Winter gardening means trimming dried perennials and raking leaves. That is…until my neighbor gave me an amaryllis bulb kit. Delightful! (The kit includes one bulb, glass jar and growing medium.)
Jan 6 (Ephiphany)
Thanksgiving last year, at Nina Bay Farm, the herd of Black Angus cattle sold at auction. The rest of the herd of burros found a new home. The surrounding fields are leased for cattle grazing.
These burros are what remain of the herd. I call the two on the right Jack and Jill. Jack is two weeks old. Jill is five months old (born June 1 and is featured in the top photo).
…..around back
Seven trees shading the porch: Removed.
The make over for the landscape will be honeysuckle free and feature natural “rocky top” ledges and outcrop. Do you see it? An artifact: brick barbecue. We plan to have wild flowers popping up in spring. Like these:
Work in Progress! Low maintenance perennials featuring iris (state flower of TN) and day lilies, plus peonies, hostas and hollies.
For more Nina Bay Farm photos select the tab at the top of the page.
We removed dozens of trees @ Owl Creek this year…Some had been dead for a long time… Some were volunteers too close to driveways or barn…Some were contortions of trees…bent, split, broken. Several logging projects in the past 50 years harvested hard woods…walnut, maple and oak trees. Our understanding is that oak seedlings are difficult to locate.
Our recent experience: Squirrels/Ground Squirrels consider fresh sprouting acorns hors d’oeuvres. Half of what I transplanted to containers were uprooted to eat the meat of the acorn. (Redbud, tulip and cedar trees were undisturbed.) I rescued these seedlings by moving them to the screened porch.
To get 2020 spring plants off to a bigger start, I gathered acorns from the backyard. Mostly green, squirrels had not run off with them.
“How to Grow Oak Trees from Acorns” Shelly Wigglesworth Oct 16, 2018, published in New England Today, Living
I like the idea of refrigerating with peat and barley in a sealed container over winter.
Shelly recommended discarding acorns with pin holes. They are made by “inch” worms exiting the hull. I believe the worms enter under the cap. After checking closely and drying about two weeks, I discarded 20 acorns of the 60+ I had gathered from our backyard.
Here we “grow” again…
has been reserved for compost of tree, shrub and yard debris for years. The black compost bin in the background hasn’t stayed together even with a “zip tie” fix. Time to shop!
Found on Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0085O6NXQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The cylinder in the foreground has an open bottom. It was unrolled and secured with three plastic pieces that work like a key and lock inserted in slots. The size is adjustable. It is possible to expand the circumference an additional two feet. Also, I could go smaller.
Last summer between kitchen, garden and yard waste, we yielded about 200 pounds of compost which we used at our remote garden site (future post). We are on track with another 200 pounds…Eight repurposed cat litter buckets filled (20 pounds each). Two more to go!
Revisited “Artspark” today…lush, dense, summer foliage.
From a Nov 2016 post. Mother Nature impresses us with bold fall colors and textures. Bonus discovery! the Indianapolis Art Center’s featured outdoor sculptures. Check these out:
Crescendo
Great way to add interest to parking lot with flowers, herbs, vegetables
Canoe launch site
There is more to see of the grounds!
My interest in bee keeping is shown on the Beehaven@OwlCreek tab above.
I struggled with this book. I also appreciate the story. Well over half way thru the book, I felt that I was reading multiple Twitter feeds. Some characters lived in the 1800s, some in the present and some in the future. The author does bring it together in the end. If I had first read the Reading Group Guide on page 340 of my digital version, I would not have been so frustrated.
The contents include valuable information about commercial hives and the highly productive, delicate life cycle of bees.
June 2019: Woo! Hoo! In this photo…blurry, baby kiwis!
Baby kiwis
Apparently, I focused on the the one top-left of center. Three in this photo!
It has taken two years for this perennial plant to mature and bear fruit. Also, we have had significant rain fall this season. The vines have grown over ten feet long. Hopefully, the vines will meet the arbor between the house and garden shed…may not be this year. (I would have planted if closer, if I had understood how it grew.)
May 2018: Last year’s great expectations deflated. Here we “grow” again! Our perennial kiwi vine has a strong start for this season. It is front and center in the photo below with four vines. So far, the longest one is over three feet long.
May 2017: Yesterday, we were pleasantly surprised to find potted “Hardy Kiwi” for $12 at Cox’s Plant Farm. I thought kiwi grew on trees like apples or cherries. It is a vine that prefers a trellis to support perhaps 100 fruit. We’ll let you know how we did.
http://ediblelandscaping.com/careguide/Kiwi/
Expect future posts on my garden expansion project.
149th Year: R. H. Shumway Seedsman
What may be better than Valentines Day? Receiving the BIG, beautiful RHShumway seed catalog in February when the outside temperature is 20 degrees F.
I normally buy local herb/tomato/vegetable nursery plants in May. This year, as well as plants I am ordering seed. Three categories of plants have my attention.
Expect future posts on my garden expansion project.
Yard
Kitchen
Compost bins
Composting is both a dirty job and “Black gold” to enrich vegetable garden….this season’s yield…200 pounds!
For eighteen years, I have used a three step process to mitigate the slime and smell of kitchen waste. This year I added a fourth step.
All gardening starts with dirt. Yes, it is less expensive and messy to buy compost by the bag at garden centers. Homemade is better.
Before