flyfisher51's Blog
flyfisher51's Blog
Last Post 1 day, 11 hours Ago
Aug 18, 2008 | 5:25 PM PST
Tag: August 18th.
We got back from the Philadelphia Folk Festival at noon today We stayed at a friends house about a mile from the fest. This allows us to walk if we happen to party a little too much. We did come home every day to feed the cats, water the gardens, feed the critters, and to shower. We were supposed to get heavy rain on Friday so we stayed at the house and partied. We had some live music at the house that night but in the end the rain never materialized and we missed what would have been a good concert. Saturday afternoons concert was headlined by Steve Earle with Allison Moore opening. Saturday Night we got up late and missed Tom Paxton, but saw Kathy Mattea, The Felice Brothers, Janis Ian, Espers and Judy Collins. Sundays Cocert we missed the first act but saw; Trout Fishing in America, Compadres, BeauSoliel avec Michael Doucet, Kimya Dawson, Vanaver Caravan, Hoots and Hellmouth, and Great Big Sea. For the three concerts I saw there was only one act I did not like. The rest were entertaining if not excellant.
The Cosmos are dying in the side garden. They are being smothered in one section by the Morning Glories. I have not had a chance to check out why. The Morning Glories that returned from last year are starting to bloom. The other flowers are all doing great. The Gazanias never got as tall as promised and are hidden behind some of the other flowers. I like their flowers so I will have to come up with a different spot to put them next year.
I am going to start harvesting some hops tomorrow and drying them., They are the big enough but I can't smell a strong aroma on the cones. That is why I will dry some to find if the smell comes later. The Morning Glory on the Hop Trellis is the only one that is not flowering.
The herbs are doing great and in the vegitable garden I have four new zucchini and one winter squash grwing 7 feet up on my neighbors cedar tree The vine jumped from the fence to the tree.
The critters were very entertaining this week when we were home. The Hummingbird has been coming to the feeder. My wife first saw it on Tuesday, I saw it Thursday at 7:30 PM. Today when I was eating lunch it stopped and perched on our pine tree. I have to put perches on the feeder. I am also putting less juice in the feeder because the bird doesn't consume 8 ounces a week. I had a Goldfinch eating one of the cones on the pine tree. We are also getting alot of seeds off the trees. I watched a young House Finch try to land on the feeder. It gave up, landed on the Juniper bush and pecked at it. By today they were all able to land on it. The young male Cardinal is starting to develope his red plumage. Our back neighbor told my Wife that we have 4 raccoons. She is also waiting till morning to feed the birds and critters in order to discourage the raccoons. No sign of Bambi this week or the Fox, but the bunnies seem to be behaving themselves. I have to go take down the Squirrel log now, and get to bed early. Tomorrow I go back to work.
I hope eveyone has a good week.
Aug 10, 2008 | 12:11 PM PST
Tag: August 10th.
Mother Nature decided it was a good time for me to start the blog. She waited for me to finish my weeding before opening up the clouds.
I lost 3 zucchini plants and about 6 winter squash vines to the squash borer. One of my winter squash vines hit was the one with the squash on it. I removed most of the dead growth and the three zucchini plants. I still have 4 healthy zucchini plants and some nice winter squash vines. I have a squash growing in the forsythia next to the garden fence. The vine growing along the top f the fence was looking kind if beat, until I realized Bambi has been munching on the leaves and flowers. I sprayed more repellant around the top of the fence and in the forsythia bush.
I am not harvesting my hops quite yet. I am keeping a close eye on the hops and the lupine glands in them. Some of the larger hops don’t show the yellow dust from the glands, while some of the smaller ones are showing it
My wife went to the shore with a girlfriend on Thursday so I had the house to myself. I spent Thursday night downloading music onto my walkman from Napster and Friday night listening to it while I tied some flies for fishing yesterday. My wife wrecked my bachelor life by coming home at 11pm on Friday. I went fishing yesterday after running some errands. I took the canoe out and fished for a bit without success but it was a beautiful day to be on the water. I watched a Blue Heron catch and eat a frog and then catch and eat a fish. I was within 50 feet of him which is the closest I’ve been without startling them and having them fly away. I finished my trip paddling around the reservoir and enjoying the way the cumulus clouds looked above the water.
Bambi also tried to eat at the squirrel feeder this week. The corn meal log was chewed and knocked to the side. I remove it at night now and replace it the morning when I put the birdseed out. I watched a Red Belly Woodpecker feeding one of it’s young at the birdfeeder today. Also; while I was eating my breakfast in front of the box seat I saw a Humming Bird checking out the empty feeder. I refilled it and hopefully nothing will empty it other than the humming bird.
That’s it for now, happy gardening and have a good week.
Aug 3, 2008 | 6:12 PM PST
Tag: August 3rd.
It has been a busy weekend. I had to sneak time in the yard between trips to Doctors, family and friends. I bottled my last batch of homebrew on Friday night. It should be ready in two weeks, just in time for the Philadelphia Folk Festival. I will be spending next weekend on projects in the yard and garden because fest weekend I will not be home.
The cascade hops are doing fantastic. I expect to be harvesting some within two weeks. The northern brewer are not flowering as aggresively as the cascades, but I have two more months of growing season left if frost holds off to October like it did last year. I planted two morning glory plants at the hop trellis to fill in space and they were going gangbusters. This week something severed the one vine 6 inches from the ground. I am frustrated. I resprayed rabbit and deer repellant today because my recovering cone flowers are being nibbled on.
I have squash vine borers! I went to harvest the squash that was not ready last week only to find two mushy and rotted 6 inch fruits and a third that was starting to go.. No zucchini this week. I hope it is confined to the one end of the garden and does not infect the spaghetti squash. Up north we have but one outbreak a year. Hopefully the rest of the crop will do good. My grocer at the farm stand said to spread ash around plants now and in the garden this fall. I shared my one ripe tomatoes with a bird this week. He ate an almond sized chunk out of the top.
I raised the one bird feeder another 4 feet in order to discourage the squirrels. I will also put a cone at about 6 feet up. I am able to take the pole apart to load the feeder neatly. I can also stand on my toes and be sprinkled with seeds if I load it without taking it apart. I purchased a cheap plastic hummingbird feeder a few weeks back. Two weeks ago it was emptied. I found a feeder flower on the ground below it. I glued the flowers on last week and refilled it. I have not seen a humingbird on it yet. We left the house at 1:00 pm yesterday and didn't get home until after midnight. This morning it was empty. It was intact with no missing parts, but it was sucked clean. I will have to investigate. Maybe if I use purple juice I can check all the critters tongues the next day.
I built a squirrel feeder to hold the compressed corn logs and mounted it on the shed. It puts the food between 7 and 8 feet high. Maybe this will discourage the raccoons and deer. I did it this morning and by the time we got home tonight, about 8:00, the squirrels had discovered it. The chipmunks can get to it , but it will be an adventure for them. I do not doubt that they will get to it.
The morning glories on the side garden are starting to bloom. I can't wait to see a full bloom. The vines are so thick, you can't see that they are growing on a push lawnmower and a butterfly wire trellis. What I thought were returning convuluvous turned out to be returning petunias.
Hope everyone has a good week.
Jul 27, 2008 | 3:55 PM PST
Tag: July 27th
We had a heavy rain system go through today. We got about a inch of rain in an hour. Included in this was Hail. My wife said they were 1/4 to 1/2 inchs in size. Plants were beaten down but not killed. I should be thankful that this is the worst that has been thrown at us this year. ( I should add "most years") We had golf ball sized hail back in the 90's that destroyed the gardens, shattered the plastic vent in the attic, and left hundreds of dings in the sheet metal of our cars. I prefer my ice in the winter when I'm prepared for it or in my iced tea where I can enjoy it.
The rain added another inch to the kiddie pool where I have been getting my water for the potted plants and hops. It has been a wet week where the Gardens have not needed to be watered. With two good storms this week, maybee the grass will start to grow again.
I walked around the yard and found three nice Blue Jay feathers. I will use them when I tie flies for Christmas Ornaments. It's about time they started leaving me payments for all the food they eat. I watched one this morning eating an apple on my tree. We rarely use the apples and I keep the tree for the birds and squirrels.
The one chipmunk is using a shortcut through the vegetable garden. He made or found an entrance in the plastic netting and scoots out under the fence in the back.
I have just recently noticed that we don't have any Mocking Birds at my house. I have them at work, 38 miles away, but not here. I would expect to see them at the wild rasberry bushes or the apple tree. All of Pennsylvania is in their range. Maybee I'll see them later. We also have a wild cherry tree along the back of the property.
Have a good week.
Jul 26, 2008 | 9:37 AM PST
Tag: July 26th
We had a lot of rain this week between Tuesday and Wednesday. Weather.com originally posted that we had 5 inches over the two days, then adjusted it to approximately 2 inches. We have a US Geological Survey Station on the Perkiomen Creek with a Rain Gage. It is about a mile from my house and it put us at 3-1/2 inches. The water in the previously empty Kiddies’ Pool put us at 4 inches. I believe I will go with the USGS.
Added photos to page today. Picked Zucchini in the morning. They grew well this week.
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I fertilized the hops today. The Cascades are doing great. The Northern Brewer are not doing as well in Hop production that I originally thought, but my Home Brewers Garden Book says that they are moderate producers. It is also still early. These are the Cascades:
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I sat under the Hop Trellis and sipped one of the home brews I bottled 2 weeks ago. I pronounced them properly aged last night and refrigerated them. I watched the Chipmunks scurry through the yard. They seem to be okay with me sitting near where I throw their food. The birds and squirrels are a little more reluctant to hang out with me. The Chipmunks are so busy you would think there were 30 of them in the yard at one time. I counted 6 when they stood still for a few seconds.
The Daylilies’ are recovering from Bambi. We have a few flowers, not many. We have 2 bunnies. Where is Mr. Fox?
I have one Spaghetti Squash hanging on the fence:
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I am not worried. I have many flowers.
I have started to see Honey Bees in the yard. They have been absent from my gardens for a couple years. I hope they are recovering from whatever it was that afflicted them.
I tried to post pictures but seem to have only the URL's. Oh Well. I think I'll have to re-read the fact sheet in the forums.
I hope everyone has a great week.
Jul 21, 2008 | 4:15 PM PST
Tag: July 21st
Got back from beach last night to violent thunderstorm warnings. Checked Weather.com and their radar and they showed a large front that stretched from Scranton to Lancaster across PA. There was a large orange section within the green that meant heavy rain and hail. The front was 11 miles away so I decided to get my shower in case we lost power. I dawdled to long in the shower and got out during the time we were to get clobbered. It was raining lightly with thunder and lightning all around us. I rechecked the radar map and through time lapse watched the heavy rainfall section collapse as it approached my house. It opened up like the Red Sea and went around us. It continued to rain lightly for about an hour but was not enough to keep the gardens from needing water today.
Went outside to feed the critters at 5:20 am this morning and spooked Bambi. Checked around the Bird Feeder to find the grass grazed down to the dirt. He apparently was eating the grass to get the seed that accumulates there. I got out the repellant and sprayed the back and west side garden and around the feeder base. While checking the west side garden today I noticed a Gazania Plant had been eaten down to about an inch of growth. This could have been the rabbit and I didn’t notice it before. This afternoon while watering the east garden my wife noticed that the Daylilies had been eaten. The deer ate all the flowers, did not leave one. There were close to a hundred. I will spray there tonight, perhaps we will still get some flowers.
On a positive note!! I picked four tomatoes today and have over a dozen zucchini that I can see. I will be able to pick at least half of these this week. I still can count only one spaghetti squash but they tend to flourish into October, I am not worried.
My Lavender has gone to the Big Herb Garden in the Sky. It is a shriveled remnant of its former self and it did not recover after being transplanted.
Happy Gardening.
Jul 17, 2008 | 5:44 PM PST
Tag: July 17th
Early blog this week. We are heading down to the Jersey Shore tomorrow to visit with my Wife’s Aunt. I hope to get some surf fishing in tomorrow and Saturday. I will be looking to catch striped bass, weakfish, and flounder. I will be more than happy to catch some time just standing in the surf. Saturday night we will probably head to Atlantic City to the Casinos. I haven’t been there since spring 2007. We don’t take much money so we don’t give a lot to the Casinos. My oldest daughter will be minding the cats, watering the gardens, and feeding the critters while we are away.
I finally picked my first tomato today. It’s already gone. I had it with dinner. I also picked a zucchini. I was going to leave it but my wife figured it was ready. I was going to let it get huge, but she likes them smaller with less seeds. I have another half dozen growing and three more close to ripe tomatoes. I have three tomato plants and a dozen zucchini. I also have a spaghetti squash growing on one of the vines trying to escape the garden. It is at the top of the fence. I’ll get pictures when it gets bigger.
The bunny started eating my Gazania flowers. I had flowers with all of the petals nibbled down to the center. He or she was being careful not to rip the plants out of the ground. I weeded the side garden on Sunday before we went out to a family function. While I was weeding my Wife planted a few plants in spaces created where the Tulips and Daffodils had been. Their foliage is now all gone and all that was left was empty space. I planted the Lavender in the side garden, but it isn’t recovering from the overwatering or whatever affliction I gave it. I will look up growing suggestions before planting it again. I have a few Nasturtium plants coming up from last year as well as Portulaca.(I never planted it in my garden but this is the second year I’ve gotten it.) The Portulaca springs up almost overnight. In the front garden my Wife planted orange this year. After our last good rain in June we had a whole spectrum of colors appear.
Got to go pack my saltwater flies and fly rod. Hope everyone has a great weekend and a prosperous week.
Jul 12, 2008 | 9:52 PM PST
Tag: July 13th
Busy week and weekend. There has been little time to work on the garden. I need to weed the side garden. The weeds are blending in with the flowers and it is hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. I think I have some Convolvulus returning from last year. I also have some Morning Glory that is returning for the third year. It is snaking its way through the other plants.
The Morning glory I planted on the small wire trellis and push mower is doing well, but without flowers. The same can be said for the ones on the hop trellis.
The Yellow Poppies are producing their first batch of seeds. I may gather these before they pop to plant in another part of the garden. The area they grow in seems to be shrinking. I started the side garden with one of those wildflower mixes from Walmart. That was about 6 years ago. They came with that box and are all that is left of that first group. The second year they came up I almost pulled them all out early in the season thinking they were weeds.
I moved my Rosemary and Oregano that I had from last year into larger pots on Monday night. I moved the Hot and Spicy Oregano and Greek Oregano I bought two weeks ago into new pots.
The Lavender looks distressed. I think it may not need the same amount of water I am giving the other herbs. My mint doesn’t seem to be spreading outward as advertised. It is getting taller.
The Hops are starting to flower. I have read many places not to expect a lot the first year. I also read that you get one ounce from 8 flowers. I’m looking at several hundred flowers per plant. If they all mature I will not have to buy hops for my American Pale Ale. I will only need to purchase some Fuggle Hops for my Oatmeal Stout and Saaz Hops for my Belgian White Beer. I am growing Northern Brewer hops that I use in the APA and Stout and Cascade hops that I use in the APA. It will also allow me enough to make the Hop Pillows I have been threatening my Wife with. This is a classic battle of the household. I love the smell of Hops and she doesn’t. I might even make some medicinal Hop Tea. Of course I am making all these plans and my Hop Flowers are not even a full 1/8” in diameter.
Speaking of beer, I brewed my last batch of American Pale until October. I normally would not brew this late but my Daughter bought me a gift certificate to the brewshop. The batch I brewed three weeks ago is ready to be bottled. I’ll do that Monday night.
The rabbit won’t be bothering the Coneflowers in the Hop Garden for a while. He ate them all before I could spray them. I should have sprayed them before writing about it. I have the Deer and “RABBIT” spray in the shed, about 30’ from the trellis.
My Zucchini still is without fruit. I may have my revenge yet. A friend is going to give me a recipe for battered Zucchini flowers. I have a boatload of flowers. The winter squash that was growing up the fence has now cleared it. If this is a repeat of two years ago I will be harvesting squash from the Forsythia bush next to the garden this fall.
I am feeding the feathered and furry creatures in the morning before work during the week, and breakfast on weekends. If I feed them late in the day they don’t finish the food and I get the Raccoons in the yard at night. They also use the bird bath so I now replace that water every morning. I don’t dislike raccoons. They have had a tough time in this area the last 20 years with rabies fears where they would be destroyed just for being caught in a trap. It is just they are too large of a wild creature for me to want to attract to my backyard. They are big enough to wreak havoc in a yard and garden. They knocked down the trash can I use for mulching just to check inside. In addition, my garden fence is made of plastic netting. I have not upgraded to wire yet. That’s a project for next year. I shared my old shed with a raccoon for two years before I had to tear it down. When I needed something from the part of the shed the raccoon was sleeping in it would move to the other side. It never showed anger at me. I don’t mind them in the yard occasionally; I just don’t want them here every night. So far all they have done is knock down the can, dirty the birdbath, and knock it down a few times. I am also afraid they will scare a neighbor and more traps will be set. This happened last year with my neighbor when one came up on his deck. He was caught and I don’t know his fate. I live real close to a flood plain and we have a load of wild critters in the area. No lions, no tigers, no bears, but we have deer, fox, coyote, and wild turkey to name a few. I would like to keep them all around without to many clashes.
If you read this far, thank you for being interested and everyone have a good week.
Jul 6, 2008 | 10:22 AM PST
Tag: July 6th
Short time between blogs. Day Lilies are finally blooming. They are on the east side of the house and only gets sun a few hours a day. Nothing else new in gardens, except the rabbit. We have a new visitor to the gardens, it’s a rabbit. He has eaten my coneflowers from the Hop Garden. I sprayed what is left with stinky repellant. I wonder if the Fox knows we have a new rabbit. It’s a nice fat one. I am tempted to tell him if I see him around. I just can’t let my Wife know that I told him about the “bunny”.
Posted new picture of gardens in spring, My “Honesty” fence around the vegetable garden, the gardens now, and the building of the Hop Garden.
The fishing trip on the Fourth was a success! The rain held off until I got home. I fished for 4 hours. I didn’t wear my waders, just shorts and wading boots. The water wasn’t cold. After about 3 hours I thought to myself that it would be nice to catch at least one fish. Near the 4 hour mark I caught a nice little 9 inch Smallmouth Bass. I caught him on a deer hair popper I tied about two years ago.
I saw two deer walking in and one when I was leaving. I saw lots of crayfish in the creek, including a few half eaten ones. I released my fish as soon as I landed it. I use barbless hooks so I was able to turn the hook and release the fish without touching it. I made a few more casts and decided to leave, I had gotten my wish.
I hope everyone has a great week.
Jul 4, 2008 | 9:44 AM PST
Tag: July 4th
I am trying something new. I am composing this on word and I will copy and paste it on my blog. If it works you will be able to read this. I type slow and normally will time out when doing my blog.
It is July 4th and I was going fishing today. We are having our first real rain since June 14th. We have had sprinkles but most of the rain goes north or south . It will occasionally evaporate right before it hits us. I will gladly trade fishing for a little rain. Accuweather says I have a 3 hour window this afternoon before we continue with thunderstorms. I fish 5 minutes away.
The night visitors finished the squirrel log. I am going to make a feeding station and put it up on the side of the shed where only the squirrels and chipmunks can get it. The chipmunks and squirrels eat the safflower seeds. I added hot sunflower seeds to the mix, that deters the squirrels, but it is a treat to the chipmunks. At the other feeder the week started with Cardinals bringing their new kids to the feeder for the hot sunflower seeds. The mother would fly to the feeder, get a seed , and fly back the pine and feed the baby. The female Downy woodpecker returned, the male showed up yesterday, and they were both out there today. I had a female Red Belly woodpecker yesterday. The Blue Jays are bringing their young to the feeder also. They look like their parents except are half the size. I still have my Black Capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmouse (only suddenly more numerous), House Finches, and Goldfinches coming to the feeder. I am ground feeding the doves. I have to take a birdhouse down. Part of the roof is off and on the ground. It was purchased and I just painted it. I think it is vacant. I believe the glue holding it together failed. I will replace or rebuild the roof, with nails.
The squash is doing well as far as growth, still no fruit. The tomatoes are also doing better. I saw Honey Bees yesterday. I haven’t seen them in two years. Maybee they’ll get around to the vegetable garden.
The flowers are moving along. They are not growing as fast as I would like, but I think I am impatient.
Hope everyone has a good Fourth of July . ------Gone Fishin'-----
Jun 29, 2008 | 5:57 PM PST
Tag: June 29th
The battle of the bird feeders has ended for now. I put hot sunflower seeds in the "squirrel proof" feeder to keep them out and added safflower seed to the other feeder. I am spreading sunflower seeds for the squirrels, the chipmunks, and the birds. I put out a compressed corn meal log for the gray and brown (with racing stripes) rodents only to have it eaten down 2/3rds over night. It was twisted to the side. The culprits were most likely raccoons but I will not rule out deer. Now I have to figure out how to keep critters out of my squirrel food.
The hops are almost all over 6 feet. The cascades are 10' long. I sprayed them today for whatever is eating the leaves. I hope it works. I finished mulching and have a nice seating area now.
The zucchini is doing great as far as growing foliage. I still do not have any fruit. I had to put the tomatoes in cages to get them back in the sunlight. I have tomatoes but they are still green. The spaghetti squash is growing vine and has a few flowers but it is more of a fall vegetable.
I fertilized yesterday. The flowers are just starting to pick up. We have ben short of rain the last two weeks, although we are still about 2 inches ahead for the month.
Hope everyone has a good week.!
Jun 22, 2008 | 5:28 PM PST
Tag: June 22nd
Back online.
Vegetable garden doing well. Zucchini plants are thriving, still no fruit. Have tomatoes, plants are still small. Winter squash is moving at its' own pace.
Brewed beer on Friday. Did an American Pale ale. I have ingredients for one more batch. Hopefully the batch after that will be with homegrown hops. That will not be before October.
Squirrels have breached the squirrel proof feeder, using the cone I installed to keep the chipmunks out. I moved the cone down, now I have to see if this works.
Jun 18, 2008 | 4:19 PM PST
Tag: June 18th
My computer crashed on May 27, so until we resolve this issue I will be offline. Although I am suffering from internet deprivation and have this huge empty spot in my life, I am using my time to garden, finish my small hop garden (the cascade hops are over 6feet long and I have 5 bines of northern brewer @ 4feet), fencing the veggie garden, FISHING, tying flies, canoeing, and home brewing. Iam using my youngest daughters' computer tonight. I hope everyones gardens are doing great. I hope to be back soon.
John
May 25, 2008 | 7:20 AM PST
Tag: Sunday May 25th
The Chipmonk is still hitting the squirrel proof bird feeder. He has chewed the opening he uses so he can fit his whole head in it. I am going to but a cone for blockage on the Shepards Hook and that will keep him from climbing up.
Did side garden yesterday. The soil was finally dry enough to work. I put in Dalias, Marigolds, Cosmos, Gazania, Ageratum, Lobelia, and Dianthus. I bought these at our farm market. I put in several Morning Glory Plants that I started. My wife gave me a Salvia Plant and Violeta that she bought. I also planted the English Mint in the back section.
I also put Morning Glory in the Hop Garden, in the empty section, and Strawflowers on the outside edges.
I transplanted my Rosemary into a larger pot. Potted 3 more small Rosemary Plants and a Lavander Plant. Put my Pot Marigolds, that I started, into 3 hanging baskets. I pulled out a two foot section of English Thyme in the Herb Garden and planted the Sweet Basil I started.
Today we have company and tomorrow I hope to get fishing.
May 23, 2008 | 5:55 PM PST
Tag: Friday May 23rd
When I put up the squirrel proof feeder I always wondered about the chipmonks. They have discovered the feeder and it does not close with their weight. They stuff their cheeks with the black sunflower seed and run back to their dens and stock up for lean times. Their success has inspired one squirrel to hang from the sheppards hook that holds the feeder and try a weightless raid on the feeder. I don't know if he has been successful yet.
