Fatter Fat Toad

I've been meaning for a while to post about a little friend that lives under our porch that Pat and I affectionately call Fatter Fat Toad because, well, she's HUGE! I first found Fatter Fat Toad last year one night when I was coming home from work. I work the evening shift so I get home around midnight and my husband leaves the porch light on for me. This is probably why she hung around our house. The porch light attracts all kinds of tasty bugs. As I pulled around the house I saw a large rock and got out of the car to check it out because more often than not large rocks end up being animals. Yep, she was a huge toad that was about the size of a baseball and she did not want to give up her prime hunting spot. She continued to hang out around our porch throughout the summer and quite often when found her (like in the picture above) hunkered down under the bleeding heart waiting for a hapless insect. She even let me feed her worms from my worm composter. Fatter Fat Toad was our good luck charm omen and I hoped that she found a good place to stay for the winter. Turns out she did.
This is a picture my husband took one spring morning. He emailed me that Fatter Fat was a awake and sure enough when I got home I saw a scuffled mud hole under the porch steps where she had slept. It was only about an inch or so under the soil at best. I remember slipping on the porch steps when we had the huge blizzard as the damn things were a sheet of ice. It's amazing that she slept there the entire winter.

She looks a little less fatter in this photo as her little flaps of skin sag over her little elbows but soon there would be a bounty of insects for her consumption and also the worms from my compost bin. But this was the last we saw of Fatter Fat Toad. I've yet to spot her so far and it's been a dryer summer for the most part than last year. I miss seeing her but I'm holding out hope that she might come back to the porch to hibernate.
I had a volunteer potato come up near the porch and I decided to cultivate it in hopes of a few potatoes, what the heck? A few days ago I was messing around it watering and decided to see if I had any baby potatoes yet for maybe a salad or something. Well, I found no potatoes but I did find a baby, toad that is. Could this be the next generation of Fatter Fat Toad?

He (she?) was teeny tiny and fast! I was able to take a few shots of him before dumping him back onto the potato plant he was guarding so well. I took a few shots of him on one of my packages in the mail just so you could see his diminutive size against a stamp.

He then decided that that was quite enough documentation thank you and proceeded to spring across my cutting mat that I had laid out on the table!

I hope he tells Fatter Fat Toad to come back for a visit.

Advance of the Green Dragons

Oh how the duties of watering and weeding wring the water from your brow and the will from your back! Between keeping my garden alive, preparing for my art show, and other projects I have neglected my blogs. Other updates to come in the future are my endeavours at making black berry wine, toad corralling, and bread making as well as my new found love for shopping at the farmer's market in Charlottesville.

My Amish Paste Tomatoes are laden with fruit. The Mortgage Lifters are trying to keep up. The Buhl Corn is growing, Super Shepherd and Jalapeno Peppers starting to fruit, and Golden Potatoes flowering. The real super star in the garden for the moment however is are the Galeux D'Eysines pumpkins. I planted 5 vines in total and they are the first to flower and are winding their way through my garden like great green pythons. The above photo makes it appear like a sleeping green dragon as it wraps its tail around and down the hill. I swear they grow a foot a day and I have to herd them about and pluck their grabby curling tendrils from an unwanted place before their fat little white roots anchor them down.

It was one of these trio featured above who first burst into flower. My husband and I were making our way down the garden path and I was in a particularly crummy mood due to the usual combo of not enough time for things that need to be done and too much time spent on things I'd rather not be doing. I think everybody is laden down with this deal these days. As I moped down the path I looked up and the moment my eyes hit that familiar happy yellow all crappy thoughts were instantly erased. It's hard to describe wether or not this is a gardener's reaction or an instinct left over from childhood (I'm guessing the later). Just the sight of those first flowers from my pumpkin smiling up at me instantly threw me back to walking in the garden with my father how obsessed over his crook neck squash. I remember those squash blossoms in great detail. Seeing my pumpkin blossoms was an instant transport back to childhood and well....in that moment...I needed that.

It did make me laugh out loud and I think my husband thinks I'm nuts. These two blossoms side by side peeped out from the huge leaves like little eyes. As a few days followed more blossoms burst out and the bees and beetles positively fought over the blossoms, getting well coated in thick heavy pollen in the process. I don't have to worry about cross pollination as the Rouge D'Vif and Tan Cheese Pumpkins have yet to bloom. The top ones are close to the cucumber trellis though and I'm kind of wondering about that.

I think an image similar to this of the trumpeting blossoms with their delicate fluting amongst the mammoth leaves would make a nice woodblock print...

A major difference between the squash blossoms of my childhood and the blossoms of my Galeux D'Eysines is hair. Yes, this close up shows that my french pumpkin has hairy blossoms. I'm curious to know if this is a pumpkin thing or just a trait particular to this breed. One thing that endears me to my Tan Cheese Pumpkins are its soft downy leaves. I love to stroke their velvety leaves...giving my husband another reason to have me committed.

Here is a lovely example of my Amish Paste Tomatoes fleshing out on their lovely and convenient stalks and meanwhile below is a photo of my Mortgage Lifter Tomatoes trying to catch up. I'm hoping that extra support of baling twine will help. Everyone knows you can fix anything with baling twine....

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!