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Not quite autumn? go figure!

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 5:31 am

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I'm sitting here in the quiet listening to the sound of a Washington State rainshower. It isn't a nasty rain, more like a gift washing down from the clouds, an offering of something much desired and wanted to the vines and leaves stretching gratefully up to receive it.
Now, my chickens on the other hand, they aren't quite so appreciative. They seem to have forgotten how to duck into the henhouse, out of the rain. They stand in it with feathers dripping, heads cocked sideways staring at the falling sparkles, clearly straining to remember what and why this is. It's been a long dry summer. So dry in fact that I forgot completely to put a bit of gutter on the tin roof over my lawnmower. The roof also shelters Tim the Bunny. And as I put an apple in his cage today, the dripping down my neck only punctuated the hazards inherent in my forgetfulness.
All my garden is rushing to put on a last hurrah of growth before chillier weather sets in, and the vines around my front door seem to be trying to come in through the windows with the cat! Even my miniature rose has put out a new bloom. Things just feel normal again, and word is we are in for a very wet winter. So glad I don't live in an area that floods, though my driveway does tend to get puddly.
There's been quite a bit on the news about coyotes attacking household pets. Don't know why people panic about this. It's rough, granted, but basic biology teaches that populations have peaks and valleys. Coyotes and raccoons seem to be at a peak right now, that's all. Could be frogs or beetles next year. Shrug. Personally, I'm rooting for a population spike for the meadowlarks!

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Thinking about autumn!

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 5:06 am

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Hello Blog! Just a quick entry tonight. But I had to cheer for myself, since I got a perfect, red tomato out of my garden. Oooo man, that was goood! It got so cold night before last (about 39!) I thought for sure I'd lose the plant, but it's hanging on. Might have to finally try those green tomato recipes I've seen, though. And pluck up all my romaine, too. It's gonna be so much harder to watch my diet when the cold weather rolls in!
We have a nationally-awarded cider farm not too far from me. It's all back roads that even I can navigate with no worries. And it's cider time! We're going to head over there on payday and get a jug of fresh-pressed. Actually they are required to pasteurize it so it isn't quite like the stuff we made when I was little, but close enough. Besides, I have a friend who works there who may be able to score me a jug of the fresh stuff.
Ok, this may run my blog a little long, but it's a great cider story. When I was in high school, I was in all the ag. classes. Just loved it. Anyways, we made cider one year as a fund raiser. Well, we pressed one batch on a friday and didn't properly mix varieties and it came out waaaay too sweet. So the ag. advisor stashed the jugs in his office and went home. For a 3-day weekend. So we came in early the next week, and all the cider had fermented. Big time. I mean, it turned green and blew the tops off the jugs. 3 or 4 of the boys offered to haul the jugs down to the river to dispose of them. They didn't show up for the rest of the day. And when they did, well, you can just imagine the condition they were in, lol! (egads, am I a hick or what?)

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Oh what a lovely sound!

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 4:40 am

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Just a quick entry, I woke in the middle of the night last night to a strange sound I haven't heard in months- rain! Pittypatting on the dry, hard ground, pinging in the downspout, patting on the shingles. Lovely sound! Now I probably won't wax poetic about it come February, but it's sure nice now!
Been setting up a little enameling kiln from a garage sale out in my cabin. Still need to pick up a few things to make it work, but since I'm using an inverted flowerpot for a lid and an unglazed plant saucer to protect the heating element, I figure it's fair game to write about on a gardening blog.
Spent the afternoon with my aunt today so my uncle could go to a class reunion. My aunt would have loved to go once apon a time, she's a real people person and as nice as they come. But this doggone disease has progressed to where she can't talk coherently much at all. Came home and cried my eyes out.

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Gotta love a man with a truck!

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 6:18 am

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My husband stopped on his way home from work to pick me up some bark from the woodcutter with the "free" pile. But he had no shovel. And the guy wasn't home. So my sweetie backed up to the pile, and scooped in the stuff. With his BARE HANDS!! After working on a holiday! Am I blessed or what?!? I get to finish my path tomorrow morning thanks to him!
And, just to keep life from getting easy, I started reshaping my back garden bed, ya know, so the rhododendron wouldn't outgrow it's borders. Tsk, the lady's lost her marbles for sure this time.
Anyone know of a really great fertilizer for an asian pear? mine isn't much more than a stick with a couple of tiny, stingy pears on it, and it's been in the ground for 5 years.
Wed. am quick note- went out early and got all that bark spread. It's so cushy underfoot! I put it down thick, as alot of what's in it will compost down over a (hopefully) wet winter. Took pics but they came out too bright. Bee sting on my finger from yesterday morning itches something aweful!

Last edited: Tue Sep 05, 2006 7:44 pm

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I'm meeelllllttttiiinnnnggg, whatta world!

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 3:27 am

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It's so hot and hazy here! Then it gets cold at night, which makes the yellowjackets grumpy when it gets hot again. In short, I haven't been able to do much at ALL in my garden, hrrrumph! But, I did find a tree removal guy who keeps a pile of woodchips at his place, with (the best part) a big FREE sign on them. Hey, even I can afford that! So hopefully I can get some work done when the kids head back to school this week, woohoo!
I recently found out that it's illegal where I live to cut down an oak tree. Now, I love the oaks so this isn't a huge issue, but the fact that those who monitor such things have taken aerial photos and circled the oak trees out here is, well, more than a little "big brotherish", dontcha think? And someone took me to a website where satellite pictures of my property are. Creepy! But with the weather patterns changing so much here, who knows how long they'll be growing. My pine trees are drying out, and I've lost some very old branches off one of them. I do miss the rain! Guess I should be looking at xeriscaping, eh?
Got an enameling kiln at a garage sale this weekend, and have grandiose visions of brightly colored enameled-copper windchimes for my garden next spring. If I actually get anything decent made, I'll be sure to post photos here.

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