mudpies's Blog

Pickerel for dinner
Jun 22, 2009 | 4:53 PM PST
Tags: pickerel , cucumbers , cucumber beetles , herbicide , pesticide , Strawberries , pears , potato , Colorado potato beetle , carrots

C came home with several nice pickerel (walleye) from his fishing trip.  What a treat!

It's very warm here today - upwards of 80 degrees.  I know that's relatively mild to some of you southerners, but the sudden change in the weather from cool and wet to very warm  makes it seem even warmer.  I don't think I had a single mosquito bite today, but the horseflies were out in droves.  I think the change in the weather made them less alert than usual, because I was able to smack three of them - after they bit me, of course.

We went to the farm and discovered that our cukes are up.  Now if I can only keep those darned beetles at bay.  Ontario has strict new laws about pesticides and herbicides, so I can no longer buy Sevin or malathion.  There are a couple of pumpkins up, and a few buttercup squash, but no sign of my gourds yet.  C ate the first strawberry from our newly planted patch.  We had to till up the old patch last fall.  The weeds had taken over.   I'll have to wait till next year to get any quantity.  We've always had more strawberries than we could eat ourselves, so I resent having to buy them, but C and a couple of my sons-in-law plus a lot of grandkids can't be deprived of home made strawberry jam.  Pears are beginning to form on one of our trees.  The other tree, which is a year older (12) has never borne fruit.  I'm guessing it's because it takes the brunt of the wind and the blossoms get blown off, but that's just my best guess.  Most of our spuds are up and so far we've only found three potato bugs.  They're sneaky little devils, though.  We have to watch carefully.  C squishes them, but I'm too squeamish unless I have gloves on.  I drown them in a bucket of water.  We're going to have to replant carrots.  For the first time in 12 years, the soil *sandy loam) was too wet for the initial planting.

I spent most of the afternoon tidying up my shade bed and another area adjacent to our shed.  I turned the soil in that area last year so C wouldn't have to go at it with the whipper snipper.  I put in a few perennials, but for the most part I intend to fill it with self-seeding plants:  hollyhocks (or outhouse plants, as my mom calls them), bachelor buttons, forget-me-nots, etc.  There's still a lot of weed seed in that bed, especially stinging nettle, so my hands are sore this evening.  I was too impatient to put gloves on.  DUH!!  I was happy to note that plantain leaves crushed and rubbed on the affected area provide relief from the stinging, thanks to LynnChristo's blog.

While I was working on my shade bed, I came across a large paw print - way too large to be that of most dogs, but not as large as a bear print.  Besides we don't have bears in this area, anyway.  I showed it to C who was as puzzled as I was.   We considered and rejected coyotes.  The print was too large.  As I worked my way along the bed, I came upon a second print - a little larger than the first and not as well defined.  After working away all afternoon and upon closer inspection, the answer finally dawned on me!  I'm pretty sure it's a grandchild print!  If you remember, I created that bed using the lasagna method.  The soil's still very light and spongy. so a child's foot  would sink down into it and expand in size.  I expect my step-son took his brood to the farm to let off some steam, and in their exuberance, one of them ran into my garden.  I also expect that the little rascal got yelled at - hence, only two footprints.

I'm so glad I found this site - great members and great solutions ! ! !  Take care, all.

No time
May 12, 2009 | 7:38 AM PST
Tags: time , garbage , compost , recycling , Strawberries , environment , drinking water , local politics

Finally!  A nice sunny morning - temperatures still a little below normal, but promising,  nevertheless.  Unfortunately, I have no time to indulge in my favourite sport - gardening. 

It's garbage/compost/recycling day here.  I need to dump some tired goods from my fridge into the compost pick-up bin;  ensure that I've rid the house of unwanted recyclables - newspapers, cardboard cartons, box board, along with the stuff I put into the bin every day; and lug all containers to the curb.  I'm committed to the program, but that doesn't make it any easier.

I need to take my van to a nearby town for an emissions test so that I can get a new sticker for my licence plate before the current one expires.   While there, I want to purchase some strawberry roots to fill in some bare spots in our newly transplanted (last fall) patch.  I'll meet my youngest daughter and we'll go together to the garden centre where we'll both purchase other plants as well.  Neither of us needs more plants, but the "I wants" will set in.

Just time enough to get home and prepare a cold supper for my husband, before heading off to a council meeting scheduled for 6:00.  If I'm not there by 5:20, I'll have to stand through what promises to be a very long meeting.  Along with a large segment of our community, I'm opposing the rezoning of property adjacent to one of the largest wetland preserves in Ontario and the headwaters of a major river for the purpose of storing explosives used in the mining industry.  I'm not opposed to the operation, per se, but to its location.  A spill of ammonium nitrate could contaminate the marsh, the river and various aquifers necessary to clean drinking water throughout southern Ontario.  I can't believe that the local, provincial and federal governments have even considered allowing it to operate in its current location, but each agency seems to pass the buck to the next.  Duh!!  I'm afraid it's a case of one agency being afraid to step on the toes of another.  In the meantime, each of them has lost sight of what is critical to our environment.  No decision will be made this evening, but I'll likely rant on about this in future.

I'm heading up to visit with my mom early tomorrow morning, so you won't have to read about my frustrations with the process until later in the week.  I'll try to appease you by taking and posting  those photos of the fresh greens of the near north on my journey.