I have been neglecting my blogs of late, I know. So, what have I been doing?
Well, Hubby and I try to walk five miles a day or occasionally get out on our bikes. We've also been camping and visited our mountain home. When home in Lincoln where I have internet access I have instead been busy in the garden.
Back in 2009 I had removed the lawn in the back yard. This year I decided that the yard lacked interest. I needed to define the spaces, make rooms.
So we built a fence to set off the back patio and added a little bridge over the dry stream bed where I piled some of the many rocks I had dug our of the beds.
I edged a pathway with more of the stones and bought some DG to make the paths.
I made this "Rube Goldburg" contraption to support bird netting over the blueberries and I have added some shade cloth to protect them from the hot sun. I also added more fruit trees, keeping them small so I could have a greater variety.
Unfortunately, the wildlife enjoys our garden, too. Deer prune the strawberries, fruit trees and grapevines. They would eat the tomato plants and other vegetables if I didn't keep the plants covered with netting.
Raccoons eat the peaches and apricots and voles like tomatos.
The critters don't get it all, though. They don't like onions and garlic so that is my most successful crop. I keep netting over my tomatos and beans and so far nothing has gotten those. We have blueberries every day for breakfast in spite of tenacious mocking birds who seem to find their way through the netting.
Peppers, eggplant and squash are starting to flower but it will be a while before they are ready to harvest.
Time for me to go back out to the garden. I need to find a way to keep the critters from the fruit trees, and the grapevines need to be trained to a support, and....
Post Script:
As we were getting ready for our evening walk, Jules spotted my nemesis in the neighbor's yard.
He had come through our yard first, leaving tell-tale tracks on the pathways.
Get more views of what is going on in the world at Our World, Tuesday.
23 comments:
Your fruits and veggies look SO delicious! You have been missed and it's good to see you online again, Martha! Thanks for the tour and the great photos! Hope you have a great and "tasty" week!!
You have blueberries already?!
I'm glad I don't have to contend with deer. They are one of the few critters that have not come this far into suburbia.
Seems like a marvelous balance, you feed wildlife and yourselves. Like what you did to the back yard. Summers are such a perfect time to be in the mountains and garden.
What a nice post, so much work you have with the garden. The deer looks great but is a spoiler for your veggies.
Love your garden! But hope you get to spend some time on the East side too!
Wonderful photos - your garden is so great, I love the ideas of "rooms". Seems the critters do love to get into gardens, I'm glad they left some for you.
A thousand years ago we used to live in Orangevale, and would take trips up to the tiny little town of Lincoln. My goodness how things had changed when we went back about 10 years ago.
I am so impressed with your gardening and decorative skills Martha. Everything looks great. I love blueberries, they must taste a hundred times better picking them off your own bushes.
Wishing you a great day,
Denise
An English Girl Rambles
Your yard is looking very pretty. You've gotten an impressive crop, considering that the wildlife expects you to share.
That is lot of work in your garden. Great stuff.
Of course wildlife always likes a great garden!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon Rivber, Canada.
Fresh blueberries for breakfast. Yummy.
Your garden looks great. I can see why it attracts the deer. I hope you don't lose everything to the wildlife.
your garden attracted me too, not just the deer. what a lovely garden you have. lots of work, but worth it when you harvest.
Ah, you are a hard worker. I love what you have done and the effort that went into it.
Martha - Your back yard is a haven - for you and the wildlife! You have so much planted! Bob and I planted 3 tomato plants in Denver - now we await the fruit! Our growing season is way too short in Breckenridge - even the perennials have to rush.
Your gardens look wonderful. You've really been busy. And no wonder you're not overfond of deer and rabbits! Blueberries are (according to my daughter) just starting in Oregon .. I hope so, because I want to share them when we get there.
If you have to have a nemesis, that a good looking one!
garden looks great.
Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
Wow, your garden is amazing! I love the shot with the pathway included. What a surprise to capture that deer, too. Wonderful post. Blessings to you & have a great week!
xoxo,
Allie @ Framed by God
http://framedbygod.blogspot.com/
I love your yard/garden. Looks like a nice place to sit and relax when you have time. I know that the wildlife can be problematic. For me it is crows that mess around in my small garden. I can't keep them away. If you are walking/biking 5 miles a day, it is hard to do that, keep up with everything else and blog too.
You've got much more done than I have. This is my third week weeding one large bed and I usually weed to exhaustion.
The critters are a difficulty, the deer can only wreck as far as their head reaches but we have kangaroos who demolish whole trees by even bending down the upper branches. I don't mind lizards eating my strawbs but I do resent the multitude of birds who eat each and every one. Here too everything has to be covered in netting and then the possums eat holes in it and open the door to all the birds. I guess we both wish the critters weren't quite so greedy.
Love all the goodies from your garden that you did get though.
It must be so hard to have such a cute nemesis in your garden all the time. I love what you have done with your back yard. It looks amazing. I am envious of all the wonderful fruits that you are growing.
My Website: Professional Doctorate
Sometimes I wonder that we get any of the produce at all!!! I love your Rube Goldberg!!!
What fun to see your garden! I love your Rube Goldberg too. I just popped over from Linda Reeder's blog. I thought that deer was a statue. Wow!
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