Gardening 2008!

I have begun! It was a balmy forty degrees, sunny, and no wind, so the hoop house was delightful. No flapping sounds from the wind, so warm in there I took my jacket off and opened a window.

I took down the dead standing tomato vines, the peas, and other vining crops that are dead as can be. This is far earlier than I usually do it, so the stems were a lot tougher and did not just snap off my nylon strings, but I enjoyed it immensely anyway. So I have a whole heap of debris out the back of the hoop house where I threw armfuls out the window.

The mulch has gotten thin so I took my big muck tub out to the piles of leaves and grass clippings to the north of the hoop house and filled it with loose dry mulching material. Back and forth until I had moved maybe half a pickup load or more. Now the ground will stay moist in the hoop house without so much difficulty.

Always looks nice when I get the dead stuff out and an inviting layer of new mulch, ready for the plants later this year.

This was very mild work, but I am so out of shape my bod is expressing a quite different opinion. Oh well. I have so much to do outdoors this spring that got interrupted when I hurt my back this fall I figure I should get the hoop house shaped up so there is one less thing to do this spring. And if I don't re-injure myself it will help get me in shape for the rest of the stuff.

What a nice day!!!

Mulchmania



This message was edited Jan 13, 2008 2:57 PM

Mulching should be a really good activity to start getting back into shape. Active, but not too active. I am hoping to be able to do a little yard work in a couple of months. I have lots of ingredients for mulching and for composting -- all frozen together right now. Nighttime temps are still in the single digits and teens. Daily high today is supposed to be 39 degrees F. Not much melting happens at that temperature. But the days are getting longer, something I pay close attention to.

A balmy 40º and no wind...sounds like a great day! Congratulations on getting such a good start on the season! You'll need to post pictures of the clean slate in your hoop house?

Paja, I'm another who sees minutes of sunshine as important currency. We had three yrs. in PA and had to return here because there was no sunshine (always cloud covered) from Oct. until early April, in PA. Our sunshiny winter days are priceless...and every minute counts:)

Interesting MM I am now in Seattle area and it is a blizzard. Snow collecting on the ground up to 2" already. I can't wait till tomorrow to see the city shut down. Hee Hee! Good work cleaning up. Of course mine was done by end of October (BY MY DW Hee Hee)

Mtnmama, I'll take a pic one of these days and post it.

Sofer, your Seattle weather got here, we have a dusting of snow this morning. Whatever you do, DO NOT DRIVE IN SEATTLE WHEN IT SNOWS. They are morons about it and do not slow down, skid down hills and crash into everything. I used to live on Whidbey and Lopez Islands, and wow, I saw some amazing things.

Think your wife might like to visit my gardens??? Ha!

Actually last year my husband did help in the early summer, which is huge for him. He gets a headache from bending over, so gardening just is not his thing. I thought it was quite gallant for him to step up when I was overwhelmed.

Whidbey and Lopez...just love the San Juan Islands! We honeymooned there and have returned several times. It didn't seem so enchanting on our last visit, though. Either we are getting old and sage or things are a bit different than they used to be.

Sofer & Mulch, you have wonderful spouses:) Mine is terrific, too! He loves our gardens and puts up with my indoor plants all winter! I keep talking about air quality (and he knows it's true when entering homes without plants).

Our gardens still need some cleaning up before spring, though....

Lopez is changing, that is for sure. The deep woodsies no long have their strange recylced shacks because the fire department about had a bird when they found one made of straw bales with a woodstove in it. I don't mean proper straw bale construction where it gets all plastered over, I just mean straw bales period.

The deep woodsies still celebrate summer solstice naked in the woods the last I knew. That does not alarm the fire department.

However, I do not know if the annual midnight naked fire juggling event is still happening, that might be of interest to the fire department. Used to be across the marsh from our house, jugglers would come in from all over the country to participate.

Same woods that had a tree with a phone in it. That is gone now.

The old guy who had the barn that was held up by a pickup truck with a cable died and the barn fell down. I loved the barn, it stood up fine when full of hay, but he had to have the pickup hold it as he used up the hay.

Lots of interesting characters used to live there. I think some still do. But it is changing.

Mulchmania

I was out in the San Juans in the 70's thru the 90's and I quit going because the character of the islands was completly changed with the non-islanders taking over the land. The people there now are not my idea of the artists that used to ply the islands.
As far as the Solstice celebration it still goes on in Tonasket, WA. They have a barter fair that attracts hundreds of people who dance sing pound on drums and do the naked thing every October there. I have a cabin above the "Barter fair" that I stay in to hunt and put on my dread-lock hat and take my castanets down and dance with them. A lot of fun and a bizzare festival. Everyone should go. In the seventies they used to sell "Adult Brownies" and cash was useless. I traded bullets and canned foods for what I got there. Back then there were few people visiting. Now the place is packed.

Lopez in the seventies was mostly long time farming families with some wacky artists (my husband being one of them) moving in. Add retirees of all sorts of diverse backgrounds and Lopez was a really fascinating mixture in the late eighties and early nineties.

Going over to the second, third, and fourth home people now.

Change is hard and I did value the islands then. I started kayaking in the early 80's and was the only one doing it so when ever I landed on a beach the locals would welcome me and buy me lunch, coffee, or just welcome me to their world. Not anymore. I miss the ability to interrelate to others in their lives. That is why I am canoeing through Canada over the next few years. To see the people in their lives.

We were the lucky recipients of 4", and to top it off, a power outage.
It hit while I was driving up the hill to my home - it was a literal curtain of snow. It came down so fast/hard that the tracks of the cars were immediately covered. I have 4-wheel spin, so I went home slowly/safely while others careened around curves. This morning it was thick, so I didn't bother to attempt the commute until early afternoon. It was icing up again at 7 pm.
Every time this happens, I think about all of you who go through this as a normal winter routine. My hat is off to you, yet again.

OK katye I too am in Eastgate and I went to work today. Thank goodness I did it was full of emergencies. Dog with a bone in the intestine, cancer in a liver, kidney failure, toxic ingestion of renal toxin and constipated cat (with an attitude!). Nothing like starting your day in surgery and ending it giving a cat an enema. What a great job veterinary medicine is!

Steve - how nice to know you're in the area. Sorry about the kitty enema - but i'm sure you get comic relief about some of what you endure as a Vet.
I am thankful there are folks such as yourself, who work to fix the ailments of these wonderful creatures we share our lives with. They are safe in your good hands, no doubt.
Funny thing how my ridgeback detests the rain - even drizzle! - but adores the snow. It is good to see her turn puppy-like, prancing & pouncing & turning on a dime. Normally she is the stoic guard dog: no time to play as she must be at the ready to protect me from, well, I'm not sure what she considers as BigBad Potential Danger....
Definately not yellowjackets!

The poor ridgeback hates rain because of the flat wide depression on their lower back. It forms a lake in the rain. Burr! Off today for the next battle and blessing. Tum ta da da!

Sofer,
Don't cats always have attitudes? Glad you are helping all the critters, attitudes or not.

Mulchmania

Cats are like people a lot have attitude and a lot don't. I like cats. I had one today that was dying yesterday with kidney failure and today was purring and loving me. He acted like I was his best friend and rubbed up against me. Well until his owner came to get him. Cats are great!

We think cats are neat to look at but we can't look too long before eyes swell up, breathing becomes difficult...darned allergies! We are limited to dogs (and a bird placed strategically in the front room) but would be lost without them! And our DOG sure can "cop an attitude" when she wants to! ;) Come to think of it, our sun conure (who has taken a chunk from many a digit) has an attitude, too! :) Do you think it's nature or nurture???

Had a friend in Scottsdale when I lived down there. She was horribly allergic to cats and bought a house that had two long haired persians. She told the seller to find another home for the cats. He told her he was the third owner of the house and the cats had been there from the beginning and refused to move.

They did not care if people came and went but they refused to go and came back if moved. Only way to get rid of them was going to be killing them.

She took them to her groomer and had them shaved. They were the more dreadful looking cats I ever saw, but they were perfectly happy living in their home. She could cope with them if she kept them shaved.

mulchmania

Oh, that's funny! We like cats but my D.H. is allergic to them. My parakeets aren't too fond of cats anyway altho cats like them very much.

Parakeets--cats like them very much!! Hahaha!

And cats that stay in the same home regardless of owner--what a great story!

Yeah, that is a great story. I can just picture those regal Persian kitties with buzz cuts.

It is unquestionably winter here. The river is gorging and will get worse as it is supposed to really get cold for a few days.

I drive nearly 30 miles to the farm where I get my raw milk and eggs and the roads were quite slippery yesterday. So I drove slowly and cautiously.

I was just finishing up the return 30 miles coming into town at dusk when two deer ran for the road. One crossed in front of me, the other stopped on the shoulder of the road. I was braking to a stop when it changed its mind and lunged in front of the pickup.

I hit it. Cosmo hit the dash with his nose and turned the 4 way blinkers on, rather a smart move, actually.

The deer staggered up and I thought, "Oh cripe, I've wrecked the pickup and now I have a wounded deer to deal with too." Not at my most nature loving moment I admit, but deer often inspire my lower impulses in the yard, why not on the road too?

Then the deer straightened up and bounded away. I pulled the pickup off the road and got out. I could not find any evident damage! Holy cow! Or deer, or something.

So I drove home. Bern said something about not letting me go get milk anymore and I reminded him what our van looked like when he hit a deer with it...

Bern was only joking anyway, he has better sense than to try to control me. He is not controllable either, by the way.

Anyway, I think I should get a gold star or something for the most successful deer hitting episode ever. If that gets it out of my system for a few more years we are good!

mulchmania

When ever I hit a deer and stun it I paint a red bulls eye on its heart. LOL

Wow. Glad you are o.k. and the deer, too.

Holy deer...to be sure!

Near my house there is a golf course which is very popular with the deer and it straddles on of the main streets in town. They recently redesigned and repaved the street through it and put up a fence -- presumably to keep the golf balls from hitting the cars -- though I doubt if it is tall enough to cope with the variety of shots the golfers make.
The fence seems to have discombobulated the deer who cross the street there at night and early morning to go down into the canyons for water -- or something at night.
The fence has only been up a couple of months and I have seen 2 deer killed there and have a friend who hit one with her brand new car. The deer disappeared, but her hood will have to be replaced.
I think we would be a lot better off if they replace the fence with trees which is what they used to have there. At the rate we are going, they won't need hunts to keep the deer population down.

I am not sure any size fence will reduce the number of deer here in town. A large buck mauled a dog down the street from here and deer are all over the place.

The other day I put Cosmo to the test on obedience. I looked out the window and the yard was full of deer. Bad enough at night when they wreck my trees etc. but broad daylight was too much.

I took Cosmo out and he ran at the deer. Headed around the house. I caught up to find him in the middle of the street, a real no no. I called him back and he came.

Some deer had fled to the vacant lot behind us but Cosmo did not notice. As they watched us they started to sneak towards the yard of the house on the other side of our second lot.

I casually took Cosmo to our second lot. He finally noticed the deer when they got to the end of our neighbor's driveway. He ran full speed at them barking loudly. They were exploding in all directions and he was about twenty feet from them when he got to our property line.

I yelled for him to come back, expecting to chase him all over the neighborhood. To my astonishment he stopped on a dime and came back to me!

I think he is learning after all.

mulchmania

Cosmo sounds like a great dog! And your deer population sounds totally out of control. Sounds like you need some predators. I bet Cosmo enjoyed chasing the deer. I am amazed he came back on command. All that beef jerky seems to have paid off!

Betty,
I haven't used jerky to keep him in the yard. It is only half fenced so ever since he was teeny we have taken him out there only when we are in the yard to monitor him.

If he leaves the yard, woe be! He has to go be in his crate in the house. I have been most stern about it.

Nowadays when we let him out he may run around like crazy at ninety miles an hour, but he stays on our two lots. Our newspaper sometimes gets rather beat up in the morning while he orbits the yard with it, but it eventually makes it into the house.

Mulchmania

How cute! I love the picture of your dog running around the yard multiple times with the newspaper! I will remember your use of the crate in dog training, next time I have to train a dog.
Mine are of the school -- you want the newspaper, go get it. I am going to disappear behind a bush and vanish so I can explore the neighborhood. Of course, we didn't get them until they were 7 or 8. Not all of it is our fault!

Interesting comments on deer. Helena has recently approved an ordinance to rid the city of hundreds of mule deer that have been a growing residential problem. Council proposed the idea several years ago due to problems with rutting deer attacking pets. However, it drew the ire of animal rights activists and they let the issue cool down until this year. Apparently the City solicitate sharp shooter(s) to do the dirty deed!

In the valley where I live there were several herds of deer each year grazing across the two lane highway at the back of my yard. We enjoyed watching them mingle with the cattle and occassionally had some venture into the garden at night with no real vissible damage. With all the new housing construction in the valley, the herds were not been back this fall.

A neighbor told us that placing human hair trimmings around the fruit trees and garden would deter the deer. So I took the advise and tried it. As I mentioned no real damage, but a block away a small garden was nearly demolished by deer. So does the hair remover idea work...darned if I know. What do you think?

m

Nothing works for any time because the deer (white tail) coexist and are not fearfull of human presence. I have tried it all and nothing continues to deter them once they find it non-threatening. Hair, soap, nylons with hair, flashy discs, motion activated sprayer, blood meal, etc........

Sort of the way I had if figured. Being next to the highway may have some advantage in deer control. So far no dead deer in the yard....that would bother the wife. m

The discovery channels special "life with out people" shows the deers dramatic rise until the predatory mammals build back up. So I would grow a pack of wolves in your garden and there wouldn't be any concerns with deer damage. Just stay out of the garden at night.

Hey, that's a great idea! I have a friend who has around a dozen wolves and I don't think she has the slightest problem with deer. The ranchers are another story...

She does keep the wolves penned, they are all animals veterinarians in the area have sent to her because their owners can't keep them, they were abused, or have problems like being blind. She does a great job with them.

In a similar vein I had no trouble with gophers in my garden in Arizona until one day I picked up a board and found a rattlesnake under it. I killed the rattler because my daughter was four and played in the yard with her friends.

But, boy, did I have gopher problems after that!

Mulchmania

Get a Jack Russell to get rid of gophers. I have none, my neighbors have none, and the woodland around us has none. LOL

I definitely need a gopher chasing dog, but no new dogs while me two elderly doggies are alive. A young rambunctious pup would drive them nuts!

Hey Mulchmania

Just wanted to say that we're not ALL morons about driving in the snow. I'm from Alaska and grew up driving in the snow. This is definitely different stuff . . . lots of hills and bodies of water over which there are off and on ramps and residential roads with 50 mph speed limits. With the precipitation and altitude changes in short distances and the temps hovering just above and just below 32 degrees, there's a ton of variability in the conditions. To top it all off, it just doesn't make sense here to have studded or regular snow tires, though AWD would probably be a good idea for everybody if they could afford it.

Yes, there are a good share of people new to this weather, and those who drive too fast for any snow conditions, but winter precipitation here is tough, good drivers or not.

K, I'll get off my soapbox now. :-)

Katie59,
No, not everyone there are morons about driving on slippery conditions, just enough people to make it a nightmare trying to dodge them! You undoubtedly have noticed that...

When one does not have studded or snow tires it makes sense to slow down even more, not less with hazardous conditions, but that unfortunately is not what usually happens. Bumper cars is what happens...

Mulchmania

It is a blizzard up here in Juneau. Beautiful pre sunrise snow fall. Tiny little butterfly like flakes floating down out of the dark sky. I love it. Drivers up here are good its the small air craft pilots falling out of the sky I worry about. I have a pair of cats and a dog that needs to go home in the bush and they can't because all air is grounded.