Caged by Rain

Stair Expansion

It has been a busy couple of weeks at Steepmeadow, punctuated by planting and construction and observing a pair of robins that nested in our front security light. At last, an opportunity to catch up in the blog as rain falls and keeps me out of the garden.

It is a bit of a race to get everything planted. The large tomatoes and peppers in the greenhouse failed this year. It wasn't a total loss, as six cherry tomato plants made it into the bed, but everything else just didn't make it.

This necessitated purchasing "cheaters." We got fourteen tomato plants (Early Girls, and two other varieties that I can't remember). We purchased two spicy pepper plants, four banana pepper plants, and a set of three "stoplight" peppers. 

I had an idea that will help us to identify which are which, and also to help keep the pests off. I impaled the pots that the cheaters came in on bamboo poles that will serve to tie the plants to as they grow. Underneath the inverted pots, I placed some Irish Spring soap, which is supposed to help to deter squirrels. We shall see. Around these, I planted marigold seeds and nasturtiums. 

Our arugula planted in March has gone to flower. The plan was to take it out and succession plant, but it is raining.

There are still some bare patches where we've re-seeded the yard, both in front and back. I have purchased a "smart mix" of fescues to fill the holes. I'd planned to do that today, but it is raining.

We still haven't planted the herbs in the whiskey-barrel planter. I'd planned to do that this morning, but it is raining.

I want to re-plant the spots where squash has failed to come up, as well as add more sunflowers to that bed (because I strongly suspect that the squirrels ravaged the first attempt. (I will add Irish Spring to the bed to keep them off this time.) Unfortunately, it is raining.

We're not doing altogether badly, though. We have potatoes, garlic, zucchini, winter squash, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, kale, Swiss chard, beets, marigolds, nasturtiums, sunflowers and a bed of thriving snow peas in the ground. The raspberries (which have escaped their bed and are making an attempt at conquering the southwest corner of our yard) are starting to blossom, and so are the strawberries (though there are fewer strawberry blossoms than I would like to see.)

There's a lot of anticipation and fear. Get going, little plants. October is closer than you think.

Construction continues on the stairway/gravel path from the garage to the shed. This involves a lot of Quickcrete, treated wood, digging and leveling. The goal has been to add a step or space every weekend. I'd be out there working on this now. Sadly, it is raining.

Keeping up on the chores has been a challenge, as I've had a cold, and I've now passed the peak for half-marathon training for next weekend. Lungs are not what they should be. The grass seems to need a lot of mowing. 

There are conflicting theories on this: 1, "no mow May." 2, don't cut more than 1/3 of the plant at a time to keep them healthy. I've gone with door #2 this year. 

Also time consuming has been using the "weed spinner" attachment to dig up dandelions in the front. We have a pretty serious infestation of this particular invasive. The goal for the lawn is to make it a bug and pollinator friendly place, but dandelions look like a sign of neglect, and they leave big patches in the fine fescues and clover.

We got to watch a pair of robins raise a brood out our front window. They took the real estate which has been passed over by other couples for years, settling in the motion detector light. On Friday, the fledglings left the nest. It was chaos. We missed the bit where the semi-helpless little critters fell to the ground. We got to see the parents and what must have been a friend of the family robin swooping at squirrels and driving off a crow. Kiki was going out for her morning constitutional and found one of them in the street, about to be smashed by a school bus, but she shooed it back into the grass. One found its way around to the back where it flolloped on the deck for a while. All of them eventually disappeared, whether into the waiting bellies of predators or off to make their way in the world, it is unclear.

Yesterday was a fine morning, and we were at last able to get La Grenouille, the new Sea Eagle TC16 inflatable canoe on the water. It was a glorious moment. It took a whopping 5 minutes, literally, to get the boat from the basement into the back of the car, along with the life preservers & paddles. It took 15 minutes to get it on the water with a manual air pump. This is less than the hassle of putting a roof-rack on and then fretting with straps needed to car top Kevlarina, the old, trusty Quetico 17 Kevlar canoe. The ease of transport should hopefully translate to more canoeing. 

It looks like the sun has come out. Time and motion wait for no one.