Hi everyone. It is early June and the wet and buggy weather has begun. Time for a garden update.
Long time no see!
It’s been over a month since my last blog post. What can I say – life gets in the way of the best intentions. Sorry about that. I’ve started this post a number of times; but I kept hitting writer’s block each time. So, here’s try number six.
In the garden now!
The mosquitoes are out, and the lawns all need to be mowed. The bugs are viscous. The 3-Hs are back. Hazy, Hot, and Humid. One benefit of living on the Cape; is that the miserable hot temps hold off for the first day of a weather pattern. Today is that day. Right now It is overcast and in 60s. But the sun is slowly burning off the clouds and the heat is building even down here. The early spring planting season is all but over with. Some of the hot weather crops are planted (in pots) but more need to be planted.
Wet weather
Most of the month of May was dry and sunny. Not any more. In the last week we have gotten over 4 inches of rain. The poor bees have been hive bound with all week. Only one day of sunshine in the last seven days.
Pest Control
My Dyna traps are out and running (Bought from QVC.). These mosquito traps kill the biting bugs (mosquitoes and gnats) by attracting them into a no-escape trap. I have three traps – each a half acre Dyna trap, which blankets the area around my house from pests. With these traps up and running; I don’t have to put on bug spray for the quick trips out around the house. The turkeys keep the tick population down; but I still have to check myself for ticks after each trip outside into the yard.
Deer attach!
I came home to a disaster zone one night. A deer got behind my deer netting and ate many of my new plants before I could even get them into the ground. They used my back stairs. I was livid! They have tried to come back a few times since then, but I’ve been able to scare them off so far, each time. I did get more deer netting hung and – so far – no more deer attacks in my garden. All but the front of my house in fenced in. I feel like I’m living in a pen.
Having the deer constantly eating what I’m getting ready to plant is very disheartening; and I had a hard time even motivation myself to go out and work in my garden for a while there. I tried garden shopping as motivational therapy. That didn’t go all that well. It was on Saturday. All the weekend gardeners were out – so parking at the different garden centers was a nightmare and I gave up and headed home.
Keeping busy!
In April, I started a part time job hosting at a local restaurant. Mostly to get off my duff and move; but also bring in a little bit of extra money. Because of COVID-19 closures and restrictions; the customer levels are not back to normal level yet, and I only work one evening a week. On Memorial DAY weekend, I ended up working 3 evenings. Yea!
White everywhere
I potted up quite a number of annuals for summer color. “White” seems to be my color of the year this year. So white alyssum, white pansies, white impatience, and white petunias.
The wet weather has really knocked down the flowers, and there isn’t much to see right now in my garden. The flowers on the first batch of foxglove plants have gone by. I keep a lot of foxglove plants for the bumble bees. They love these plants. I need to move the spent plants to the other side of the house – out of sight – where the seeds can mature and drop for next year. I Love foxgloves volunteers.
Hügelkultur update
I did get my Hügelkultur bed planted with seeds before all the wet weather started in. The new seedlings are popping up but still on the exceedingly small side. So, no pic just yet. There is a little bit more area left to-be-planted on this mound. Maybe a second batch of kale later in the summer. I never did get to digging the garden beds I planned on in this new back yard garden area. Instead, I planted my seeds in flower boxes and in pot. Some of the pots have made it out to the new garden area – others are still back on the back patio. I have two pots of cherry tomatoes so far. Peppers, Lettuce, Zucchini, Japanese Eggplant, Kale to name a few things I’ve planted.
I stuck with shallow rooted plants this year in this Hügelkultur bed. It is too new to plant deep root crops as of yet. Each year you keep building the bed and adding more toppings to deepen the growing area. I will get a pic of this bed for the next blog once the seedlings are bigger.
See my earlier posts for more on the Hügelkultur method of planting. Gardening on the Upper Cape blog2
Other news!
I have a white table grape vine growing on my wisteria pergola. I cut it (and the wisteria vines) back sharply last fall. The grape has come back wonderfully this year. Hopefully, I will get a bumper crop of grapes this year. You couldn’t find them for the wisteria vines last year.
I love my new garden Crocs! I’m going to “live” in them this year. [The old back ones have been retired.]
Catmint planted for the hummingbirds and bees.
A happy thyme plant by the car port.
The summer solstice is June 20th this year. It always seems too soon to me. I am just getting into the gardening grove, when the days start getting shorter.
Birding news
Besides gardening; a big part of my time is taken up in bird watching and feeding. The hummingbirds are back for the summer along with the orioles, and cat birds. The hummingbirds actually prefer this oriole feeder; and the oriole prefers one of the hummingbird feeders. Here is a few pics.
I hope the wet weather holds off for a bit and I can get my lawns mowed and the some more of my seeds planted.
Oh Well! that’s it for now. I hope all is well in your part of the world. Until next time. Gail
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