Oh, My!

Rhizomes, pips, seeds, and bulbs were planted today; the tubers were yesterday.*  I forgot to call to see about having mulch and soil delivered. Hopefully I will remember and it can get here before the next frost. I’m so happy that I got so much planted. I still have some more to plant on another day. Other happy things for today:

• 

  Flying turkey.

  
  
• Nanni, the brown tabby, woke me this morning. It may have been so I could hear Aesop, the dog, whining and wanting to go out. For this first short walk we saw some turkeys. Aesop scared them and they flew away. At least one ended up in a tree.

He is still trying to get up.

He's safe up in a tree!

• There are some flowers that I only seem to see blooming when I walk Aesop in the morning. According to Lens they are either white campion or night-flowering catchfly. My initial research says that both of these bloom at night. Maybe I will find the time to get more information before winter.

• Frost covered the ground this morning.

• Sunset set the trees aglow.

It was a good day.

☮

Currently reading:  Mount Washington A Guide and Short History, by Peter E. Randall.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

*Rhizomes---iris

pips---lily-of-the-valley

bulbs---tulips, crocus, paperwhite (narcissus)

tubers---daylily 

seeds---cereal rye (winter cover crop in the garden)

Where is the Foliage?

 On days that I don't work and return to what some might consider a 'normal' sleep schedule, I get up real early.  This morning as I make my way downstairs I notice how bright the moon is by the shadows it is casting.  Sometime in the next few minutes I remember I have a new phone, with a new camera, and I could see how it performs in the night.  I step outside in my bathrobe and notice how amazingly fresh the air is and the constellation Orion.  Another step and there is the moon, above Orion.  I take a couple pictures and retreat back into the house before a car drives by.  

As with my last phone camera,
the moon seems to create another light.
Most of Orion is visible,
even with the waning gibbous moon.

Other things that I am happy for today:

• There was to much time spent down the internet rabbit hole this morning.  I was able to find a blog I keep forgetting to follow.  I am happy to have found again, Fabled Practice.
• Another thing I was able to do while in that rabbit hole was to update my Amazon wish list a little.
• Yesterday I finished clearing an area of rhizomes, tubers, and pips.  Today I replanted some.  They have room to grow and I have a bunch of rhizomes, tubers, and pips to plant in other places.  Hopefully this will happen before they go bad.

The irises in the back, then daylilies.
Closest are the lily-of-the-valley
 that are mostly underground.
I put the pitchfork there as
 a rough measurement.

Close up of a pip.

• Aesop, the dog, decided that eating snowberries would be a good thing.  He seems fine and probably didn't get any because the cone he is wearing makes it hard to reach somethings.  According to one website I saw the berries often pass through without the toxins being absorbed.  As far as I can tell, I cut down all the branches from the offending plant.  One less thing to worry about for now.

Snowberries.
They remain on the plant all winter.
Some animals and birds can eat them.

Snowberry flower.

This is the one quince on the bush that the
 snowberries seemed to be taking over.
It will need more work if we decide to try to save it.

• I forced myself out for a walk so I could get my step count.  I checked Facebook while I was out and in my memories was a picture of last year's foliage.  I went out and tried to match the spot to get another picture to compare.  I couldn't get the exact spot, but there is a big difference in foliage.

This is from last year,
September 27, 2020.

This was taken today-
September 27, 2021.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Rhizomes and Tubers and Pips, Oh, My!

 There is a large-ish section by the driveway that has flowers growing there that I have wanted to thin.  The plants came in very crowded and I had no way of knowing when the last time they were thinned.  My plan was to do the section with the irises, daylilies, and lily-of-the-valley.  I haven't measured, but I'd guess around an eight by three or four foot section between the driveway, roses, wall, and shed.  I have managed to pull just about everything out of a section from the roses that is about two feet or so wide to the wall.  Things were VERY rootbound.  I'm thrilled that I got this much done and have decided that this section is enough for this year.  Here are some things I am happy about concerning the thinning:

• I learned a bit about rhizomes, tubers, and pips.  The rhizomes are parts of the irises and can be partially uncovered from the soil.  The daylillies have tubers that look vaguely like carrots.  The lily-of-the-valley have pips and they have so many roots that grow from them and tangle together.
• I set a limit as to how far to go with thinning.  I did this before becoming completely overwhelmed.  
• Once I set that limit as to how much to thin, I realized that if I totally mess up this thinning process, all is not lost, there is still the rest of the section that is overrun with rhizomes and tubers and pips, oh, my!

Rhizomes... and at least one pip.

Tubers

The cleared section.

Other things I am happy about today:

• Yesterday the case for my phone arrived and I put it on the phone.  Today after working in the dirt of the garden and being outside a bunch it was dirty.  It was the coolest thing to be able to take the phone in its case and rinse it off to remove the debri.  Waterproof phone case, yay!
• Plans are under way to invite people into our SCA household.  I hope they say yes.
• Turkeys in the yard!

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.


Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.