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Thoughts Leading up to the Women's Conference
This week, the upcoming women’s conference was formally announced at member’s night. I sat in amusement as I saw ladies shift in their seats and turn to their friends with puzzled and excited looks. You see, it has been just over four years since our last conference. I remember sitting through the talks being constantly distracted by contractions as my full term baby boy was three days away from making his debut into the world. This conference has been a…
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Bluebird Box
This morning I spotted a pair of bluebirds checking out the box I hung last spring. Last spring, I hung the box just a little too late in the season and it’s been empty all year. Sadly, after snagging this picture, my boys went screaming through the backyard, and the bluebirds flew off. I’ve enticed the boys back inside with animal crackers and Curious George, just to give the nesters a chance to realize my yard isn’t that terrifying. I’m…
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Dutch Iris
My favorite flowers are Dutch Irises and now Dwarf Irises. I’ve always loved the deeply colored ones, and every year am adding a couple more to the shady front yard. Last spring I tried a mix of yellow, white and purple Dwarf Irises, which grew tall behind my rosemary and lavender. I’ve moved half of them to a sunnier location and just added this one to the mix: Dutch Iris, Miss Saigon. It is suppose to be under two feet…
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More and more flowers
Flowers are quickly taking over my kitchen garden. I suppose that is okay. Many of them are spring blooming and will have died back before the summer growing season gets under way. This has now been planted out front for the summer!
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A Shrew!
I found this by the deck steps this afternoon: One of my students identified it as a Least Shrew, and based on the Smithsonian’s list of shrew species, I think it could be either the Least Shrew or the Southern Short-tailed Shrew. It is ironic that I should discover this the day after boasting of my garden’s plethora of earth worms. The shrew’s diet consists heavily of grubs, worms and beetles. Since they are mainly carnivorous, I don’t need to…
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Signs your soil is healthy
Last summer when we dug up a new area for the vegetable garden, I decided to quit using pesticides on my vegetables. I had never used them heavily, but as I read about the potential damage to bees and nematodes, I couldn’t see how hurting the things that pollinate the plants and the things that nourish the soil had any real benefit. I’ve also switched to mainly organic sources of nutrients as opposed to conventional chemical fertilizers. Composted manure and…
