Posted in Progress

Watering, snipping grass, neglected compost and old foe skeletons

I did manage to get some time outside yesterday to do more than a round of watering.  Compared to last year, I’m consistently using three “can fills” per water from the rain barrel so far, where last year we barely needed just the one.  Most of that is due to the kitchen garden related plants, as well as trying to encourage some perennials that didn’t overwinter very well.  We haven’t been able to pick up the new rain barrel we paid for, but will when schedules align.  We haven’t needed it yet, so I’m not agonizing over the lack of pickup,  if it matters.

Note the two flying insect "shadows" you can see near the one cluster of fruit growing. I didn't even realize they'd made the shot.
Some of our plants have names (we’re odd). Shoobie, our northern highbush blueberry, was two years old when introduced last year, and this year’s crop is looking good for a three year old.

Continue reading “Watering, snipping grass, neglected compost and old foe skeletons”

Posted in Conservation, Stories

Learning to work with a new climate

The gardens I grew up in and near were in southern NJ, on a barrier island where if you dug too deep, you’d hit soggy brimed soil.  The property was one block from the bay, two from the ocean, on the northernmost part of the island which was narrow there compared to most of the island.

Despite that, my maternal grandparents had thriving gardens full of ornamentals as well as food crops, though we didn’t have a lot of tall trees. Continue reading “Learning to work with a new climate”