Category: Nature

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First tomato of the season

Today I went outside and there was a ripe tomato on one of my tomato plants. I didn’t think it was fully ripe, but when I touched it, it fell into my hand, so I figured it was ready to eat. To be honest, it was a great feeling seeing that tomato ripe on the vine! I got a slow start, but our growing season is long, and by the looks of the way my plants are growing and the tomatoes on the vines right now…I’ll have plenty of tomatoes to eat and give away.

When you live in Michigan, you have to start tomato plants indoors and figure out when is the best time to plant them in the ground without risk of a late snow or killing frost. Usually I try to get the plants in the ground in mid-April. But some years we are still having freaky snow storms in April, so I have to wait until May.

If we can get them in early enough, there are plenty of fresh, ripe tomatoes ready for picking by the 4th of July. I’ve already beat that goal this year!

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Keeping the cats out of the gardens

I have a problem keeping the cats out of my gardens and it’s starting to get super irritating, not to mention ticking me off to no end. When the kittens we have (that were drop offs) are a little bit bigger, I don’t like to do this, but I’m taking them to the humane society. I have to. Everyone drops off unwanted cats and kittens at my house and there is not a thing I can do about it since they are dropped off in the night.

I am thinking about using chicken wire and laying it over the spaces and beds that I have seeded, and then anchor it down, until I can fix the cat problem. They are using my gardens for a giant litter box, and since I don’t have cats in the house that have to have a litter box, I sure as heck am not going to have them outside ruining my gardens.

People who abandon animals, should be fined or in my opinion be arrested, but without catching them in the act there is nothing to be done. It’s so sad.

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Thunder storms and gardens

This morning I woke up to one of the loudest storms I’ve heard in a very long time. It was about 5:00 am when it started and actually one long crack of thunder and the lightening flash, seems to  have hit right by my bedroom window. Needless to say, it scared the heck out of me. (I actually jumped out of bed in one bound, that didn’t make my neck and back feel very good) The storm lasted for about 45 min. The light show was really awesome once the initial wake up shock was over.

After the storm the sun came out and so did a lot of my flowers in my garden that weren’t blooming last night. It is pretty awesome to see. I can’t wait to get into the new planting of more perennials and annuals.

After it being so chilly and not having more than a couple really nice days in the last three weeks, it felt so good to walk outside at nearly 5:50 pm and not be cold. It smells so nice outside. Cut grass from yesterday, ground that has been dug up and burnt straw from last years bale gardening. Going barefoot was the absolute best feeling. I’m really looking forward to summer!

 

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Saving money by rain harvesting

Talking to a lot of farmers that live in my area, and I know personally, have been telling me about rain harvesting. I personally think it is an awesome idea. We pay a water bill here now, when before the township decided to pipe “city” water in, we had well water. I am a firm believer in having a well, and also I make sure my cistern is clean and it always fills up with water from the rain. I used to depend on it for my gardens.

Rain water barrels, I’ve decided will be one of the ways I’m going to start collecting rain water.  Sometimes, thinking about it and what is now in the atmosphere, it’s kind of scary what I’d be using, but memories of my Papa washing my hair in rain water, since he had harvested rain, won over thinking about what might be in my rain water. Besides, it serves at totally useful survival tips.

I have a feeling, like the farmers I’ve talked to, that we are going to be in for some rough dry weather around mid summer. This makes watering the livestock really costly. Plus with a large family and using so much water now, I’m going to start looking for rain barrels for sale, and get quite a few of them. Better to be safe than sorry. It would give me peace of mind to be able to have water if needed. I’m still remembering also, how soft and silky my hair was after washing and rinsing in rain water that was harvested!

 

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March Winds

March winds around here get bothersome and scary at times. Today it was so windy that two of my wind chimes went East. Yes, literally. The wind is coming in for the West. It was warm and sunny today but the wind made it quite a bit colder. Had the wind not been blowing so hard, it no doubt would have been in the high 60’s.

Because of the wind, one of my neighbor’s big tree branches cracked and I heard it while in my house. I went outside in time to see the whole middle branch of the tree, crack again and fall. The neighbor wasn’t home, and had he been…his car would have been toast. The HUGH branch came down in the exact spot he always parks his car. Talk about a fortunate person, eh?

I found three bird’s nests that fell and also all kinds of debris kept blowing by. I sort of felt like I was in Kansas with Dorthy and Toto, for awhile. There indeed was a lot of damage caused by this wind and it is supposed to be windy tomorrow also, but temps won’t be so warm and rain is called for also. Wonder what the weekend will bring. I see a great deal of our shingles have blown away. More property damage, that isn’t the up to the deductible rate, with our insurance, so we’ll have to shell out more money to fix it. *deep sigh*

 

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Botanical gardens

This coming weekend if all goes well, I’m planning on going to the Zoo, that is in the city that I grew up and go home to nearly every other week. The Botanical Gardens are open all year around, but I like to go around this time each year, to get my garden incentives flowing.

This is a wonderful place to go. And this is just a start. I have to say that some of the local exhibits and also the out of town attractions and recreational places to go, are indeed a great joy to me.

When I go to the Botanical Gardens, I can stay there all day. Not only do I love the warm humid environment of the massive greenhouse, but I also love the earthy smells, the smells of the plants and exotic flowers, along with the more known species. There is also a simulation of a rain forest in another part of the zoo that I like to go to, when I am in that area. It’s amazing. Complete with the alligators, turtles, fish and all kinds of birds native to the rain forests. Not to mention the really unique plant life. I’m in seventh heaven when I’m there and always plan to be away from the time they open in the morning, until they close in the evening. I’m really looking forward to this.

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Rain, Snow and Ice

Even though the temperature today was nearly like Spring, at about 8:00 pm it was raining and then it turned to wet snow. The old body sure can feel it too. ):

It is supposed to snow from today on. Everyone is so used to it not snowing, that to tell you the truth, even if I’m supposed to go to my Mom’s this weekend with my daughter and her boyfriend, who my Mom will just be meeting, I’m not sure I want to go. I mean, it would be a disappointment to her, as she is making all kinds of good things to eat, and I was going to go over my garden plans for her yard with her, but I don’t trust the other drivers. They just are spoiled by the odd weather and lack of snow and ice. It gets scary when drivers become complacent.

I went outdoors a little while ago, to let the dog out. He didn’t want to get his feet wet though. He’s really strange like that. I did notice that the temperature is dropping quite fast, and the winds are picking up. It is kind of doubtful that the kids will have school tomorrow. We have to be at the bus station by 2:00 and it’s out of State, where my Mom lives. I’m going to try and get an appointment for my daughter and I at the clinic, as soon as they open. I like the MD there and I just don’t want Mom and my daughter’s boyfriend to catch what we have. I’ll get some masks we can use, from the clinic. Hopefully we will be feeling up to par sooner than soon. I feel for my daughter. She had all kinds of plans to clean our “wing” and our rooms upstairs at Mom’s, but I seriously don’t think she feels much like doing anything. I personally have to tend to the plants and annuals I am growing inside, when I was told they would never grow in the house. Pfffttt… they are inpatients and are starting to be turning into very long vines with flowers all over. I’m going to need a bigger elevated pot for them come Spring, but they are still going to stay inside. I’ll take them out for fresh air, now and then, but now they are used to being inside in my bedroom. Apparently they love it in there as much as I do!

 

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Small chicken hatcheries

For the twenty years we have lived here, I have always wanted my own chicken coops in the yard and a couple chicken hatcheries in our back yard pole barn. We have lots and lots of property to build even more space, and yet because even though we are out in the country, surrounded by corn, wheat and bean fields, it is still considered the “city limits” and we are not allowed to raise livestock in the city limits.  What I want to know is, what CITY?? I’m not sure what the population is here, but I know that the people in this small so called village, would only fill about 10 or so buses. And I’m sort of joking, but not by much.

I’ve always wanted the chickens in the yard type setting. I’ve wanted to be able to go out in the morning and collect eggs, and also I’ve wanted to raise chickens from the time they were laid to the time they hatched. To me, incubating them and watching the progress, would be simply amazing. It also would be really cool for my grand daughter and even my kids who are so much older, to be able to check out.

If I had a hatchery, it would be part of my dream for this place, come true. It is a shame to have all this property and not do anything with it. At least this way, we would have eggs, chicken to eat, and also chicks to sell. It sure would help with finances also.

 

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More seed catalogs and strange weather

This winter has been very non typical to this area. I’ve also been getting my garden magazines and seed catalogs much earlier than usual. I’m not complaining about that, because I can do garden planning now.

The animals have been acting odd too. My husband and I noticed that the skunks didn’t hibernate this winter, the geese in the wetlands behind my house never left like normal. In fact there are more going into the sanctuary.

My son saw a honey bee yesterday. For quite a few years there were no honey bees seen at all. Every one of our boxes out in the field were empty, which didn’t help our financial situation. This makes me wonder what this summer is going to bring.

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A great Spring gardening magazines

I’m so excited. My son brought in the mail today and handed me not one, but two new Spring 2012  Native Gardener’s Companion magazines! This is like a catalog, but with tips on growing various flowers, potted plants, shrubs and trees, plus a whole lot more.

In the What’s New section, I see that they now offer a Pollinator Kit that I would like to try. It consists of a tray of 38 potted plants for moist soil situations, and from the sound of it, there are a variety of really pretty colors, and forms of plants that attract bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies, all of which I love. Some people are afraid of bees and try to get rid of them. I’m not one of those people. I love bumbles and honey bees. The only kind I don’t like, are the ones that are long and yellow and up here, people call them yellow jackets. They like to attack and build nests under the eves, and actually anywhere they can. Those are scary and so very mean. Plus they do nothing for my gardens. I’m glad that I rarely see them anywhere near my plants.

I’ve noticed also that the Gardner’s companion has include a color coded diagrams for planting gardens in various way, including plants in pots and various flowers and grasses. This is a great idea. I like to get new ideas and ways of making my gardens look different each year. I’m so excited for Spring to get here. And getting this magazine in the mail today boosted my spirits.