gardenthoughts

the vernal equinox has passed .. the island is changing dramatically with the arrival of spring .. brilliant greens unfolding all around .. leaves .. leaves .. leaves .. everywhere .. pushing themselves out of stems .. stalks .. trunks ..  as if overnight the world flora has sprung .. in the midst of the drama of newly opening green-ness, native wildflowers silently reveal themselves .. some, for a few weeks now .. indian plum (first out) .. red flowering currant .. salmon berries (bring rufous hummingbirds) .. and once in a while .. if you are alert .. (and a fellow i once knew said “the world needs more lerts”) .. the whorled spears of brilliant white trilliums shine out at you from the woodlands .. i have stories and and pictures in my mental portfolio of each of these lovely ethereal beings .. however, today, my mind is on fawn lilies .. as i write, they are growing ..

these days, whenever i’m out wandering around the island, i see fawn lilies .. growing in people’s yards .. on empty lots .. on park pathways .. deep in the woods under towering cedars .. under snowberries .. under ocean spray .. softly, greenly striped white skirts flaring up as if in motion .. as if dancing .. such a delight to see ..

the children who come to the community garden painted rocks to mark where some of the wildflowers live in the woods behind the garden .. beautiful image to see .. walking along the path .. glancing down at the lilies ..

to some, fawn lilies are synonymous with dog tooth violets .. or trout lilies .. they are in the family of erythronium .. erythronium oregonum .. perhaps .. i’m not exactly sure which sibling lives here .. regardless .. these little darlings are a favourite around here .. we are exclaiming their virtues these days ..

well, today is the day i have marked on my garden calendar to check the stratifying seeds .. i haven’t even looked at them since i put them in the door of the refrigerator .. there are four plastic bags of different milkweed seeds .. each kind of milkweed seeds are wrapped in moist paper towel .. the idea behind all this is that some seeds need a shot of cold to get them going .. in this case it’s milkweed seeds for stu’s butterfly garden .. milkweed flowers are one of the monarch butterflies favourite food .. we don’t know if monarchs even come to our part of the world .. we’re just here to invite them ..

well, when i opened up the four packets i found mould on some of the seeds in each one .. none of the seeds in any bag had germinated .. many were a bit puffy and looking like i could plant them soon .. that was a promising sight .. the mouldy seeds i put those in the compost .. when i get my barrow full of amended soil i’ll plant the puffy milkweed seeds and see what happens .. and, if even one or two actually develop into plants, won’t stu’s butterfly garden be happy .. filled with the presence of new milkweed flowers .. it just might be enough to entice the monarchs to drop by .. such a delightfull proposition ..

this time of year is so exciting to me .. spring is in the air .. plants are pushing growth in leaps and bounds .. or so it seems .. and certainly, our garlic is one of these vigorous crops .. we planted about 170 cloves at the beginning of november .. then, covered the beds in straw and let them sit .. and grow .. it doesn’t take garlic a very long time, relatively speaking, to let you know it’s there .. growing .. no sign of ‘dormancy’ with garlic .. these wonderful beings just go from the time they hit the earth ..

the shoots started poking  up through the straw before we knew it .. well, with a fair bit of peering going on .. peering is a bit like watching water boil sometimes .. it seems to take forever .. but we have to keep checking .. and once the cloves were planted, they were like a magnet .. pulling us to the garden ..  one, or both of us would gently push the straw aside to see what we could see .. soon, our peering was rewarded with green-ness .. the cool, wet weather of winters here don’t hinder these guys from giving their all .. and once they push up out of the ground and into the light .. there’s no stopping them ..

then the performance begins .. the garlic just grows .. and grows .. and grows .. throughout the winter months .. into spring .. coming up strong and straight .. robust and green .. each one laid out into the lovely grid pattern that defines their space .. and now that spring has arrived the garlic grows inches every day .. lovely, tall, vibrant green spears of leaves .. so large now, that we can stand at the other end of the garden and see them .. clearly .. such great reward for so little work .. more like play, really ..

and, just a pause for the three cloves that didn’t make it .. three out of 170 .. what good fortune .. for just playing around with garlic ..

when i woke up this morning, it was to rain pattering on the skylight above our bed .. i couldn’t see outside to the tops of the firs that lean above the skylight because it was slurred up with raindrops .. by the time i got downstairs, greeted beau, turned the coffee on, and headed for the shower, there were gigantic globs of wet, white snow falling, quite heavily, into the yard .. after showering, i dressed and headed outside to see what things were looking like with the addition of the 1/4 inch of snow .. eventually, i made my way to the veggie garden .. i struck me that it enjoyed the addition of fresh, natural, snowy moisture ..

just this past week frank turned the rye under .. so beautiful .. lush, and green .. full of nutritient .. lots of goodness .. we could have let it grow longer .. until it flowered, even .. frank turned it when he did so there will be time from now until mid april for the rye to nicely break down .. then we’ll start planting veggies ..

here’s a bit of a conscious digression .. when frank was digging in the dirt, i planted seeds of  ‘drunken woman lettuce’ .. of a bunching onion called ‘evergreen’ .. and of various flowers and herbs that i had seed for .. most of which i’d collected from different gardens .. i did up a batch of soil .. it was a mixture from a pile of top soil we had in the back yard, with some of last year’s manure, and the pro mix out of a burst bag .. quite a combination, i thought .. it mixed up light and fluffy, anyway .. so, we’ll see how it works .. i proceeded to fill enough 2″ pots to fit two flats .. one flat for the lettuce .. one flat for the onions .. then i filled a variety of other pots for the flower and herb seeds .. once that was done, i planted .. the soil mix was quite moist, to begin with, so once the seeds where lightly covered, i sprayed them with water .. i tucked them into this plastic covered plant rack i have that sits out in the sun outside the garden shed .. i’ve checked on them every day .. sometimes more than once .. i’ve sprayed them a couple of more times .. i’ve patiently waited .. and two days ago was rewarded by the appearance of the drunken woman .. teeny, brilliant bits of green coming up out of the soil .. it was a delightfull sight to see .. however, back to the soil .. from whence all this will come ..

frank’s a farmer .. bred, raised and lived as a farmer for many years of his life .. it’s just in him to work the soil .. he has this innate knowing of  when it’s time .. for whatever .. he patiently waits .. carrying on .. then, when it’s time to work in the rye, it’s time .. off he goes with shovel in hand .. a man on a mission ..

over the winter the rye grew slowly .. and steadily .. and other than the interference from the deer, it grew strong .. here it is .. or, was .. before being turned under .. lovely plant, rye ..

and here it is now .. quietly working away .. the rye breaking down .. being moved throughout the beds by unseen forces .. feeding the soil .. and .. we’ll just let it do that until it’s time to add some manure .. some compost .. and then we’ll turn it again .. and let it sit quietly, again .. there’s no rushing about in this process, i find .. it’s simply everything in its time  .. even snow .. which, by the way, disappeared a few hours ago when the sun came out .. it’s what we call ‘variable’ weather ..

well, the deer are at it again .. in full force, it seems .. they are growing new horns at the moment, and i suppose their bodies are demanding more food .. over here, they’ve gotten used to the more gourmet diet of prized perennials and bulbs .. fresh, tender green shrub leaves .. right now it’s geraniums .. some varieties .. not all .. they love chewing away at the luscious leaves of grape hyacinths .. the delectable new buds of fresh tulips .. over the past few days i’ve heard the gardeners’ lament  .. “those $^&%#^ deer .. they’re eating plants in my garden they’ve never eaten before .. they even ate the tops off my garlic” .. that’s a new one to me .. although, i do believe that the deers’ taste buds will eventually become accustomed to the deer spray .. regardless,  i carry on .. after all, i’d rather find one or two plants that have been taste tested than find the deer have mowed down all the tulips .. or the coneflowers .. or the coral bells .. i figure, okay .. i chose to live where you were already living .. so what do i expect .. i certainly don’t want the deer to disappear .. i love them .. coming across them standing in a yard .. or in the forest .. or in my garden .. looking somewhat majestic and proud .. looking at me as if daring me to think otherwise .. they are lovely beings .. so .. i use the deer spray .. after all, it’s not everywhere in the world that one can stand still watching a big, beautiful buck leisurely wandering through the back yard .. tulip leaves dangling from their chops .. dear deer ..

all in all, there are sometimes up to six or seven deer wandering the island .. when they are out in full force, as they seem to be these days, i resort to a slight change in the deer spray recipe .. i figure the spray pretty harmless, as it is .. yolk .. baking powder .. water .. i’m pretty sure it doesn’t harm the deer in any way .. and in my experience over the past ten years or so of using it, the spray works ..  it creates a taste .. and perhaps a smell .. that the deer don’t seem to like .. for the most part, they aren’t interested in eating any plants sprayed with it .. but, that said .. it’s better to be safe than sorry .. when the deer get into spring mode .. eating everything they find .. and when i walk into my back garden and see they’ve been eating the geraniums .. and even taking a taste of the flower of the helleborus argutifolius .. (that’s a another new one on me) .. well, then it’s time to bring out the big guns .. tobasco ..

the way i see it, the more dis-tasteful i can make the spray the safer the plants in my care are from the jaws of bambi .. so .. here’s the recipe i gave you in the post ‘dear deer’ from february  2009 .. with the addition of tobasco ..

fill a blender with 1 litre of water
add 1 egg yolk
add 1 tablespoon of baking powder

** shake in a good half teaspoon or so of tobasco**

blend
(however you choose to do this is up to you .. i use a blender and pulse and count nine or eleven pulses .. relatively gently, or you fill up with foam)

i’ve also used one of those electric blenders .. and i know someone who uses a hand beater .. it’s more just use what you’ve got at hand to mix it up ..

pour into a sprayer or spray bottle
(some people i know strain it because of the possible congestion created by the alum in the egg) and spray your garden ..

generally, i spray every three weeks or so .. or, when i know the deer are out in full force throughout the summer, i tend to spray every couple of weeks, or even once a week, depending how militant i feel towards them .. armed with a spray bottle i aim, and spray, determined to keep the deer at bay .. sometimes, like a premonition, i’ve thought “deer” and not paid attention .. the next day, without fail, my inattention is rewarded with munched plants .. you’ll find your own way with it, i’m sure .. for me, it’s been at least 90% effective ..

i spray everything, pretty much, except those plants i have come to know as “deer proof” .. i even spray it on veggies as i don’t see anything harmful in it, and, more often than not, i wash any veggies i’m eating .. (unless i’m grazing in the garden, that is) ..

so .. good luck with this .. can’t hurt to try it .. and .. you may even see that tulip bloom this year ..