Baby steps towards the future gardens of Beebe

[Lily left the valley]

Since we're dealing with the flu like symptoms from shot #2, I'm glad it's been rainy this weekend. I'm still doing what I can starting more seeds and checking on what we already have started or the starts themselves. Temperatures plunged again to 50s by day 40s by night. So there's no telling what will happen in the next few days.

I chatted with our neighbor to the west yesterday about how so many plants were early out this year from the warm spell we had in April. All the dandelions are done for the year, and some of the berries are earlier in bloom than usual. Of course this worries me because of the temperature drop, but hopefully it won't be cold enough to kill off too many blossoms. The new place she's moving to won't have outdoor space she can use, so if her daughter doesn't take the wood trellis she has, we may get it which would be a nice addition and much better for Morning Glories.

Oh, and one thing I finally did get confirmed? Remember, she's one of the granddaughters of the folks that built our home. Apparently there was indeed someone storing cars/working on them in the backyard for years.

Thursday I was stunned at all the pollinators out and happily working their magic. Did manage to get this one shot of both what I think is a rust patch bumblebee and another I've no idea what the ID is yet. I know they're blurry, but I was happy to capture both in the frame. I'm also again researching a better camera to buy at the end of the year so hopefully next year I won't have this problem as often. I'll put a better pic of the bumblebee in the other thread.

Also, this beetle/ladybird I think I've seen about before, but have to look up an ID for as well.


Been steadily seed starting, and hoping the starters last in the cloche. I'm not as worried at the ones in the quick n' dirty cold frames. I'm most worried about the tomatoes, as if every time they blossom they get stressed, we may never have fruit. The Little Napoli is the bigger worry because it's a determinant.

One surprise is the grape we thought dead is growing again. We have no idea what to do at this point other than keep an eye on it.

I'm hoping by tomorrow or Monday I won't feel so to the bone stiff, and I get back to what I was doing. If these rains keep up, well, then...that will force me to rest!

Oh, and thanks to all the loopty-loop temperature swings, Sean and I are also planning on adding a small greenhouse for next year. It likely will be a stand alone, and not the walipini for cost reasons, but we have to do something that's better quality and has more room than the plastic film cloche.

[Lily left the valley]

Time seems to be flying by, and it turns out being first sick from the second shot then busy playing catch-up on indoor chores was a good thing. Not great for photo sharing, though, because I've not had time to even take any in the last week and change save my Tuesday office window view just to keep tabs on progress to a point. So just putting this progress report here.

Had my monthly Garden group meeting on Sunday, and everyone that had planted out during warmer times have found themselves struggling. Here, right after the very warm spell in April, we then had a more typical May dip back to frost towards the end, then a heatwave leading into June followed by downpouring rain and shearing winds. So a lot of folks lost fragile seedlings and starters. Next month we'll meet at the farm again, and now that I'm writing about it I can't even remember what the heck we're going to do. But it's scribbled down in my notes so I can always find it later. The lady that runs the meetings warned that this year looks to be a lot of uneven weather like this, so we discussed a few ways to better protect our plants for that. We also discussed what bees (and other critters) folks were seeing and if the number of them seemed average. A common response no matter where we were from in NE was we noticed them earlier, then they seemed to have dropped off with that weird roller coaster weather time. Apparently beekeepers are very worried because hive numbers are not where they should be.

Fortunately for me, all of our starters are still handling things ok under the cloche (save the mint taken indoors which apparently had picked up some bugs that came along and it's actually now doing the worst!) The first two Sequoia strawberries we had, though, have been our last so far. Apparently a critter figured out it could get in under the cloche and it stripped the plant bare of all the fruit it had at that point. We may yet see more flowers, but I'm honestly glad we did eat those first two and it was them and not the tomatoes getting robbed. The little Napoli is flowering, but the cherry can't seem to make up its mind what it wants to do. I hope to get them in the ground before next week, and I'll be amending the soil to try to help bolster them both. It would be nice to get some tomatoes after all the effort to keep them alive since April 1st.

The only seedlings I lost was the first batch of snow peas I'd germinated and moved outside when sprouts were forming above the starter pots (aka repurposed egg carton). I had forgotten to vent the cold frame during the heat wave, and what seedlings that were poking above ground had joined the choir invisible because I hadn't yet taken them out of the egg carton and they simply had no other way to find moisture beyond a daily can spritz I had managed. I still planted them today, just in case maybe some of the slower growers might make it, but I'm not holding my breath either.

On the other hand, the second batch of the same type of snow peas...had roots and sprouts several inches long because they never left the kitchen windowsill. I kept topping off the water with last year's rainwater in the germination bowls, and my friend that sent them joked it was my first success at aquaponics. Today, though, they finally got planted out since I noticed last night they were starting to try to tendril to the window screen in the kitchen. I planted them where I can see them from my office window.

More seeds germinating, some flowers already gone to seed. Our new iris is already spent, and the one I accidentally put the cloche edge over has only leaved. It did really need dividing anyhoo, and hopefully the cloche won't be there shortly. The columbine is still budding, much to my delight. Both of the rhodies are doing well and recovering from the winter burn. I hope to move the lilac soon now that the flowers are about spent. All of the day lilies apparently LOVED the crazy weather pattern and are growing like gangbusters. The one inherited batch in the garage bed seems they will be first to bloom, though the curly tawny daylilies are hurrying to compete. I need to get the glads out of the cellar. Probably tomorrow when Sean has off, and we'll FINALLY be getting the rain barrels out--latest we've ever done so.

I did trim all the burdock berries off that I could find today. They really are an aphid magnet and I'm sooooo glad I've been using them as such. There's not nearly as many on the milkweed, so organic + a bit of extra labor=totally worth it. I also once again hacked back the various trees that took root in that awkward spot between the end of the neighbor's fence and the corner of our garage. I did ask her specifically to give us notice when she would remove the old fence so we could much more easily dig up all those problem located plants. Sean and I were trying to think of some ways to make sure that doesn't happen again there, but he thinks we may be ok because now we'll keep an eye on it, where some of them had established before we bought Beebe.

I admit I am a bit overwhelmed by the garden overall. Between the time lost in good weather from the shot, and the crazy warmer than usual weather, the garden has exploded. Flowers that normally are blooming now are well spent and seeding, others confused by the later freeze are now struggling to figure out if it's time yet. It's going to be an interesting year, but I'm still looking forward to seeing how far we get!

I will try to make some time later this week to take pictures.
I did spot my first ladybug egg clutch today under a milkweed leaf! No idea if they're a native or not, but WOOO! 1st time in our garden...I'm hopeful they're natives.

[Lily left the valley]

Most folks have probably heard of the "no mow May" concept. Due to wacky weather, it was very easy to do this all the way until the end of May this year, despite things growing earlier than usual.

Just a moment ago, I thought I saw a bunny hopping in our yard, and realized it was a squirrel. When even they feel the need to jump to clear some of the plants, it's really time to start dealing with the taller volunteers and then break out the .

[Lily left the valley]

Yet another day that Sean was supposed to have off and spend an hour with me in the garden evaporated into thin air when his current postmaster called and asked if he could come in and finish a route. Hopefully the carrier's ok. (One got a sting in the eye roughly a week ago.) So again today, it's just me.

I did finally get one of the rain barrels out yesterday, hoping to catch the predicted rain because our cache of saved rainwater from last year is down to two gallons. Good thing I did, because it was full this morning.

I hustled to get that done, because despite the predicted rain I was heading to one of the local community gardens I'll be working on that afternoon. It was mostly just a meeting with two other folks so I could get caught up to speed and talk about what could be done both with that space (an interesting open air rotunda within one of the high school buildings which themselves are circular shaped--which somehow, despite having no exterior exit, you can only enter from inside a classroom through a greenhouse, had at least one chipmunk running around that I saw.) We're mostly waiting on the school with that one, because they pretty much tell us what they want to do. We had a good laugh because the school wanted it planted in August. And my two cents was "If we're not doing anything with it, and they expect garden crops next year...we're not planting anything other than cover crops, maybe some berry canes and the rest we can just overwinter lazy compost." The other two agreed, so that's what we're going to present to them if they're still saying, "Well, we really don't know, but..." The school did submit a budget for a fairly large plot of the school grounds for more traditional outdoor growing. The grant they applied for also would include out buildings, running water, etc. So we'll see how that goes. There is another located we might make a garden at in town, but we're still waiting on the Mayor for that.

I've continued to attend what online meetings I can related to both growing food and conservation overall. The garden overall is definitely moving forward in progress, just a bit slower than I expected given the warm spell we had in April. There's just been a lot going on both with Sean's work schedule, our shots and aftermath, plus all the community org volunteering I've been doing. I'm also working on websites and some graphics for two local nonprofits, which I will be managing long term once the sites are finished.

I'm really happy the rains yesterday cooled off things today. When I head back out in a bit, I'll be finally planting out the tomatoes and a few other things. I'm still uncertain about the flower seeds I've water germinated because their growth rate is so different than, say, peas or potatoes. Time will tell how those go. I also need to get the glads out of the cellar and in the ground now that I think I know where I want them.

The columbine seems finally spent of its blooms. We still have lots of wildflowers of many kinds running through their various cycles. Since I've not been outdoors as much as I would like to be, I see more of the larger critters (squirrels, birds, the soon to not be our next door neighbor's cat) than the smaller critters. I have noticed steady usage of the bee bath when I check it, depending on time of day. So that's good. Still haven't made a second, but working on it.

As always, lots to do--including finally mowing in the front yard.

[Lily left the valley]

We never did hear from the neighbor moving out to the west exactly when they were moving. Turns out, they waited until the end of the month, spilling into the beginning of this one. During the rains. I need to suck it up and get out there in the rain to start digging the wood trellis she said I could take.

When they had originally bought the trellis, it kept blowing over (it has a gate in it), so they ended up pouring concrete post anchors to better secure the flimsy anchors that came with the trellis. He said the concrete is maybe 6-9" deep, so hopefully this won't be too bad despite the mud. It will just be awkward getting it out of the ground when Sean gets home, and then moving it to our side of the property. If the rain lets up, I'll start digging new holes to accept the concrete where we hope to put it on our property so the move will be a one and done.

Very tempted to yank out the English ivy on that property's side of the low rock wall that keeps trying trying to invade on our side--not good for all the ferns and other woodland plants I have because the ivy wants to dominate everything. At least the patch is still relatively small.

[Manalto]

Very tempted to yank out the English ivy on that property's side of the low rock wall that keeps trying trying to invade on our side--not good for all the ferns and other woodland plants I have because the ivy wants to dominate everything. At least the patch is still relatively small.

I say yank. You'll be doing yourself and everyone around you a favor. English ivy is a beautiful container plant or at least when contained but it's too badly behaved to let it go wild in the landscape.

Good luck with the trellis; it sounds like a nice one. Do you have plans for what you would like to grow on it?

[Lily left the valley]

I say yank. You'll be doing yourself and everyone around you a favor. English ivy is a beautiful container plant or at least when contained but it's too badly behaved to let it go wild in the landscape.

Good luck with the trellis; it sounds like a nice one. Do you have plans for what you would like to grow on it?

I am leaning towards yanking the ivy myself. Just need to be able to make the time!

I did manage to get the trellis out of the makeshift "pin anchors" [blobs of concrete]. The downside? It doesn't seem like they've done any maintenance on it since they bought it, and worse, they had kept piling up mulch over the years so the rot went up a ways on the footing at the base of both sides. The upside? The rot made it easy to get out the metal anchors from the base wood which had split, and enough of the main structure aside from those mentioned is in good enough shape that I can refurbish it with little significant wood replacement--just need to replace some rusted screws. Refurb was not part of the plan this year, but hey, it will still be cheaper than buying one new, and I should have enough scrap to rebuild the base!

I did wind up doing it alone, because heavy rain was threatening, and I knew Sean had been working in the rain already that day at work. (Of course the skies cleared less than a half hour after it was moved. ) Once the two side planter boxes that were rotting fell off, it was fairly easy to move alone despite taking the shortcut through the black raspberry canes, except the gate swung open at one point because I hadn't thought to tie the opposite end with a piece of wood to keep it from twisting.

Originally, we had thought to use it for pole peas/beans--and we may still do that in future years, maybe throwing in a climber flower because why not? We may also do this just for this year, and let it be floating free in the yard not anchored to any one focal point. Then I can refurb it over the winter.

Now that I've had a chance to measure it and really get a good look at it, I'm thinking maybe--just maybe, I might like to not put it in the backyard where it would sort of be this unmoored feature that relates to nothing. Instead, particularly because of the gate, I'm thinking of using it alongside the house on the west side, positioned right behind the electrical meter, but still close enough to the beginning of the rock wall that it has a sort of "this is where the front yard ends and beyond is a mysterious woodsy lane" sort of feel. We've made various jokes about painting something at the top of the arch along the lines of "abandon all chemicals, ye who enter here" sort of tomfoolery, but we won't.

Since the two planters that were anchored to either side of the trellis mostly broke apart due to rot, I'm debating adding more trellis bracing in an L shape to fill in the gaps and to help stabilize the trellis a bit. Sort of like this image I found below, and I would have the trellis positioned the same with the gate portion hinged towards the backyard:

So just imagine that on the right hand side in this this old listing photo, between Beebe and the paper birch.


This is what the trellis looks like after I muscled it across the rock wall by myself before going back to find the bits of rotted wood trailing behind (I do have the one rafter[?] top that had jarred loose when I placed it there]:

The bits that remained of the two planter boxes as well as the bits of concrete anchors and pins (the roofing and scrap wood in a rectangle is where we tend to put one of the free window cold frames--it was as good a place as any to gather bits at the moment). Oh, and I totally had forgotten about some of the regular bricks they had also used to try to "level" the trellis:

[Lily left the valley]

I should add, I was a shade disappointed that the color was from paint, not the wood's color. Not sure what color we might paint it in the future. Not even sure what kinds of stain might be good for outdoors if we go that route instead. Suggestions welcome on that.

[Gothichome]

Lily, a little bit of creative carpentry and it will look good as new. No need to repaint. Are you nurturing monarchs once again this year?

[Lily left the valley]

Lily, a little bit of creative carpentry and it will look good as new. No need to repaint. Are you nurturing monarchs once again this year?

I've started going through my scrap wood pieces looking for suitable replacement bits.

I had asked my Floor Manager what color he wants the trellis. Purple. Wasn't terribly surprised, it's one of his favorite colors (and mine). Will need paint for the replacement bits, but I have some leftover I could use for those and it doesn't matter for one season if it doesn't match. I'm sort of waiting to see if he changes his mind about the color by fall because I've got enough on my plate right now. He likely won't, but I'm in no rush to do the whole thing right now if I don't have to.

I am hoping to try my hand at Monarch Guardianship again this year, even though last year was so dismal. Sadly, their numbers are down yet again--so I'll see how it goes. This week, I've had three sightings of Monarchs in the back and for all I know some or all could have been the same one. Was only outside for one of those so I could positively ID it as a female. Have not found eggs yet even with a definite female around. Plenty of time still to find some as this is the beginning of their visiting season though.