I'm feelin' alright

 I was talking with my aunt last night and confessed something that was a very foreign feeling to me - I'm happy with where I'm at in the grand scheme of yard work.  My gardens have some weeds, sure, but overall they look pretty darned good.  The cold weather crops kind of took a hard hit in the last two heat waves, but everything else looks healthy.  I've been able to keep up with the mowing in areas I want mowed, so the back yard hasn't been lost in a sea of overgrowth.  I've been diligently watering the tomatoes and peppers in the polytunnel and they are thriving.  I've been gradually pulling weedy things out of the wildflower meadow and planting more cottage garden type plants in their place.  What perennials I planted last year that survived the winter are looking fantastic.  Yup, I'm feeling good about what I've accomplished so far, how much I've been able to maintain, and I'm not stressing about what I wanted to get done but haven't.  Cooler days are coming, and there are enough projects around this little farm to keep me busy for a decade.  For now, mulching the bank behind the wildflower meadow is the big push, and I'm having an arbor installed at the firepit patio this week. And this makes me a very happy biddy.

 

Shaking my fist at the damp

 I should be happy that it's been days and days of rain because it will help ensure a decent amount of water in the ground, but I'm watching trees and grass and plants explode and it's too wet to do any cleanup.  Waah, waah, waah.   There have been small amounts of sun, and I have started some projects.

In an effort to harvest more rainwater this summer, I've purchased a 330 gallon IBC tote.  My plan is to connect the gutter from the barn to the tote, however the gutter desperately needs replacing.  Upon closer inspection, the fascia the gutter is attached to also desperately needs replacing.  Unexpected project #1.

All of the snow has now melted except for a small pile in front of Mom's barn.

That should be gone before the end of the week with all this rain.  

My hill garden is wide open and I've managed to plant potatoes in the stock tank and peas in pots.  My onions, leeks, and shallots are here but I don't have space for them; all of my beds are overwintering late season perennial purchases Mom and I made.  As soon as it's warm enough, I can peel those out and get planting.  My garlic are doing well, which makes me happy as it's the first time I've grown it.  

 I also managed to plant up the large planter by the house with radish, lettuce, mustard greens, and spinach.  Since these are cool weather crops and will probably be done by June, I'll be able to pull them and use the planter for my pepper plants.  Remember that simple rotation guide I found?  That helped me plan this succession.  Next year I can use that planter for onions or carrots.

look at this whole lotta nuthin'

The little front garden I built last year for my lilacs is doing well.  I had planted it with tulips, allium, and muscari to fill in the blank spots until the lilac leaf out.  To my surprise, the two clematis I purchased last year from Job Lots actually survived the winter and seem to be thriving!  I put an old metal headboard in as a trellis, and am debating the age old question - does one follow the lay of the land, or does one please the eye by leveling the trellis?  I'm going with the lay of the land.

In the back of the house, the little water feature has completely thawed, and already has become home to a clutch of frog eggs, which I discovered when skimming out the debris and dead water plants I'd neglected to remove last fall.  Of note - it's recommended to leave any debris in a pile near the pond for a day at least to allow tiny water dwellers a chance to get back into the water. 

We had our first bear of the season the other night.  I chased him out of the pasture twice, but he came back under cover of darkness and broke Mom's platform bird feeder.  Oddly enough, it hadn't been used all winter.  Unfortunately this means it's also time for me to stop feeding the crows, as the dog food would likely make this a hot stop on the bear's travel itinerary.  No thank you.  The fox hasn't been seen since the snow melted in the pasture, but I'm sure he's still a regular visitor.  Two deer were spied behind the barn for the first time since last autumn, too.  I heard a woodcock at dusk a few nights ago and the peepers won't be far behind.  Is it any wonder why this is my most favorite season of all?

I'm in!

Yesterday morning there was still enough snow on the ground to deter me from getting into my hill garden.

 

It was a rather raw and blustery day, but by evening the snow had actually melted enough that I was able to open the gate and meander about.  In spots the snow is still nearly up to my knees, but my raised beds are emerging.  

 Last year I had already sown my sugar snap peas by April 5th...what a difference!  I have to admit, mud season lasted about a week and that was just fine with me.  Pretty soon I'll be bitching about blackflies and ticks.

But it's opening up more every day...

Inside I've transplanted my impatiens, which are doing very well.  I sowed some pansies and they're not germinating as well as hoped, but thankfully I have an abundance of seed to try again.  Today I sowed cosmos, petunia, annual aster, and amaranth.  I'm hoping that by next weekend I'll be able to set up the poly tunnel. 

Meanwhile, in the pasture...

...love is in the air. 

Perimeter work

 I've taken down the fence around the vegetable garden and started putting up an all-encompassing fence around it, the shade garden, and the perennial holding beds.  I'm hoping to deter future woodchucks from ravaging my plants.  So far I've been able to get the front fence up, using the sections of wrought iron fence, old deck railing, and a set of vintage gates I picked up last summer.

Since that section of ground is nothing but stones and ledge, I decided to use grade stakes as posts.  Also, I couldn't afford the iron stakes that would match the iron fence...yankee ingenuity strikes again.  We'll see how long the grade stakes last.

I had some sections of old picket fence that I wanted to use up the sides of the gardens, but they don't follow the slope very well.  I've decided to go with three foot tall chicken wire fence and metal posts for the remainder of the garden.  I'll have to run it behind the front fence to keep the vermin out, so when it's done it should look pretty gnarly...which is fine by me.

I've also put out Jack and Tawanda for Halloween, along with some witches I was recently gifted.  I had wanted Jack & T to be in the cauldron, getting cooked by the coven, but no matter how I arranged them it looked absolutely obscene.  I settled for this display:

I'm calling it, "Witches?!?!?  In OUR town?!?!? *gasp!*"

This 'n That

 My ambition is waning at this point in the year.  There is much I didn't accomplish, much I can still work on, and much that I did (surprisingly) get done.  I've decided the cat fencing will wait until next year, so the only thing I'm concentrating on as far as the back yard now is...all that pea stone.  I've decided to extend the path from the lower patio to the upper pea stone path, so that should take care of my excess aggregate.  I've been doing a little planting, too; some perennials I'd ordered over summer have come in and I'm popping them in around the holding beds and in the back yard here and there.  I planted six Miscanthus plants (giant grasses); 3 Huron Sunrise and 3 Oktoberfest.  Looking at them side by side, it's impossible to tell them apart.  These grasses should grow up to 6 feet tall or more, and they spread into massive 2-4 foot clumps, depending on how you manage them.  I already have 2 Miscanthus; Porcupine Grass and Maiden Hair.  All of these grasses have a common trait as far as their seed heads.  They are stringy plumes, mostly burgandy, that dance over the grasses on tall spikes.

As the seed heads mature, they take on a soft, silvery glow.  They are absolutely beautiful swaying in the wind, which is why I wanted them.  The six new grass clumps will form a backdrop for my wildflowers in summer, and add interest to the garden in winter.  

I dug up my curly willow tree that had been temporarily housed in one of my mother's gardens and planted it near the bog garden.  I'm hoping it will shade the garden enough to help it retain moisture, because during summer the afternoon sun beats down on that spot and will dry it right up.  I also managed to add more humus, compost, and garden soil to the bog garden so it's finally able to accept plants.  I've started with a few small swamp milkweeds, a few primrose, and a turtlehead plant (Chelone lyonii 'Hot Lips').  I hope to transplant a few more perennials in there before it's too late.

I realize the bank is a hot mess of grass, weeds, and native wildflowers, but I hate cutting down plants before winter.  Even though they die, they still provide shelter and food for many insects, rodents, and birds.  I'm just going to leave it for now and deal with it in the spring.

The hyacinth vine is really outdoing itself.  I honestly didn't think it would have enough time to grow and produce flowers, since I purchased the seedlings so late in the year.  

I think I'll use the same planting there next year, too.

My big push, other than the back yard, is my mess of a hill garden.  

Not having water the past few months and the ridiculous number of ground hornets really bummed me out, and I've basically neglected it.  Some things have thrived despite that - my herbs, the corn, carrots, onions, and most of the perennials are very healthy given the lack of care.  I have a vision, though, to revamp this area.  I'm taking down the fence around the vegetable garden and am going to reset it to include the shade beds to the left and the entire perennial holding bed area.  I don't have any matching fence, so it's going to be pretty eclectic to say the least.  I just dragged home an old metal round bale feeder ring, and I'm going to try to set it in the middle path halfway up the garden and use it as a squash trellis.  I need lots of chicken wire to keep out woodchucks, and I need to keep the grass mowed to discourage the hornets from nesting.  I also need to set up a better rain water collection system, so I'm prepared for a dry well again.  Maybe next year will be the year I finally don't give up on my garden.

What it is and what it isn't

 No more calling the hole in the ground filled with water the p-word.  From here on in, I will refer to it as my water feature, which is what it really is.  I've had a few people misunderstand when I used the p-word, and they were thinking ye olde swimmin' hole...uh, no - nothing that grand.

Anyway!  Another day of deluge, and the p...water feature...is the most full it's been so far.  While the edges are clearing up finally, the middle is still quite murky.  The froggie doesn't seem to care, so I'm not going to worry.  This weekend I hope to set up a replacement fountain of sorts.  I can't wait to try it out. 😁  I bought some Ogon Sweet Flag plants for the edges of the water feature.  I really like the contrast of that yellow-green, grass-like foliage against the dark green of what's left of the grass and clover.  I'm excited to see it next year, when the area has recovered a little better. 

Froggie approved.

Happy first day of autumn!