From the Garden

I spent a couple of hours this morning puttering in the garden beds, doling out TLC to the flowers and veggies that have been neglected of late. We dug out the stump of the Mugo Pine I lopped into oblivion a couple of weeks ago. (It deserved it!) Then I dead-headed and pruned my way around the front yard. It’s been a stellar year for the Hostas and the Daylillies. Most years my Daylillies have come and gone by the beginning of August but the cloudy, wet weather delayed and prolonged their bloom this year and that is just fine with me! I also whacked back the Spring pansy pots and will transplant them into the window box that formerly held the lettuce, which has bolted and is now compost. The pumpkin seems to have succumbed to the wet leaving the Hubbard Squash to fend for itself in the back. The tomatoes were sprawling way beyond the support I had provided so I tied them to the shed. I harvested 4 SunGolds the day we returned from New York and there are several more about ready.

So far, the deer seem to have only eaten the tops off the raspberries, an annual rite of summer. We had a brood of turkeys march through on Saturday, but they don’t disturb much other than the peace, which is how I knew they were out there! The skunks are doing a number on the SO’s precious lawn, another expected but disturbing rite of summer.

I find the older I get the more selective I must be about the weather when I attempt a gardening project. Gone are the days when I can work in high heat or humidity..I just wilt like last night’s salad! And I can’t devote an entire day to any one project. Oh, that I could! Then, perhaps, my raspberries would be weed-free and well contained. My asparagus and rhubarb would be well-fertilized with Rainbow Valley Farm compost. That bed by the telephone pole by the road would be long renovated and the Hostas and Daylillies currently residing there would have found homes elsewhere. And the bed in the back would also be weed-free and well mulched. But I figure no matter how much I do in the yard, there will always be things added to the end of the list. We are dealing with living things here!