flyfisher51's Blog

May 2008
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 2008
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.

May 2008
May 18, 2008 | 8:42 AM PST
Tag: Sunday MAy 18th.

It has rained the last three days and it is supposed to rain this afternoon.I got to watch the chipmonks scoot around the yard this morning. I watched one run up and goose a squirrel. The squrrel jumped a foot in the air. I have to think it was on purpose. Someone appears to be moving into one of the birdhouses. I think it's a house finch. Couldn't get a good look.

Because of the rain I'll futz around the house today. Catch up on my chores. I hope everyone has a good week.

May 2008
May 10, 2008 | 5:11 PM PST
Tag: Saturday May 10th.

Herbs are doing with the exception of coriander.  I am going to transplant them to larger pots.

Hops have broken ground and are about an inch high. I will probably string twine this week. I have four Northern brewer  bines and one cascade.

I put a new suet out on Tuesday night. It was gone by Wednesday night. It was "hot" suet so I new it was birds. I put my last block out today at 8am and witnessed why it went so fast. It was swarmed by Starlings, up to four at a time on the feeder and another three picking up crumbs on the ground. Some of the birds came to the feeder with worms dangling from their beaks. Was the suet adding to a gourmet meal? They intimidated a Red Bellied Woodpecker once, he finally got in later for a short period when the Starlings got spooked by me moving past the window. We went out at 11am and when we returned at 6pm the suet was all gone. I think the Starlings intimidated the smaller birds away from my sunflower seed feeder. I later whitnessed a tufted titmouse fly to the seed feeder and grab one seed, fly up to a branch and proceed to peck the seed open to eat it. He did this a half dozen times.

I hope to plant the vegitable garden tomorrow. The zuchinni is starting to suffer being in a confined pot and the spagetti squash is just going wild. I wanted to have a barrier ready first to keep the deer out but I don't think I can get that done tomorrow as it is Mothers Day. I'll spray deer repellant untill I can get the fence up. I bought three tomato plants. I don't start seeds early enough to do tomatoes.

The landscaper removed my crab apple on Thursday. It has been battling the local cedears for about 10 years. They are sharing Cedar-Apple Rust disease and it near kills the crab apple each year. I could never spray enough to defeat the problem. This year the tree wasn't healthy enough to bloom. Maybee the cedars will lose the desease now. It hasn't affected my apple tree yet. I hope the variety is immune.

What's Happening.
May 2, 2008 | 11:59 PM PST

I started seeds indoorsback in early April. The 10-14 days germanation for Burpee Summer Squash is a lie. Three days. My small greenhouse is being taken over by summer and winter(5 days) squash. I am hoping this weekend is the end for frost. I will plant them if it is. I turned the garden over last week.

I built a trellis for my hops and planted them last week. No activity yet.

I am down to one suet feeder, with hot suet. The birds are finishing it in a week.

The chipmonks came back in late March. They have pulled the steel wool from the gap in the front porch concrete for their summer home.

My wife has cleaned up the north and east gardens. The bulbs are active in our south garden, it's my turn to do some cleaning up.

We hired a landscaper to trim back the Spruces and cut the lawn. This should give me more time for the gardens, fishing, and canoeing.