work outside

Turned my compost pile. Thought a post was missing that holds up the perimeter of the bin container- but it was actually broken a third from the top, and bent down inside the edge. Don't know how that happened. This was my process, same as last time but I don't recall if I wrote it down: pull off the perimeter and move to the new spot. Lay small sticks or dry stems (usually from monarda, echinacea or pye weed trimming) in the bottom of the new bin space. Pull and shovel all material out of the other, smaller metal bin under the deck (where fresh kitchen waste goes- it has a sealed lid). Dump that into the wheelbarrow, ferry to the new bin spot, shovel into the base. Take all the unfinished stuff off the top of the old compost pile, put into the new bin spot. Sifting out sticks along the way, which get carried back over to the metal bin, to be the new base of that one. When I finally get down to mostly unrecognizable stuff, mostly blackened, with just a few leaf bits solid in the bottom of the old pile, it's ready to go into the garden. 

It wasn't as much this year- or just got compressed down- I can't remember if I dug this out in spring- maybe that's why . . .

I'm pretty satisfied with my process now, though it confounds my husband when he helps me with it (last year, when I had no energy). Basically, I use the smaller metal bin for fresh kitchen waste, any food material- because animals can't get in there. The big bin in the rear of the yard, gets leaves and yard waste only. Until it's time to turn the pile, then the metal bin contents get shifted to be the bottom of the new pile where it gets buried very deep and keeps breaking down until it's time to turn the pile all over again. I think this helps keep pests out of my pile- there's still a hole in the side of the plastic bin perimeter where something chewed to get in once . . . especially in the winter.

I only shoveled out a fifth of the compost so far, into the wheelbarrow and left up by the garden overnight. Too tired to continue, plus I saw a wren poking around in the metal bin's base of stems (before I shut the lid) and thought I'll leave the exposed garden soil for a day, let the birds pick through that perhaps. I'd scraped up all the mulch off the garden beds, pulled some dead plants and weeds. Left the dill (looking lovely!) one swiss chard and one collards plant, one big borage that regrew in fall, and a half dozen white nicotiana (self-seeded). 

Tomorrow I will spread the compost on all the beds, then some grass clippings/leaf mulch back over it, and maybe dig more rocks into the base of the bed edges again. Lots more work to do with that.

I found that one of my pathetic kidney bean plants, actually made beans in the pod. But they're not red. I picked it too soon, should have let stay on the plant to dry out.

There's lots of maple and oak leaves to start raking up. I was concerned that I'll forget where my new young plants are back there on the slope- the elephant's foot, st. john's wort and sumac. But I found the first two stand up just tall enough above the litter I can see them well (if I remember to pay attention) and the little sumac has flame-red leaves now since the first frost:

So it really stands out.

a few things

in the garden- not much, but there is stuff growing. One blue collard from last year, actually producing since I took all the catmint out of bed eight. (Ate most of this with salmon and quinoa for dinner). There were green caterpillars. I plucked them all off, and fed the two smallest to Tucker.

Big soft leaves of nicotiana. The borage has succumbed to something - heat a few weeks ago, or insect onslaught- but the nicotianas are fine. Self-seeded into several garden beds and since I wasn't planting, I just let them be.

Some herbs that weren't looking so great at the end of summer heat, are doing better now- sculpit, which I cut back to remove all the funny balloon flowers- 

and winter savory in particular- this one so hard to get a good picture of. I'm considering giving it a severe cutback, trying to plant the main stem as a cutting, and restart the original plant branching out further down. Not sure if I will loose it, though. In spring, maybe.

I do miss having sage and rosemary. Will have to try again with those . . . 

Look at this surprise. Even though the plants are scrawny, got their leaves eaten continually by deer and/or rabbits, and look stricken from aphids or some other pest, there's quite a few skinny little beans forming.

And these two pods look like they actually might give me the beans. It's the kidney beans I planted on a whim one day, at the wrong time of year too. Ha!

some work

I've finally got out in the garden to start doing a bit of work again. Yesterday I cleaned up three of the beds, mostly pulling weeds, where I did a silly thing a month ago. On a whim I planted kidney beans. We've been eating the end of an older package of the dry beans, and I'd been tossing the unsuitable ones into the compost bin. Where some of them sprouted. So I thought hey, if the beans will sprout in my bin, won't they sprout in the ground. And beans will grow fast, like the heat, without needing much attention. So on a day when I really shouldn't have been working, I cleared the ground in three beds, made rows of holes with a stick, and sowed a few dozen kidney beans. No idea if the climate here is good for them, if they'll mature in time (planted late!) or anything, and it was a bad idea that day to do physical labor, even though it wasn't much. It was too much for me. 

But look! Two of the beds, about half the beans sprouted. Ha. That does feel satisfying.

That day I also cut back the dill, which had grown into a towering thing with drying brown umbrels of seed. Tall just like in that book I looked at disbelieving two years ago. I saved the seed.

It's much tidier around there now. I also cut back the lovage which was towering over my head and full of yellowed, bug-attacked leaves. That was all yesterday. Today I trimmed grass edge around four of the beds, and used it as mulch on the beans. I cut back the catmint which was going crazy and flopping all over the place, too tall. The ones I puzzled over earlier in the summer? Also catmint, they look just the same now. This little plant 

did grow up into blue sage! Cheers me to see it, even if there's only one.

In the herb bed I cut back the lemon balm which was making leggy seed stalks, and the sculpit whose balloon flowers were flopping all over the top of other plants, and happily saw the winter savory is thriving again! I trimmed that one a bit just to encourage spread. Trimmed lavender back from the edge but going to do a proper pruning later when I can take more care for the shape.

I startled a rabbit out of the perennials when carrying stuff back to dump in the compost bin. Found a yellowish toad when I was trimming grass edges. And saw the most beautiful thing- a brilliantly gold beetle. It looks like a ladybird that's a jewel. Not kidding, it's spectacular. There were two. I caught one and took inside put in a jar (with a loose lid) to identify. Came back the next morning to take a photo before setting it free- and it had changed color. Now a duller orangish tan with translucent edges and faint spots. I'd read they do that, but hadn't expected to see it. I hope I find another one and get a photo of the gold color, it was just so stunning.

There's a giant squash growing in bed nine. At least, I think it's a squash. I thought it was a volunteer zucchini, from the year before. The leaves are wrong- they're too round and not notched enough. It does have the big yellow flowers just like a squash, but only one plant so don't know if I'll get any fruit to find out. 

There's lots more to catch up on, but that little bit of work just got me so tired- in a good way! I'm happy to be physically tired from actual work again, instead of dragging tired from illness and recovery. 

My milkweeds are tall and robust and making fat fuzzy-edged seedpods. But no sign of monarch caterpillars. I feel like I always expect them too early, so will check again! 

Up the railings to the deck, the handful of cardinal climber I planted late, is finally getting its height. But no flowers yet. And no hummingbirds. The blue salvia on smaller sideyard is in flower, but I just haven't been out there enough to see if the hummingbird visits. I'm sad to think it might have gone to forage elsewhere for the season because I didn't have cardinal climber growing for it yet.

Last thing to note: I learned this week that I can soften crystalized honey in my greenhouse, and melt butter for a baking recipe, and put dough in there to rise. But it's not quite hot enough to melt candle wax out of the bottom of a jar! (Worth a try, I thought).