It's not a garden, it's a zoo...
I think that a lot of my discouragement about the garden comes from a lifetime of gardening in Houston. By this time of the year, I'm used to plants that have been growing since at least April, and vegetables that are ripening like mad. (I think the soil there was probably a lot more nutrient-enriched, too - at least where I was gardening.) I'm trying to remember that the soil in most of our garden might as well be sterile for all the nourishment it contains, and the everything has been in the ground for less than 6 weeks, and in Houston I didn't have deer and slugs and rabbits and the FSM knows what else eating everything as soon as I planted it. Still, it's discouraging.
A lot of life is discouraging right now, and I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's moving malaise, and the stress of so much change and upheaval plus job worries on all sides. Perhaps it's hormonal - the IUD has helped immensely, but it's not a panacea. At any rate, I'm trying to get the moodiness and sadness under control, but it's a hard slog.
On the other hand, it's taken a few weeks, but we seem to have been successful in founding the bird corner of the garden. The corner by the house is the most protected space we have (south-facing, with the side of the cabin on the south side and the old chicken coop on the west and several pines to the east), and we plan to turn it into a giant kitchen herbs and tender vegetables garden, with several raised beds and a whole whack of pots. This is most likely where I will build the cold frames for seedlings and starts.
The soil is far too worthless to be any use for planting this year, so until we get a bunch of compost on it for the winter, we've been putting stuff in pots and working on luring the birds over there. Partly because the cats really dig the bird channel on cat TV, but mostly because birds are awesome in the garden, what with their pollinating and bug eating and droppings deliveries. We've got two seed feeders and a hummingbird feeder so far, plus a decorative crab apple tree that's supposed to be a bird favorite and lots of nesting areas around. I'll probably add a birdhouse or two next year, and a birdbath or fountain of some sort. I'd love to add some bat houses too, for more pest control, but have promised Rabbit that I will not. :)
The chipmunks like the seed feeders too. At least, I think they are chipmunks - they're about half the size of grey city squirrels, with red fur and black stripes and a fuzzy tail that is not bushy like a squirrel, but not bare like a rat. There's at least one that hangs out under the seed feeders munching whatever the birds drop, and may in fact be living under/on the porch. He's remarkably unfazed by human activity, and scampers all over the bed and porch even when I'm out here.
Faerieworlds is next weekend, and we've begun getting ready in earnest. Today I start packing, beginning with cleaning out and restocking the hair and makeup kit. (Yes, it's huge. But it's not really, when you consider that it is a kit for three people. In that light, it's just well-organized.) I've got more to work with than I realized for costuming, though I still fear that I will look like a tourist alongside those who have been going for years. But I have two sets of wings now, and Arren got cute little horns for Rabbit and I. If I'm lucky, my kilt will be ready in time to take with us, or perhaps I can pick it up and wear it unhemmed for this trip. (Well, not strictly unhemmed, just hemmed too long for me.)
Finally, if you're in the market for a new Macbook, check out this ad: http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/sys/1288677146.html. I know the guy selling it, and can vouch that it is indeed not a scam or nefarious plot to steal someone's computer. I know I don't have huge numbers of Mac users on my list, but I thought I'd pass it on.
A lot of life is discouraging right now, and I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's moving malaise, and the stress of so much change and upheaval plus job worries on all sides. Perhaps it's hormonal - the IUD has helped immensely, but it's not a panacea. At any rate, I'm trying to get the moodiness and sadness under control, but it's a hard slog.
On the other hand, it's taken a few weeks, but we seem to have been successful in founding the bird corner of the garden. The corner by the house is the most protected space we have (south-facing, with the side of the cabin on the south side and the old chicken coop on the west and several pines to the east), and we plan to turn it into a giant kitchen herbs and tender vegetables garden, with several raised beds and a whole whack of pots. This is most likely where I will build the cold frames for seedlings and starts.
The soil is far too worthless to be any use for planting this year, so until we get a bunch of compost on it for the winter, we've been putting stuff in pots and working on luring the birds over there. Partly because the cats really dig the bird channel on cat TV, but mostly because birds are awesome in the garden, what with their pollinating and bug eating and droppings deliveries. We've got two seed feeders and a hummingbird feeder so far, plus a decorative crab apple tree that's supposed to be a bird favorite and lots of nesting areas around. I'll probably add a birdhouse or two next year, and a birdbath or fountain of some sort. I'd love to add some bat houses too, for more pest control, but have promised Rabbit that I will not. :)
The chipmunks like the seed feeders too. At least, I think they are chipmunks - they're about half the size of grey city squirrels, with red fur and black stripes and a fuzzy tail that is not bushy like a squirrel, but not bare like a rat. There's at least one that hangs out under the seed feeders munching whatever the birds drop, and may in fact be living under/on the porch. He's remarkably unfazed by human activity, and scampers all over the bed and porch even when I'm out here.
Faerieworlds is next weekend, and we've begun getting ready in earnest. Today I start packing, beginning with cleaning out and restocking the hair and makeup kit. (Yes, it's huge. But it's not really, when you consider that it is a kit for three people. In that light, it's just well-organized.) I've got more to work with than I realized for costuming, though I still fear that I will look like a tourist alongside those who have been going for years. But I have two sets of wings now, and Arren got cute little horns for Rabbit and I. If I'm lucky, my kilt will be ready in time to take with us, or perhaps I can pick it up and wear it unhemmed for this trip. (Well, not strictly unhemmed, just hemmed too long for me.)
Finally, if you're in the market for a new Macbook, check out this ad: http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/sys/1288677146.html. I know the guy selling it, and can vouch that it is indeed not a scam or nefarious plot to steal someone's computer. I know I don't have huge numbers of Mac users on my list, but I thought I'd pass it on.