the little wild kingdom

[flowerbug]

made progress today at last. still a lot to do but at least i can see a difference.

also one of the young groundhogs was dumb enough to come back and the air rifle did what it was supposed to do. sad to do, but necessary if i'm going to get any chance at a harvest.

 

[Mini Horses]

I like to respect wildlife -- in their own habitat. But when they enter mine and cause destruction there is no remorse to eliminate. Like @farmerjan has said, around barns & livestock, it's invasive. Since you aren't dealing with that, you can be more forgiving . Glad for you.

 

[flowerbug]

made some more progress and then it started raining and i'd had enough anyways. it rained well enough last night to show me my new water flow set up was not quite right yet, but i never expected it to be done on the first try anyways. more reshaping and dirt moving needed and then transplanting more creeping thyme to cover that edge. it ends up being a lot easier to weed that than to have to weed the bare ground (with gravel in it that eventually i pick out). the black plastic edging is useless and always coming back out no matter how i put it down or how deep. when the thyme gets bigger it will allowed to take over and i'll maybe even take the plastic edge out... we'll see how it goes... i like how it looks as it creeps into the gravel.

the last nesting killdeer decided to put her two eggs in a nest right along the edge of the driveway. i was surprised by this one as it is pretty late to be nesting now, but also the water flows through that area can be significant when it rains. silly birdie... i enjoyed eating my brunch and watching the goldfinches raid the phlox seeds.

 

[flowerbug]

rained buckets yesterday, new water works did a reasonable job and i'm ok leaving it as it is for now. last garden i'm trying to plant needs a lot more digging to remove the quack grass which isn't an easy job even when it isn't mud. not sure i'm going outside much today. i have a stack of stuff inside that i need to get at right away. including glueing some shoes back together. yummy...

at least i don't have to spend any time this morning watering.

 

[flowerbug]

the other day, when weeding the quackgrass roots out of the clay clumps i was using a small hand rake to beat the clumps and hit my thumb, right above the nail in the real painful spot to have a cut.

after a few hours i came in and removed my garden glove and cleaned it up and put some liquid bandage on it (ouch like heck at first but it does help). of course i had to show Mom my booboo and the liquid bandage, she thought it was a miracle, i really like it too.

i still have some on.

this morning i wake up and i look at my finger and the booboo is completely gone, it's like a miracle again! no pain, completely gone. i show Mom it's gone. we're both amazed. then i go to do my morning wee and i start laughing because i'd shown her the wrong finger (it was my thumb i smacked). we've been giggling about this all morning...

of course, pre-coffee...

but it does show how pain free the booboo has become with the protective coating of the liquid bandage over it that i didn't even notice my thumb hurting at all.

 

[flowerbug]

picked some beans yesterday, a few of them were past prime so those will end up as worm food. the beans will get cooked today along with some peas/pea pods. amazing production from a tiny patch. i could pick more peas/pea pods today but i'm not sure that will happen.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

. amazing production from a tiny patch.

That's great! Can't complain about that.

 

[flowerbug]

That's great! Can't complain about that.

i know! especially when a few dozen pods are plenty for two people. they are amazingly big pods and they tolerate our heavy soil and last longer than many others.

i should get a picture of this year's crop before i pick some more. haven't even thought of it... oops. in the above picture you can see plenty of pods, but the crop i get from them sometimes makes this picture look sparse.

 

[flowerbug]

speaking of venting... the south field has a lot more thistles in there than should be there. they're blooming, forming seeds and it's too late to do much about it. i'm not even sure if burning would help or not at this point.

the corner i've been mowing is under control but the rest of it isn't. other fields and roadsides in the area are also full of thistles. what a big honkin mess this is going to be and likely for the rest of my life. on top of all the other issues... grrr!

 

[flowerbug]

garlic is lifted.

still have to plant, may not get it all done today, we'll see how it goes. about 3/4 of it should be fairly easy since i've already busted the ground digging up quackgrass roots or lifting the garlic, so just the last row or row and a half will be tougher. with this humidity and heat though i won't be too upset if i give up at some point. this AC makes me a wimp when it comes to heat tolerance.