Frogs and bathtubs.

I used to have 2 ponds when I lived in Virginia. Both manually put in. One was small, about 3x4. The other bigger,5x8. The small one held a couple of small goldfish and a few plants. The bigger one had water cascading down stones and held all kinds of wonder. Like I wonder where that fish went?
It was eaten by a wild duck that came to visit with it's mate and stayed for 3 days, that's where the fish went.
I wonder what that smell is?
That's the smell of a partially duck eaten koi that floated under the slate that overhangs the pond. A great hiding place for rotting fish,laughing posthumously as you wander around the yard and the back alley looking for said smell. Only to find out 2 days later that is was not a bag of garbage someone left next to the dumpster in that back alley.

Yes, the trials and tribulations of owning a pond.
I bought a few water hyacinths and wondered how in the world those 3 turned into 30 almost over night.

I wondered what that funny noise was in the middle of the night wafting through my second story window as I lay my tired head down. Finally getting up and going out to the yard with a flashlight and discovering about 15 frogs in my pond having some kind of full moon mating ritual/frat party.

I wondered after we moved to our land if I would ever have a pond again.

Living out here in the woods, you have to take into consideration the dangers that can befall creatures in your care. And while a pond can be it's own little ecosystem, I still have a responsibility to anyone I introduce to living in it.
So we decided not to have a pond for now.
well at least we decided not to PUT IN a pond for now. We have a pond though.


This is a bathtub that we found at the local dump. I use it for a trough to mix my own soil in before adding it to the raised beds.
We dumped the compost and bags of the other amendments in and stirred and used about half, planning on finishing the next day. That night it rained, actually it poured...ALL night and when we went out, what to our wondering eyes did appear?... a pond.
And you may ask why I would call it a "pond" instead of an old tub half filled with dirt and water?
Because there was a FROG in it!
yes, a little black and green frog,peeping up over the water line. He ducked as I walked by leaving only bubbles.
This was all in early June. There are five frogs in the "pond' now. I wonder if they will stay all winter.

Speaking of beds....

I saw this photo online and if I were to come into some big bucks...I would have to splurge on a bed like this one.

Strawberry bed update
It's really disappointing when you try to support a small business and they really let you down.
I told about my strawberry bed and that it took a long time to get my plants but I forged ahead and planted them and began the wait....and I waited and waited some more for little green leaves to appear.
I thought those plants were very dry when they arrived, I soaked them over night and planted them the next morning. They never woke up from their dormancy they were *sniff* ....deceased.
I got my butt right back online and ordered from Gurneys25 Earliglow strawberries for 9.95 and 25 free.
I had them in 5 days from ordering.
BIG beautiful roots, packaged great in 2 seperate bags, damp roots and already green leaves ready to get nutty.
The others were wrapped in one layer of newspaper, no green leaves and a bit of mold on some of the crowns. The sandy dirt one the roots was very dry and most of the roots were small.
I have replanted and will post a picture in a few days.
Now I want to say a little something about Gurneys. They are a good company. When I ordered my blueberry bushes it was too early to plant so they held off shipping and when they went to ship, my card had expired. They shipped anyway, with no payment from me.
They sent an e-mail saying that they went ahead and shipped so I would not miss my planting date and to just go ahead and send them my updated info.
And last year I bought a rose collection from them, 4 climbing roses for 19.99,
When they came we were not home, they sat outside in the snow all day until late that night...I planted them the next day but they did not look good. It was a freak cold snap and had been 5' the whole day they sat outside by the porch. I waited until everything started budding and 2 of them sprang forth, 2 did not.
I called Gurneys the end of June and told them that 2 bit the dust and could they replace the 2. They said they would ship this spring. They sent me all 4. The whole collection again. Not just the 2.
Now that's customer service.

Greenhouse is up and running

For the last few years, when trying to garden, I have been fighting bugs, the drought, and the scorching sun during the drought.
So haveing a hothouse to grow some food in raised beds is truly a blessing.

We used some materials left from building the house along with some new stuff and came up with a 12 x 24 building that could be converted to a garage or a small house if ever the need arises.

Raised beds were built and the bottoms lined with hardware cloth because we have a crazy mole and vole problem here.

Then we laid newspaper down 4 sheets thick a good 2 inches of straw and a soil less mix of peat,organic manure and hummus and compost.

Across the back is unfinished as we had to start getting things planted, time was already running a bit late as I have not been able to have a spring garden. But a good summer and fall one. And soon across the back wall will be a raised platform with a sink, our wringer washer and a shower.
In the center of each bed is a trellis that goes up to the ceiling and tomatoes, cukes, squash and melons can be tied to.
There is some great netting at Lowes for this. Very inexpensive. Like 8.00 for 2x50 feet.


Everything is doing really well. Here are some pics of what's growing so far...




This is a bed of "blue Lake Bush Beans" and over by the wall are 3 "Armanian" cukes. The little seed tray has my home made markers made from an old mini blind.




This is a bed of 3 "Big Bertha" peppers in front, with "German Johnson" tomatoes in the back. You can see "Sugar baby" watermelons on the other side of the trelli.
There are also a couple of "Yellow Pear" cherry tomatoes and some red onion sets and a couple of Borage.




These are "Roma" tomatoes, a couple of dill "Bouquet" and some "Pickling" cukes by the wall (gherkin type).


And here is a pic of some of the potatoes coming through the straw in my garbage bag potato garden.
Take a big good quality trash bag. Poke a bunch of holes in the bottom.Lay it on a bed of mulch or straw. Fill the bottom with a layer of straw, then a layer of peat (taters love a bit of acid) lay in your eyes and cover with a layer of straw. Wet it down till moist but not soggy. Wait about 10 days and you will see some growth peeping through the straw. Then keep layering straw and misting well. At the end of the season, you can bust the bag open and have a bunch of taters. Set them out in the warm air for an hour or so till nice and dry and store.
Of course I reach in and pull out baby taters all summer.
These are red potatoes and I also have some Kennebeck.



I will post pics of the other beds in a day or so, we are having some thunder now and I must sign off. Damn Satellite internet....