Re: Baby steps towards the future gardens of Beebe
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2020 5:01 am
As I deeply feared, Sean is already finding excuses to not go back to get more rocks. I'm going to call her (the lady that put the ad up) tomorrow to see where things stand. I'm wondering if now that it's all spread evenly if she's since decided maybe just leave it as it is or she desperately wants me back over there sifting so she can get the dirt people interested again.
He thinks we have plenty of rocks right here on the property, and although he's right, I reminded him that ours will be more difficult to find and dig up, as opposed to the ones at the place we'd been getting some. He dreams of a machine where he can just mow over the ground and it spits the rocks out. I told him something like that might exist, but if we could even fit it in the drive way, we probably can't afford to rent it.
I have been trying to make time to go through the native plant book, but it's been slow going. So far one shrub we have agreed on that wasn't on our list before is American spikenard, Aralia racemosa. (Image from the gobotany site linked in the plant name.) The berries are edible for humans as well as wildlife. The book describes them as "earthy sweet", which I'm curious what that will be like.
The current batch of Monarchs are doing well so far. As of tonight, four are in chrysalis, one seems nearing that time. Another grew to fourth instar and was moved to a larger keeper, the last beyond that just grew to third instar.
It's highly unlikely at this point that I will find any more eggs, and fairly unlikely I'll find any more cats. So this year, if all goes well with the current ones, my count will still be less than my first year. Still, given the weather and the low overwinter count, I'll take what victories I can find.
He thinks we have plenty of rocks right here on the property, and although he's right, I reminded him that ours will be more difficult to find and dig up, as opposed to the ones at the place we'd been getting some. He dreams of a machine where he can just mow over the ground and it spits the rocks out. I told him something like that might exist, but if we could even fit it in the drive way, we probably can't afford to rent it.
I have been trying to make time to go through the native plant book, but it's been slow going. So far one shrub we have agreed on that wasn't on our list before is American spikenard, Aralia racemosa. (Image from the gobotany site linked in the plant name.) The berries are edible for humans as well as wildlife. The book describes them as "earthy sweet", which I'm curious what that will be like.
The current batch of Monarchs are doing well so far. As of tonight, four are in chrysalis, one seems nearing that time. Another grew to fourth instar and was moved to a larger keeper, the last beyond that just grew to third instar.
It's highly unlikely at this point that I will find any more eggs, and fairly unlikely I'll find any more cats. So this year, if all goes well with the current ones, my count will still be less than my first year. Still, given the weather and the low overwinter count, I'll take what victories I can find.