May 26

I wasn't expecting to work too much in the yard this weekend. The forecast kept saying "rain, rain, and more rain" and I interpreted that to mean that it would rain.

Silly me, believing those funny weather guys.

Saturday morning dawned dry, so we packed up and headed out to a giant nursery up in Snohomish. There I finally found some tomato plants, though they were not the plants I was looking for.

I wanted to do just cherry tomatoes this year, maybe romas, but that was it - it seems that anything larger just doesn't seem to ripen in my yard.

The nursery, though acres and acres in size, had no cherry tomato plants to be found. They did have romas, and something called Jullian - which look like romas only longer and thinner. I also picked up a yellow pear tomato plant (looks like they are pear shaped, and slightly larger than cherry) and a mystery plant labeled simply "yellow".

They also did not have any zucchini plants - yellow squash, but no zucchini.

Wha?!? Either they sold out, or the weather has just been so bad that the greenhouses aren't moving.

We made it back to the house about mid-afternoon, and still no rain... so I went to work in the back digging holes and removing the wild foxgloves from the garden beds.

Last year I put up these posts with the nylon lattice for the tomato plants and they tipped under the weight of the plants. This year I dug them into the ground further, and spread the plants further so hopefully we won't have a repeat of last year.

First, here is an update of the herb garden (freshly weeded - those forget-me-nots are prolific as hell) I added a few basil plants.



Here is the beginning of the Tomato Wall.



A couple of the plants were actually quite large to begin with, and I sprang for those to help get a jump start on my garden (since my growing season is so short) The two little squigilly guys are a couple of yellow squash plants. My lettuce is growing pretty well... it hasn't been eaten by critters yet, so I guess that's good, eh?

May 4, 2008

Upon further investigation of the path next to the house, I did find hoof prints towards the front of the yard, where I know I did not see the deer jump. The trail shows where he jumped from a lower part of the hill to the path. About 10 minutes prior to seeing our visitor at my rose bush I recall hearing what I *thought* was Dan coming home through the back door, but then he didn't walk in the door so I didn't think much of it. I realize now that it was likely the sounds of hooves on my deck that I was hearing.

I've moved some of the yard waste cans to block the path. I realize the deer can technically jump the cans easily, but I also placed my wood-carrier (metal "U" shaped) at a distance from the cans that would make jumping look like a bad idea.

Hopefully.

This is my 4th season in this house, and I finally have a real honest to goodness herb garden planted.

Angle One:


And from the other side:



I went a little crazy buying herbs today... some of them smelled just too good to pass up. When I arrived home with my new additions I walked past the fire pit and was surprised to see that some of the herbs I thought died out over the winter had actually come back. So, those are moved up to the beds as well.

I also learned today that dill is an annual, not a perennial... which explains why my dill never comes back. (One would think I would have noticed that little tidbit of information sooner *rolling eyes*)

I've also tempted fate by planting lettuce (that little row of leafy stuff where the dirt is turned over in the back bed)

The nursery doesn't have much in the way of summer veggies yet because of our extended cold weather... maybe next weekend!

Oh, and we were discussing the ugliness of the cinder blog garden bed edge, and how I am constantly battling the grass that wants to grow inside the blocks. We have thought about covering the tops with wood (which would look nice, but I think it would not last long, and attract bugs) and I've thought about just taking some of the larger rocks around the yard and covering over the tops (but Dan is convinced the grass will still grow from underneath) We've also thought about filling them with dirt and planting flowers all the way around, but I realized today that leaning over the wall to actually work in the garden part would be near impossible for me.

Today Dan suggested we just get capstones. I'm liking that idea.

May 1, 2008

You know what I could use a nice, fresh from the garden raspberry sauce on?

Venison. Doesn't that sound yummy? I sure think it does.

Gee... I wonder where I could pick up some nice... fresh venison.

Hmm... maybe if I set up a bear trap next to my rose bush, I could snatch up a nice fresh bit of venison.

*sigh*

I'm not trying to sound evil... well... maybe a little (though I should feel bad about my thoughts, particularly given what my friend Foz just recently went through at his job) however... I'm relatively ticked off at the deer that I found in my back yard.

You know, the back yard that has been fenced off to prevent deer from wandering through?

Granted, we are not entirely gated off. There is about a 6 foot span of space on the side of our house that is only blocked by a make-shift temporary fence to keep deer out until such time as Dan can finish that gate. This area is a steep slope, ending in a retaining wall that leaves about a 3 foot wide path to walk down along the side of the house. Technically they could jump from the slope down into the fire pit in the back yard, step up to the deck and be in the yard... however the deer around here are lazy, and tend to avoid being that close to the house. I've watched them from my dining room... several times... wander along that slope, hit the temp fence, and wander back. Why jump into what is clearly a "human zone" when there is so much nature to mope around in?

The deer today is apparently of the ambitious sort. I didn't see where he came in from.. but there are only 3 possibilities.

1) Since the undergrowth of the neighbor's house has been cleared, it now has enough room to get a running start and leap the 8 foot chain link into our yard.

2) It came from the side of the house and actually wandered in through the fire pit, up onto the deck, and into the yard

or

3) It squeezed through the space between our fence post and the neighbor's fence post (which from a distance doesn't look that wide, but this sucker was kinda skinny)

If he jumped, there is nothing we can do. The neighbor's yard is actually fenced all the way around with 8 foot chain link... but a tree came down in one section way in the back and deer have been leaping over that kink in the fence and into their yard regularly. Since the fence is down, they don't let their retriever run the yard (he's on a running line) so the dog can't keep the deer out unless they fix their fence (which in theory would keep the deer out anyway)

If he came up the side of the house, we could resolve that by finishing the fence. I presumed he came in that way, so when I walked him out of the yard that's the direction I herded him. He got to our side of the temp fence and paused... looking down, judging the distance, looking at me, looking down, looking at me... finally he jumped from the top of the fire pit wall to the path next to the house, and then immediately back up just on the other side of the temp fence. So... even while being chased from the yard, it was reluctant to walk along the side of the house, favoring the hill.

I saw no evidence that he came in that direction. I could find no hoof prints in the gravel, no indication that it walked along the side of the house, nothing showing where it might have gone from the fire pit to the yard. There is also nothing eaten on that half of the yard.

So I walked the yard and found he had eaten stuff on the other side... just a few nips here and there of the tops of some plants under the trees to the left... and of course my rose bush. I stood at my rose bush and looked back towards the plants he ate in the next bed over... and the next thing in my line of site beyond that spot is the corner of the fence, with the 1.5 foot gap.

Over the past few weeks we've found evidence that someone's dog has been in the back yard as well... so I put a call in to Dan (who also thinks venison sounds yummy) and he has added "fix weak point in fence" on his list of things to do this weekend.

So far the deer hasn't gotten to my raspberry stand... so here's hoping.