I've been an absent blogger. No good excuse except that this summer is proving to be an extra busy one. With challenges.
I've planted more of a garden than ever before using every plot of soil to grow what I can. Have you noticed the price of food? Of course, you have. Plus, the lack of availability of food to purchase, at least in our area, is starting to appear. So I'm doing all I can to grow all that is possible to feed the Hungry Hermans (as my dad called my brother and me when we were growing up) who tend to show up around here.
Good thing I love the "work" of gardening. No doubt about it, gardening is work. And if one has an infirmity that causes pain upon using certain muscles or joints, it's hard to keep going. But I do think that if one keeps moving, stretching, bending in a sensible manner, those muscles or joints will remain in good working order.
I bought myself a sign last year that is hanging in my kitchen right now.
I sincerely hope I never have to change my mind on the sentiment expressed.
I'm spending a lot of time watering all my plants with either the sprinkler or hand-held hose. We haven't had any rain since April. Yes, that's many, many weeks lacking the blessing of adequate moisture. I'm mulching with straw and/or grass clippings as much as I can. The soil is dry and dusty where there is no mulch. I'm amazed things are as green and growing as they are. But I'm also concerned that we're putting possible stress on our always-in-the-past adequate well.
Today we discovered we had another challenge. Our two strawberry patches are, amazingly enough, blossoming and forming fruit abundantly. Earlier than usual even. The problem? We have several marauding crows that are stealing the half ripe berries.
Papa Pea and I spent a couple of hours this morning putting Agribon over both the old patch . . .
. . . and the new one. Now if I could just stop thinking of what a hassle it's going to be taking the cloth off and putting it back on again throughout the picking season. But at least it will hinder those blankety-blank crows helping themselves to our hard-earned berries.
I have a feeling the crows may like the blueberries, too, once they approach the ripe stage.
blossom to berry.
With luck, the strawberries will be done by then so we can use the Agribon to protect the blueberries.
As with all time these days, our summer is going by way too quickly. Many folks count July 4th as the signal that the season is half over. I can't believe we're less than two weeks from that mile marker already.
12 comments:
We've had such crazy weather here it's hard for me to think that we're having summer. It's finally going to be getting into the '80s and I think the rain is done for now maybe. Yes I know she mean about food prices with produce and sometimes just a real lack of quality too. We're having our normal summer veggie bed but I'm going to be starting some radishes, green onions, and carrots in a new bed. I was going to start lettuce but then the weather was so crazy I never got it started. Now it's going to be too hot and will bolt to seed so oh well. We will eat collard greens instead! Good luck with your strawberries!
July 4th as the halfway point of summer??? Here, meteorologic summer begins June 1, so that would only be the end of the first third. And when we have a long, wet spring, July 4 can seem like the BEGINNING!
We have blackbirds on as Peck and Run merchants in our garden.
I have rigged up a fruit cage with an old small polytunnel frame and netting and just let alpine strawberries grow as ground cover to retain moisture. With limited space I can't justify growing big strawberries.
Our weather is crazy too. At least now we do have rain after a long dry spring.
Agribon? I'm going to have to look into that. We had a young groundhog set up residence under my garden shed (which is set on pallets) and that critter was helping itself to our strawberries. And chicory. And comfrey. Dan finally caught it and rehomed it.
I think larger gardens ought to be in order for all of us. Things just don't seem to be getting better.
Nancy - Oh, but the weather does have such an effect on our gardening, doesn't it? Each time I get my undies in a twist regarding same, I stop to think of people who make their living farming and realize my issues with planting, growing and harvesting from our garden are small potatoes. (Pun intended!)
Michelle - I agree with you totally in being told July 4th is the mid point of summer. No way. For us, our growing season is just starting to show promise by then!
gz - We're still hoping for some rain. Any rain! I was up a bit after 5 this morning and out watering my thirsty garden and flowers. It's going to be sad if Mother Nature doesn't change the weather soon. The woods still looks lush and green but I don't know how long that can last. Fire danger is listed as very high. :o(
Leigh - We got our Agribon from Johnny's Selected Seeds years ago but you can probably find it elsewhere now, too. Rain goes through it so crops covered stay hydrated. (If one has rain!) I'm surprised your groundhog ate the comfrey, too. Papa Pea just took his first cutting of our large patch of comfrey which he dries for green chop to feed the poultry in the winter. The love it.
The hot orange colour has been over your neck o' the woods on the weather maps for a long time, and I figured you would be flat out watering. We are heading into week two of dryness, so was up and at it early this AM, keeping the mosquitoes fed. Stay well, and garden on!!
Rosalea - Yepper, this drought doesn't seem to want to end . . . and it's not good for many reasons. When I was out watering this early a.m., I had (of course) on my bug shirt, rubber knee-high boots (those mosquitoes bite me right through socks and pants) and gloves. My garden gloves are the kind with rubberized material on the palms but a knit fabric on back of hands. Can you guess how many bites I got through the knit fabric?? I say hang in there for you, too! :o)
Hey, maybe I can help with your bird problem. My favorite (for my cherry trees) is 'bird scare tape' which is a mylar film about 2-inches wide. I get it through amazon, but it might be in garden shops. Not expensive, and looks like shinny silver tape with sparkly patterns on it. The trick! is to tie it onto a string or 'leader' and put it on sticks in the ground so the wind can blow it. With the leader, the scare tape looks like flying silver snakes. The birds hate it. My dad's favorite trick with his strawberries was to put landing boards about a foot above the strawberry patch - usually along the outside edges. He then put tree tanglefoot goo on the top edge of the boards so when the birds landed, their feet got sticky. He like to see birds flying around with grass stuck to their feet! It doesn't do any harm, they just don't like having sticky feet. He also painted rocks red and tossed them into the patch. He sat and watched and laughed when they tried to peck a red rock. Good luck!
Tim - We tried the "bird scare tape" when we had robins taking our blueberries. Didn't seem to faze them. Maybe robins are smarter than crows. Or dumber and didn't realize snakes were their enemies! I'm not saying we won't try the tape this time around as I know taking the Agribon on and off is going to be too time consuming. (Arrrgh.) I'm off to find the tape on Amazon. Thanks for you welcome, good idea!
I do understand your pain, er, inconvenience.Took number three rounds of planting the entire space to get one that didn't go flat. First cold then it is warm then dry then rains. Our lows this week were around 44?
Then Tioga and Glacier Point roads in Yosemirw are still closed and the locals are taking bets on if they will get it open before the snow fall starts this year. Just crazy to be sure.
At least we have a place where we can have a pity party in like company.
My Dad had the same opinion of robins. They were among his top targets for the gooey feet treatment. As he always told me, "Keep fightin' it."
Cheers
Goatldi - We all seem to be operating under the old saying, "If it ain't one thing, it's another." Grumpf.
Tim - No other option than to "keep fightin' it." ;o)
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