July 19-20, 2014

Sally staid in town on stand by for the delivery of grand-child number 6. I needed to mow and thought I had a showing for Sunday, but that didn't materialize. Saturday was nice, cloudy with a high of only 80. The overnight low was 68 and then it was back to high humidity and the upper 80s. Unfortunately the rain gauge was dry.

Garden

I missed Sally being out to tend the garden. The typical weeds weren't too bad, but then there is the bermuda and mint. The Dahlia's were getting showy and there were Italian peppers, though I thought they were supposed to turn red (I left the biggest one to see if it would). I picked some beans, but left most to see if we would could harvest just the seeds of this new mottled variety we ended up with (I prefer the green beans myself). I also clipped more than enough basil for a double batch of pesto. And then there was watering done both days.

Mow

I mowed everything Saturday. This is the first time the grass has begun to look brown from the lack of rain. Being dry, I also wore a mask while mowing. Expecting a showing, I also made sure things were cleaned up around the house, barn and spring using the weedeaters.

Blue Birds

There is a new blue bird nest in the house out back, and it has 4 eggs! I cleaned out the abandoned nest with eggs in the house on the hill – I'm just not sure what happened there. I needed to clean out the nest in the house at the pond, but forgot. (I'm sure the babies have left by now.)

Spray Sumac

While driving up on the ridge top during a showing many weeks back I had noticed two large patches of sumac right at the fence line. I had also noted another large patch in the back pasture when up there looking for thistle. So I got out the back pack sprayer, herbicide, and some diesel and hit all three. I hope the mix was strong enough for the patch in the back pasture. Of course both will need a followup to make sure I got everything.

Pull Brush

I went back to the hill where I had cut a bunch of briars, elm, and persimmon a couple of weeks back. I pulled the brush and stuffed it into the ditches to rot (and slow the erosion). That's some pretty tiring work. But I wasn't done.

Cut Sassafras and Oaks

When it seemed likely our prospects were not going to show, I tackled these two growing up on the hill just south of the house – since they obstruct the view and Ben had given me a hard time once for letting the oaks grow amongst the pines. I like the little bunch of sassafras, but some were getting mighty large and the patch is spreading. I cut out three of the big ones and will see how I like it. I also cut a few of the larger oaks, and went around the hill with my loppers cutting dozens of the little ones. I never got to the west end of the hill, and suspect I will want to take out more of the larger oaks. Some I want to leave for erosion control, and I did leave all the hickories though I did trim some of them up. I have this vision of letting the hickories grow tall and straight up amongst the pines. Hey, they can always be cut.

July 4-5, 2014

It was a pleasant weekend for July, low humidity, low 80s for highs, and low 70s over night. No rain however. We did get some hammock time in, and three sudoku challenges -- Sally creamed me on two and the one I won was only by seconds.

Mowing

I did the far back, the front yard, down to the pond, and behind the barn. Saturday I ran the weed eaters on both hills, around the road and back to the barn. It sure looks nice all cleaned up. I found a piece of the mower loose on the deck. It was half of the piece that breaks against one of the drive pulleys when you disengage the blades. For some reason it was pressing up against the pulley, when it should have been underneath it. The effect was that that the pulley wore entirely through the metal arm. I removed a spring that held the remaining half in place and now there is no contact. It seems to be an optional piece of safety equipment. I won't replace it unless I can figure out why the alignment was off.

Garden

It was nice having Sally to work the garden. It was very dry, so she watered both days. She pulled up this bucket full of onions, picked some green beans, and got enough basil for another double batch of pesto. I did bring out a spray bottle and tried misting the Bermuda with vinegar. I am anxious to see if it had any effect.

Deer Grazing

The deer are continuing to devour many of my baby trees and plants. This is the Pixie Delight apple. It was getting large, so I had just removed the wire cage that had been around it. That was mistake as you can tell. I got it back over the tree and can only hope that it will help. All of the other plants will have to be on their own.

On a related note, the older Gold Rush apple actually has three apples on it which I had not noticed previously. I am amazed because it has been so sickly. I still do not expect it to survive the summer.

Blue Birds

I believe this will be the last hatching for the year. This picture is from the house at the pond, and I suspect these babies will be leaving the nest any day. The house on the hill has eggs, but I am fairly certain they have been abandoned. If they are still there my next time out I will clean out the nest.

Walk to Pond

We walked to the pond Saturday morning. It was nice since it wasn't too warm. We still can't figure out the sweet smelling plant we always notice down by Plume Creek. We did spot two thistles, so I knew I would have to come back.

Thistle

I found just a few in the little pin beside the confluence of the creeks. I also found a large mullen there about to bloom. I didn't want that going to seed either, so I dug it as well. I ended up finding 112 thistles, though most were some different variety that has not actually bloomed yet. Those were all on the south side of Gum Creek in a very localized area. They are prickley like thistle but don't seem to get as tall. They are also fuller and greener. I was certain I didn't want them, so they were dug up as well. I even walked up into the back pasture since I had found a few there in years past, but it was clean. Great!

Clear Brush

The smilax, wild grape, elm, persimmon, and cedar are taking over the hill side west of the road as it makes its final descent to the valley. So I took my loppers and attacked it one area. I just cut things back and will have to come back and drag the brush into the draw to rot. There is much more work to do here, just further up the road.

June 27-28, 2014

Sally was out of town again, so this was another solo trip for me. Driving in I could tell we had received a lot of rain because the road was scoured and I noticed a leaf dam in the ditch. I was still surprised to find three and half inches in the rain gauge. Temperatures were rather mild, low 80s during the day and low 70s overnight.

Gully Washer

Here is what the drainage looked like over by the swing, just before it drops off the bluff. I would never call this a creek because it is always dry except during a hard rain, but it does drain a large area and parallels the road coming down the hill. You can see where the term gully washer came from, it literally washed the gully out and parted the leaves. This is where I drive the mower across. I piled some rocks in here years ago and they back up the leaves which provide some base and elevation for me to get across. I just kicked them back into the bottom, and drove across and mowed as usual. I do have a little road erosion I will need to address.

Wildlife

Interestingly, I saw a Bald Eagle while driving out – near the White River. I knew we had some year around residents, but it is rare to actually see one of them (at least rare for me). Not at all atypical though, a Great Blue Heron took off from the pond as I approached on the mower. (I am sure they are the reason we no longer have any cat fish.) And then later when mowing around the big sycamores in the valley a ground hog scampered across the road. I suspect he is the same one I saw at the pond a few weeks back.

Mowing

With all the rain it is no surprise that the grass had really grown and everything needed mowing. I almost got it all done, but left the area behind the barn and the far area back of the house. I did some weed eating around the house, and then took the brush whacker up the road. The hills will need to be tackled the next weekend.

Garden

I couldn't believe how the weeds had grown in the garden, just when I thought I had them in control. I tackled them first thing Saturday morning. The Bermuda and mint remain my nemesis though. I think I am going to try a spray bottle with vinegar.

I picked enough green beans for one meal, had summer spinach with my eggs Saturday and Sunday, pulled up the garlic (which was hard to find amongst the Bermuda), pulled up a few onions whose stalks were laying over, got enough kale for a meal or two, and 4 cups of basil (enough for a double batch of pesto). The oldest Italian pepper was beginning to bloom and several others I planted later were coming up. Same for some late beans I put out. The tomato is not going to make it, unfortunately.

Deer

In spite of all the vegetation growing everywhere, the deer seem to prefer my plants. I could tell they had been nibbling on the Pixie Delight apple, the baby wild cherry I transplanted this winter, the walnuts I have started out front, the snowball bush I transplanted from home, and even the thornless black berries. Hopefully they won't kill anything.

Thistle

I went on thistle patrol again and only found 32. That's great, and I did not see any over the fence in the Clark's or Jeff's pastures. I am not sure why not since they both had problems last summer. Perhaps they sprayed. I also hiked up into the back pasture and along Plume Creek, but found none.

Walnuts

It looks like it will be another good year for walnuts. These were on the tree out back of the house, but the the tree down by the creeks was really loaded – I just didn't have my phone on me when I was down there.