Showers nourish my garden

After a somewhat tedious start we are getting some regular showers now which doesn't have me scrambling out of bed early to soak everything before the dragon sun comes up. Here is a lovely shot of my brussel's sprout cloaked in dew. I need to make setting up a water barrel and irrigation system this fall a priority. I don't like relying on the hose for all our garden water as out in the country you don't want to run the well dry and the subdivisions popping up everywhere around here are hard on the aquifer as it is. So when those dark clouds gather and the breeze starts to rush I breath in a sigh of relief. Watering is fine and good but a good storm soaking seems to breath fire into the garden. Suddenly tomatoes make a mad dash out of the ground and the seeds of things you've put into the ground to start just burst right out...most of the time.

I spotted this gent on my corn and lightly brushed him away. I'm not sure if he was beneficial or not but I do know that this will probably be the year of the bug. Is it because this is the second year of our garden and they know where to go now? Was it the extra moisture from all that snow that birthed these insects? Who knows. All I know is I had relatively little trouble with bugs but now this year they are a bigger pain. I've never had problems with cut worms but this year they killed several tomatoes and I will never harden off tomatoes again without sticks or nails. I've also freaked to discover some of my pepper seedlings sucked under and digested by caterpillars in the seed starting tray. The latest was a worm eating my newly sprouted corn. AHH! I've heard several people suggest different dusts, sprays, and covers. I decided not to put up the fence this year and I enjoy wandering in and out of my garden unfettered and have yet to have any animal damage. I've planted plenty and will just endure the bugs this year. It's enough to have the recycled bottle watering spikes as an eye sore. I'd rather not drape netting and garden fabric over everything. We'll see. There are other ways of doing things.

I was excited to see the corn pop up but not all the 5 seedlings in each matrix came up. I waited a week to see if any stragglers were late in coming but alas nothing. While watering the tomatoes this morning I made the discovery that I had planted a row of corn between them and the peppers. Thank goodness for insurance policies like that. I had totally forgotten that I planted that and quickly went about scooping the sprouts up lightly and popping them in where the the duds had been. I dug lightly around in the hills for the duds before that and sure enough each one had molded. I guess sweet corn can be a pain that way. My cinderella pumpkins (Rouge Vif D'Etampes) haven't sprouted yet either but maybe it is because they have a longer germination period. I may start some inside just in case.

Here is my ugly pumpkin (Galeux D'Eysines) that I'm sure to consider beautiful. I planted two in the three sisters patch and three in the old potato hill above the tomatoes. It is a winter squash from France that comes out a pink and then develops sugar scarification as it ages. It's supposed to be delectable in soup, sauces, and pie but I'm hoping to make some pumpkin curry. Delish!

This is also the year of the pumpkin for me as I've got this weird fascination for them. Here is a shot of the tan cheese pumpkin coming up. This thing is a monster. I've never seen a squash sprout so big and I swear to god that it grows centimeters in the time it takes me to turn and water something and then turn around again. I hope it's a good squash and won't get a taste for blood and decide to throttle me because at the rate this thing is growing I don't think I could fend it off. Sadly, it's companion was ravaged by a bug.

I gave this guy a few days because I could see the beginning of an adult leave but alas because it didn't have the energy it could've had from its first leaves it foundered. Still being May I just popped another seed in the ground and hope for the best. But lets examine the survivor pumpkin on steroids.

The little monster is nestled next to the shed and I can only guess at how big it might get if I continue watering it.

The peppers are content in the humidity and I have a feeling that will a little more rain fall they will take off too. They are thankfully receiving minimal insect damage at the moment.

I found this specimen one afternoon while having tea on the porch. I grew potatoes as an afterthought last year near the porch at the back of the house. The ants and slugs got those and left me with just potato skins so I decided not to do that again this year. This must be from a potato that I didn't find. I saw in sprouting and decided that if it was willing so was I. I've since also learned about earthing up to produce more potatoes so I'm interested to see how this one might do.
This is definitely a nice change from the blizzarding this past winter.

The Appearance of a Good Omen

So, after the whirl of my upcoming show in July is over I plan on working on some projects that I have been putting off. One of those in particular is a collection of works dedicated to my omens. On my own growing up I began to mark signals of being on the right path or even just special acknowledgements as sightings of different creatures that one normally doesn't see. I now realize that some of this is simply being cognizant of your surroundings and taking the time to actually look. At any rate, I have a collection of creatures that I consider to be good omens. I'll share one with you right now.
After my shift at the hospital was over I was entertaining particularly good thoughts because I was now looking ahead to a nice weekend off and I was breathing and functioning on my own. Working at a hospital ICU will make you grateful for such things. The weather was pleasant and the breeze was nice. The moon was full and highlighting a beautiful display of cumulus clouds. I was contemplating people's fortunes and thinking that if a stressful environment washes the body in cortisol that it manufactures itself then perhaps a smooth and good demeanor washes the body is beneficial chemicals and heals wounded parts. Perhaps that's the key to life anyway is to be naturally happy.
When I arrived at my house I decided to pull the car around to the side of the kitchen. When I looked up I saw this lovely specimen perched on the kitchen window sill. She's the first Luna Moth of the season for me. I assumed she was a she because I don't really know how to sex a Luna Moth but I was guessing such. She was happy to crawl on my hand and didn't want to go back to the window but I knew I couldn't take her in the house. She even stayed the night and was waiting for breakfast in the morning. That's when I shot these photos. Her poor little wings were chewed on the ends but she had beautiful colors and lovely antennae. Her little purple legs were fat and fluffy and her charcoal eyes were peacefully nestled in her downy pale yellow face. As the sun rose and began to grow warm I went for a jog and by the time I got back she was gone but I did enjoy her visit and I hope she went on to make many children who will come back and visit me again.

Turning new soil in The Shire

As usual it's been way too long since I've last updated but as usual life is busy, busy, busy! I have registered our garden in OneMillionGardens.ning.com as The Shire. I have Rivendell dreams on a Shire budget. Here is a path that we take from the back of the house down to the garden. Not everyone has a canopy of pine needles and leafy hardwood saplings to wander through before reaching their garden and I'm very grateful for it. It smells wonderful when the temperature rises and the sap in the pines gets very aromatic.

Even though I started my tomatoes and peppers in egg cartons like last year something like this was what I really wanted and it turns out needed. I picked up this little domed starter and wished I had gotten it from the beginning. It came from a cool little shop in the dairy district of Charlottesville, VA. The place is called Fifth Season and it's a wonderful little oasis of all things hydroponic, organic, and even home brewing! The staff was very friendly and the place had all kinds of wonderful things to make the gardener drool. (Check out their website: http://www.fifthseasongardening.com/) I had already put some of my peppers into larger peat pots when I picked this little starter dome up but I instantly saw improvement once the plants were placed inside. My peppers had taken FOREVER to start and most of them didn't start at all. This was most likely due to cool conditions. I know that a grow (heated) mat would solve my problems but I'm trying to steer clear of gardening methods that make me dependent on the grid. I found with other paid for starter boxes that once the plants began to grow there was no room for the sprouts to go up without hitting the top of the plastic and starting to rot. Most kits have a clear plastic top that is about 2 to 3 inches high. The nice thing about this kit is that the top is more like 6 or so inches high and you can also control the humidity with two little sliding vents. This allows you to grow out the sprouts high enough for hardening off and even starting that process by messing with the vents.

Here my little pepper sprouts are happy under the jungle like conditions of the dome. I'm glad I purchased this. I think the peppers are too!

Here's a shot of "The Shire Garden" from the bottom of the path behind the house. I should have shot some before pictures but if ifs and buts were cherries and nuts then everyday would be Christmas. Those large mounds are going to be used for the three sisters method. Those represent one plot and my intentions were for three plots but since this entire garden was dug with the shovel my husband and I wore out before the intents were met. I still think we'll have a lovely garden and this was double the ground covered from last year.

Now hind site is 20/20 and I learned last year that the puny cages that I bought for the tomatoes just weren't cutting it. My sprouts turned into monsters that fell over at every turn. This year we sunk fence posts into the ground and ran a series of wires around the whole to act as a support. I looked longingly at some of the pretty tomato staking methods that were sturdy and decorative but at $50.00 a pop that just wasn't going to make it in the Shire budget. I found some rusty discount fence posts at the Home Depot for $3.98 and they should do just fine. Who's going to see the rust once they are laden with big fat tomatoes? I also laid down some cypress mulch. Last year we spent forever trying to make sure the tomatoes had enough water. I'm going to try mulch to see if it retains more water. AquaCones also made it into the budget though I've never used them before. I have to attach 2 liter soda bottles to the ends and that's going to look REAL attractive but at least the soda bottle gets repurposed.
Here's a shot of the first crop I put down. The shallots were planted in April and have a very cool healthy green glow dusting them. I just finished potting the volunteer mini pumpkins that were invading the bed yesterday. I was taking these pictures and took a closer look. I thought to myself "are those what I think they are?" I pinched up a small sprout that was congregating near a clump of shallots and smelled it. Yep, tomatoes. A ton of volunteer tomatoes has sprouted up around my shallots. I know what that means. I'm sure the compost that I put down with the shallots contained some unwanted tomato seeds. I guess I'll let those go for a little while longer and then pull them out too. I have plenty of friends that would like free tomato plants.

Last year my sister gave me some wonderful strawberry plants that had a myriad of babies. I carefully pinned and potted up all the babies and meant to establish a permanent bed for them but alas like all intentions these days they got away from me. They were happy to spill out of their pots and nestled down in the driveway. Since they seem so happy and are going to fruit I'll just let them be until those plants have babies. They are near the compost tumbler so are probably enjoying some of the tea that runs out from it occasionally. I suppose we'll see how many strawberries I get after the birds and chipmunks take their share...

Unhatched Eggs

I got a wild hair last week and decided that I couldn't deal with our junky porches any longer. It was really starting to look like a dump! There are still some items to resolve but for the most part things that continued to hang out on our porch that were not used for at least a year or two headed for the dump or the give away. There is still an old ferret cage (*sniff* I have a hard time letting that memory go) on the porch that I think I'll be able to use as a strawberry house to keep the squirrels and birds off my strawberries.
There is a Radio Flyer wagon that I had piled gardening things in (old pots, a bag of gravel, trowels, and gloves) that had sat stationary for the past two years. It was a wonderful gift from an old boss of mine who unknowingly enabled my hoarding habit. I cleared out and stored the pots and we used the gravel to fill in the continuing ruts that pop up in the driveway. In cleaning out, I found a treasure I had forgotten about. In every crevice of daylight a Jenny Wren had stuffed leaves, animal hair, MY hair, wrappers, paper, and other flotsam. I remember this poor little wren as we saw her busying herself with her partner trying to find somewhere on or near our porch to build a nest. They initially tried several times to build a nest in the joists of our porch roof but decided this was not right for some reason or another. I worked the Schyuler Farmer's Market once last year and decided to check the fluids of my truck upon returning simply because it's an old truck and needs monitoring. To my dismay, I found a nest with 5 eggs stuck in the radiator. There's no way the eggs didn't get cooked and I felt bad because I couldn't figure out why the bird was squawking at me from the nearby dogwood that morning. She gave me an ear full upon return too. A few days later we saw her hopping in and out of my Radio Flyer but the bad thing was so did the cat. I unearthed two nests last weekend with 5 eggs in each and I just know they were hers. Poor little unhatched eggs. They were so speckled and perfect I didn't have the heart to throw them out. I kept them. After all, they had been through 3 snows and are probably pretty well petrified.

This spring I will make things right. I have already hung one small bird house and it has a 1" wide hole but I don't think she'll fit in there. I'll get another bird house for her. Poor thing laid 15 eggs with no results. Maybe we'll have some baby Jenny Wrens this year.

Very often I will document something in my journal or with my camera and come back to it later. VERY often. Life is just busy that way. After all, this is the Journey to Middle Earth. Haven't gotten there yet but I plod along just like this turtle here. I shot pictures of her/him last fall. I had gone out to jog and there is was trucking up the driveway towards the house. Its shell was a brilliant paintbox of yellow, gold, brown, and black. I was take though by its beautiful deep and bright ruby eyes. It considered me for a while wondering what I was up to but was content to be photographed, picked up, and turned over.

I spy with my little ruby eye!

Breakfast Guest

So, you say you're thinking about getting chickens, eh? I had just gone upstairs with my tea this morning when my husband whispers loudly downstairs "psst! Where's the camera?" This fellow was sitting just at the bottom of the porch stairs happily munching away on something. It just so happens that I had cooked a turkey on Sunday and rendered the carcass down for stock. Pat threw it out in the woods yesterday and this is probably the result. He was happily snacking and looks clean and healthy so we didn't think he was near the house on account of rabies. He was probably picking his teeth with turkey ribs when Pat saw him. We had to tip toe around the kitchen so as not to scare him off. He's got nice black socks and ears and his coat is nice and orange. I don't see any ribs either so I know he's been pigging out on not just turkey carcasses. I wonder if this is the same guy that came by a few years ago in the summer. He snooped around the front porch and then around the tree line in the driveway. We don't mind him and he hasn't caused any trouble yet.


"...and thank you for the turkey carcass...amen."

Here I caught him with a mouthful of turkey. It looks like he's snarling but I snapped the photo right when he was chomping down on turkey skin.

He's got the prettiest tail!

Fresh OJ!

So, my mom bought us a box of oranges over the Christmas holiday from the 4H in my community. Why she bought us an entire case of oranges I have no idea. Seems like I'm the only one that willingly eats fruits and vegetables in the house anyway but there were more than enough in that box to last us a good long time. Problem is that 1. Even though oranges do last a while from their natural citrus acid, the don't last INDEFINITELY and 2. as they DO age the fruit flies just LOVE it. Bleh! So, I finally got around to juicing these guys and even got to use the antique milk glass juicer that I purchased a few years ago. I love antiques that you can still use after many many years. I saw some old metal juicers at an antique store a few days back but seems like you can get more juice out of these and it stows better in the cabinet than another bulky contraption. Your hands will definitely be tired, however, but the juice is yummy!

A Snow Dusting

Our house looked like a gingerbread house this Christmas! Complete with icicles and everything! It has been at least 10 years or more since we've gotten more than a few inches of snow so no one complain that we never get a white Christmas anymore. Can you guess which window is mine? I had run some rubber based ink prints off the vandercook and they were STILL wet after a week. Garrett Queen wisely suggested that I set them in the sun to set up with UV light. I was leering of doing it at first because I thought it might fade out my colored paper but the color was fine and it worked great. Of course, I didn't want to miss this wonderful opportunity to take the camera for a spin in this weather. Plenty of beautiful shots for reference for more art!

This one is the most picturesque I think as I shot it in a way that the trees make an arch of snow that I am so fond of. I love trees arched over a pathway. Then again, I seem to be in love with the arch shape these days regardless.

I didn't know until I had to write an essay for an art class that bamboo is one of the three friends of winter in China. Actually, having written the essay there are really four friends. Bamboo and Pine are guaranteed their place in the category of the Three Friends of Winter but Narcissus and Plum have to duke it out for the spot and you never know which one will pop up there. I LOVE the color of spring green and to see a pleasant frond of bamboo swaying in the snow is magical.
And speaking of magical....

This image comes close to echoing my favorite part about a heavy snow. That first day after the heaviest of the snow had fallen the air was quiet and calm. Normally, (and disappointingly) I can hear a leaf blower somewhere, a semi barreling down the mountain, or traffic humming up and down the roads. That day there was nothing but the light ticking of ice crystals falling to the ground from the breeze. For once in a long time, you could stare down this road and actually have some hope of seeing an elf traveller and his steed bedecked in bells and gold trudging through the snow or perhaps watch the snow fall heavily to the ground from the pine trees as an ice dragon churns the air for a landing with his wings.
But I left out one sound that merrily makes its way through the quiet at the end of this road...

Our creek was gurgling and flowing over its icy path and it's banks were fat with frosty fluff. Perhaps I will see that elf traveller one day. We'll offer him some hot tea and listen to the story of his travels while is pony takes a rest.