This has been quite a
summer. Up here on the
hill we have been doing
battle with all sorts of elements:
rain, cool weather,
relentless Japanese beetle
sorties aimed primarily at
our newly planted raspberries,
grapes, plum and
cherry trees, moles gnawing
away at our potatoes,
poor seed germination
rates, a growing rabbit population,
unprecedented
deer nibbling and, worst of
all, the infamous late blight.
With respect to the latter,
we returned home several
weeks ago after being away
just two nights to find all of
our paste tomatoes afflicted
with blight. They now rest,
I hope uncomfortably, under
several layers of black
plastic. So far our other tomatoes
seem to be holding
their own. We check them
several times a day. As is
the case with anyone growing
tomatoes and potatoes,
one can only hope for the
best. Chatting with a gardener
friend the other day,
mostly an effort at buoying
up one another’s spirits, we
agreed that nature always
wins these battles. Especially
when one is committed
to organic approaches,
there can be times that are
quite frustrating and one
feels rather helpless in the
face of nature’s unwillingness
to tow the human
mark. I have come as close
as I ever have this summer
to breaking my organic
vows and spraying some
trees and the raspberries
with chemicals. Fortunately,
there is always a little
voice deep down inside that
puts up quite a fight and, at
least for now, wins those
battles.
I do not know how many
hundreds, perhaps thousands,
of Japanese beetles
we have scraped off our
raspberry and grape leaves
thus far.
The good news is that
we have been able to cut
our losses rather substantially
by making regular
beetle collection runs. The
other up side is that our
chickens love the little buggers.
They have become so
used to being served up little
mounds of squirming
beetles several times a day
that every time one of us
even comes close to their
outdoor pen they race to
the door in anticipation of
fresh protein. In a month or
so twelve of them will end
up in the freezer. I trust the
added protein will have a
flavorful effect. At that
point, the remaining more
or less permanent residents
will have the run of the
place.
Our hope is they will
spend the bulk of their time
cleansing the hill of slugs,
snails, and beetles. I expect
their eggs will reflect their
healthy dining habits. Both
of our breeds produce brown
eggs. I am looking forward
to collecting the first batch,
which should occur in a few
months.
We think we convinced
the moles to break camp
and set up somewhere else.
We have not seen any since
harvesting, albeit a bit early,
all the potatoes they had
been chipping away at. I
suspect they are off somewhere
else feasting on another
fare of choice. At least
it is not our new potatoes.
We have looked in several
catalogues for humane
sorts of mole repellents, but
the fervor has died down
since they seem to have
gotten the message and
moved on. They are stealthy
little buggers, so who knows
where they will turn up
next.
Given her near total
deafness and not so supple
limbs due to old age and arthritis,
Gabby does not help
out much with critter control
these days.
Over the past thirteen
years she has done far more
than her share. Hers is a
well-deserved rest. I just
wish we were as adept at
critter control as she was in
her prime.
Hawthorn Hill
August 21, 2009
Hawthorn Hill: The Infamous late blight
- Hawthorn Hill
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- Swallow talk and bluebird vigilance I assume the swallows have returned to Capistrano. They have returned to Hawthorn Hill as well.
- 'Geezering: an act of doing stuff with another old guy It is a bright sunny day. I should be out back in our woodlot geezering with my neighbor John.
- Winter tree sparrow visitations have been rare on the hill Tree sparrows are lovely little birds, most conspicuous for their russet caps, white breasts and a distinctive charcoal smudge about mid-breast that makes one think that they are perpetual Ash Wednesday celebrants.
- Of Carolina wrens and crossbills We will remember this year for a number of reasons, among them first-time visitors to our bird feeders. Aside from reporting data to Cornell every five days as part of the Project Feeder Watch program, I keep on close watch over all the avian activity up here on the hill.
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Think before you speak, tweet
One of our dearest and most valued gifts is our ability to both think about and talk about ourselves. That is the gift of language. I have always felt that every living thing has some sort of language, but we are so lucky to be able to communicate through speech and writing.
- Of bikes, fishing rods and philosophy Every time I go to the garage, either to get something or start up the car, I am reminded of at least two activities that I thought I might get to at some point, even in earnest. Intentionality is something philosophers give some thought to. I suspect I would be an ideal case study.
- End of the season; time for a break By tomorrow afternoon we will have harvested the last of our vegetables. Two lonely stalks of kale, today snow capped and a bit bent over after being buffeted by the hurricane's winds last week, will take up primary residence in a kale soup whose makeup we have yet to determine.
- Election Day thoughts I have voted, and despite my strong feelings about who the winner should be, I intend to focus on other things the rest of the day. Let the talking heads spin themselves into rhetorical dizziness until the wee hours of the morning. The sun is shinning. There are some late fall chores to turn to. I look forward to an outside day preoccupied with sunny thoughts.
- Walking, across the pond One of the best reasons to travel is to get out of one's cultural skin for a while. It is also a great way to pick up some pretty useful ideas.
-
Gabby
This is not an essay I want to write. We had to say good-bye to Gabby several weeks ago.
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