The Seen And The Unseen

Some times I have so many garden plans and then found that we had lots of unseen things that we had no idea what was going on in the yard and gardens.  Oh I had lost of plans this year, but so did others and it took some time to figure it all out.  I have not written on this blog in quite some time.  I was so disenchanted with my whole yard, on my acre, in the middle of the big woods, on the side of this mountain, that I just could not bring myself to post anything.

The beginning of Spring, I planted lots of things and they were all doing so well. I had 2 Tomato plants and one of them was a patio tomato and wanted to see how it would do in my raised garden. Planted to green peppers and one hot one to make some salsa.  We had some squash that came up on it's own, cucumbers, and cantaloupes, and my favorite Purple Beans and lettuce and spinach.  They were growing so good and I was so happy. I was going to be able to do some canning and freezing for the summer and the winter of this year.  Dreams of a full pantry were on my mind.

DEER

Then we had a kind of beautiful/disastrous problem in just one night.  No kidding it was beauty and nature and I do love that part, but it was also so devastating that happened in one single night. We are graced with many deer on this mountain and they are such beautiful and graceful creatures and I just love to see them,

but.....and a big BUT.....they ate all the gardens that you see above and left me with nothing. I planted things that they are said to not like and they ate all of them too. I almost wanted to cry.....seriously.

Our grocery bill has been higher because of this and it saddens me greatly that I could not go out and pick some beans and lettuce and garden vegetables for a fresh salad.  Oh, I did try and plant more seeds, but for some reason they did not want to come up at all.  Though it was the middle of July, but still nothing.

VOLES

We also had voles and I thought they were moles.  They eat different things and that is the difference that I was told. They eat bulbs, which I had bought and planted in my front garden last fall.  Only 2 of them came up.  Really, I had no idea what killed something like 50 or more bulbs.   We live in the woods and lots of trees and weeds and all kinds of things and flowers that we planted and they really did clean out the yard and gardens.

We were told to get some Vole no kill repellent and that would fix the problem.  HA!  We used 3 bags of that stuff and I still see some new holes. At first the holes that I saw I thought were made by snakes. Notice in front of this Rose Garden how there is no grass or clover or anything growing there.  We had seeded lots of Clover there for the bees to get to, but all the grubs ate that and of course the favorite food for the Voles is....grubs.

These are the main Bearded Irises's that I divided and put many up front along the road. They had eaten every single one of the bulbs in that garden.

We were on the war path during most of the summer, trying to get control of our yard and gardens.  Very sad to say that will take another year, maybe more.

GRUBS, BUGS, FLEAS AND MORE 

Then I remembered that we didn't put Fast Acting Pulverized/Powedered AgriLime down this year!  We had something stored in one of the Metal Trash cans that I use lots but couldn't remember what it was.  Oh and Next time I will put the bag in there to let me know what it is that is being stored in there.  Just before we put that and a heavy coverage of it down we have a major flea problem.  So we are still dealing with that, but not as bad outside now that we put the AGLime down.  It has been a hell of a year around my house and in my house. I mean one has to be creative to get things to grow and keep growing and not eaten or kill anything.  We spread the AGLime to kill the bugs, grubs and to keep the Voles out.

FENCING

The Deer problem is more of a community effort as the neighbor that we have wasn't aware that feeding the many birds around here also feeds the Deer.  There is one Momma deer and she has twins this year.  Oh they still had their spots and that is unusual this late in the summer too.  I am not sure what is going on this year with all this.  I do know that we had a very warm and wet Winter and Spring this year, so far.  I am not sure what this Fall will bring though.  People do not get it when I tell them that every year around here is a new planting schedule and seasons.  No two are alike that I have found out by living and working in the yard and gardens since 2002.

Here is a new project to keep the Deer out of the Vegetable Gardens. It has taken us a while to get it all together because of all the setbacks that we have, but it is 90% finished. Though Lowes had many of the things that we thought that we needed some of the supplies weren't exactly the right sizes,  So we had to use our thinking caps and came up with something that would work. We also had to hire someone to do the work because I had hurt my hand badly and could not hold anything.

I will be hanging something light on the top of the fence to scare the deer and other animals away and make it pretty. During Christmas I will hang Christmas balls and during Easter I will hang some of those colorful plastic eggs on it.  They will match the colors of the raised garden inside the fence.

I do hope that my plans work out for next year because I am a whole lot more knowledgeable.  

THE SEEN AND THE UNSEEN

It was a really quick SEEN and the UNSEEN adventure this past year.  When putting some of that repellent in one of the holes one of the voles ran out. My cat, Frederick, caught it and then let it go. They have huge claws.  I think it got him and he had to let it go.  That thing was the size of a fat hamster.  It dug back down into the ground in less than 20 seconds!  My husband and I looked at the surprise on Frederick's face.  Frederick looked at us too.  We were all very surprised at how fast that creature went underground.  

What else will be SEEN AND UNSEEN in my yard and gardens the rest of the year and how well this fence does?

Such Is Nature Around My Gardens

I have not written in a while here on any of my blogs.  I have been busy with many other things and switching computers because somebody decided to jump on my keyboard for my desktop and broke it Sidney is a big cat.

I can't share much with you about my gardens because it has been terribly dry this whole Summer and everything up and died.  That and the tamed deer that I named Maverick came around and ate anything that he could find.  Most deer will not touch anything that is even the slightest bit prickly, like squash vine.  That didn't both him though and he ate all the leave off my plants.  I had a good number of them growing because we get those vine borers and thought the more the better.  Not when Maverick came around.  I got one squash from all 9 plants.  He even liked my roses.

I didn't get any cucumbers and the beans didn't do all that well this year either.  I did get a gallon sized bag of them to freeze, but that didn't last long.  I love beans and put them in lots of dishes or we eat them as a side dish.  I like to eat them cooked up in butter...all by themselves and as a meal instead of a side dish.  How about you?

 

Our lettuce and spinach didn't last all that long either because it got hot too fast and rained so much early summer. The rain drowned a good many of our seeds that we planted.  It was just a not a good year to grow anything.  

Even the farmers that grow corn every year had a late start planting their crops.  First it was cool and too wet at planting time and then it all of a sudden got hot and dry and has stayed that way for the whole Summer and is still that way here in mid-September.  All I can do is dream for next year and hope that it will be better for planting vegetables and maybe some fruit next year.  

Here on the west side of our mountain you cannot ever predict what the weather will be from one year to the next.  It is not like in the valley where you get abundant sunshine and rain and pretty much the same every year.  I also live in a forest and try as I might it is hard to plant the right vegetables at the right time and then if I do get that then we have the onslaught of insects and now the deer.  My deer chasers don't work on Maverick.  He puts his nose right in them and gives them a good smell.  Wild deer won't come near them.

Well that is all I can say about our gardens for this year.  Hoping next year is better.

Bring the Birds to You with Home Made Bird Feeders

Nature provides us entertainment with many creatures.  There are huge animals like the majestic Moose, Elk, Bear and wolves, big cats and domestic animals as well.  Though these are wonderful animals to observe in their natural surroundings there is nothing quite like watching birds.  Temperatures variations and weather don’t seem to bother them and they twitter all over the landscape eating all the time.  In my neck of the woods I have watched a family of Pileated Woodpeckers increase in size.  They come to my feeders all the time as well at Blue Jays, Chickadees, Titmouse and some other birds that I don’t know what they are.  I can see the feeders and watch the birds for hours as they peck and fill their bodies. Some of them take turns coming and landing on the feeders and some just like the cat food in bowls on the deck floor.  I have watched a Blue Jay gobble up 6 pieces of cat food, take off with it and a few minutes later come back for more.  Thought Blue Jays are mean bird and will peck a cat to get to its food, they are gorgeous.  Watching birds is becoming a great pastime.  Teach your children about the birds that you see and let them watch them as well.  Bring them to your own back yard by making your very own inexpensive bird feeders.  Make your own feed and hang them in places that you will be able to see and watch them for hours.

There are plenty of Bird Feeders on the market.  I made a few feeders and have a recipe on how to make your own feeder and feed.  Remember to hang them high so cats and other critters don’t get to them.  Watch out for the squirrels as they love to get into them.  I have tried many different feeders and way to put up my bird feeders so the squirrels don’t get to it but they are very persistent.  I have tried put PVC Pipe with a platter on top and in the middle of the yard under no trees slathered with Petroleum jelly and they jumped onto it from the nearest tree some many feet away.  They couldn’t stay on the platter but that wasn’t their intent.  What they were doing was spilling all the seed on the ground and they were eating it wherever it landed.  Smart they are!  Another way that I have it now is hung under the eave of the house on my back deck.  For years no squirrel even attempted to get to them.  Last year two squirrels did manage to get to the feeders but they had such a difficult time getting down they never tried it again.  Plus the trees that they got onto the roof on are gone.  So for now my feeders and the birds are safe.

Here is a picture of my feeders and how they are hung from the back deck.  I do have cats but they cannot reach the feeders and the birds don’t come near them for them to catch them.  I have found that you cannot just put bird seed in the dish.  They throw it around and it will be everywhere instead of in their bellies and you will have one big mess. 

I make my own suet for the feeders.  Now you can get creative with things that you have around the house.  I have found that they prefer bacon drippings over lard, but will eat it if that is all there is.  I normally add 1 cup crunchy peanut butter and 1 cup bacon drippings, lard and sometimes vegetable shortening to a large pot and melt it to liquid. To this I add whatever I have around the house like raisins, peanuts stale nuts or even corn.  Add a few cups of fruit and nut bird seed, a cup of rolled oats and maybe some cornmeal.  Then after that you can add a finely chopped apple or I have even added blackberries and peaches.  They love the blackberries.  While warm spoon this into your containers.  Let it cool down for a bit and then hang them.  This should last a few months.  Enjoy watching the birds come to your feeders.  They will entertain you for hours.

© Debra K. Allen a.k.a Lady Guinevere

I researched and wrote this article. Please do not copy and paste any part of this article, picture included for your own use. I will find you and report you for stealing.  It is my right to change any information therein at any time and/or change the location of my article.