Ladybugs…workers and slackers

Posted on May 13, 2010 | 2 comments

There’s a reason there are a few hundred ladybugs in a bag when you purchase them.  They don’t like to stay in one area, even with a food source; some don’t survive; and some refuse to go to work, even if presented with a banquet.  I think a bunch of mine had other ideas in mind.  It’s always fun checking around to see where they might be hiding after being released last evening, scattered over some roses, lavender, Jerusalem sage, and particularly upon a honeysuckle smothered with aphids.  For some reason, this is the mother-lode plant for aphids this spring.  Perhaps it is offering to serve as the prime bait plant, so as to lure them away from other plants.

While one worker has more than enough aphids to contend with, another two have "other ideas"...

Must be the feel of real spring in the wind! Irresistible to ladybugs who have been squashed together in a mesh bag for weeks. Maybe they decided they needed to generate more troops to contend with more aphids…..hooray!

Lavender is a great place to party....without aphids. Shhh....don't ask!

2 Comments

Posted in Pest Controllers & Pollinators, Pests of any size & species, Spring, Uncategorized

Tagged ,

Something in the way it froze last December

Posted on May 8, 2010 | Leave a comment

Rewind: an unusually hard, but short freeze around December 2, 2009, after a long, relatively warm fall.  Very little in the way of freezing temperatures for the rest of the month; much of January and February were very warm.

Fast forward: April had several frosty mornings, colder and wetter than average temperatures.

Results: more weeds than I’ve ever had in the yard, including big crops of maple seedlings.  Several “hardy” perennials appear to be dead, though they’ve survived harsher winters; I’m still holding out hope for some of the late-to-wakers.  Tender perennials, like some of the sages, I’d expect to lose, even with mulching.  Alas, my young apricot tree is diseased with bacterial canker (causal organism: Pseudomonas syringae), probably induced by weather-related stresses.  Double rats!

It’s always a puzzler when plants survive typical winter periods of cold temperatures just fine, then die after a winter of milder temperatures.  But, that one cold snap came so early in December, with little chilling preparation ahead of it, and some plants physiologically weren’t ready to cope.  Sigh….

Leave a comment

Posted in House yard happenings, Oh..oh...., Pests of any size & species, Spring, Uncategorized, Weather related, Winter

Tagged

April…come what May

Posted on April 30, 2010 | Leave a comment

April….spring….is always shifty in relation to weather, but this year feels less normal “than normal”.  This isn’t surprising to some of us who can feel the invisible shift in planetary energetics.  Strong fluctuations of Earth’s geomagnetic fields, episodes of solar winds, coinciding with increased tectonic activity around the world, just might influence weather patterns and people’s energy, though we won’t hear of it via traditional technology or the media.

Slowly but surely there is growth. The large overwintering kale doesn't count....

April has taken forever to get through; it seems like eons ago that we put in our first cool-crops in the CG.  Happily, they germinated well despite heavy rains just after seeding.  They have survived several episodes of hail, heavy rain and wind storms, frost, and “much lower than average” temperatures for the month.  We could call it….Apruary.  Somehow February and April got mixed up. But the sporadic days of sun between storms have brought us snippets of warmth, enough for the plants to show some substance, so initial thinnings were just made.  Love those tasty kale, lettuce, spinach, and pea sprouts! I decided to try potatoes again this year, so planted them last week.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a decent crop.  I think I heard something about a warming trend in early May.  Yes! Please, oh please.

Aspen beginning his tentative first outdoor explorations: his motto seems to be "always safer to hunker down and watch".

Where's Juniper? Where's Aspen? We know you're there....somewhere.

So, what is the current bumper crop? Weeds!

Leave a comment

Posted in Community garden, Furred and feathered friends, Spring, Uncategorized, Weather related

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Spring is sprung!

Posted on March 23, 2010 | Leave a comment

Some classic spring weather to start off our early spring planting.  It was exceptionally warm on the official first day of spring, followed by colder rain showers the next day, when we were scheduled to plant (of course).  But, it held off perfectly for us when it came to assembly time.  I dashed in and out between showers beforehand to survey and lay out some boundary lines for the planting.  Because I’m curious about soil temperature, of course, I measured it: 53°F, and the air temperature was about 54° when we planted.

A little soil prep before planting

It was wonderful to finally kick-off the garden season, and we were in high spirits.  A little weeding, some fertilizing, shoveling and raking it in, and then…..seed sowing!  To start off: a couple of rows of lettuce, a row each of Swiss chard, scallions, and beets, and a row split to spinach and kale.   The kale started growing so fast we were able to harvest 1 pound of it about the time we quit!  Just kidding.  The harvest was from some overwintering kale, that is starting to flower and needs to get used up.  Then there was a consensus to plant snap peas and some mesclun greens mix, which will be added during the coming week.

And now, for the patience part.

Two-thirds of the early spring planting crew...and Juniper nowhere to be seen.

Leave a comment

Posted in Community garden, Developing & Planting, Spring, Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

Soil temperature = air temperature

Posted on March 10, 2010 | Leave a comment

When does the soil temp equal air temp?  Is this a riddle?  Answer: Today!

Seriously, in the CG bed at 4″ depth, the temp reads 45°, and today the air temp reached 45°, down 15° from our heat wave last weekend, thanks to a cold front.

Fortunately, during the heat wave, the CG bed received its final 3 cu. yards of soil to fill in the tiers.  Time to consider an early spring planting fairly soon; good excuse for another tea party!

Meanwhile, with sleet in the forecast outside, it’s time to get some basil, zinnia, and lobelia seeds planted inside!

Aspen reserving room on the seedling heat mat

Leave a comment

Posted in Community garden, Furred and feathered friends, Uncategorized, Weather related, Winter

Tagged , ,

First blush

Posted on March 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

February held our area in a uniquely extended pattern of lovely, mild weather, which encouraged many trees and perennials to start blooming 2 to 3 weeks earlier “than average”.  Fruit trees, rosemary, pussy willows, maples, and, alas, allergies are all ahead of schedule!

We love the beautiful first signs and color blushes of plants awakening with quickened life energy, no matter when they show up!

The signs of late winter.......when the euphorbia blushes.

Colors of spring showing up

The new mason bee nest is now charged with some straws with eggs; perched a few feet above.....

the dwarf peach in full bloom.....

One gets itchy fingers for planting when the temperatures rise to 60° on a weekend! But, not everything can handle the near-freezing night temps yet, so patience!  Instead, it has been time to prune roses, clean up dead plant stalks where they give way to easy tugs, pull up umpteen weeds that have had too much of a good thing, set up the mason bee nest, and take walks.

Leave a comment

Posted in House yard happenings, Pest Controllers & Pollinators, Uncategorized, Weather related, Winter

Tagged , ,

Upgrade!

Posted on February 5, 2010 | 1 comment

A wonderful upgrade to the community garden has been successfully implemented!  The bed now has sturdy edges and boundaries.  So nice to have a project completed in winter…

This gave us incentive to have an informal meeting to cruise through last year’s bounty results and give some rough “thumbs up/down” to various veggies.

There are more “fun” tasks ahead: hauling in more soil to bring the bed up to level; turn over leaf mulch; and start considering a new layout
before we get too involved with what we’ll plant.

A mystery pile under the tarp becomes......

Upgraded community garden bed

An upgraded community garden bed!

1 Comment

Posted in Community garden, Developing & Planting, Uncategorized, Winter

Tagged

Future garden resident

Posted on January 25, 2010 | Leave a comment

How do I know this?  Because he’s already here, but not allowed out until he grows a lot more.

Introducing….Mr. Aspen, a sweet tabby manx.  Now aged 18 weeks, he is my “Solstice kitten.”

Mr. Aspen-first day at home-Dec-20-2009; age 12 weeks

He was very small for his age when I adopted him, and it has been a rough month getting him sorted through various plagues that shelter kittens often encounter, but he seems to be fairly stable now, and actively growing.  Keeping fingers crossed on his improved digestion.

He and Juniper were actively playing after only a relatively short two weeks of attitude adjustment.  Not remembering her own kittenhood, Juniper was perplexed what do around such a wee thing, and had to learn to teach him some manners.  But, all seems sorted for now, with her Princess status still intact.

Although a playful little fellow, Aspen is not nearly as spunky or feisty as Juniper was at his age, which is just as well.  Of course, he has his moments.

For starts, Juniper feels safer at playing when behind the safety of glass.

Leave a comment

Posted in Furred and feathered friends, Uncategorized, Winter

Tagged

January doldrums

Posted on January 17, 2010 | Leave a comment

Holidays are past; caretaking of people and pets is past; friends are off to the southern hemisphere (Chile) for some summer bicycle touring; and we have rain, rain, drizzle, rain, showers, rain, with tidbits of sun and fog. But, no complaints; my issues with rain don’t happen until late winter.  Today it is mild weather and much preferable to freezing rain.

It’s a great time to get caught up on indoor reorganization, sorting, and simplifying; all the stuff I never get to during a gardening season.

Today has been a day to dash outside between showers to do some cleanup of flattened Crocosmia and lily stalks, and admire the weeds that are growing so well.  Suet and seed needed replenishing, as little flocks of bushtits, goldfinches, juncos, warblers, starlings, a nuthatch, and a flicker all made their appearances.  A couple of days ago a downy woodpecker showed up for the first time (that I know of)!  All great entertainment on a grey day.

Am I contemplating the next garden plantings and dreaming with seed catalogs?  Not really.  Give me another 3 weeks before I’m antsy.  I’m still in rest mode.  Not that I haven’t already contemplated some new varieties of veggies to try, but that was last fall.  Besides, the garden gang will be meeting at the end of the month for an informal tea, to get our ideas flowing.

However, I am contemplating consuming the last tomato of the garden.  Yes, there still were ripening tomatoes in December!

Garden tomatoes for a New Year's salad

Leave a comment

Posted in Furred and feathered friends, House yard happenings, Uncategorized, Winter

Tagged , ,

Frosty garden limbo

Posted on December 25, 2009 | 2 comments

Freezing fog has kept the area chilly, with few sun breaks, sometimes only an hour before dusk.  Still, it is easier maneuvering through the garden than in pouring rain.  It appears the kale survived the earlier arctic wave without protection…hooray!  Not that it is actually doing anything except sitting in limbo.  The soil temperature (at 3-inch depth) is still hovering between 38 and 40°.  Brrrr…

Christmas has brought us a lovely break in this monotony, with the sun breaking through by mid-morning; nippy day, with only 7 degrees difference between the high and low temperatures, but the radiance was welcomed by many.

A circus of birds paraded through the yard at times: a swarm of bushtits, a couple of goldfinches, chickadees, and yellow-rumped warblers, plus the usual raucous starlings.  The two resident hummingbirds were squeaking away merrily, zipping in to feed when the other wasn’t looking.

A new gift “for the garden” is a heat mat for growing seedlings.  It will fit perfectly in my kitchen garden window.  Now I can grow some chanterai (mini-canteloupes) and margarita melons.  Now to redesign the bed…..

Solstice greetings! It's sleepy time for the garden. Where's Juniper?

2 Comments

Posted in Furred and feathered friends, Uncategorized, Weather related, Winter

Tagged , ,