the empty garden

It's kind of eerie. It looks like the squirrels are avoiding my garden space! I dug and smoothed the dirt to turn in some compost- and it remains untouched. I sprinkled hot pepper mix but don't think it was needed. I do believe the rue is keeping them away.

I have sad proof: my daughter's gerbil lives in the basement room, and for past month or so I thought it was getting sick, or finally growing old. It wasn't eating much, rarely came out and ran around the cage, and when I did see it, had the eyes squinted half-shut, fur rumpled and just looked unwell. Then I moved the young rue plants to a different room- and next day suddenly the gerbil was bright-eyed, lively, eager to run up out of the bedding area when I moved its food dish. I bet the rue smell was making the gerbil feel sick. And I bet it does the same to the squirrels. I have seen a few in the very back of my yard, along the fence, and the one that has its drey in a tree on the edge of the perennial bed scolds at me. But they don't come poking in the garden anymore!

Also, when I turned the soil, I did not find a single japanese beetle larva. So far. Thrilled.

I'm in the middle of a project to rebuild all my raised garden beds. Tired of them looking uneven, mismatched, and soil washing out through gaps where I used those keystone-shaped edging bricks.

I splurged on a hundred 8 x 16 x 4" concrete blocks. I'm working on giving them two layers each side, of waterproofing sealant and then latex paint.

First I paint the flat side, then tip up and do the narrow edges, then over and do again . . .

It makes my arms very tired. Can't wait to finish the paint job, then I can start knocking down old walls and stacking these. Well, lining them up. Just one high, standing on end as in the last picture. They're thick and heavy enough to be stable that way (two of this size already part of the garden walls are evidence of that- while the wooden edges I put together last year are already falling down again). I know it will look rather plain, but I wanted the straight corners so they will sit very snug against each other, and a nice flat top edge I can rest things on or sit.

I'm considering painting them to match the house color, not sure yet.