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Monday, December 22, 2014

Uh oh. . . what do we have here?

Looks like something is trying to sneak out of this box.


Apparently I didn't eat my potatoes fast enough.


And, yes, I do keep them in a cardboard box. Obviously, long-term potato storage is something I need to work on.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Maybe this will do the trick

After weeks of the little fuzzy bastards stealing my straw, the asparagus bed that started out like this:


looked like this:


I expect to see a nest that looks like a straw bale every time I look in the trees.

We had some rain last weekend, and I decided to take advantage of it. I filled up the bed with some shredded leaves. The rain helps keep the leaves from blowing around too much.


The squirrels' interests have already turned to other things anyway. I caught this guy


hanging out in the strawberry bed.


The little jerks are lucky they're cute.


Saturday, December 13, 2014

What did I learn this year?

There isn't much happening in the garden right now, obviously, so it's about time I sat down and figured out what I learned this year.

1. I almost learned how to can green beans with a pressure canner.


I don't consider it a skill really learned because only two of the four jars sealed, but I used them in green bean casserole for Thanksgiving, and no one got sick.

2. Two kale plants is more than enough. Or I need to learn more ways to eat kale.


Even though they're a dwarf variety, the plants were at least three feet tall, and I hadn't managed to pick much off of them before they froze.


I tried kale chips, and they tasted fine but didn't seem worth the effort. Most of the kale I've eaten has gone into smoothies, and I should have enough frozen kale in the freezer to last me into January.

3. I can start seeds inside!


This was the most exciting discovery this year, but I don't feel confident enough to try tomatoes yet.

4. Speaking of tomatoes, five tomato plants is not enough.

I actually planted seven tomato plants this year, but only about five of them were productive. I had issues that might have been disease, and the plant I "rescued" never amounted to much. We also had rain and unseasonably cool temperatures at inopportune times, which meant tomatoes either splitting or not ripening at all. I did manage to salvage quite a few green tomatoes at the end and ripen them inside.



5. I can grow cabbage and broccoli.



6. It's going to take some time to perfect the hugel. It was interesting to watch the radishes and lettuce all season - I had no idea how big both of those things would grow when left alone - but they didn't hold the soil on the mound, and it kept washing away in all the rain.

June 5th


October 11th
I probably learned more than this, or at least should have, but it's not a bad start.


Wednesday, December 3, 2014

The latest episode of Squirrel TV


Mama squirrel is hard at work. . .


Stealing my straw. Shoveling it in her mouth as fast as possible with both feet!

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

They're everywhere!

In the bird feeder


under the bird feeders


in the cinder block garden


and running around the yard.


This is four different squirrels, and I took all of the pictures within about 45 seconds. Before I grabbed the camera, one of them was in the composter and another in the asparagus bed. I later realized one of them was stuffing her mouth with straw out of the asparagus bed and hauling it up a tree.

About a half hour later, I caught this:


This is the first time I've seen two black squirrels in my yard.

For as much as I complain about the little devils, Squirrel TV is pretty entertaining.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Guests


Mr. and Mrs. C
Hope he ate that peanut and didn't bury it somewhere.

Fuzzy rat climbs up the pole
grabs some seeds
and jumps back down.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Garden surprises

I've had a couple pleasant garden surprises lately, in addition to the peanuts.

When I pulled out the pepper plants a couple weeks ago, I found this giant among the last peppers waiting to be harvested.


I'm pretty sure it's the biggest pepper I've ever grown.

The other day when I dropped the last of the bean plants in the composter, I found these two petunias.


I dumped the wheelbarrow in there a couple weeks ago, and apparently these guys didn't want to give up yet.

I like nice surprises like these.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

A tale of two weeks

Two weeks ago, I started getting the garden ready for winter.

The garden October 25th before
I cut down the pepper plants, most of the zinnias, and the last of the tomatoes and basil.

The garden October 25th after
Since then, we've had a couple below-freezing nights.

The garden November 8th
The volunteer zinnias, the marigolds and the scarlet runner beans have all died.


And half of the nasturtiums on my hugul bed have frozen.


As you can see, however, the kale and the cover crops are still flourishing.

Radishes
Oats and radishes
I even have quite the radish forest growing in a corner of the yard.


With much colder temperatures coming this week, however, even these hardy plants will be gone by the time I get another picture.

It just occurred to me that I should get those marigolds pulled out or I'll have more volunteers than I know what to do with next year.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Peanuts

Look what I pulled up while I was cleaning out the garden last weekend:


From the looks of my asparagus bed, I'll have a lot more next year.


Not long after I covered the bed with straw, I started noticing the holes.


Those damn squirrels are burying peanuts and who knows what else all over in that bed.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Still here

Me and the garden.

The garden October 25th with Scout

After a couple brief cold snaps, we've been enjoying beautiful fall weather with highs in the 60s to 70s and lows in the 40s to 50s. Everything is still green and growing. A lot of the green in the garden now is cover crops, oats and radishes. There are supposed to be some peas mixed in there, but a rabbit found his way into the garden shortly after I planted the cover crops, and it looks like he must have eaten them.

The cosmos that I planted under my bird feeders are really enjoying this fall weather. They have more flowers on them than they've had all summer.


Despite all the green, I'll be doing a lot of garden clean up this weekend. Cooler temperatures are coming, and it's time to get ready.