Dulcinea Day
24 Dec 2021 07:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ursulas_alcoveI know many of you are celebrating various winter holidays. Today's post is in part because people have short memories. The PT guy said he couldn't remember a white Christmas. Well, the last one was in 2017. On the night of the blizzard, I was on my way to the compost pile when I almost stepped on this sweetheart.
She was so starved, she would have died in that snowstorm. We learned that Sheetz gas stations have all the supplies you need for a new cat on Christmas Eve. Fortunately, we already had some supplies on hand. Until we could get her de-flea'd, she moved into the front hall. She had her own space heater. We got her into the vet the following week. She was sick, on and off for several years. We finally found a cat food that gives her nutrition but doesn't offend her wild taste buds. She still doesn't vocalize at all. Totally silent. She may have been feral. She prefers turkey and fish. She is healthy now. (knock on wood)
There has been a lot going on in the garden this week. No new cats, but I got around to removing one of the barberry bushes. It's drying now so I can burn it next month. It's been in the 50s. No snow this year. I discovered a lot of clay. At first I thought about putting in a bush cherry. It would still be nice, but it would be too tall for the location. Instead, I went through the seed stash. I have black bachelor buttons, blue bachelor buttons (cornflowers), orange snapdragons and orange zinnias. I am going trying to create a little summer blooming meadow on the second tier of the front terrace. I have two more Barberries to remove. PA is considering making these illegal. They are invasive. Mine were suckering. I am done with these thorns. I do not want them in the compost either. The thorns take a long time to decompose.
In spring, I may take a layer of the clay off the top and add bags of raised bed soil. 28 years later, I am still mad at the landscaper who insisted he would get dirt to fill in my bed. I told him no, I'd make my own. Guys do not listen to women. Lesson learned. It is pure clay from the bank of a creek near his home. It's rich and thick enough for me to throw my own pots with. For now, I tossed in some sawdust and some sand. I can't break up the clay enough to mix it. I'm thinking about using it for cob. That is a project in the back of my head. If costs keep rising, it could happen next summer.
The Japanese maple is dying. It has had a couple of lifetimes already. It was dying when we moved in. My dad coppiced it to save it. The previous owner forgot she had a salt-water fish tank when she drained it. She killed the rhododendron and almost killed the tree. Since my dad was so proud of saving the tree, we couldn't in good conscious chop it down. Dad lived 5 years beyond that event and we haven't had the heart to let it go. Between cicada brood 17 and tent caterpillars, the tree is dying. Nothing lasts forever. Shelf fungus has moved in. I started the effort of cutting the deadwood before it falls on someone.
I took out one 8' branch, about 4" diameter today. I have the branch drying in the garage. I want to try building an arch with it. Colette at Beltaine Cottage did one last year. https://youtu.be/mjTRO7AaH4g
I think I could manage one. Like I said, everything will be getting more expensive. Might as well learn to do a few more things for ourselves and learn to leave consumerism behind. I have two more branches to do. With a simple hand saw, cutting does not go fast. I will have to figure out where the fourth branch will come from. It might just be a mulberry branch. The mulberry tree needs trimming too.
Chronograph and I talked about how to handle the front yard changing. Some plants depend on shade. Both south and western sun will be hard on the blueberries and honey berries. It's possible that I just need to buy shade cloth for a short while. I decided to replace the Japanese maple with a full sized quince tree. The problem is, the new tree cannot occupy the same space as the old tree. It will take years to decay enough to replant in that location. We located a spot for the quince. I still have another spot that needs a tree, but a dwarf. Chrono is going to research pomegranates. The quince can grow as the maple slowly decays. Because the maple provides so much habitat for birds, I will not cut it down all at once. Some of it is still alive. I'll lose my Mandela shape though. That makes me sad. I'll have to play with patterns all over again.
My goal is to plant as many food trees as I can afford next year. They may not all make it, but I'm going to try. The front yard is 35 feet wide, including a walkway up the center. On the west side, I have a Liberty Apple, an Aronia, and a flowering quince bush. As much as that side has been worked over 28 years, you'd think the soil would be fantastic. It's not. There is still too much clay despite the sawdust, peat, and coffee grounds I've dumped on it. If we can find a pomegranate to plant, I will dig a big hole and fill it in with compost.
On the Japanese maple side, there is a Chicago fig and lots of fruit bushes. Black and red currants, rhubarb, honey berries, and blueberries. The hostas can go. I think they'd make good deer browse behind the garage where its shady. Near the rhubarb is where we've chose to plant the quince. The soil is good there. We created it from scratch. Lots of leaves, coffee grounds, sawdust, etc. I think it'll do well. Now comes the hard part, what variety of quince? A lot depends on who has what in stock.
That's what I did today. More trimming will happen after this week's rain. Hope you all have a great winter holiday of your preference!
She was so starved, she would have died in that snowstorm. We learned that Sheetz gas stations have all the supplies you need for a new cat on Christmas Eve. Fortunately, we already had some supplies on hand. Until we could get her de-flea'd, she moved into the front hall. She had her own space heater. We got her into the vet the following week. She was sick, on and off for several years. We finally found a cat food that gives her nutrition but doesn't offend her wild taste buds. She still doesn't vocalize at all. Totally silent. She may have been feral. She prefers turkey and fish. She is healthy now. (knock on wood)
There has been a lot going on in the garden this week. No new cats, but I got around to removing one of the barberry bushes. It's drying now so I can burn it next month. It's been in the 50s. No snow this year. I discovered a lot of clay. At first I thought about putting in a bush cherry. It would still be nice, but it would be too tall for the location. Instead, I went through the seed stash. I have black bachelor buttons, blue bachelor buttons (cornflowers), orange snapdragons and orange zinnias. I am going trying to create a little summer blooming meadow on the second tier of the front terrace. I have two more Barberries to remove. PA is considering making these illegal. They are invasive. Mine were suckering. I am done with these thorns. I do not want them in the compost either. The thorns take a long time to decompose.
In spring, I may take a layer of the clay off the top and add bags of raised bed soil. 28 years later, I am still mad at the landscaper who insisted he would get dirt to fill in my bed. I told him no, I'd make my own. Guys do not listen to women. Lesson learned. It is pure clay from the bank of a creek near his home. It's rich and thick enough for me to throw my own pots with. For now, I tossed in some sawdust and some sand. I can't break up the clay enough to mix it. I'm thinking about using it for cob. That is a project in the back of my head. If costs keep rising, it could happen next summer.
The Japanese maple is dying. It has had a couple of lifetimes already. It was dying when we moved in. My dad coppiced it to save it. The previous owner forgot she had a salt-water fish tank when she drained it. She killed the rhododendron and almost killed the tree. Since my dad was so proud of saving the tree, we couldn't in good conscious chop it down. Dad lived 5 years beyond that event and we haven't had the heart to let it go. Between cicada brood 17 and tent caterpillars, the tree is dying. Nothing lasts forever. Shelf fungus has moved in. I started the effort of cutting the deadwood before it falls on someone.
I took out one 8' branch, about 4" diameter today. I have the branch drying in the garage. I want to try building an arch with it. Colette at Beltaine Cottage did one last year. https://youtu.be/mjTRO7AaH4g
I think I could manage one. Like I said, everything will be getting more expensive. Might as well learn to do a few more things for ourselves and learn to leave consumerism behind. I have two more branches to do. With a simple hand saw, cutting does not go fast. I will have to figure out where the fourth branch will come from. It might just be a mulberry branch. The mulberry tree needs trimming too.
Chronograph and I talked about how to handle the front yard changing. Some plants depend on shade. Both south and western sun will be hard on the blueberries and honey berries. It's possible that I just need to buy shade cloth for a short while. I decided to replace the Japanese maple with a full sized quince tree. The problem is, the new tree cannot occupy the same space as the old tree. It will take years to decay enough to replant in that location. We located a spot for the quince. I still have another spot that needs a tree, but a dwarf. Chrono is going to research pomegranates. The quince can grow as the maple slowly decays. Because the maple provides so much habitat for birds, I will not cut it down all at once. Some of it is still alive. I'll lose my Mandela shape though. That makes me sad. I'll have to play with patterns all over again.
My goal is to plant as many food trees as I can afford next year. They may not all make it, but I'm going to try. The front yard is 35 feet wide, including a walkway up the center. On the west side, I have a Liberty Apple, an Aronia, and a flowering quince bush. As much as that side has been worked over 28 years, you'd think the soil would be fantastic. It's not. There is still too much clay despite the sawdust, peat, and coffee grounds I've dumped on it. If we can find a pomegranate to plant, I will dig a big hole and fill it in with compost.
On the Japanese maple side, there is a Chicago fig and lots of fruit bushes. Black and red currants, rhubarb, honey berries, and blueberries. The hostas can go. I think they'd make good deer browse behind the garage where its shady. Near the rhubarb is where we've chose to plant the quince. The soil is good there. We created it from scratch. Lots of leaves, coffee grounds, sawdust, etc. I think it'll do well. Now comes the hard part, what variety of quince? A lot depends on who has what in stock.
That's what I did today. More trimming will happen after this week's rain. Hope you all have a great winter holiday of your preference!
