Our Friends and Neighbors

The borders of my yard are porous. Plants come in to live (or be ruthlessly removed), and animals come and go as they please. For a while a skunk was living under my shed. If he is there now we are keeping such different schedules that we are not disturbing each other. Four squirrels live in my yard against my will. They sit on the railing of my shed waiting for me to fill the bird feeders, and apparently spend the rest of their time burying acorns among my flowers which germinate into stubborn seedlings to pull out. This morning I surprised a chipmunk checking out the veggie patch.

I also have a lot of insect life. Although there is a beehive across the street I usually see wilder pollinators. Bumble bees, smaller bees and wasps, butterflies and helicopter moths visit at will. Insect predators follow: spiders and dragonflies wait for their chance.

I have a lot of birds visiting as well, and since it looks to have been a good reproductive season so far I am hoping to attract even more birds next year. I have seen baby blue jays, robins, cardinals and doves so far this year. I have seen pairs of orioles, house finches and goldfinches, downy and hairy woodpeckers, nuthatches, titmice, red winged blackbirds and a few different sparrows. This morning I saw a single catbird visiting. Of course we have grackles, cowbirds, and crows, fortunately not in huge numbers. These days I generally see the crows being chased away by smaller birds. The crows themselves chase away a red tailed hawk when it comes too close.

A Work in Progress

One of the things I liked most about our house is that the yard is rather large with a variety of exposures. I don't really have space for a number of grand garden "rooms", but within the bounds of a smaller garden I have few limits on what I can grow.

The limit I do have is budget.  Consequently I have had to start several projects with some very small steps. Fortunately as a child I filled my personal garden with cuttings and gifts from my grandparent's gardens. Along with my plans both simple and grandiose for my current spaces I have experience with filling up a garden with free plants.  I want to replicate in one corner a luxurious display of hostas and hydrangeas. Instead of mature shrubs and plants I have started with offsets from my late mother-in-law's garden and divisions from my own hostas supplemented by a very few purchased hostas of rather small sizes. It is in its second summer now, and may look quite nice next year. I actually am planning for the look I want to appear in year five.

My sunny bed  surrounding the veggie patch went in this year with a few small purchases and a selection of divisions from Inace supplemented by a few divisions from my own garden. I am trying to be sure that each bed has its own character and selection of plants, so I really only added a few liatris and some montauk daisies from my existing beds. The liatris is something I have all around the yard, so I am considering it to be something of a theme plant, keeping in mind that as a prairie wildflower it has the ability to carry all before it. The Montauk daisy likewise is repeated around the yard. Neither of these plants seem to be commonly growing in anyone's garden in the neighborhood but they are doing well in mine. With only a few additions next year this area should look full and luxuriant.  I'm planning for some bearded iris, poppies, asiatic lilies and columbine. One thing I do want to add to this area is an ornament of some kind for the back wall of my shed. I may be able to create something during the winter to make the shred wall into a visual asset.

a row of pitiful sticks

The shrub border between my yard and my southernmost neighbor is more problematic, because I am looking at about a hundred feet of no budget. Right now it is a row of assorted sticks. Eventually it will be a mixed border with perennial flowers, hostas and ground covers but even the most ambitious plan must start somewhere. Every plant currently in this row was free. Not all would have been my first choices, but it will be an attractive mix of flowering shrubs and  small trees with interest from early spring to late fall. I can't ask for more than that. The sheer volume of mulch required to put my plans into action is somewhat daunting, given that the quantity I can bring in from the dump on each visit depends on the number of bins I want to fill and unload each time. I may ask for a couple yards of mulch for my birthday next year!

Potluck Post

I spend a fair bit of time tooling around the Internet these days, posting to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I keep my hand in with little tiny posts of unrelated content and keep an eye on my family and blog buddies in a very distracted way. Not only have I gone too long between longer posts at my own blog, but I don't get around to everyone else's pages as often as I should. Lazy Bones!  The excuse is, as always, that everyday life does not always provide the kind of activities and news that fill out a single subject post. Therefore, today will be potluck post time, including a bunch of unrelated pictures!

Most of my time lately is spent out in the garden, planting, mulching and obsessively weeding. Between the cool weather and the frequent torrential (for Massachusetts) rain most things are growing slower than I would like. I am disappointed, but patient. I wish the insect I have never seen that is biting off the leaves of my beans every night would stop right now. Some plants are enjoying this weather to no end. I had an interesting fern volunteer next to my bulkhead, and a dicentra pop up at the edge of my fire pit. Money plant has sneaked in (with some poison ivy, grrr ) from my neighbor and a couple of violas hid in my grass. I picked up a wad of day lilies from the dump (planted in a segregated area in case they prove to be thugs). All have found homes in my garden. Cute volunteers are welcome because I currently have no plant budget. Two of the puny sticks I planted in my future shrub border that I thought had died turned out not to be dead after all. One dogwood looked like there was a little hope so I was just watching it.  It finally leafed out and looks to be OK. The other was a probable viburnum that I actually dug up to remove when I saw a teeny bit of growth in the roots. I put it back in the ground and it has put out a couple of leaves. No great shakes yet but there is plenty of warm weather ahead so I'll wait until next year to decide its fate. Maybe the holly seedlings I planted will recover after all.  I am currently squinting at the shrub border and imagining it as lush shrubs beautifully underplanted with a stunning mix of ground covers and flowering perennials. (lots of) Time will tell if I am able to put my plan into action. Probably I will start at one end and fill it out over time.  I saw a shade garden in Menahaunt Monday that just made me sick with envy - what looked like a whole lot planted with ornamental trees and shrubs with mulch paths leading one around to admire all of the stunning underplantings. sigh. Clearly professionally designed and maintained. Still, even in the most unattainable gardens we can all get inspiration.

Lucky for us we have a membership at Coonamessett Farm and can pick and buy fresh produce there at good prices. We went last weekend and I got my eggs fresh from under the chickens.  First time for me and I must say, moderately thrilling. I expected the chickens to peck at me, but I guess they are used to such treatment and did not object. Next weekend I hope to beat the birds to some blueberries.

I am trying to get out for a long bike ride every week by myself, and a shorter one with Shana. Finding a good half day when I am not working AND the weather is dry(ish) has been challenging, but by then end of this month the weather will be more reliable. There will be more tourists on the path, but early on a weekday morning I expect it to be very tolerable.

I went vegetarian in April - just read that one article too many about commercial farming. Fortunately I like nearly every kind of veggie and there is already a lot of variety in my diet. Eggs and dairy are still in the mix for now. I know a few people who are vegan but eat from a very narrow selection of foods. That would take too much planning for me, and probably not all that healthy. I like having some quick meals in the mix and a lot of choices for when I feel like cooking.

Knitting continues, albeit with reduced time spent because of gardening and cycling commitments, with one secret baby item and a pair of basic socks for myself. The time is coming for the switch from mostly selfish knitting to mostly holiday gift knitting. I have supplies for most of the gift items already purchased and patterns selected.  I must say I am looking forward to most of it. There are some patterns I have not tried before, and one item that I will be creating from scratch: pattern, knitting, and embellishment. Not an exciting item, except for the recipient, but I am enjoying the process of planning how it will be done. If it turns out I will share the pattern for sure.

I ran across something this morning I never thought I'd see, although it should not surprise me. There is an iPad apps for cats! You can go to this site and download cat games for your touch screen phone or iPad.  The whole world is now automated.

Life in the Land of Weeds

Everyone has gardening bugaboos, and mine is weeds.  I guess that weeds are the bete noir of many gardeners. I purchased four yards of loam this spring, and once it warmed up a bit I find that my soil is host to a large number of germinating weeds. Lambs quarters, purslane, and smart weed seem to be the most plentiful. Lambs quarters and purslane are edible, smart weed apparently has some medicinal uses. I am still going to pull them out, although it turns out that lambs quarters are delicious and the gleanings will surely find their way into salads.  The peas and beans are up. I may have left the planting a bit late for the peas, but since the weather continues cool I am hoping for the best. My bif plans for tomorrow will consist mostly of a trip to the dump and several hours of crawling around pulling up weeds while they are tiny and submissive and before they get big enough to give my more desireable plants a run for their money. My main enemy this season will be squirrels. Due to a heavier than usual acorn crop last fall I seem to have four squirrels living in my yard - two adults and two juveniles. They are all fat as stoats and bold as brass.

The Enemy

A Bargain Hunting Gardener's Life

Shady Bed, early spring

Every morning I head out, weeder in hand, to look at my garden and see what's happening out among the plants. I stare fondly at the plants I love and do battle with the endless armies of invaders. There is usually something interesting, especially since this year I have planted a lot of seed. I'm pretty comfortable with things I have grown from seed before, but less so with new things. Apparently during the years when I was off planting mature plants the seed sellers have decided you do not need a little picture of that the new seedling will look like. Things are germinating that I do not recognize than I am not sure they are welcome. I won't know until they get a bit bigger. I am also new to veggie gardening, so I do have a bit of anxiety about it.

Shady Bed mid spring, north end

After many years of grousing about my gardening methods Shana has finally decided that she understands the difference between my gardens and "normal people's" gardens. I like plants. Isn't this amazing? I'm not really a landscaper; I just see what kind of exposure/soil I have and put something there I think will grow. I also value leaves as a mulching material. Personally I like the combinations that result even if it's not normal. This does make my garden significantly more interesting in the close up than it might be from a distance, however. It rewards close inspection but does not give the dressy and finished appearance a more edited plan supplies. Probably some areas are suffering from too much variety, and I enjoy diminutive plants as much as the structural garden stalwarts. The volunteers, like the money plant and lamium that crawled under the neighbor's fence and the bleeding heart that arrived spontaneously from the forest are welcome to stay.  Wild violas are as welcome as their more cultivated cousins, although I keep a close eye on the wild violets and their pushy ways.

Shady Bed, south end

 I am trying to fill out some new garden spaces without any budget to do it, so I am moving a few things around and making the best of the extras I have around the yard, and around everyone else's yard. I've been lucky enough to have a mature garden to pillage and a few interesting volunteers around the yard. I am also blessed with the conviction that gardeners are playing a long game. I am resigned to waiting until plants mature in their own time. The corner bed  I have planted in hydrangeas and hostas will not really look like much for another three years. It will be gorgeous then, and in the meantime I have the comfort of knowing the only expense I have incurred is the price of two hostas I bought because I could not beg cuttings of those varieties. I just have to keep my hands off it because although it looks sparse now it is actually completely full. The mature size of the plants will fill it up and then some.

Classic Cape Cod combination of hydrangeas and hostas

My shrub border is fully planted but does not look like it. I do not have quite the varieties or sizes I would have chosen with a more generous budget, but I have some nice things. I have a forsythia, two high bush blueberries, a butterfly bush, rose of sharon, fairy rose, andromeda, viburnum and dogwood. There are lots of hydrangeas in various puny sizes.  I spaced the shrubs with their mature size in mind even though right now they are mostly little sticks. Next year I can start underplanting with smaller plants, like the hostas which will need to be divided, and the miniature hostas which will be crowded out and covered up where they are.

Just a reminder: for a close up inspection of any of my photos just click on them to embiggen.

And for your entertainment, a wonderful example of stop motion filming:

Alec Explained

ALEC has been in the news less lately, but I suspect it's not because the creation of "sample legislation" is less prevalent these days but because people are catching on to what that is and how it works.  It's worth repeating how this works:

This Year's Garden Project

Because I have a little more time these days to garden one of the criteria for selecting a house was that it should have plenty of room to play outside. I don't have an acreage that would give me enough space for a natural woodland garden or a formal arrangement of garden rooms, but I do have a quarter acre with a variety of exposures to play with. Last year I started a hydrangea and hosta bed in a shady corner which  should be beautiful in a few years with almost no  expenditure on my part because I was able to start it with offshoots and divisions. I have a shady bed that is nearly full and needs only light maintenance - weeding, some compost, and cleanup in the spring before the bulbs come up. A sunny corner is full of mature shrubs blooming from spring through fall. I added a shrub bed in the part shade front of my lot to block road noise and provide privacy in the fullness of time.

This year I added a few holly seedlings (thanks Wanda!) to the front bed. They will not provide privacy for several years, but when they are grown they will be a fuss free privacy hedge winter and summer. I want a shrub border on one side of my yard. Last year I was given two small blueberry bushes and two small hydrangeas to start me out (Thanks, Alison!) and this year I moved a rose of sharon that was being overwhelmed by my humongous forsythia, and took a sprout from that giant as well. I was able to get a couple of dogwood seedlings and additional hydrangea sprouts from my late mother-in-law's garden and a couple of offshoots of something of whose species I am not altogether sure - peegee hydrangea? doublefile viburnum?  After moving a pieris japonica across the yard to a more suitable location I have the start of a lovely border - in about ten years, when everything is grown. Gardening is a long game, especially when you must violate the first rule of gardening: Have Lots of Money!.

I did not bother to dig out a bed for the new shrubs; I will just get them mulched over the summer one at a time. As small as they are there is not great hurry, except to identify them to avoid running over them with the mower. I have access to as much free mulch as I want from the dump, the only provision being I have to take my own containers and fill them myself.

This year's big project is a combination veggie garden and sunny flower garden. For my birthday I got 36 big cinder blocks and four yards of loam to build my garden. The blocks will form a raised bed and short wall to keep erosion under control on the sloped area which is my most reliably sunny spot, all the more sunny because several trees have been removed on the east side of my property.  To get this project started I also cadged a few used cinder blocks from a friend (thanks Wanda!) and some newspapers from the in-laws to mulch over the grass inside the raised bed. After I moved all the cinder blocks into place I made a mulch path around the veggie bed for access. Then I dug out several inches of the sandy soil surrounding the raised bed for my flowers and replaced it with loam. I schlepped the sandy and rocky soil to the driveway to build up low spots that become little pools in rainy weather.  I also burned the rest of my brush pile and moved a shrub to a happier location before I started digging around in this area.

This weekend we will start planting in the raised bed - lettuces  and kale first, plus some of the more hardy flowers and herbs that will live in the surrounding cinder blocks. Later we will put in bush beans, pole beans, tomatoes and cucumbers. That seems ambitious enough for me. The veggie portion is meant to be Shana's project for the summer, with the flowers being my domain. Given the amount of weeding the veggies will need I suspect she will be happy to share. I have a few flowers "parked" around the yard waiting for a sunny bed to get my part started, and a friend who had perennials to divide and share will expand my selection so that need only pick up a few to fill it out this season. It look bit puny now, but considering that this area was completely bare when we bough the house I have high hopes. I am thankful that my job at A Major Retailer has provided me with the strength and endurance for this project! I have been doing all the heavy lifting myself without major discomfort. I have tired feet, tired hands, tired back, tired knees, tired shoulders and elbows, but nothing is injured. It has been strenuous. I am taking today off from digging and lifting. Tomorrow I will get the rest of the loam that I need for this project moved and move a shrub from my front bed to a happier location beside the shed  with a nice big loamy hole where it will get better sun and therefore reach its full potential. The birdbath in this area has a leak, so I also need some better duct tape! Roxy has been happy to supervise but so far has not done any of the work.