Yesterday was summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Up here in our neck of the woods it often feels like we have the longest winters and wettest, chilliest springs. For the last couple of summers we seemed to have a short and rainy one. Last year our vegetable garden did not fare well, our zucchini got moldy and rotted away and nothing ever grew into full fruition. We’ve been battling a huge infestation of grubs that turned our back lawn into a huge brown squishy mess. We tried to put Milky Spore on it last fall, but alas never had a dry day to do it! So this spring, hubby sprayed live nematodes on it and we are still waiting to see the results of that. I believe it’s working, and we’ll have to tackle it again in the fall if we’re lucky with the weather.
So far this year we’ve planted butter lettuce which is coming up nicely, broccoli, pole beans, tomatoes and some basil that a friend grew from seed. Fingers crossed, things are going well so far. I have never been adept at growing roses, and we quite frankly thought our three bushes in the back were dead. We trimmed them down to about a foot in the early spring but the stalks were so brown and twiggy, we thought they were indeed a lost cause. Surprisingly they grew offshoots and managed to just now bud and some are blooming! The little grubs I spoke of earlier that decimated our lawn also grow into invasive Asian Beetles that devour our precious rose leaves and petals. It’s maddening to me. One year I picked them off one by one every morning and put them in soapy water, and sprayed the bushes and roots with cedar oil. They came back the next year. I continued to pluck them off and my husband’s co worker gave him some beetle contraptions to hand around the garden on stakes to trap them. That worked somewhat but not as well as I thought. My hopes are dimming and I am growing weary of taking care of this back garden. It resembles a jungle now with all of the vinca vine and violets overtaking it. Grass grows in between all of that and it’s so crammed together nothing can breathe! I am constantly pulling weeds as I refuse to us any sort of poisonous weed killer. Someone send me a professional gardener!!!
We bought two tons of dirt last year for a garden around my husband’s long awaited flag pole. We only used about half of that so this year we used the rest in a garden we made out front near the the driveway and fence. It’s really lovely to come up the driveway and immediately see pretty flowers. This one is doing very well as it’s a full sun garden. I transplanted some day lilies that weren’t blooming so well in the shady front yard and they’re loving it there. I’m trying to make it mostly native plants that attract bees and butterflies since both species are dwindling and it’s important that everyone help them out when possible. The hummingbirds are growing in number too. It seems we have quite a few more than in previous years. I love sitting on the porch watching their little aerial antics, like little squeaky, feathered fighter jets dive bombing each other.
The best part of living in the country in summer is seeing the wildlife. So far this year we’ve seen black bears, deer, porcupine, turtles and turkeys. In previous years we’ve had foxes and coyotes too. Someday I hope to see a moose crossing in the back yard. My mother in law said she saw a mountain lion in her back yard which is just a couple of miles from our house. And there are definitely bob cat living around this area as well. We usually have a family of turkey that come through our yard every day in the spring and summer and are fortunate to see their babies grow up all summer. I grew up watching Wild America with Marty Stouffer and The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams. I always wanted to live in the woods with wild animals like him, I wanted to BE Dan Haggerty ha ha! Well, this is as close as it gets and I’m good with that.
I’d better go tend to the gardens now, I will give an update on how things fared in the fall. Summer is here and as of now the sun is shining, so I am going to enjoy it while it lasts.
