The wisteria is in bloom and I couldn’t be happier.
And the chickens are hard at work pulling weeds. Just look at that nice bare spot where their coop was. Way to go ladies!!!
Lucy loves her babies so much, and now that I know they can clear weeds from the flower patch quickly, next spring I think I’ll order 7 more hens or maybe even more. 😉
The tomato plants have really started to take off these past few weeks, the peppers not so much. I think it might have to do with the fact that we added a bit of compost to the area where the tomatoes are planted but ran out by the time we put the pepper plants in the ground.
I’ll get a truck load or two of horse manure from one of the stables up the road this fall, and have the HH spread it over the vegetable patch. I’ve never done that before, but I have a feeling the benefits will far outweigh the stink.
This week I’m working on clearing daylilies and a few other random plants and shrubs I have no interest in so we can expand our vegetable growing area. If you look closely you can see an arbor over by Harriet, our mystery fruit tree. Once I get that area cleared, I think I’ll have the HH move the arbor to another location so Harriet has a little breathing room.
Plus, I think it would be cool to grow a few birdhouse gourds or pole beans around the arbor next summer… which is kind of hard to do right now because the arbor is so close to the fruit tree and there are bushes brushing up against it.
Daylilies. We have an abundance of them and I’d really like to move the majority of them to another location PRONTO but I need to know what color the lilies are before I can do that. So far, they’re all orange. 🙁
I really do like the rock gardens at the back of the house, but I’d rather have something else besides daylilies growing in them.
This rock garden grouping has oregano, chives, a few raspberry canes, sedum and Dicentra ‘King of Hearts’. Visually, I just can’t handle it and right now the whole are just feels like a jumbled mess. I would much rather see an entire bed filled with just oregano. Or just chives. Maybe you think that’s weird, but I need a little more organization in my garden spaces. So, once the weather cools down later this fall, I’ll move the plants and maybe dedicate this {and the surrounding} area to herbs. We’ll see.
I might even do away with the sectioned off rock groupings all together {but keep the rock wall} and install rows of herbs so I could keep the area weeded a bit better. Anything that would create less work in the long run would be a total bonus at this point.
Mystery Plant of the Week: White campion. {Thanks Liz!}
Harriet the mystery fruit tree. This is one of her babies. I’m hoping for quince!
This is Paul. He’s a red pear tree I found hunched over and buried in a swath of daylilies over by the corn patch. He has 4 of the most beautiful pears dangling off his branches and he must be saved.
Poor Paul. Let this be a warning to you. Daylilies are nice, but apparently they will take over an entire yard if you let them. I was thinking about contacting a local horticultural society to see if they’d be interested in some of the 250 million daylilies we have on the property. My thought was they could sell them in one of their plant sales or something.
Once the HH gets his tractor, he said he’d dig me a long trench along the front of the property so I could transplant 100 or so daylilies for a nice long border. They may not be my favorite flower, but I think the daylilies would look great in front of the long rock wall at the end of our road. And since I wanted to do a mass planting of daffodils in that same area, if the daylilies were there we’d have flowers growing along that strip in late spring as well as during the summer months. I think it might be a good plan.
Oh, and before I forget, what do you know about gypsy moths? I shared this photo with my friend Heather from Massachusetts and she said I need to have our trees sprayed for gypsy moths. Like ASAP. And of course, I know nothing about this because I’ve never had to deal with gypsy moths before. Do YOU have any tips? Any favorite sprays or remedies? I’m all ears.
Gardening, not a day goes by where I don’t learn something new.
Enjoy the day, it’s supposed to get up to 80 degrees around here today.
~Mavis
Peggy says
Wow, your place looks so fantastic and your gardens look great! The peppers should take off soon, they love the heat, mine are always looking fabulous by July (I’m in southwest Pa). The horse manure will work great, just be sure to get well rotted manure, and it shouldn’t really have any foul smell, and work it in to the soil, it will do wonders. 🙂 The daylilies will look great in masse, and they’ll keep weeds down too, and are very tough plants. The gypsy moths, we call them tent worms down here, and it may sound barbaric, but we burn the nest, I hate that, but it’s quick, I don’t spray, but they can eat the foliage from a fruit tree so quickly it can have a hard time recovering. They definitely need to go. I love your herbs, but can understand your want for organization. Your really lucky the previous home owners loved plants!
Tracie@SomewhatAwry.com says
Yep, your friend JJ does the exact same thing with the moths. http://www.jennifermurch.com/2016/05/the-quotidian-5216.html
I remember this post because I thought, YIKES!, but they have to go!
Liz in MN says
Mavis, I love your blog and garden. Gardening is the best!. The mystery flower is a wild flower here in Minnesota, White Campion, but there are a few varieties.
Kathie S. says
You do need to spray for the gypsy moths. They can be brutal, strip the leaves off trees, weaken and cause some to die. They love oak, apple, willow, poplar and birch among others. I remember when we had awful outbreaks as a kid my dad would carefully burn the nests. There were so many going down our road one year it looked like one big giant web.
Kate says
I love that you have named your fruit trees! We only have a small flower garden in front, but we named our roses, (Violet, and Matilda) and most the houseplants have names, too!
Robyn says
Some folks around here use a small blow torch to get rid of gypsy moth nests. If done with care it works well. Spraying works but if you grow organically I’d avoid that approach.
The garden is really coming along beautifully thanks to your hard work! Rugosa roses along the front wall would be beautiful too!
UpstateNYer says
Yes ! The moths can spread like mad if not taken care of asap. And you can lose whatever they are nesting on.
Betsy in MN says
Mystery plant is White Campion, but is considered a weed. Dig up or you will have them all over. I know this from experience!
For gypsy moth control at my place, we like to burn them! Take WD40 or some other flamible and spray the nest. Then light it up. You will see the caterpillars wriggle and die. Very fulfilling to do this!
Teresa says
I agree with gypsy moth burning. We used to carefully clip out the tent drop it in a paper bag and burn the whole thing. If the tent of moths is too high for that we would torch them in place. Do it ASAP because they can devastate their host tree. Nasty bugs those.
CT Bargain Mom says
Burn the gypsy moths and pray for the mold thing that killed a bunch late last year…there is also this tape stuff you can put on the trunk of the trees – it’s like a glue trap. Gross but effective since they will head up the trunk from the ground like a crazed herd of munching marauders to strip every leaf on the tree. We lost loads of oak in CT last year to the little monsters (defoliate old growth weakened by 2 dry summers & rough winter winds). Not just that but the little poo balls they churn out are a huge mess!
Otherwise the garden looks lovely!
BeckyM says
I would recommend you skip the fresh horse manure unless you can bag it in black plastic bags and let it sit in the sun for a whole summer (to kill weed seeds) I used horse manure in my garden a few years ago and the weeds are AWFUL! Horse pasture weeds have deep roots, some have thorns, and years later I’m still pulling weeds like mad that I never had before the manure.
UpstateNYer says
I have heard of using cow manure but never from horses.
Tricia says
I have heard the same about horse manure.
Kim O. says
Always season any manure! Exactly what happens weeds!!
Patty P says
Another suggestion would be to see if the stable has any composted horse manure…get some from the bottom of the pile that has really been cooked to kill the seeds. We use horse manure in our garden and haven’t had an issue. The nice thing about horse manure is that you can use it right away because it won’t “burn” your plants. Cow manure definitely needs to be composted for a while to get the nitrogen content down. Fresh cow manure is not good for many garden plants because it basically burns them before they can get going. HOWEVER, we used to plant pumpkins in not so old cow manure piles and they would be huge!
Andy says
I agree about being careful using horse or cow manure.
Manure from pasture animals is mostly chewed and processed field grass and weeds. To prevent seeding your garden with these processed pest there is a solution called “manure tea”. You will need a 55 gallon drum or other large container that can be covered to start, get a burlap or similar fabric feed bag, place a large stone or brick in bag and then fill 1/2 to 2/3rds with manure and secure the top closed, place bag in drum and fill with water. Cover drum with a piece of scrap plywood or other flat object and let it steep (like a tea bag) for several days. Placement of the drum is important as it needs sunlight for heat, but it can be odorous so keep it away from the house or patio. Dip out the tea and place in a watering can, then water the plants with solution every few days. The seeds and weeds stay in the burlap bag, but the nutrients flow out into the water and onto the plants. This can be adapted down to a 5 gallon bucket for smaller gardens.
Also be sure and ask if your manure supplier uses weed killer or other herbicides in their hay fields. These are processed through the animals and into the manure, and can effect you garden plants when applied in either the traditional or manure tea way.
SusieQ says
Be careful with the horse manure – Lucy might eat it if it isn’t broken down enough. Also, with spraying – this is good but can affect your garden food and chickens. May need to do some research. I’d spray for ticks in a heart beat!!
Lissa says
Love that you name the trees. Did you ever read Jane of Lantern Hill? Same author as Anne of Green Gables. Jane used to name the pots and pans.
Ginger says
Hey Mavis….we have Gypsy Moths here in Washington, but you might remember them being called Tent Caterpillars. They are the ones that make those weird nests in the trees and sometimes you’ll see little green triangular boxes hanging off of trees that the Department of Agriculture puts up during years that the state hasn’t sprayed. The caterpillars are those orange and black really fuzzy looking critters. I’m sure you’ve seen them. I was wondering if the little garden space with the oregano and flowers is crowded like that to help prevent weeds from growing through, like what you’d experience with an English garden? Anyhoodles, your place is looking great and Lucy’s babies are SO cute.
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes! Now that you mention it I do remember seeing those little green boxes hanging from trees in the HOA neighborhood. Thank you! I just don’t remember every having those little nests in the trees in our backyard. Thanks for the reminder.
Barbara Gantt says
I agree witht he horse manure advice. They dont digest and breakdown the weed seeds. Chicken manure or rabbit is so much better. Rabbit manure can be put right on the garden fresh. My quince are bushes not trees. Dont know if they grow on trees or not.
E in Upstate NY says
Agree with above comments about fresh horse manure and want to add the following comment.
Beware of killer compost! No, its not a gardener’s horror movie but reality! Killer compost is from farmer’s spraying AROUND the field to prevent weeds. But there is spray spread, not enough to kill the animal food, but it’s still there. The animal’s body does not breakdown the chemical, it just passes through to your wonderful compost! There it is enough to impact the growth of the plants you want to grow.
Google it, for the details and the questions to ask before you contract for a compost shipment.
Maxine says
I was going to say the same thing. It’s a Dow Chemical component sprayed and gets on hay. Joe L’lampl put composted manure with the chemical all over his garden that he records TV show x Growing a Greener World. Killed everything. He had to redo his entire garden – although it’s gorgeous now with fenced in raised beds.
Sunshine Shed says
I love following your adventures in your new house! Thanks to Lucy’s babies, I told my husband last night that maybe we should buy chickens or a goat to take care of our backyard. He looked me like I was crazy. 🙂
E in Upstate NY says
Some day lilies are very aggressive, and others stay put. Just depends upon the plant’s genetics. Deer love daylilies, but somehow they leave the “ditch” lily alone. If you have the ditch lily, along the road in front of the stone wall in my mind, would be an excellent place for it to grow.
Don’t know how rural you are, but be aware that some people consider anything growing along the road to be fair game for picking and digging. Had a friend have a car stop in her drive, get out and dig her daffs planted along the road. She challenged the person, asking “and how to you think they got there?” With a shrug the person drove off, with a trunk load of bulbs!
Sandra Guillemette says
yes it looks like a quince if you view these pictures.
https://www.google.com/search?q=leaves+and+fruit+of+quince&rlz=1C1AOHY_enUS708US708&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=Sj2asSVmZ8STLM%253A%252Cki5kJOepRjBWkM%252C_&usg=__caST_u5DnLSCH74LNoC-LOOL-XA%3D&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjtqNn5m9HbAhUJR6wKHZnSD3YQ9QEIQzAE#imgdii=QA_9T2UoWFCBOM:&imgrc=kW2fmFh3U14E3M:
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1AOHY_enUS708US708&tbm=isch&q=leaves+and+fruit+of+quince&chips=q:leaves+and+fruit+of+quince,online_chips:immature+quince&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjP8IL_m9HbAhVIZawKHQEHABcQ4lYIKSgD&biw=1745&bih=1008&dpr=1.1
Does the New England area use garlic oil on their fruit trees. I know that this help with stopping many bugs. I wonder if there are any hornets or wasp which eat the moths.
here are plants deer do not like..
https://www.almanac.com/content/deer-resistant-plants
Also you may want to get the manure early cover it for the Summer in order to kill the weeds in manure.
https://www.growveg.com/guides/the-problem-with-manure/
Mavis Butterfield says
My fruit is not fuzzy, so maybe they’re not quince? The shape seems right though.
Kathy says
Your garden is inspiring. Does your husband also spend a lot of time working on it? (I’m assuming he’s retired?) I’m trying to gauge the workload of a large garden (for my own garden dreams).
Thanks!
Carolina says
Kathy, I don’t know for sure, but I would guess that the HH is NOT retired, as he & Mavis are only in their 40s.
Michelle says
I was also wondering and hoping that when the move happened the HH got retire
Mavis Butterfield says
My husband is in charge of mowing the lawn, weeding, edging, sprinklers, cutting/dealing with anything my pruning shears or loppers can’t handle, lifting heavy stuff and dealing with mice/rodents. And in a few months… snow removal will be added to his list. I like to plant, grow, weed and harvest. On any given day I spend an hour or two in the garden, sometimes more, sometimes less, but probably anywhere from 10-20 hours a week this time of year.
I like working outside, and if I didn’t want a yard/garden like the one we have now, we would not have bought this property that’s for sure. It is a lot of work, but I love it here.
Robin says
Tent caterpillars and gypsy moths are different – Google it. Gypsy moths invaded my parents’ oak trees one summer. My dad got them under control via spraying and using burlap band barriers.
Shari Harniss says
Mavis,
I would LOVE to have a few chickens in the back yard. I was wondering, can they live in a movable coop all the time? or, do they have to be put in a big coop?
Thanks for all the inspiration you have given me. You’re almost better than a cup of coffee to get me going!
Mavis Butterfield says
Do you mean like a chicken tractor or more like the little Eglu we have the hens in now? The Eglu we have can accommodate 4 full grown chickens comfortably and comes with a 6 foot run and although I can move it around the yard, that’s really not what it was designed for. My concern with a traditional chicken tractor that you move around the yard is wanting to make sure the is an area within it that is closed off for sleeping as well as laying eggs.
Shari Harniss says
Thanks for responding!
OK, I’ll do some research on a movable coop that has an area for sleeping and laying eggs.
I appreciate your input and knowledge!
Carrie says
Shari, I prefer to have a small coop (4×4 feet) that mostly stays in the same spot in my giant (60×20 feet) chicken run; two strong men can move it but for the most part it stays. At one time I tried keeping 4 hens in a small 6×3 foot run attached to my coop and they were very stressed. I have a neighbor that only has 2 hens and a small tractor that she moves them around every few days. So I think it’s your preference and set up. I don’t have time to move them around. Letting them out and closing them up is all I really can do during the work week.
You should definitely give chicken keeping a go! If it doesn’t work out you can sell or give them away on craigslist!
Shari Harniss says
Thank you Carrie!
Kristy says
You really want to be careful of the source you get your manure from. I was following someone on a blog a couple of years ago that built several raised beds, and had them filled with what was supposed to be certified good manure/compost and it stunted and killed most of her garden. The compost/manure was tainted with Aminopyralid. It is a weed spray that does not break down in the digestive tract, and it even stays in the soil where it has been sprayed or “deposited” by an animal. The animals that the manure came from had eaten the grass/hay that had been sprayed, and it was still in the composted product. She ended up having to have all the soil/ compost taken out and new brought in. She said that had she tilled it into her in ground garden that area would have been unusable, because they don’t know how long it will actually stay in the soil. I was reading that the same can happen with straw that has been treated.
Teri says
I would warn against horse manure as well. We bought a horse property 6 years ago and used some of the manure that was years old from the bottom of the pile tossed down a hill. I swear it was nothing but weed seeds. The weeds in our garden are a never ending battle. It would have been easier to grow plants in the pasture grass than fight these weeds. Nothing like invasive weeds to break down a person’s love of their garden.
Idaho Girl says
Wondering if you could sell the lilies at your roadside stand.
I too had a bad experience with horse manure and weeds that resulted from using it.
Denise says
I am thinking you could sell your extra daylilies at your roadside stand. Wait until they bloom so folks know what color they are purchasing. I paid $5/clump for mine. She dug them as I chose them and put them in a Walmart bag. I bought so many I misplaced a bag and forgot about it. It stayed in that bag, on top of the soil, all winter but bloomed again in the Spring. I love their hardiness!
Gertrude E. says
I’m no expert, but it looks really similar to our; I do not have any kind of name or variety but it ripens to a nice bumpy apple in the fall. They were planted sometime when my great grandparents bought the property, maybe sooner ? (early 1900s)
Cass says
I know you and Lucy love the chickens, but chickens LOVE garden plants. Mine ate my cabbage and broccoli down to ground level the ONE day I didn’t check the garden fence and the “gate” laid over at a 45 degree angle. They tried the eggplants. They nibbled on one tomato leave (didn’t like it I assume as they didn’t eat the whole leave) The ate 50% of the beet tops. They would have eaten all the chard, spinach and kale, but it hadn’t sprouted yet. LOL
While the chickens you have are good at weeding the area, but they don’t differentiate between good plants and bad plants. If you want to free range the birds you will need to fence off everything you don’t want them to eat. If you have more birds, there is a greater chance of them getting into the “good” plants. So think long and hard before you increase your flock size until you see what these chickens can do without reinforcements.
Carrie says
I am trying to “landscape” my chicken run with plants they don’t like inside the run and plants they can munch on around the outside of the run. I planted two small butterfly bushes in hopes they will get large and give them some shade…. they plucked every leaf off even though I put wire around them they still got to it. Little devils. If they are board they will peck at anything green!
Kristine Farley says
Don’t put horse manure in your garden. It is filled with grass seeds and you will grow a beautiful grass garden for years. Use cow manure where seeds are broken down by all the stomachs they pass through.
Kim says
Have you considered mushroom compost? We had a phenomenal harvest the year we used that!
Susan says
I agree with the previous posters about horse manure. Composted cow manure is better, but best of all is composted chicken or turkey manure. Since your chickens are littles right now, you can’t depend on them, but you might want to let them eat in your garden plots after harvest is over, till in the manure, and let it sit over the winter. Easy peasy – the chickens get good stuff to eat, the garden gets a dose of manure and a tilling before the snow falls, and no lugging smelly stuff around!
Gee says
I had tent caterpillars one year here in upstate NY, but it was way too high on my crabapple to reach. So I got out the wasp spray that goes 20 ft and doused them. That took care of it. The thing is if they get down and out of their nest to the ground, they lay eggs. Then the babies climb whatever they’re close to. To prevent that in case yours have laid eggs, spread a couple-inch wide layer of vaseline on the trunk of your tree. They can’t climb through it. It works to keep ants out of your humming bird feeder, too, if you put it around the hook it hangs from.
Lace Faerie says
Tent Catepillars are common here in Whatcom County. We cut our nests out of the trees and burn them, after containing them in a paper bag. If you just toss the branch on to a fire, you’ll be surprised at how quickly those lil suckers can crawl!
I will also use BT powder on them, too. But even better than treating them after the fact is preventing them. I took Mike McGrath’s advice, past Organic Gardener magazine editor and host of You Bet Your Garden podcast and hung suet feeders in the apple tree, (which is prone to reinfection) all winter so they would come to the tree to eat and haven’t seen a single caterpillar this year!
Pat says
I agree with burning the tent caterpillars but wait until evening. If you look closely you will notice that they leave silk trails up the stem from the nest and follow it back in the evening. They will defoliate the limbs pretty quickly.
Katrina says
Beware of manure from farms! I am still battling the wild morning glories 20 years after I got a load from my aunt’s farm! Commercial compost is better because it’s been heated hot enough to kill weed seeds.