have seen where smooth hard plastic sheeting is attached to the upper 2' of fencing (which I suspect works well). But that is also expensive.
So I have been pondering other, less expensive, designs. I think I have one and want opinions on it. It seems simple enough, but I haven't seen it on any "cat containment" sites. I know I can construct it (it is uncomplicated but tedious). My concerns are first, will it work, and second, is it safe.
I would provide a sketch, but my Mac doesn't seem to have a simple drawing program that can be saved in the formats demanded by Blogger. I can't figure out how to do something so simple in Photoshop, and I can't save in the required formats from Word Art, Excel Draw, or Google Layout. And Photoshop won't open those to change the format.
But it isn't complicated. There is a 6' high alternate board wood fence. I can buy vinyl coated wire mesh fence in 2'x50' rolls. I will cut the rolls into 8' lengths and bend them 90 degrees the long way. That gives an "L". One part of the "L" gets attached to the fence, the other part makes a 1' wide "ceiling". In case I'm describing it poorly, it would look something like this:
|
|----------
|
|
|
|
I could bend the wire at 45 degrees upward if that improved anything. The vinyl coated wire mesh costs only $27 for 2'x50' roll, is easy for a person to bend, but pretty stiff to a cat. I've been using the stuff as plant supports and cages for years. The vinyl couating makes it quite weatherproof. I'm thinking 8' sections because that is the distance between fence posts, plus I have a couple of 8', 4"x4" posts I can use to bend it. I can attach it with a heavy duty electric staple gun.
So, I'm looking for errors, and PLEASE don't hold back. Tell me ANYTHING you think might cause a problem in construction, in safety for the cats, or safety of wildlife. Or anything else. I spent a career as a project manager where negative ideas where often the most important contributions from the team.
So, thoughts?
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Ayla Out
I kept Ayla inside for a year. It got so difficult that I decided to experiment letting her out as long as she wanted to be out. It wasn't an easy decision. The first time, she stayed out 3 nights. But the next two times, she stayed out 2 nights. Then one night. After that, she came in the same day she was let out for several days. I consider that a good arrangement.
She stays near the fence and has no desire to wander further to the street.
But Iza complicates things. Iza and Ayla and Marley all cuddle up indoors. They eat together, They play together. Iza likes Ayla indoors.
But outdoors, Iza considers Ayla an introoder. I cannot understand this.
This afternoon, when I called Ayla inside, she came running happily. But when I opened the door for her to come inside, Iza sprang out and attacked her. As a stranger and in apparent anger. Ayla fled over the fence.
Iza does not do this with Marley when he is out.
Iza only reacts badly to Ayla when she is outside. And just as she goes outside. Something about Iza says that Ayla is an introoder when outside. It baffles me.
Iza is a bully, but only when Ayla is outside, and not when Marley is outside or Ayla is inside.
Driving me NUTS!!! What is it about Iza that she reacts badly only when Ayla is OUTSIDE? It cant be outside smells. Iza has them, Marley has them. Iza loves Marley inside and outside. But Iza hates Ayla outside.
ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She stays near the fence and has no desire to wander further to the street.
But Iza complicates things. Iza and Ayla and Marley all cuddle up indoors. They eat together, They play together. Iza likes Ayla indoors.
But outdoors, Iza considers Ayla an introoder. I cannot understand this.
This afternoon, when I called Ayla inside, she came running happily. But when I opened the door for her to come inside, Iza sprang out and attacked her. As a stranger and in apparent anger. Ayla fled over the fence.
Iza does not do this with Marley when he is out.
Iza only reacts badly to Ayla when she is outside. And just as she goes outside. Something about Iza says that Ayla is an introoder when outside. It baffles me.
Iza is a bully, but only when Ayla is outside, and not when Marley is outside or Ayla is inside.
Driving me NUTS!!! What is it about Iza that she reacts badly only when Ayla is OUTSIDE? It cant be outside smells. Iza has them, Marley has them. Iza loves Marley inside and outside. But Iza hates Ayla outside.
ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Groundhog Wars
If you are sqeamish, don't read further. I don't mean that I am showing bad pictures (there are none). But I am fighting with groundhogs that damage my garden. I mean, they destroy my food.
Today, while I was weeding the garden, I heard an odd thrashing noise nearby the fence and old toolshed where a groundhog had taken up residence. I had let Ayla out and feared she had tangled with the groundhog. She is, in some ways, stupidly fearless.The only tool I had on the way was a gardening spade. I grabbed it and ran toward the noise.
I may also be stupidly fearless.
When I got to the fence, I saw the groundhog run into the burrow under the old toolshed. I have GOT to make that space inaccessible! But I also sawsomethng else. 3 groundhog pups huddled together 20' away from the burrow.
2nd Warning: Violence ahead...
There I was with a garden spade, expecting to protect my cat from an adult groundhog. What I found was future garden-destroying varmint pups. I had the garden fork in hand. They had no flight instincts. I dispatched them as quickly as possible. I didn't like it, but I did it. Nothing needs be said further about that.
I did not enjoy it. But I thought it was necessary. Every year when a groundhog lives under the toolshed, my crops are ruined. That is my food. Last year, they ate all my cukes and most of my bean plants. I am determined to drive the adult away.
I scooped up one dead pup and put it in the entrance burrow. I moved a barrier board out of the way enough to place a second dead pup in there. If that doesn't make Mom Groundhog leave the property, I will take further measures. I am growing crops for ME, not her.
If I had a 10 acre farm and lost 100 sq ft to a groundhog, I wouldn't worry too much. But last year, I lost every cuke and bean. Between my organic safe food and the groundhogs, they are going to lose every time. I have been tolerant for years, but the tolerance has ended.
Mrs. Groundhog will die next! And I will bury mesh wire 18" deep all around the shed to prevent any new ones coming back in the future!
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When I was 14, my dad took my brother and I out to a huge field to "hunt" groundhogs. He had a whistle that made them stand up to look around for danger. Toward twilight, he whistled at them again. One stood up a long distance away.
I laid down for a careful shot. Dad laughed and said I couldn't aim that well. I pulled the trigger and the groundhog vanished. He said I scared him with the shot. I said I got him. I was insistent enough to make him walk with me to the spot.
There was the dead groundhog. I nailed him right between the eyes. He brought the dead ground hog home an made a stew of it. Trust me, it doesn't taste like chicken. He did it because he was being mean. I made him look wrong.
I hate groundhogs...
Today, while I was weeding the garden, I heard an odd thrashing noise nearby the fence and old toolshed where a groundhog had taken up residence. I had let Ayla out and feared she had tangled with the groundhog. She is, in some ways, stupidly fearless.The only tool I had on the way was a gardening spade. I grabbed it and ran toward the noise.
I may also be stupidly fearless.
When I got to the fence, I saw the groundhog run into the burrow under the old toolshed. I have GOT to make that space inaccessible! But I also sawsomethng else. 3 groundhog pups huddled together 20' away from the burrow.
2nd Warning: Violence ahead...
There I was with a garden spade, expecting to protect my cat from an adult groundhog. What I found was future garden-destroying varmint pups. I had the garden fork in hand. They had no flight instincts. I dispatched them as quickly as possible. I didn't like it, but I did it. Nothing needs be said further about that.
I did not enjoy it. But I thought it was necessary. Every year when a groundhog lives under the toolshed, my crops are ruined. That is my food. Last year, they ate all my cukes and most of my bean plants. I am determined to drive the adult away.
I scooped up one dead pup and put it in the entrance burrow. I moved a barrier board out of the way enough to place a second dead pup in there. If that doesn't make Mom Groundhog leave the property, I will take further measures. I am growing crops for ME, not her.
If I had a 10 acre farm and lost 100 sq ft to a groundhog, I wouldn't worry too much. But last year, I lost every cuke and bean. Between my organic safe food and the groundhogs, they are going to lose every time. I have been tolerant for years, but the tolerance has ended.
Mrs. Groundhog will die next! And I will bury mesh wire 18" deep all around the shed to prevent any new ones coming back in the future!
----------------------
When I was 14, my dad took my brother and I out to a huge field to "hunt" groundhogs. He had a whistle that made them stand up to look around for danger. Toward twilight, he whistled at them again. One stood up a long distance away.
I laid down for a careful shot. Dad laughed and said I couldn't aim that well. I pulled the trigger and the groundhog vanished. He said I scared him with the shot. I said I got him. I was insistent enough to make him walk with me to the spot.
There was the dead groundhog. I nailed him right between the eyes. He brought the dead ground hog home an made a stew of it. Trust me, it doesn't taste like chicken. He did it because he was being mean. I made him look wrong.
I hate groundhogs...
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Some Days Are Just Good
I love productive days! It doesn't matter much what I am productive at. Some days it is gardening, and it might be planting seeds, transplanting seedlings, or weeding large areas. Some days it is building stuff indoors. Some days it is cleaning the house. Some days it is organizing things. Some days it is as basic as cleaning out the fish tanks. Or other stuff.
It matters that I keep busy in retirement. It is easy to waste time. "Tomorrow" is fine... I don't work that way. I have less time left than I did when I was 20. I don't mean to say that bothers me all that much, I stayed busy when I was 20, too. But I don't want to sit around thinking I will do things tomorrow".
I could go into great detail (and I probably will in future posts), but lately I've weeded 500 square feet of flowerbed, planted small crops (carrots, radishes, kohlrabi, leeks, etc etc), trapped a threatening groundhog and a rabbit with a taste for cucumber seedlings, cleaned out and rehabilitated an aluminum bass boat with floors, created a new plant light stand for seedlings, destructed the old light stand, drained the hot water heater of mineral sludge, cleaned the washer/dryer/dishwasher/oven, rewired several basement outlets to code, and about finished the new plant light stand (which was a real piece of work)
And then there are the cats. I love them all dearly. At least Iza and Marley come in when called. Ayla doesn't. She likes to stay out a night first before returning. So I had the idea of letting her out as long as she wanted til she was bored and preferred the food inside. Its opposite feral adoption, in a way.
After Ayla escaped out a couple weeks ago and stayed out three nights, I have let her out regularly. She stays near the fence, just won't come back in when called. The idea is that I let her out enough so that she gets bored and decides the house is good at least at night. I don't know for sure that this will work
But she stayed out 3 nights at first, 2 nights the next 2 times, and not at night today. It MAY be that enough outside time equals more inside time. She sure loves my attention! When se comes in she crawls all over we seeking my scritches and neck rubs. So it may be that, let out enough, se will b more willing to come inside again.
I HAD TO relent. She had gotten so frantic to get outside after a year confinement that she would hide behind the drapes near the deck door, stalk behind me, etc. She just couldn't be kept inside anymore. As strong as my desire was to keep her in, her desire to get out exceeded that.
It matters that I keep busy in retirement. It is easy to waste time. "Tomorrow" is fine... I don't work that way. I have less time left than I did when I was 20. I don't mean to say that bothers me all that much, I stayed busy when I was 20, too. But I don't want to sit around thinking I will do things tomorrow".
I could go into great detail (and I probably will in future posts), but lately I've weeded 500 square feet of flowerbed, planted small crops (carrots, radishes, kohlrabi, leeks, etc etc), trapped a threatening groundhog and a rabbit with a taste for cucumber seedlings, cleaned out and rehabilitated an aluminum bass boat with floors, created a new plant light stand for seedlings, destructed the old light stand, drained the hot water heater of mineral sludge, cleaned the washer/dryer/dishwasher/oven, rewired several basement outlets to code, and about finished the new plant light stand (which was a real piece of work)
And then there are the cats. I love them all dearly. At least Iza and Marley come in when called. Ayla doesn't. She likes to stay out a night first before returning. So I had the idea of letting her out as long as she wanted til she was bored and preferred the food inside. Its opposite feral adoption, in a way.
After Ayla escaped out a couple weeks ago and stayed out three nights, I have let her out regularly. She stays near the fence, just won't come back in when called. The idea is that I let her out enough so that she gets bored and decides the house is good at least at night. I don't know for sure that this will work
But she stayed out 3 nights at first, 2 nights the next 2 times, and not at night today. It MAY be that enough outside time equals more inside time. She sure loves my attention! When se comes in she crawls all over we seeking my scritches and neck rubs. So it may be that, let out enough, se will b more willing to come inside again.
I HAD TO relent. She had gotten so frantic to get outside after a year confinement that she would hide behind the drapes near the deck door, stalk behind me, etc. She just couldn't be kept inside anymore. As strong as my desire was to keep her in, her desire to get out exceeded that.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Seedlings, Yay!
Well, I have seedlings of my large-seed crops up now! You may recall I had pre-soaked them a few hours and drained the water out of the individual containers to let the initial seedroots develop before planting them. It works really well! It is guaranteed germination. You have to handle the seeds gently so as not to damage the 1/4" root, but it is well worth it.
Of the 10 cukes I planted, 9 are up and there is time for the 10th.
2 of the three cantaloupes are up in each of the 2 places I planted them, as are 2 of 3 of the watermelon seeds and honeydew seeds in their single spots. In any case, it looks like I will have a good initial growth of those this year. We will see later if there is enough sun for the melons to ripen. I mention that because I have not had success with melons previously. But 2 years ago, I had a couple of trees removed that I think provides 2 more hours on sun on the garden. Last year was just bad all around, so that doesn't count.
The flat italian beans are emerging; only 2 so far, but I expect all of the 10 to emerge. I expected the beans to come up first because they are robust seedlings, but they ARE planted deeper, so I guess it balances out.
The heirloom tomato seedlings are thriving. They got 4 daylight fluorescent bulb treatment this year (2-bulb lights make them leggy) AND I waited a week longer to set them in the ground (til the soil temp was over 60F at the coolest). That seems to have helped. They are greener and stockier than in past years and the stems are noticably thicker after 1 week. I am looking forward to a superb harvest this year.
In case you are wondering why there are 2 cages, it is because something ate 1 of the seedling's top off and I had to replace it. The small green cage is to discourage the groundhog or rabbit (I have at least 1 of each in the fenced yard). I didn't know any mammals ate tomato plants! Well, that's why I grow extras...
I have 2 Brandywine, 2 Cherokee Purple, and 1 each Prudens Purple, Aunt Gertie's Gold, and Tennessee Britches. Everyone has their favorites and while Brandywine generally wins contests (and I love it too), here in MY yard with MY conditions and habits, Cherokee Purple is the winner. The taste is more complex, it is more productive, and it is more disease resistant.
I also have a hybrid Stupice as an early tomato, and a Sweet Million in a hanging pot for snacking in the garden.
I am not using the permeable red plastic groundcover this year (supposed to reflect the best light frequencies back up to the leaves). It may or may not work, but I noticed last year that water was not penetrating it. Maybe the pores get clogged after a few years. I don't want to have to buy it new every year!
I planted bi-color corn, too. It is just a 2'x3' block of 6 (its just me and I only eat one a day at best). But I will plant a 2nd 2x3 block next weekend and another 2 weeks after that for succession. I know how to maximize pollination in small plantings. In case you are wondering about that, you snip off a tassel each day and rub it around the silks for a week. If it is a really calm day, you can tap the stalks to make pollen fall straight down. If you REALLY want to maximize pollination, you can put a plastic bag over the stalks and THEN tap them. Here, 1 ear per stalk is good. This is NOT "corn country".
I don't know why I bother to grow corn. At harvest time, bi-color corn is available cheap. I should grow something more expensive like red lettuce That stuff is ALWAYS $2 a pound. Bi-color corn is sometimes 25 cents an ear. But its the challenge, I suppose. I stopped growing green bell peppers when they were 10/$1. But just once, I want to grow really good corn. Straight from the garden to boiling water in 1 minute!
The flowerbeds are doing great. I probably have them in better shape than in the past 10 years. I got them pruned of old stems early, got the beds weeded early, fertilized them with organic slow release 6-10-6 early (a blend I make from 2 sources), and (for once) I got cages around the large sprawling ones early! I let the cats show off the flowers in their Garden Tour Thursday posts. You can see that HERE.
OK, no plant in its perfect conditions should need cages. But I get less sun than they would like, so several are a bit leggy. The cages help that. With the slightly increased sun and good fertilizer, the troillus are standing on their own, the coneflowers are stockier and other larger patches of flowers are standing up aganst the weeklong heavy rains. OK, only 2", but it comes in heavy downfalls. In past years, they would all be bent over.
So things are looking promising here.
Of the 10 cukes I planted, 9 are up and there is time for the 10th.
I have 2 Brandywine, 2 Cherokee Purple, and 1 each Prudens Purple, Aunt Gertie's Gold, and Tennessee Britches. Everyone has their favorites and while Brandywine generally wins contests (and I love it too), here in MY yard with MY conditions and habits, Cherokee Purple is the winner. The taste is more complex, it is more productive, and it is more disease resistant.
I also have a hybrid Stupice as an early tomato, and a Sweet Million in a hanging pot for snacking in the garden.
I am not using the permeable red plastic groundcover this year (supposed to reflect the best light frequencies back up to the leaves). It may or may not work, but I noticed last year that water was not penetrating it. Maybe the pores get clogged after a few years. I don't want to have to buy it new every year!
I planted bi-color corn, too. It is just a 2'x3' block of 6 (its just me and I only eat one a day at best). But I will plant a 2nd 2x3 block next weekend and another 2 weeks after that for succession. I know how to maximize pollination in small plantings. In case you are wondering about that, you snip off a tassel each day and rub it around the silks for a week. If it is a really calm day, you can tap the stalks to make pollen fall straight down. If you REALLY want to maximize pollination, you can put a plastic bag over the stalks and THEN tap them. Here, 1 ear per stalk is good. This is NOT "corn country".
I don't know why I bother to grow corn. At harvest time, bi-color corn is available cheap. I should grow something more expensive like red lettuce That stuff is ALWAYS $2 a pound. Bi-color corn is sometimes 25 cents an ear. But its the challenge, I suppose. I stopped growing green bell peppers when they were 10/$1. But just once, I want to grow really good corn. Straight from the garden to boiling water in 1 minute!
The flowerbeds are doing great. I probably have them in better shape than in the past 10 years. I got them pruned of old stems early, got the beds weeded early, fertilized them with organic slow release 6-10-6 early (a blend I make from 2 sources), and (for once) I got cages around the large sprawling ones early! I let the cats show off the flowers in their Garden Tour Thursday posts. You can see that HERE.
OK, no plant in its perfect conditions should need cages. But I get less sun than they would like, so several are a bit leggy. The cages help that. With the slightly increased sun and good fertilizer, the troillus are standing on their own, the coneflowers are stockier and other larger patches of flowers are standing up aganst the weeklong heavy rains. OK, only 2", but it comes in heavy downfalls. In past years, they would all be bent over.
So things are looking promising here.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Catching Up On The Yard Activities, Part 1
I should have been posting a few times the past week, but I get distracted by other things (cooking, cleaning, yardwork, cats, MSNBC, etc). So I will try to catch up a bit now.
I've spent the most time in the yard. Last week was wonderful outside. Temps around 70F, low humidity, mostly sunny. I was greatly encouraged to spend time outside.
First, I introduced Marley ( my new cat from January) outside for the first time. I got a harness he couldn't get out of. It was a trial to get him into it. Took tries on 3 days before I succeeded. But he was stunned to be outside and didn't fight the harness (much). It wasn't that he tried to get out of the harness, but tried to walk around things that would entangle the leash.
He couldn't figure out why he couldn't walk under the deck, or around poles, or through tomato cages lying on their sides. But he was happy to be outside so he didn't complain (too much) about being "guided" away from those places. He had a grand time outside until I brought him in (30 minutes the first day, an hour - twice - the second day).
Since he showed no signs of running or trying to escape the tall fence, I let him out free the 3rd day for an hour while I was out with him (close to him all the time). The 4th day he liked to just sit on the grass in the shade and wander around a bit. I feel free to let him out when I am out and Iza is out. Iza is protective of the yard and if a stray cat came in, she would be right at it before Marley had to defend himself (he IS still only 8 months old. Reminder: Get him microchipped next week! Just in case...
The Spring weather has been fluctuating so badly (highs of 50F one day, 80F a few days later) that I have not been sure when to plant the tomatoes. Tomatoes can be permanently stunted at 50F. It finally settled out last week and I got them all planted. I only like the heirloom tomatoes these days. I grow them from seeds. There are 2 Brandywine, 2 Cherokee Purple, 1 Aunt Gerty's Gold, 1 Prudens Purple, 1 Tennessee Britches. There is also 1 Stupice. It is a hybrid that matures fast. It hasn't worked well the past 2 years and this is its last chance here. And I better get the hanging pot with the cherry tomato set up soon!
The space to the right will be for bell peppers and basil.
I've spent the most time in the yard. Last week was wonderful outside. Temps around 70F, low humidity, mostly sunny. I was greatly encouraged to spend time outside.
First, I introduced Marley ( my new cat from January) outside for the first time. I got a harness he couldn't get out of. It was a trial to get him into it. Took tries on 3 days before I succeeded. But he was stunned to be outside and didn't fight the harness (much). It wasn't that he tried to get out of the harness, but tried to walk around things that would entangle the leash.
The Spring weather has been fluctuating so badly (highs of 50F one day, 80F a few days later) that I have not been sure when to plant the tomatoes. Tomatoes can be permanently stunted at 50F. It finally settled out last week and I got them all planted. I only like the heirloom tomatoes these days. I grow them from seeds. There are 2 Brandywine, 2 Cherokee Purple, 1 Aunt Gerty's Gold, 1 Prudens Purple, 1 Tennessee Britches. There is also 1 Stupice. It is a hybrid that matures fast. It hasn't worked well the past 2 years and this is its last chance here. And I better get the hanging pot with the cherry tomato set up soon!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Lysimachia vs English Ivy
OK. so I have about 20 sod chunks of the invasive Lysimachia 'Firecracker'. I also have a raised area in the center of the backyard that has become covered with english ivy (well, if you have a wild area, ivy isn't bad looking). The raised area is too rough to mow and I have considered at times hiring someone to level it, or turning it into a wildflower area.
I can mow entirely around the area, so nothing can actually escape.
That middle area as been a problem for 25 years. When I moved here, it was covered with thorny locust scrub. It took 5 years to finally cut them all down. Then it took another 5 years to actually kill all of them. Thorny locust is TOUGH. I read stories of farmers using the cut trunks for fenceposts, and the trunks would ROOT and start growing again.
So, anyway, now it is basically a area where english ivy has taken over, poison ivy keeps trying to get established, and tree saplings keep trying to get growing. And brambles love it. I can keep the saplings and brambles chopped down.
I'm going to plant the Lysimachia chunks every 5' throughout the english ivy and see who wins!
I know from several years experience that the Lysimachia grows so tall and thick that there are never any weeds in the patch. That's one thing I like about it. And it does have a nice flower and the purple foliage is impressive!
So I am going to see what happens for a few years. Which invasive plant do you think will win?
I can mow entirely around the area, so nothing can actually escape.
That middle area as been a problem for 25 years. When I moved here, it was covered with thorny locust scrub. It took 5 years to finally cut them all down. Then it took another 5 years to actually kill all of them. Thorny locust is TOUGH. I read stories of farmers using the cut trunks for fenceposts, and the trunks would ROOT and start growing again.
So, anyway, now it is basically a area where english ivy has taken over, poison ivy keeps trying to get established, and tree saplings keep trying to get growing. And brambles love it. I can keep the saplings and brambles chopped down.
I'm going to plant the Lysimachia chunks every 5' throughout the english ivy and see who wins!
I know from several years experience that the Lysimachia grows so tall and thick that there are never any weeds in the patch. That's one thing I like about it. And it does have a nice flower and the purple foliage is impressive!
So I am going to see what happens for a few years. Which invasive plant do you think will win?
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Corralling The Lysimachia 'Firecracker'
I recently wrote about what I thought was Coreopsis 'Golden Gain' invading the neighboring plants. I discovered it was actually Lysimachia "Firecracker' (thank you Gardenweb Forum), which is a VERY invasive plant. It seems to be a type of Loosestrife, which is a real invasive family.
It had suddenly spread into some stokesia on one side and into some asters in the back. It had totally smothered a patch of Coreopsis 'Moonbeam'. It has fibrous matted roots that are impossible to disentangle from other plants.
It was sold to me as the Coreopsis 'Golden Gain' and since it had a golden flower, I didn't realize I had been sent a mislabelled plant. Fortunately, the vendor is making it as right as they can by sending replacements.
Still, I had to do a lot of hard work to correct the situation. As it actually IS a rather good looking perennial, I wanted to keep what I could. If I had a sunny spot surrounded by paved surfaces to fence it in (like driveway/sidewalk/house) I would have dug it up and moved it there. But I don't.
So my solution was to dig up the plants in the invaded area, install edging barrier around it, and replant the lost stokesia and asters. Looking back, I am thinking I should have just used Roundup! But all's well that ends well...
First, I dug up a foot around the area I wanted to keep, a nice 8' diameter circle. It was just like digging up turf sod and about as much fun. I am saving the dug up sod because I have an idea what to do with it!
Here is one side cleared out. Digging around the soaker hoses was not fun, but pulling them up through the existing plants and trying to nestle them back down afterwards seemed worse.
Here is a picture of them invading the asters in the back of the garden. They seem to spread the roots out 2' in Fall, then the new stems emerge suddenly in Spring. You don't get much warning. Last year, I thought they were self-sowing, so I snipped the flowerheads. Alas, that wasn't the problem...
After I dug them all out leaving the 8' circle, I dug a trench around them. Since they haven't spread under the path edging, I think more edging will contain them. It took a spade to cut through the matted roots, a mattock to dredge the trench, and a trowel to scoop out the soil. Loads of fun...
I threaded some old edging under the hoses through the trench...
And backfilled on both sides. The edging looks high, but that's because I removed a lot of soil with the dug pieces. I will have to add more soil to return it to level. The edging should be sticking about 1/2" above ground. Mulch will cover that.
You can just see the space for the 3 replacement stokesia to go.
Any Lysimachia that try to escape the edging will get a vinegar spray first, and a Roundup spray if absolutely required. And if the edging really won't stop it, I will make a cardboard circle around it and give the whole patch the Roundup! I'm taking a chance even giving these plants a second chance. But if they will stay in bounds, they'll have long happy lives.
Now what am I going to do with the parts I dug up? Future post!
It had suddenly spread into some stokesia on one side and into some asters in the back. It had totally smothered a patch of Coreopsis 'Moonbeam'. It has fibrous matted roots that are impossible to disentangle from other plants.
It was sold to me as the Coreopsis 'Golden Gain' and since it had a golden flower, I didn't realize I had been sent a mislabelled plant. Fortunately, the vendor is making it as right as they can by sending replacements.
Still, I had to do a lot of hard work to correct the situation. As it actually IS a rather good looking perennial, I wanted to keep what I could. If I had a sunny spot surrounded by paved surfaces to fence it in (like driveway/sidewalk/house) I would have dug it up and moved it there. But I don't.
So my solution was to dig up the plants in the invaded area, install edging barrier around it, and replant the lost stokesia and asters. Looking back, I am thinking I should have just used Roundup! But all's well that ends well...
First, I dug up a foot around the area I wanted to keep, a nice 8' diameter circle. It was just like digging up turf sod and about as much fun. I am saving the dug up sod because I have an idea what to do with it!
Here is one side cleared out. Digging around the soaker hoses was not fun, but pulling them up through the existing plants and trying to nestle them back down afterwards seemed worse.
Here is a picture of them invading the asters in the back of the garden. They seem to spread the roots out 2' in Fall, then the new stems emerge suddenly in Spring. You don't get much warning. Last year, I thought they were self-sowing, so I snipped the flowerheads. Alas, that wasn't the problem...
After I dug them all out leaving the 8' circle, I dug a trench around them. Since they haven't spread under the path edging, I think more edging will contain them. It took a spade to cut through the matted roots, a mattock to dredge the trench, and a trowel to scoop out the soil. Loads of fun...
I threaded some old edging under the hoses through the trench...
And backfilled on both sides. The edging looks high, but that's because I removed a lot of soil with the dug pieces. I will have to add more soil to return it to level. The edging should be sticking about 1/2" above ground. Mulch will cover that.
You can just see the space for the 3 replacement stokesia to go.
Any Lysimachia that try to escape the edging will get a vinegar spray first, and a Roundup spray if absolutely required. And if the edging really won't stop it, I will make a cardboard circle around it and give the whole patch the Roundup! I'm taking a chance even giving these plants a second chance. But if they will stay in bounds, they'll have long happy lives.
Now what am I going to do with the parts I dug up? Future post!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Mowing Again!
A few days old, but I didn't want to leave the subject of the mower repair hanging...
Yay! I got my mower back Saturday. I was about to haul out the old push mower, but the repair guy called Friday and said the riding one was fixed. The grass was getting a BIT high. Here are some pictures of the first swaths I cut...
The grass was 10" high! And I keep the blade 3" high for good grass health and weed suppression.
Another view of the tall grass.
And another. I would have felt embarrassed, but my neighbor's grass was the same height and HIS mower is working.
It took an hour with the old push mower to get all these corners and edges mowed clean. I sure am glad to have it back working!
My next big yard project is to reduce the amount of lawn I have...
Yay! I got my mower back Saturday. I was about to haul out the old push mower, but the repair guy called Friday and said the riding one was fixed. The grass was getting a BIT high. Here are some pictures of the first swaths I cut...
My next big yard project is to reduce the amount of lawn I have...
Monday, May 2, 2011
Finished The Pond
Not much to show. My hands got too muddy to take many pictures!
Basically, I had a dozen pots that were fallen over in the pond with the Sweet Flag leaves growing curved toward the light. I had a large pot of mixed clay and pea gravel to refill smaller pots, broken terra cotta and golf ball sized stones for weight in the bottoms, and a new bag of pea gravel to cover the soil on the tops.
I found the corner of the sunken patio a convenient height to do messy work...
Here is a stage in the procedure. The 2 pots on the right have had the stones put in the bottom, some clay/gravel soil added, then rooted portion from the original pots. I am about to add new pea gravel on top and move them to the pond.
This is the small pond with Sweet Flag around the ledge. There are 5 hardy waterlilies in the deeper center portion and several on the outer ledge. The lilies on the ledge (and half of the Sweet Flag) will be moved to the larger pond as soon as I replace the damaged lining.
I have a small water pump for the small pond. After it has circulated the water and filtered out the silt for a few days, I will add a few small goldfish.
At least I know now that I simply MUST lift all the pots each Spring and cut back the roots. And next year I will cover it with plastic window screen instead of clear plastic sheet so the pond can breathe but the Spring Peepers can't mate!
Basically, I had a dozen pots that were fallen over in the pond with the Sweet Flag leaves growing curved toward the light. I had a large pot of mixed clay and pea gravel to refill smaller pots, broken terra cotta and golf ball sized stones for weight in the bottoms, and a new bag of pea gravel to cover the soil on the tops.
I found the corner of the sunken patio a convenient height to do messy work...
Here is a stage in the procedure. The 2 pots on the right have had the stones put in the bottom, some clay/gravel soil added, then rooted portion from the original pots. I am about to add new pea gravel on top and move them to the pond.
This is the small pond with Sweet Flag around the ledge. There are 5 hardy waterlilies in the deeper center portion and several on the outer ledge. The lilies on the ledge (and half of the Sweet Flag) will be moved to the larger pond as soon as I replace the damaged lining.
I have a small water pump for the small pond. After it has circulated the water and filtered out the silt for a few days, I will add a few small goldfish.
At least I know now that I simply MUST lift all the pots each Spring and cut back the roots. And next year I will cover it with plastic window screen instead of clear plastic sheet so the pond can breathe but the Spring Peepers can't mate!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
A Great Day To Be Out Yesterday!
What is so rare as a day in Spring? Well in MD, they really are rare! The average temp this time of year is 70F, but that usually means days of 55 intermixed with days of 80. Finally, yesterday was actually in the upper 60s, which is MY kind of weather.
I spent almost the entire day outside. The major project was to clean out the small pond. I have a larger pond, but that project is for another day.
I have to mention first that I covered the pond with clear plastic because the Spring Peepers drive me crazy at night. If there was 1,000 it would be OK because the noise would average out. But I get just a few and there is a loud crok every minute or so. Its like the Chinese water torture! So, for sleepfulness, I cover the pond when they are mating.
The first thing I do in a major outdoors project is set up a rest station. Hey, I'm 60 years old! Chair, radio, beer. In the shade...
Here is the pond when I uncovered it. Live plants...
But purple sludge! My first thought was "red algae bloom" (toxic). I washed my hands frequently. I made a hole in the muck to get a hose siphon started.
It's easy. I just laid out one hose downhill and attached another from the spigot to it. Fill the first with water, disconnect, and get it in the "hole" in the pond fast. Here is the downhill end of the siphon hose.
It took an hour to siphon (hence the need for radio and beer), but it was finally done. Look at the mess I saw!
Meanwhile, as the siphoning was going on, I weeded the garden. I dug up quite a bit on some invasive grass. Nasty stuff that spreads by long underground runners. I used to know the name of it, but it escapes me now. Suggestions welcome.
When the pond was drained, I mucked out the bottom silt, Its great stuff for the compost pile! A pond skimmer net is good for getting that stuff out.
Because of the red algae(?), I sprayed it with chlorinated water. I don't know if that will kill it, but it sure won't help them any (search for WC Fields and moths). I scooped the remaining water out with an old pitcher and poured the rich silt-water on the neighboring flowers.
When I had the pond about as clean as I could get it , I refilled the pond center about 4" deep. That's so I can set the surviving plants back in some water tomorrow when the chlorine has mostly evaporated out.
They all need repotting. I tried that last year and failed badly. Some pots floated and some just fell over. THIS time, I have gravel to mix with the soil and bits of broken flagstone for the bottoms of the pots to weight them down.
The repotting was necessary because, 3 years ago, I discovered that the entire pond was a mass of roots. Stupid me, I didn't know that they grew roots out of the pots!!! And it had been 5 years since I planted them. I spent hours cutting the various pots apart (the roots were all intertwined). And that was in the cold March water (I still shudder from the cold water)...
But this year, it is going better. I have the stuff to repot them properly (read up on it at pond plant website). And I am going to put a waterpump in there this year to keep the water circulating. Does anyone know if those U/V filters really work? I might try one.
I spent almost the entire day outside. The major project was to clean out the small pond. I have a larger pond, but that project is for another day.
I have to mention first that I covered the pond with clear plastic because the Spring Peepers drive me crazy at night. If there was 1,000 it would be OK because the noise would average out. But I get just a few and there is a loud crok every minute or so. Its like the Chinese water torture! So, for sleepfulness, I cover the pond when they are mating.
The first thing I do in a major outdoors project is set up a rest station. Hey, I'm 60 years old! Chair, radio, beer. In the shade...
When I had the pond about as clean as I could get it , I refilled the pond center about 4" deep. That's so I can set the surviving plants back in some water tomorrow when the chlorine has mostly evaporated out.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Getting The Garden Ready
In between the near-daily rain last week, I got the garden beds prepped for the season. I had some free County-supplied mulch in a pile for 2 years, and it composted nicely. The stuff was like fine leaf-mould. So I added 3" to each of my beds
I took pictures of doing one of my 6 raised beds. Here is the composted mulch on top...
I added slow-release organic fertilizer. I blend it from 2 sources, but it is about 10-10-10. Then I turned the soil, twice, with a spading fork.
Then leveled it with a rake and tamped it lightly.
Consider it repeated 5 times for the other beds. I love the rake I found a few years ago. Its not a "bow" rake. This is a "leveling" rake. It is exactly 24" wide (useful for measuring) and has a straight bar on the back to make everything smooth and even.
As soon as the weather is right (about another week), I am ready for the tomatoes, peppers, melons, etc! Meanwhile, I am hardening off the seedlings. One hour the first day, 2 hours the next, etc til 8 good sun hours. I can hardly wait...
I took pictures of doing one of my 6 raised beds. Here is the composted mulch on top...
As soon as the weather is right (about another week), I am ready for the tomatoes, peppers, melons, etc! Meanwhile, I am hardening off the seedlings. One hour the first day, 2 hours the next, etc til 8 good sun hours. I can hardly wait...
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