Usually I am very happy to get to St. Patty’s Day; I put in my peas. Not this year. Even with the warm up there is still too much snow on the ground. And more coming.
OK, I know that we sometimes get snow this late, sometimes into April. But after this year? Seriously?
What is wrong with this weather? I thought climate change meant we’d be more like Florida, not Alaska.
In fact, we have Alaska’s weather. The Iditirod had to be pushed way north. Hey, they could have had it in my yard.
Our short thaw was followed by more cold weather. Finally, I think (and hope) we are starting to have spring.
The Hudson River froze.
and the ice chopper had to make a channel through the center.
after two months of snow covered ground, the deer are starving. They have been coming up on the front porch to eat my shrubs. I have used deer repellent spray for years with good results, but not this year. Five days ago, when I went out to shovel, the rhododendron was covered with leaves. Now it is just sticks.
Here we are, almost two weeks before the official start of winter and I’m already sick of bad weather. Not only have we had a foot of snow, but this morning we had an ice storm.
Ice coats all the trees and branches.
With the extra weight, the branches are coming down in piles.
Here we are, almost two weeks before the official start of winter and I’m already sick of bad weather. Not only have we had a foot of snow, but this morning we had an ice storm.
Ice coats all the trees and branches.
With the extra weight, the branches are coming down in piles.
I love the fall. In my opinion, it is the most beautiful of all the seasons.
But I hate taking down the garden. still, it has to be done. We are beginning to see frost at night. The cucumber plants all died and the tomatoes are starting to exhibit dead leaves, curled in the characteristic ‘I am too cold” manner.
So I picked all the green tomatoes and brought them into the house to ripen. All the pepper plants and beans are gone. I left one tomato plant that is gamely trying to survive and flower, the broccoli – I think we might have a late harvest -, the turnips and the swiss chard. Even they will have to be cut down in a few weeks. The compost will be spread on the ground and the whole thing covered with black plastic for the winter.
everything but broccoli and swiss chard are gone.
A word about the beans. I love green beans and always plant a lot of them. Beans are the plant that keep on giving. This year, somehow, I ended up with pole beans and they really keep giving. I cannot even guess how many pounds I froze. Anyway, I have always planted the bush variety. And after seeing the stalks on the pole beans I have a whole new feeling about Jack and the Beanstalk. The little tendrils that clung to the fence, the strings, the poles, thickened into strong green vines. I had to cut them off the supports. I now believe that if a bean plant grew that tall, the stalks would indeed support a giant.
Another groundhog moved into the yard, driving the dog crazy. This time the groundhog must have been a real risk taker. He came out in the middle of the day when Shelby was running around the yard. I suppose no on is surprised to hear Shelby killed this ground hog too.
I think what astonishes me most is how Shelby can be so gentle with the babies and so ferocious with an animal.
Shelby not only allows the children to lie on her, play with her collar and take food from her, she allows them to put their hands in her mouth. But put a groundhog in the yard and she is a different dog.
The dual nature of dogs, fascinating.
Since there is nothing as delicious as fresh veggies, especially corn, I have tried to plant the latter over and over. What happens? The raccoons beat a path to the garden, scaling the fence and trampling everything in their path to get to the tasty morsels.
This year I thought I’d outsmart them. Burpee developed a special desk variety.The stalks grew tall and lush.
Ears were clearly growing on the stalks. So I picked some.
this is three ears.
Laughter may commence.
I love the fresh veggies from my garden but, at this time of the year, I begin to feel overwhelmed. Everything is bearing and I am awash in produce from cucumbers to turnips to tomatoes.
I am busy freezing green beans and zucchini and making tomato sauce. This year I am trying something different: sundried tomatoes. I borrowed a dehydrator from a friend and dried about 8 pounds of tomatoes. I am storing them in olive oil. I now understand why the sundried tomatoes I buy in the store are so expensive. It take a lot of tomatoes to fill a jar.
Shelby is too smart for her own good. Although the yard is fenced, she spends all her time looking for a way out. When she succeeds, she does the hunting dog thing and, as we euphemistically term it, she rolls. Rolls in crap that is. That way, her prey cannot smell her coming.
However, we can’t allow her in the house without a bath.
Boy, does she hate it.
I can barely keep up with the garden produce. The zucchini has taken over, the basil is huge. Even I may get tired of pesto.
And the beans!
Do you see the twine? These are supposed to be bush beans but some of the seeds didn’t get the message. They are twining up the cucumbers and squash and have taken down some of the poles. Hence, my little fix – twine tied to the fence. I will be freezing them this year.
A groundhog moved into the abandoned burrow and has eaten all my mums. But Shelby is on patrol and the hog hasn’t made it to the garden.
