You would think that, this being June, the month when we move from spring into summer, the month with the longest days of the year, that it would be a warm month. Not hot, just warm. You would think. Last week it was cool all week. It rained a lot. Mushrooms started erupting from the lawn like it was October. On Thursday morning it was cold enough that there was frost in some areas – luckily it only got down to 34° here in Gold, two degrees shy of freezing.
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| Myriads of little brown mushrooms in the lawn. |
Despite the prolonged chill, my June garden looks pretty good. My grape vines are blooming – though you’d hardly notice as their flowers are very inconspicuous – and the currant and gooseberry bushes are full of unripe fruit. Out in the orchard the little apples and pears are starting to swell.
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| Grape flowers. |
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| Loads of gooseberries. |
The vegetable garden experienced a few setbacks. The cool wet weather delayed the sprouting of the bean, squash, and cucumber seeds I planted two weeks ago. The beans have emerged reluctantly at last. I think the squash and cucumber seeds may have rotted in the cold soggy soil. I might have to replant them. It was too chilly to risk planting out my tomatoes and peppers last Monday as I’d planned. They languished on the back porch, growing more and more spindly. Finally it warmed into the 70's on Saturday and I planted them. They look sad – like anemic, long-legged, skinny children sent outside to play. A couple of tomato plants wilted immediately and may not make it. Those that survive will need extra coddling to make them healthy.
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| My poor tomatoes. |
The pests have been hard at work. We have an abundance of rodents suddenly – red squirrels and chipmunks, that is not rats and mice, at least not yet. One morning I looked out and there were six red squirrels at the bird feeders – two adults and four young ones. I will admit that red squirrels and chipmunks are cute, but their bad habits far outweigh their cuteness. They can empty a bird feeder in a matter of minutes. They dig in my flowerpots. They get into the woodshed and the house. I hate to hear them scampering in the walls and in the ceiling. I will set some live traps and start a rodent relocation program tomorrow.
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| The first rose of summer opened this morning. |
A woodchuck has taken up residence somewhere in the field across the street from the Shillig’s house. It has ventured into my garden several times. It always scurries back across the road when it sees me. It had better stay on its side of the road. Nothing can devastate a garden more quickly and thoroughly than a woodchuck. I might have to hunt him down and dispatch him. He knows where my cabbage patch is.
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| The luscious mock orange bushes are in bloom. |
The biggest pest I’m dealing with is really the BIGGEST pest of them all – deer. I never see them, but most mornings there are fresh deer tracks through all the flower beds and through the vegetable gardens. They’ve been nibbling the lower branches of the apple trees. I bought some repellent spray. It does smell repellent – to me anyway. The deer don’t seem bothered by it. I will have to find stronger remedies. I hate feeling like I’m at war with nature, but most wild creatures are incompatible with vegetable gardens, flower beds, and orchards.
The people Stacey works for are having windows replaced in their house. They are giving the old windows to me. I will make a greenhouse out of them. I picked up the first batch last week. The rest I’ll probably pick up during the week ahead. I’ve never built anything like this before. I’ve looked at different sites online to get some ideas. This is going to be a learning experience for me. I hope it doesn’t turn out to be a disaster.
The people Stacey works for are having windows replaced in their house. They are giving the old windows to me. I will make a greenhouse out of them. I picked up the first batch last week. The rest I’ll probably pick up during the week ahead. I’ve never built anything like this before. I’ve looked at different sites online to get some ideas. This is going to be a learning experience for me. I hope it doesn’t turn out to be a disaster.
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| My future greenhouse. |
Early this morning Jillian, Phi, and Freyja left. They are on a road trip west where they will eventually join Dax in a new home in California. They have been living next door since last November. We will miss them. It will be quieter and lonelier around here now.
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| Good-bye to Jillian, Phi, and Freyja. |
It is warm today – in the 80's. The warm sunshine feels nice. It’s supposed to stay warm all week, so I’ve revised my project list and will switch from doing Indoor Spring Cleaning to doing the Warm Weather Outdoor Projects for a while. That will include painting the back porch tomorrow and power washing the moss and algae off the siding on the house on Tuesday. We’ll see what happens after that.
