It's not the heat...

 We're in day 3 of a heat wave, which shouldn't be news...except that it is.  We're experiencing hot, humid weather with heat indexes over 100*F, which is not normal for June.  As my brother noted, weren't we just buried in snow two months ago?  How things change.

The garden is, of course, loving this.  It's gone from this on May 5th

to this on June 20th

Once again the jungle-like conditions on the other side of the fence are becoming more difficult to keep at bay.  I had so many projects I was hoping to get done before anything began to leaf out, but I just can't muster the energy to accomplish anything.  Everyone talks about the hot flashes menopause brings, but nobody warns you about the overwhelming ennui that envelops you.  Le sigh.

I did manage to get my corn planted, and this heat has really helped get it going.  I planted Silver Queen and Sugar Buns.  Sugar buns should yield mature ears about 20 days earlier than Silver Queen.

In the garlic beds the Music and Red Chesnok have beautifully curly (and delicious) scapes, but interestingly, the Thai Fire is only beginning to form them despite being out of the ground a good 3 weeks before the other two varieties.

The snap peas are kinda sorta using the hay ring as a perch...I do have to tie them in every once in a while to encourage them to latch onto it.  I may have to start pinching them back, because I won't be able to harvest them if they get much taller.

The leeks I left to winter over were doing great, then I completely forgot about them.  Now they're forming seed heads, and are most likely too woody textured to bother eating.  I'm going to let them seed out and see if they replace themselves with fresh leeks for next year.

I did manage to get a small section of pasture fenced for the mules, and now I don't dare let them out on it.  Flea has been doing really well and they both spend a large amount of time sneaking grass from around the perimeter of the dry lot, but with this weather the grass is most likely stressed.  Any type of stress - lack of or too much water, rapid or extreme temperature fluctuations, frost, etc. - can affect the way grass produces and stores sugars, which can mean a ticking time bomb for IR equines.  We're supposed to have some good rain over the next few days and the temperatures should return to fairly average range, so I may let them out this weekend.  If I do, Flea will have a muzzle to reduce how much he can eat, and they'll go out as early in the morning as possible when sugars are at the lowest.  Of course, they haven't been on pasture for years, so it's going to mean very, very limited time out there, probably 15-20 minutes.  

Once we're back into less extreme weather, I hope to work on the grassy bank in the back yard.  My goal is to cut the grass short, pile last year's manure on it, cover it with weed block of some sort, then top it with a thick mulch.  Once that's done, that will be where I plant my squashes.  I have butternut, jack-o-lantern, summer squash, and white pumpkins started in the house and they need to be transplanted.  I've cut the grass once already, but it's already grown back.  If it weren't for the rocks on the surface, I might just keep it mowed like a lawn...but who wants more lawn to mow?  Not me!

In the polytunnel the tomatoes are just beginning to flower.  The NuMex Lemon Spice jalapeno peppers are doing fantastic, while the habanero peppers are struggling.  The pepper plants overwintered in the house promptly died when I put them out.

And in the wildflower meadow, things are beginning to bloom.  The penstemons that I planted a few years ago have finally come into their own, and are just gorgeous.

And the gaillardia are finally mature enough to bloom.

A few of the wildflowers are starting to bloom, like the pink silene that self seeded from last year, and the fleabane and field daisies that just smother the property, but it will be a few more weeks before I get to see what my autumn sown seeds produce.

In the meantime, the soaking tub is ready, and I can keep watch from there.

June-ish things

 Summer is nearly upon us - where has the time gone?  I will say, this has been one of the most enjoyable springs as far as weather goes that we've had in a long time.  Only a few days have brought that late summer type heat, the rain hasn't been a constant deluge, and no surprise frosts have hit us.  

I've had to come to terms with my age and physical abilities, which is a nice way of saying I'm too old and fat to accomplish much these days.  My list has been pared down to a few key projects that are hopefully achievable.  Li'l Red tractor is finally fixed, and Reputa tractor's steering is holding up so far.  I thought this would be a great opportunity to move the manure, which has been piling up behind the barn for the last year while equipment was broke down.  My back has been acting up lately, so I decided to go easy and only do manageable loads of manure, which meant loading it into my little tow behind trailer; the new one I bought to replace the rusted out one last summer.  It's easier to unload than a pickup truck load of heavy, wet, manure and shavings.  I loaded it using Li'l Red, and hauled it out to the back of the property with Reputa.  Things were going great...until they weren't.

Around the fourth trip out Reputa started jerking and sputtering, so I shut her down and only then did I notice the trailer was tipped at an angle.  A quick review of the scene revealed a tire had completely come off the axle.  I unloaded the manure and set about reattaching the wheel, discovering the cotter pin that held it in place was missing.  I left the tire on and went around the other side to check the cotter pin on the other wheel...also missing.  What the heck?  Apparently they either spontaneously and simultaneously disintegrated, or there's a cotter pin thief about.  Or...they never had cotter pins.  I shudder at that thought.  At any rate,  I had some pins that served as replacements for the time being and decided to do one last trip before calling it a night.  I loaded the trailer, headed away from the manure pile, and suddenly Reputa started jerking and sputtering again.  This time, one of the tires had split wide open, so that was the end of that.  I noted the size of the tires and ordered some solid replacement wheels from Amazon.  There was some issue changing out the bearings, but thankfully my neighbor is a mechanic with all of the tools, so he was able to replace the bearings with the correct sized ones (the wheels come with 2 sizes), and I was back in business.  I've only hauled one load with the solid tires, but I am happy with them.  I replaced the bicycle tires on my manure cart with solid ones, and I don't know how I lived without them.  No more flats!

While I was waiting on tires, I had a look at my cottage gardens.  Last year I planted perennials into the grassy areas in front of the hillside garden.  I love seeing grasses in with plants, so I thought this would be a picturesque little garden.  Boy, was I wrong.  The grass, which was mostly crabgrass, quickly overtook the beds and was pretty much smothering the plants.

I pulled up some of the edging from around the wildflower garden out back; because it's over the leach field, it doesn't really freeze in the winter and warm/cold cycles keep pushing plants and landscape pins out of the ground.  I'm tired of having to re-pound the pins each spring, so away it goes.

Once I had the edges marked, I started pulling what weeds I could, and cutting back seed heads.  I laid newspaper over the grass areas and mulched heavily with bark mulch. 

It took me about a day to do each bed, carefully winding newspaper around the plants and making sure I was pulling as many weeds away from them as possible.

Now I have places to plant my other perennials, and the plants I grew from seed this winter.  After this, I need to do the same to the hot borders in front of the barn.

No rest for the wicked, I guess.

Oh, those tulips!

 I'm obsessed. The tulip I couldn't remember is Mango Charm, purchased from Johnny's Selected Seeds.  It should be called Chameleon, because it is constantly changing.  

It starts out with a yellow-green bud.

As it opens, the petals become a soft yellow tinged with apricot, perfectly complimenting the Apricot Whirl and Pink Charm narcissus (also purchased from Johnny's).

 

It slowly becomes more pink, almost mimicking a soft sunset.

And finally, it ends its reign by turning a beautiful blush pink tinged with white.

 

Most tulips don't reliably rebloom season after season, so I'll be sure to purchase more of these to plant this autumn.  They're just breathtaking.

Also breathtaking is a clematis that I purchased, in of all places, Ocean State Job Lots.  I purchased three clematis a few years ago, and the packaging gave no indication as to the actual variety or type of clematis it was.  I just assumed it was from the summer blooming group, or Group 3.  This group produces flowers on new wood, or new growth, so every spring I would cut them to the ground and allow them to regrow, but never saw much for flowers.  In fact, the only flowers I would get were the Nelly Moser-type pink with white edges.  Disappointing, as I already had one of those.  This spring I didn't get around to cutting them down quick enough, and suddenly there were blossoms swelling all over the plants.  I decided to let them be and see what happened.  I'm so glad I did!

It seems this particular clematis is from Group 1, or the spring blooming group, which flowers on old wood.  If I'm lucky, it may end up being a group 2, which is a reblooming variety.  These will bloom on old and new wood, so I'm doubtful that's the case, otherwise I would have seen these gorgeous creamy blooms over the last two years.

I did finally get the cover on the polytunnel, and my seedling plants have been moved out of the house and into that for hardening off.  I ended up using some bark chippings my mother had to create a grass-free base.  I love that the wood chips retain moisture so that when I close the polytunnel up, it creates a lovely humid environment for the plants. 

They're all responding well except for the baptisia seedlings, which have begun a mass die-off.  This coming week is supposed to shoot up to summer like temperatures, so I'll plant them out and see how they do.

I've got a decent start on the new section of mule track, too.  I am waiting for some gate hardware to arrive before I put up the welded wire fence, but I think this is going to work out well.  

 I've been using Reputa to haul manure out to the back of the pasture, and she's been working great.  It's so good to have her back to work!  Li'l Red has been down and out since autumn with rust chips clogging the gas line and a massive mouse nest in the motor.  Luckily my ex's cousin is a mobile tractor repair person, and he was able to flush the gas tank so it looks brand new, repair the gas cap to prevent water from getting in, and peel out the mouse nest.  I fired it up and one more mouse ran out of the motor and hit the ground running, and a minute later another one was belly up inside the cover but fell back into the motor when I shut it off.  I think there might be an endless supply of mice living in my tractor motor, and it freaks me out.  My plan is to start it up and walk away, allowing it to run and hopefully drive out the furry invaders.  

I've finished another section of the dead hedge, and I'm learning as I go.  This section was made up of mostly forsythia trimmings, and I'm not sure how the mixed material is sitting with me.

I don't mind if there's mixed material in each panel, but having one panel mostly brush with not many thicker branches looks a little funky.  Again, the advantage of this hedge is that it will always be changing depending upon the materials available.  I'm ok with that, because it's FREE.  The corner was a little tricky, and I have to angle the next section to run parallel with the barn.  Once I start running a fairly straight line, I think it's going to go up fast.  At least I hope so; I'm still running behind!

Black Flies and Mosquitos and Ticks, Oh My!

 'Tis the season!  We're finally seeing the sun and temperatures are creeping upwards.  The grass is greening at a ridiculous pace, the trees are beginning to leaf out, the perennial flower beds are beginning to explode with life.  This also means the little vampire world of ticks, mosquitos, and black flies are hard at work making lives miserable.  I've already picked a half dozen ticks off of me, and the black flies nearly drove my uncle to the brink of madness when he was helping me set up the tiny tunnel.  I say helping, but in reality he pretty much did it all and I just assisted.  So yes, my tiny tunnel is up, and the seedlings have moved from the house to the tunnel!

We set it up in the driveway so it was near enough to a water source and in the sun.  It should receive 6-8 hours daily, with the house shading it in the worst of the afternoon heat.  Once the seedlings are all ready to be planted out, I'll fill this tunnel with buckets of tomatoes to see if they grow better in here or out in the open garden.  I'm really excited to try this!  If it works well enough, I'll find a permanent spot for it so I don't have to take it down every winter.

I also got my aerator set up in the little water feature.  My mom gave me this sphinx-like downspout a few years ago and it has a hole in the center, so I purchased a little solar powered water pump and voilà!  The water is now moving.

I'm not really digging the extreme upspray, so  I might dial it back just a little.  If I take the little cap off the pump nozzle, it will just bubble over and that might be better.  I'm thinking the spray might actually cause the water to evaporate more quickly, especially on a hot day.  Work in progress!  The frog eggs were hatching just when we had a deluge of rain - some areas received nearly 5" overnight.  My water feature overflowed the banks, and I haven't seen any signs of tadpoles since.  I'm not sure if any survived.

Out in the pasture, the daffodils under the mulberry tree are really starting to take off.

There are a few other flowers under there, but the deer ate every single tulip and hyacinth, so only a few fritillaries, squill, and one lone anemone break up the daffodil overload.  Hopefully they'll take off in the next few years and spread to add a little color to the fray.

In the garden the snap peas are sprouting, there's no sign of the potatoes, and I've planted some leeks and shallots.  I need to vacate a few more beds to be able to plant my onions.

The cool weather greens are coming along up at the house planter, too.

Now is the time when everything gets ahead of you.  Keep up!