Under attack.........

 

2024 the year of the great battle to get one tomato!  Never in the years of gardening have we been invaded in such numbers or vehemence.   We have grown a crop of robust, vigorous, critters who will take the hit on the electric fence and keep raiding.  I think they come from old Viking stock and wear helmets.  

First the chipmunks arrived.  Agricultural fabric was draped over everything and thought my worries were over.  Can you hear the chipmunks laughing?   Holes chewed everywhere!   I clipped the holes shut with clothespins and they just chewed another hole.  At the moment the insect cloth has more clothespins than an Amish clothesline on Monday morning. 

Bring on the neighborhood cats.......... Rufus, will work for belly rubs.

The deer wiped out row after row of carrots, so at night the covers went on.  It worked on the carrots but just bumped them over to the hoop covers; poking their heads through the covers to chomp down broccoli and tender kale shoots.  

Installed heavier rocks and clamps to hold the netting down and so far so good.  

 

Ran over to the neighbors to celebrate the 4th of July with a potluck dinner.  I was gone a maximum, two hours.  Walked across the backyard and found this......

Brussel Sprouts and Eggplant gone......... break out the traps for the band of evil groundhogs.  

Yes, I hate them!  And one pooped in the freedom bus on his way to paradise; I will never get that smell out of the van but it does entertain the dog when we go for car rides.  He can't figure out where the groundhog is hiding in the van and why are the windows are open all the time. 

Planted two rows of carrots and found these..... asian jumping worms, invasive AF.

Put them in a plastic container and tossed in the freezer.  Dead! 

Sifted through the dirt and compost looking for every single one I could find and planted two rows of carrots. 

The skunks came in two nights in a row and excavated for even more worms!  Carrot crop decimated in the process.  Tossed my trowel in the air and walked in the house. 

My winning streak and apathy lasted 48 hours.  As bad as things get there are always tomatoes and peppers.  It's been like that forever around here.  I could live with the slugs, snails, birds, groundhogs, deer, skunks, japanese beetles, squash vine borers and on and on because you were at least going to get tomatoes! 

Not this year! 

Thought it was skunks, nope fat bastard raccoons who apparently sent postcards out to their nearest, dearest and distant cousins.  Count the eyeballs!  I've trapped 6 raccoons and there is no end in sight so I'm trying to live with them because I will never trap them all! 

I installed the electric fence again and every night I would soak down the area with water from the rain barrels; when their grimy little paws hit the fence they'd get a double charged zap!  They took the hit to get to the tomatoes.  They must be wearing rubber underpants!   They're every where..... even the chicken coop!  

Hello..... 

The birds cleaned out the blueberries and blackberries.  And again the deer!  They ate the blackberry shoots down to the ground.  

On a good note the japanese beetles weren't too bad this year.  

I am one click away from ordering a pair of coyotes off Amazon or building a Lego Rocket launcher.

The heat and humidity have been off the charts.  I always order compost in the Spring.   This year I opted for 8 yards instead of the customary 18 yards.  Hoping to use wood chips in the way back garden.  

and three loads of wood chips, 8 yards each. 

Yes, my little wheelbarrow and I have moved 32 cubic yards of stuff.  

Started a hoop house but waiting for cooler weather to finish. 

Built new tomato trellis systems to keep tomatoes off the ground.   Soon to be wrapped in electrified barbed wire and moat. 

Trenched in heavy duty screening to keep the groundhogs from burrowing under the shed.

Lost two of my three chickens to bird flu ...... 

sometimes just no words to say how hard sustainability on a half acre can be.

It's hard because everything counts and everything has a job to do.  They were buried under in way way back very deep and covered with 6" of wood chips.  

Fern is the only chicken left and I am reluctant to pick up more birds until next year.  The cats come to visit a couple times a day and she appears to be doing well as now she gets all the treats.  She loves frozen corn on these hot 90 degree plus days.  And she is still gifting an eggs a couple times a week.  

The girls are free ranging over the rainbow bridge and eating all the treats..... no fences anymore! 

Godspeed girls see you on the other side. 

And through all this the garden still gave so much.  

and for that I am grateful ....... and yes I will keep pedaling. 

 

Yes, do all the things!

  Why do we attempt to do all the things........

First off let me say, I am not a "prepper" I am just ridiculously curious and interested in way too many "things".   If I don't get it right the first I will be tenacious trying to figure it out.  It has lead me down some endless rabbit holes.   Take from the past but spin it today to make it better.  Gardening, pottery, food preservation, weaving and on and on.  Is there a better way to be easier on the planet, reducing my carbon footprint?  

Somewhere mixed in with girls scout badges and old monopoly pieces I have my Ranger Rick badge and my ecology flag patch from the 70's...

But when your Mom is a Tupperware lady and you grow up with suitcases full of plastic and Tupperware parties abounding in that little bungalow in Parma, Ohio, well ...... plastic was just magical. 

That was my first recollection of plastic in our house.  It just wasn't around and store bought food was in a paper bag, even produce was in a paper bag or came out of the garden or a jar in the basement.  Water came out of the backyard hose and not a plastic bottle.  The hose was real rubber and probably should have killed us.  When I was around 6 years old, my Mom was one of the few woman who took a full time job as a secretary for USDA, PPQ (plant protection and quarantine) and there she stayed for the rest of her working life.  She took the bus to downtown Cleveland and returned each evening and did not want to make dinner.  Enter Swanson TV dinners and Stouffers Tuna Noodle casserole.  It was miracle food, packaged in aluminum foil and waxed cardboard.  Meanwhile "the kids" spent snow days, afternoons and every summer vacation or school break at a very Hungarian Grandma's house with homemade noodles, lard, a big garden and homemade soup.  Grapes drying on clean white sheets draped over a day bed for raisins.  My uncle brought in a dead pig that would be cut up and processed on the dinning room table and side meat was salted, packed in a barrel and stored in the coal bin of the basement. that would be distributed between 3 families.  He brought a gallon jar of milk every week, the top thick with cream.  We went down to Islays or Franklin ice cream store and bought half gallons of ice cream in square paper containers.  No plastic.  The morning and afternoon newspaper was kept on the counter for scraps.  The scraps were neatly wrapped and taken out to the compost pile after each meal.  I remember when we started getting trash collection and there was nothing to put on the curb.  

My Mom on the other hand couldn't get to age of Judy Jetson fast enough and yet my grandparents were firmly rooted in the early part of the century.  My Mom would go to work and host Tupperware parties in her polyester knitwear.  She raved about no ironing, wash and wear.  And yet she picked up a bucket of soap chips from those immigrant grandparents.  We saved all our fat in 3 pound coffee can and when full ran it over so they could make lye soap.  She did the laundry with that soap and there was always a bar sitting by the laundry tub in the basement.  We bounced between two worlds and never thought twice. 

It took awhile for my brain to make the leap to where I am today.  Boycotting plastic, buying old furniture, haunting the used clothing stores for jeans and jackets.  I had my first tour of a landfill in the 80's and it was the catalyst to say Whoa, what are we doing?  Plastic was everywhere and in everything and it was alarming.  By the 90's I was estate gardening full time and by the late 90's we were aware something was going on with the weather.  The summers were hotter than Hell and there were noticeable storms more often.  The gentle rains were a memory by the mid 2000's.  It became drought or flood.  Plants were stressed and gardeners were stressed trying to figure out growing patterns.  We have bounced up two growing zones in my lifetime.  That set off alarm bells.  

Then I noticed the furniture we going to buy for our home smelled funny and wasn't made of real wood but a composite. We decided not to buy and wait. 

 Americans throw away 12 million tons of furniture every single year! New York Times

Most of that furniture was made in the last 10-15 years.  We live in the age of fast furniture, less quality to be sure.  The older, second hand furniture is better quality and can last a lifetime or more.  We now buy gently used furniture and donate any furniture we no longer need.  Keep it out of the landfill! 

Then we joined Sierra Club and Nature Conservancy, started donating to several food banks.  The more we read and picked our heads up out of the sand the more alarmed we became.  What could we do to offset our carbon footprint of 13.6 tons of carbon per year?  I thought we were doing so much, our trash pick up gone down to one 13 gallon trash bag a week, still too much but it was all from food packaging.  Why cucumbers need to individually wrapped in plastic and then if you buy three wrapped yet again in plastic I will never understand.  We stopped buying cheese or any food that sat in plastic due to nano plastics etc.  Our yard waste is now pretty much circular, it stays on site and is chipped for mulch.  The only thing I won't let stay on site are rose bush prunings and diseased plants.  I don't do hot composting so it needs to go to a bigger facilities.  The average American household puts out around 48 metric tons of carbon. University of Michigan study.   These charts on food and transportation are pretty eye opening.

 Guess what we quit eating?  Dairy and our meat has been cut way back to once a week.  My driving has been impacted also.  Last year I drove 1/3 of what I did the year before.  I have decided to stop doing shows and instead will ship pots off to galleries or keep the galleries local.  We are making adjustments for heating and cooling at home too.  We are living very differently. 

So far this year I have walked enough on my treecard app to off set my carbon foot by 47 tons and I can also contribute to remove plastic from the ocean.  

If your are still on the fence here is some great data to read on snowy afternoon with a cup of coffee and if it doesn't alarm you enough to adjust your lifestyle I'm not sure what will.  

Climate data 1995 to present

As we plod through our new lifestyle I hope to keep this blog open for any ideas to make living on the planet a bit easier.  So far the best thing I have found for big carbon moments like a road trip or airline trip is buying trees from the Arbor Day Foundation.   So if you're headed to Antarctica and you are contributing 4.14 carbon tons (Sierra Club) to a warming planet,  why not buy a bunch of trees for the future of the planet.  I think it would be a great selling point if an airline or cruise just added that to their ticket, included in the price to haul you're privileged butt around.  If you work for a big corporation why not buy trees for the carbon your employees are putting out there.  We have entered a new era of zoom meeting and teleconferences.  It's not always necessary to hop on a fossil fueled antiquated system of travel but if you are, plant a few trees! 

Happy March!

Winter is back with a vengence and chickens.....

Oh March.......

 Snowy, windy mornings...... 

Of course I planted things outside already.  Of course it was a week of 60-70F weather.  Even then I considered cold weather returning, wild weather swings are the norm.  I expected a bit of snow.  I expected it to last 12-36 hours.  That would be normal, it's not normal anymore.  Did I expect 15F degree weather and high wind?  Nope.  

So I decided to run with it and did an experiment.  

These two beds are covered in single layer frost cloth and mulched heavily with shredded leaves, a few months old and planted in raised beds with cement block.

Kale, chinese cabbage, romaine lettuce and butter crunch lettuce. 

This bed is planted on the ground, no raised bed, single layer of frost cloth and not mulch.

I would say the most exposed of all beds.  Cabbage starts are  under the cloth.

Savoy, purple and jersey wakefield varieties

These two beds are planted in the ground, no mulch and double frost cloth. 

Cabbage, two varieties; little tiara and savoy.

This bed is somewhat protected, close to the house.  Double frost cloth, no mulch.

Kohlrabi variety Kossack and white turnips, variety; hakurei (hands down favorite of any turnip so far) 

I have not dared to peek under the covers, fearing total loss with temps low enough to freeze the ground.  The winds have been downright brutal, gusting to 45 mph.  This current weather pattern holds until next week when we creep into the 40's but at least above freezing.  A bit of sun would do wonders!  Stay tuned for the results.....

Quite a bit has been transplanted.  In the past I have always transplanted iris in August/Sept.  It never happened.  I now believe the people setting dates set in stone were men.  Women just know stuff is going to change and if there is time; DO IT! 

Lemon balm has been yanked out and unceremoniously plopped behind the compost pile.  I didn't even bother with the gardeners prayer; "Grow Dammit" because it just doesn't matter.  No one ever said; " Oh I think I need more lemon balm!"  No one!  

I need to move the cold frame to make way for the cattle panel hoop house.  Ran out on a Saturday morning, cleaned it out, moved the panels and tried to pick up the end.  Groan, pull again.  Grunting, cursing, off to get a pry bar......nothing.  Completely forgot I sunk the 4x4's about 2 feet in the ground.  Even with the wet ground it was not budging.  I need to take each board off and move it.  Argh.... another day!  Some days I just run out of gas.  

I sat on the edge of the cold frame with a hot cup of coffee and watched the chickens....

The girls did a great job on the compost pile and cleaning out the back garden!  Bravo ladies!  These three gals are going on 4 years and I get about 10-12 eggs a week.  More than I need.  They do have their drawbacks however.  While I was moving blueberry bushes I let them free range around the back garden.  I would dig and prep a large hole and by the time I got the blueberry bush out of the ground and wrangled the root ball and all to the prepared hole, the chickens had filled in the hole looking for bugs and treats.  Grrrr... re-dig and plant.  6 blueberry bushes later I had time to plant the brassicas in the raised beds.  As long as there is fresh dirt there are chickens on a mission.   Excuse me ma'am, we do have a dress code in the garden....... 

Looking over my shoulder, the ladies were raking fragile, shallow rooted blueberry roots with their talons of doom.  C'mon ladies!  There are 3 chickens, two stick together like glue and one is on her own.  I jumped to chase them off the preciously planted blueberries. They scattered in three different directions.  I went for the gang of two and herded them back to the chicken corral with a pointy rake.  Locked up I ran back to get the third, finding her chowing down on tender brassica starts.  Chickens 1 - Gardener 0.   Grabbed her and tossed in the corral with the other two offenders.  Between weather and chickens those kale plants don't stand a chance, I will be direct sowing in a couple weeks.   The chickens are currently on lock down until I get a chicken tractor made.  The red shoulder hawks have taken up residence in the maple tree next to the garden so free range is probably not a great idea this Spring.  They do continue to storm the gates with the eternal hope of escaping and wreaking havoc on fresh shoots in the asparagus and peony beds.  At night I have visions of them whittling little pitch forks and smoking cigarettes planning their jail break.  

It is the season for knee pads and weeding knives.... 

I don't think I could work without a hori.  I can't walk out the back door without pruners clipped to my pocket, knee pads strapped on and the hori shoved in my back pocket.  I could take a kidney out if I forget and sit down too quick!  or the chickens could use it as a shiv to make their break when I gather eggs.... I have urban thug chickens, not country chickens. 

Even with knee pads dirt happens.....

At the end of the day there is time for sunsets, beach fires and a really good dog who isn't trying to shiv the gardener for greener pastures ........ 

His new arthritis meds have helped so much...... :) 

Winter respite over!

 It's happening!!! 

But this morning a front has moved in, bringing rain, fog and much cooler weather.  The fog is thick and muffles all the urban noises.  Yet the titmouse and red wing blackbird calls pierce the air.  There will be no gardening today.  This will be a laundry and get more seeds started day.  A drink one more cup of coffee day. 

The past few days have catapulted us into Springs intoxication and Spring chores.  The winter chore list just got filed in the circular receptacle because it's over!  Those lazy mornings with coffee and seed catalogs, over!  Pads on, tools in all my back pockets, Felcos (pruners) holstered like a sidearm and we are off to the races.  I have managed a bit of pruning; fruit trees and elderberries but not much else.  As I age those Spring energy bursts of, don't stop until dark are but a distant memory and I am trying to adjust to my older body.  I stop for lunch and coffee now, take my boots off, telling myself this reflection will make me a much better gardener.  Please leave me those grand illusions!  

 The changes in the way back garden have begun!  After two 75 degree days, it was a dawn to dusk work out, although I'm definitely moving slower!  I have been dreading this job but the calvary is not showing up.  

I have lived with the cement block beds for 6 years now.  They do not work.  This way back garden area doesn't have easy access to water.  Stuff gets planted and then stuff better buck up.  I found the cement block wicks water away from the beds and the beds dry out super fast, even with heavy mulch.  I planted strawberries into compost filled holes ringing the perimeter of each bed.  I had visions of strawberry plants laden with fruit hanging over the edge waiting to be picked.  It worked if I kept the blocks watered daily.  I watched with mouth watering anticipation for the first red berries.  I walked to the garden one warm morning in June, bowl in hand to find every berry had been stripped in the middle of the night.  As my empty bowl was placed on a block to move plants around, wondering if any had been hidden, I watch a pair of fat ass chipmunks work the row next to me.  I had planted a buffet for the chipmunks and ground loving critters.  Not to mention the birds.  I let the berry plants go to ground cover and it worked extremely well.  The entire back was covered in strawberry plants last year and we did harvest 30 pounds of berries.  The dangling berries did keep the chipmunks out of the beds.  

This area is now shaded from so many trees, things I used to grow no longer do very well, due to lack of sun.  Time for change.....

out with the cement block! 

Re-enforcing the compost pile and blocking all chicken escape hatches. 

OMG, I will not be hiring myself out to lay brick or block anytime soon!  Three beds down and three more to go.  Landscape fabric was peeled a way.  That stuff should be outlawed!  The tree roots were imbedded and had grown above the fabric.  I used the heavy duty, nursery landscape cloth and it was a fight to the death to get that crap out of the garden!  I like to ease my body into the garden season and this was akin to be plunged head first into the landfill and digging your way out.  March 3rd and already the sweat was sliding down my face and into my ears, my underwear was plastered to my butt.  But I have the vision and the end result, well it's a very big brass ring to grab for. 

So what edibles grow well at the edge at the forest?  I'm opting for blueberries and raspberries.  I wrestled out three of the largest blueberry bushes.  I still have three more to go.  Gosh I learned so much when I dug them up about root structure and why some bushes were doing so well and others dwarfed.  It was not the variety but the roots!  

Blueberries re-homed in the new bed....

The old bed will have a cattle panel hoop house installed. 

Soon I hope!

Across the back where the cement block was taken out and barrels of tree roots excavated.  Raspberries have been divided and will run the length of the back garden.  They will get great morning sun! The small patch currently producing well, will be tripled in size.  The birds don't seem to bother the raspberries very much.  Trellises still need to be put in too.  No more plants gone wild!  I wish I had the space to let the raspberries free range but I don't.   

chickens and dirty knees are a sure sign of Spring.....

Last of the carry over winter projects is ongoing.  Mortaring old fieldstone in the foundation and new basement stairs.  Yee Haw!  I have to tie myself off to get down these steps.  I used to have my laundry in the basement and at one time my studio.  A basement with a dirt floor, a river running through it and so low you can knock yourself out with one wrong move.  I am not sure how I carried 50 pound boxes of clay down these steps and fired pots back up.   These stairs were original and rickety, rickety is being nice.  

During canning season, loaded down with jars I'm up and down so many times a day I loose count.   The basement has a dirt floor and honestly for all our food storage from the garden I love it.  Think French cheese caves and wine cellars....... again with the illusions.

Lumber..... when a 2x6 was really a 2x6!

The bathroom is next on the long list ......... pray for me! 

The next blog post I will discuss more of carbon foot prints,  and cow poop..... 

for now I leave you with this...... embrace the change 😀