Another Post?
12 Jul 2025 08:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ursulas_alcoveAfter yesterday's pop up storm, it got stupid humid. I paced myself. In the early morning hours, I trimmed back some lemon balm, Melissa officinalis. Since it covers a good percentage of my yard, no loss. More compost for next year.
After the rain, I noticed the deer had been nibbling on my cucumbers. I really want to make pickles this year. No, you don't get to eat my food! I took my tinker toy PVC pipes and made a house around the cucumbers. I used tulle for the walls. I am glad I spent the huge amount of money on the clips to go over the PVC. They've lasted a long time. I had to weed to even get through that area. More lemon balm and bunches of bittercress and curly dock. No, you can't get the roots out with curly dock. I did the best I could. There's a lot more to do.
Knowing that there is a deer about, I also shored up the front garden fence. In places, it is only 2 feet high which can easily be stepped over. I took apart a previous fence made of metal conduit. The wire grid is 6 ft by 4 ft. I had used it with 6 ft going across in the backyard. This time, I reconfigured it to 4 ft wide and 6 ft high. I had to cut down a piece of conduit to fit. Sawing with a hack saw in the heat is not for the faint of heart. I was dripping. But I have my fence. I installed it with rebar and zip ties. I added a secondary fence inside the circle with the old panels. Deer are hesitant to jump fences when they can't see a landing spot. If you can't manage a 6 or 8 ft high fence, a double fence of 4 ft high, spaced a ways apart can work. Near the place with the free pallets, several ingenious gardeners did just that. Their yards are flat. Mine is not. It is too easy for a deer to jump things on a downward slope. I digress.
Now I have a spot and a trellis to plant my stragglers. There is a watermelon that needs a home and a honeynut squash. Four feet wide should provide just the right amount of space. Since today is another stupidly hot day,, I'll wait to plant them into the ground until tonight. The forecast is for 90 degrees today and 84 degrees tomorrow with rain and thunderstorms.
There's work to be done even in the heat. Time to do it while it's still cool.
After the rain, I noticed the deer had been nibbling on my cucumbers. I really want to make pickles this year. No, you don't get to eat my food! I took my tinker toy PVC pipes and made a house around the cucumbers. I used tulle for the walls. I am glad I spent the huge amount of money on the clips to go over the PVC. They've lasted a long time. I had to weed to even get through that area. More lemon balm and bunches of bittercress and curly dock. No, you can't get the roots out with curly dock. I did the best I could. There's a lot more to do.
Knowing that there is a deer about, I also shored up the front garden fence. In places, it is only 2 feet high which can easily be stepped over. I took apart a previous fence made of metal conduit. The wire grid is 6 ft by 4 ft. I had used it with 6 ft going across in the backyard. This time, I reconfigured it to 4 ft wide and 6 ft high. I had to cut down a piece of conduit to fit. Sawing with a hack saw in the heat is not for the faint of heart. I was dripping. But I have my fence. I installed it with rebar and zip ties. I added a secondary fence inside the circle with the old panels. Deer are hesitant to jump fences when they can't see a landing spot. If you can't manage a 6 or 8 ft high fence, a double fence of 4 ft high, spaced a ways apart can work. Near the place with the free pallets, several ingenious gardeners did just that. Their yards are flat. Mine is not. It is too easy for a deer to jump things on a downward slope. I digress.
Now I have a spot and a trellis to plant my stragglers. There is a watermelon that needs a home and a honeynut squash. Four feet wide should provide just the right amount of space. Since today is another stupidly hot day,, I'll wait to plant them into the ground until tonight. The forecast is for 90 degrees today and 84 degrees tomorrow with rain and thunderstorms.
There's work to be done even in the heat. Time to do it while it's still cool.
