World's Worst Fence Builder

This would be a lot funnier if it weren't me. Remember, I'm always trying to use what is at hand, which makes for some pathetic fences.

First of all, to keep the dogs out of the garden, I put up a fence. I had to use some crummy chain link fence sections that I took down from where they were originally used to keep cows out of the yard. Also, the posts were pulled up from other fences that were not wanted, since the neighbor's cows no longer were allowed to graze on my land.

Where the cobbled-together look was achieved was on the side where the cows were on their own side of the fence. There was barbed wire on that side. I used some of the many rolls of rusty fencing found on the place. It was tall enough to keep the dogs out. But the cows found the grass on my side preferable to theirs, being of course  lots greener. They leaned over and soon the fence was squashed down.

It became a saga after that. I used more of the chain link at the top, until I ran out of that and used a second section of rusty fence. This took some time, to wire the stuff into place. Admittedly, it looked tacky, but it kept the cows from grazing.

Last year, I transplanted a lovely long row of yellow day-lilies along the fence, confident that now the cows couldn't eat them. I believe they are a bovine treat, the way the stray cows devoured them when they were loafing in my yard. From the many times that the cows and calves got out, I began to see that the best place for flowers would be in the fenced garden. I moved the birdbath to inside the fence, so it wouldn't continue to be an attraction for every passing cow. It's been only two days since I caught three calves munching the remaining young day-lilies.

This spring, for the first time ever, I had rabbits eating the young broccoli and cabbage plants. The problem with the garden fence was that those sections were hog-tight, with free admittance for interested rabbits. The side with all chain link was fine, with the thick grasses growing up along it that would deter all but the most determined rabbit from digging in.

The other day, I bought some chicken wire that turned out to be flimsy and pretty worthless for the last addition to the cow-side fence. It was fine, however, for making this U-Scratch portable cage for Betty, who arrived by Pet Taxi. Iris showed too much interest in the chicken and was banished to the house for the afternoon.

I found a roll of green plastic chicken wire that was just the ticket for completing the fence. After running the weeder along the fence, I spent hours wiring the plastic to the other layers so that nothing could get through.

Of course, the fence still does nothing to keep the raccoons and possums from going over it and eating my strawberry crop, but that's another project.

Outguessing Mother Nature

The seedlings are well underway in preparation for another dry year. I selected varieties that were drought-tolerant, eschewing those that required moisture aplenty. So what we've had lately has been drizzle, rain, thunderstorms, heavy downpours and fog. It's such fun to garden here in the highly unpredictable Midwest.

True to form, when it rains it pours, as they say. I believe the Grand River heard me making disparaging remarks about its name, and rose up in protest. This shot was taken from the bridge. It's hard to believe we waded across this river last summer. My land is on the right. Big trees floated by and hit the bridge pilings.
The rain was so heavy that the early garden was washed out in places. The discouraging part is we could still get a drought later on this summer.

This has been one of the chilliest Aprils in years, more like March or late February. Although the rain has allowed me to rest my twisted knee, enough is enough.

The river has backed up at the corner of Ravine and Vine, on out over what was the path to the river.

This is the approach to Fishing Beach, which is about ten feet underwater. The bridge is the black bar in the distance. All this is quite normal for springtime here. It's just that we were expecting something a little drier after last summer. We didn't have our hearts set on it, but we were braced for it.

Who knows when it will be dry enough to plant the gaillardias and gazanias. They may not appreciate quite so much moisture, when they specifically  have requested drier conditions. This is my first year for those perennials, so if it does turn out to be another hot, dry summer, they will really be appreciated. Despite frosty mornings, they are having spa treatments by spending sunny afternoons out on the porches, hardening off. Quantities of time and effort are devoted to making sure they have shelter from high winds, protection from sunburn and the right amount of moisture.  Snow is still in the forecast, which is unbelievable.

This may have been a better year to try out some wetlands shrubs.

Spring Diverted to Greenland

Supposedly, our warmer spring days were stuck up in Greenland in March and we were left out in the cold. There was even a snow after the chickens took up residence here.

The delay did cause a bit of a problem in my indoor planting schedule.  The broccoli and cabbage plants couldn't exit the stage and hogged the lights meant for later flats of bottom heat plants. They couldn't even be left out on the porches overnight. They don't mind a little frost but consider temps in the twenties the opposite of de trop.  I could hear their little leaves chattering so loudly I had to let them back inside.

At last, though, some pleasant days have arrived and I was able to put in the early garden. Nothing makes me happier than getting some seeds in the ground. Local temps always lurch from cold to hot, as if the thermostat were old and unreliable. Not only that, but they can plummet below freezing after being in the nineties. "Just kidding!" said Mother Nature one year as I looked at the frost-killed blackened tomato plants that I raised from seeds. I no longer trust her until after May 10.

This junky creation is the storm doors grow tunnel. It is meant to encourage the weedy growth underneath. Next, I will make the chicken cage and let Betty and Rupert scratch out all the plants and fertilize the ground. It once was a strawberry patch, but the invasive weeds have taken over. They are not just grasses, but lots of things with long taproots, like chicory, dandelions and dock, along with red clover and fescue. Last year, I dug up part of the row. It became loam after I dug, discarded the roots, added cow manure, tilled it a few times then let it sit over the winter.  A few days ago, the soil was workable and I added granulated gypsum to break down more of the clay and ran Tillie once more.  I planted that little spot to a raised bed of carrots and potatoes.

The over-wintered parsnips were better than I thought they'd be, with all that drought.  True, they are not prize-winners, but they aren't the scrawny specimens I feared my shovel would unearth.

Unfortunately, I twisted my knee when stepping into one of those deep cow tracks on a slope out back. Yes, I know I should have filled them in, and I did, afterwards.  That called for rest, something I do not do very well at all, especially in springtime. I did get my leg up after I finished planting peas, radishes, kohlrabi, spinach, onions, chard and the mostly hardened off broccoli, cabbage and lettuce plants. Not that I'm a stubborn gardener, but I did finish up using the rake for a crutch. A big rain is headed this way tonight.

To the right are the fall-planted garlic plants. I hope I do not find any babies in this cabbage patch.