Wildflowers! Diary 5/31/15

In the span of just a few yards, I found all these wildflowers today!

I always called this "Soapwort", might be Sandwort?

Henderson Stars

Arnica

Iris

Twin Flowers

Diary 5/30/15

The peonies are putting on their annual show. It is a hedge of blossoms. Often we have a thunderstorm this time of year which can obliterate their beauty quickly. Such storms have been predicted for days, but nothing here yet. I did see verga , the rain that doesn't make it to the ground, this evening, but no drops anywhere. So dry~

Deer and Gopher Wars: Diary 5/28/15

I did build fence the night before last to keep the deer out of the end of the greenhouse, but she slipped under it when I went out this afternoon. So I added another bottom rung. She will not be going in that way, anymore. I also put the black plastic deer fence up along the sides I needed to open to vent. Here's hoping she doesn't force her way through. Just one deer, I think. Very pesky. I am defending against gophers using castor oil and Neem. The castor oil mix is 1 1/2 tsp. and 1 tsp mild dish soap to a gallon of water. Then using that mix adding a TBS. to a watering can and sprinkling it, I have had some success keeping the critters away. Neem may work, too, so I am trying that, also. I have never used it as a mammal deterrent, only for insects.I am hoping to stave the gophers off by adding some compost to the beds as I did last year. Seems they don't like the fresher materials. I will mulch the edges of the tomato beds and see if it makes any difference. Meanwhile I have a crazy snapdragon show going on in the other greenhouse. I think I may have to get some stakes in there to hold things up~

Diary 5/27/15

Back from Portland. It was so lush there as the pictures point out. It was pretty lush here, too. The inch of rain we received in about a hour on Thursday brought the grasses up to my chin. Mowing and weed eating are in our future! Deer broke into the greenhouse while gone and ate a couple squash and topped a couple tomatoes. More fencing going up today. Grrrr!

Diary 5/21/15

The greenhouse is slowly coming together. This is the one I am turning into more of a come and hang out and enjoy greenhouse rather than just for food. I have a table at one end with double shade cloth over it. I am working on a water feature at that end, also. I planted one rose bush and it is doing great, so I may add another. Meanwhile the more productive greenhouse is almost planted and 2/3s weeded. I hope everyone has a safe weekend and at some point in the few days thinks of those who gave their lives for virtues they believed in. I just wish we didn't have to have wars~

Diary 5/21/15

We actually received some real rain yesterday, but the morning was still dry. We have some worked up dirt by the chicken pen and they made themselves a wonderful dust bath area . As the rooster stood guard, the girls flung dirt all over themselves and between their feathers. They stand up, shake it all off, and go on with their day~

Diary 5/19/15

We have zoomed past the middle of May. Memorial Day weekend is coming up, the official start of summer, and I am just getting the garden in. No one told me this is how it would be in older age. Time will speed up! I try to figure out if I am wasting time, or using my time less efficiently. Maybe the hour on the internet cuts in, but I don't watch much TV, so that swaps out in my mind. I get up early. Before I have coffee, I have fed the animals. 15 minutes later and most of a cup of coffee, I am doing any dishes from the night before, starting a load of laundry and maybe sweeping a floor. I make lists I can't possibly accomplish, and I see the edges closing in, needing attention. The yard is a wreck; the mower is broken. The garden is coming along, but I spend 2 to 3 hours a day just weeding to get 1 hour of planting and pruning in. I am sore all the time, and I am exhausted and thinking about bed at 8:30! I want to be a dog...

or maybe a cat...

Diary 5/17/15

Everyday there has been big build-up on the news and in the sky about the thunderstorms or showers we are going to received. We have had nothing. The clouds come together, there is a good deal of wind, the air even

smells like rain, maybe there is verga, but not a drop from the sky. Right now there is a large steel blue mass headed our way. Will it deliver? I'm hoping?

Diary 5/11/15

My garden is full of irises, partially because I like them, but mostly because the deer do not. They are glorious for the next two weeks and then that is that. The sword-like leaves will remain until the winter freezes set in, standing like fences along the edge of other bloomers. So for this short time,

 they are the stars of the yard and a few get cut and brought inside although they do not last long as cut flowers go, there is something about just a few in a tall vase that makes me smile~

Diary 5/9/15

Spoke with many nice people at the Wildflower Show today; everything from an old neighbor to another old friend's daughter to a reporter for the local  newspaper, and of course my friends and neighbors, and people I had never met before. The plants sold well in the morning and then sort of fizzled out in the afternoon. Hopefully some Moms or shoppers for Moms will help buy the rest tomorrow! An incredible display of flowers that all who were impressed by.

Diary 5/7/15

Had a great time gathering wildflowers today. There is such a selection that we have never had before because of the dry weather. I think we are going to have a wonderful show. The silent auction has some great prizes, and we received some pretty donations for the plant sale. Meanwhile on the farm, there are birds nesting everywhere, Each time I go to the garden, a female turkey is wandering across the top. I think she has eggs in the woods there. I saw a flicker come out of this cavity, so I am waiting until I can hear hungry babies complaining. Blue jays and tanagers

cavity nesting

jay collecting something in the plum tree.

have been getting moss, I think, from the oak trees. The morning and evenings are noisy with birds talking to each other across the garden and yard.

Diary 5/6/15

I have been sooo busy with the Wildflower Show preparations. We have met with a myriad of regulations and permitting we never had to deal with before.

Fendler's Waterleaf

A sign of the times and liabilities. Also received permission to gather the flowers from the powers that be, but failed to ever ask before. No homemade cookies this year, for example. I understand. No one wants to get sick. It's just sad it has come to this. I will start gathering specimens with Cheryl tomorrow. The hunt is fun, the discovery is thrilling, and the enormous chore of getting them to the show in good condition begins.