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... 

Skeeters and Flies

As if the mulch and watering situation wasn't bad enough, one thing we didn't fully take into consideration was pests. We knew that the usual suspects would be present around, namely mosquitoes and flies, but when you're working in the woods, tall grass and in a lowland plain with oppressive heat and humidity, it becomes apparent that productivity drops dramatically. The mosquitoes, deer and horse flies are a nuisance, since they all bite. When their numbers are high, they've often ground work to a halt. On the forest floor, there's a constant soft droan of billions of insect wings aflutter, mostly mosquitoes. Katherine generally works the open garden beds. I tend to get into the tall grasses, weeds and woods. Despite a good spraying of repellent, they still manage to torment me. I may just produce more carbon dioxide, or my genetic make-up that they find attractive. They don't seem to bother Katherine as much, even when she gets back into the woods. That's when I thought about Evy.

Nels Thorn was my dad's cousin, but everyone knew him as Evy. (rhymes with Chevy) I don't recall much about him because we hardly ever saw him but, I remember visiting him when I was a kid one summer at his cabin in northern Minnesota. The cabin was about sixty miles south of the Canadian border, deep in the woods. The mosquitoes and deer flies were ferocious. I remember my brother and I running with our arms flailing wildly in the air trying to keep them away. Evy, on the other hand, hardly flinched. I think Evy was just so used to squatting in the woods, hunting and fishing, that these flying tormentors were just a part of the landscape and, if you were going to be in their territory, you might as well get used to them.

And so it was, with amazement, that I watched as deer flies landed on Evy's head and crawled around his scalp like bugs on a rock. Some would land on his hat, some near his ear, cheek or neck. He rarely waved or shooed them away. He just lived with them, mosquitoes, too. I never got used to it and I don't think anyone else on our family vacation got used it either. Years later and the image  of Evy's deer fly pocked head still sticks with me. What a vacation memory. How did he do it?

I'm noticing something in the way of the skeeters and flies with our situation. First, the mosquitoes appear, always in the woods and brush but, particularly at dusk in the open areas. The skeeters are tiny in size relationship to the flies, but it's the power in their numbers. Because of the dense forest, ponds, ditches and lowland area, this is prime breeding ground. Depending on rain, if it's dry for at least a week, the first wave of mosquitoes die off and the deer flies come out. I particularly hate these pesky deer flies, since they target your head and bite any exposed flesh and are persistent to the point of stopping all activity. I'm definitely no Evy.

The horse flies come in right behind. The horse flies are getting bigger. Last weekend, one landed on the visor of the car and it was about the size of a quarter. That's a big fly to have buzzin' around your head, not to mention multiple flies. I noticed that the horse flies are merely a buzzing nuisance, and they don't seem to be as persistent about landing on me as the deer flies. I'm still bothered to have this deep droning  horse fly BUUUUUZZZZ around my head, rather than the light weight, bizzzz, of the deer flies however, it's the persistence and biting of the deer flies that drives me nuts. Insect repellent, even those with a high DEET content, really doesn't deter deer or horse flies. Clothing seems to be the best form of protection. Unlike the mosquitoes, the flies are always out during the day when we're working, always looking for an opportunity to land on you, whether you're idle or not. A little rain to promote some larvae and the cycle starts over. Skeeters and flies, skeeters and flies, skeeters and flies.

In short, we'll never be able to fully rid the property of them, it's their territory. We'll have to adapt and live with them, though I don't see myself being comfortable having deer flies crawling around on my head in the future. We'll keep them at bay as best we can along with the mosquitoes. The birds, bats and other creatures that feed off of them are happy. We're the visitors. It's only one of many seasons and this is our first. Lesson learned.

Katherine is now turning her attention to an even greater pest in her garden.