Cool Progress

The heat is off, for now. The high temperatures have moderated and it's much easier to work the day and, the nights have been wonderfully cool. The mosquitoes and flies have taken a reprieve and rain has made the watering task less laborious. We're hoping for some more mulch soon as many of the islands are overgrown with grass again. Those areas that have been heavily mulched are producing well and providing a needed breakdown of organic matter from the rotting, covered grass.

Of the 400 or so trees and shrubs planted earlier, we've had a loss rate of about 10%. The trees have fared well. Most of the casualties were shrubs and low bushes. The currents, lignonberries, gooseberries and a few blueberries took the biggest hit. We didn't amend any of the soil hoping that mulch and some llama poop, rain and watering would help them along. Many of the plantings were small to begin with, the soil is crappy and, with the intense heat of this summer, I guess it's no surprise that many succumbed to death by stress. One great surprise, the brambles on the trellis have taken hold, cane shoots are impressive and are producing some small fruit, tasty fruit at that. The way a real raspberries should taste, incredible.

The deer have been an increasing problem on some particular trees and we've stepped up the process of constructing wire fence barriers around their favorites. It seems to be working and new shoots are budding forth on what otherwise looks like a dead stick in the ground. We'll continue to build fence rings as we're afraid that as the seasons change, the deer and rabbits will add additional damage as they forage. Fortunately, we've got the hunt club on the property and they're more than willing to help keep the deer under control this fall. The club is currently feeding corn to the deer at some remote spots on the property, hoping the lure them away from the garden area. Whether it's working is anyone's guess.

The clearing of invasive plants is time consuming, cutting, moving, stacking, drying. It is however, allowing a more open area of natural plantings and opportunity for existing trees to thrive. It really creates a beautiful scape that is very satisfying to look at and inviting to enter. So often I overlook at just how incredibly good the area looks afterwards.  The better weather has definitely been a blessing. By days end, we can now begin to see a glimpse of a wonderful scene, a canvas that we can walk into and one that we created. The hard work is still there but it's becoming more satisfying seeing some results and we've barely scratched the surface on this lifetime project. I keep telling myself, vision, ya gotta have vision.

The old adage of taking time to smell the roses has it's merit. I'm too task focused to stop and admire the ever revealing beauty I'm helping to create but that's changing. Week by week, things change and grow. I keep cutting the bad things out, cultivating and planning. The good reveals itself and it's fruitful on all levels. I scan the domain. I'm finding this very satisfying. Very cool...