Ice Cream Fridae

I spent the best part of the day on Friday hanging out with Jen, Avery, & Paige. We had talked about going to the beach or doing something special but decided to stay inside (good beach day for ducks, not people). It was a good decision. We read books, played games, and watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (yes, I sang along). I brought Miss Paige a doll stroller that she instantly fell in love with, and Avery & I read a book about Babe Ruth- and both learned a lot about this baseball legend. After lunch, we declared it an ice-cream-party day (I brought lots of fixins) and each assembled the sundae of our choice. It was a wonderful day. If I were a really good gramma I would have taken photos instead of borrowing this one from agape-cafe.net, instead I spent all my time soaking in smiles, words, Avery-isms, and Paige-xpressions. I'll try to do better on the photos next time!

The Newest Addition...

Meet one of the newest additions to the Green gardens - one of 70 or so Latham raspberry plants donated by my mom & dad. We spent a good part of a recent weekend pulling rocks and stumps, tilling the soil to reveal more rocks and roots to pull, and tilling again with the little Mantis to find yet more rocks and roots. The result is a nice plot for a berry garden.
My dad had postponed tilling the path between his raspberries until we got over there to pull up the new shoots (thank you dad). Saturday morning we dug enough to fill a large bucket, and spent the afternoon setting them into the soil (pulling, yes, more rocks and roots). We'll be adding posts and wire supports next.
Thankfully, we are receiving a good amount of rain that is soaking into the soil. It looks like all the plants have recovered from the shock of moving... just a few wilty leaves on a few plants. So, we have two double rows of plants which will have posts and wire supports set soon. And there is still room in the new garden - we'll try transplanting a few wild blackberries, wild blueberries, and wild strawberries, attempting to cultivate them somewhat. These will quite likely never produce giant fruit like the nursery grown varieties, but they will hopefully produce some very delicious berries that have a wilder sweetness.

Japanese Beetles

'Tis the season for Japanese beetles. I'd been planning on picking up a fresh bag and new bait for the trap, but haven't made the trip to the store yet. Earlier in the week I picked some irises, lilies, and yarrow from the garden for a table bouquet, after carefully checking for beetles and finding none. This morning, as I walked by the garden, I realized they were here. I'm not sure if I could smell the beetles, or if it was the sweet smell of the irises, but my senses were alerted. It didn't take more than a glance to see the invaders. I'd even made some pepper water last night, thinking I'd probably need it soon- good timing! I sprayed the flowers, and started picking off the infested blooms until I realized there were SO MANY. What to do?

I came inside, poured another cup of coffee, and got online. I read nothing about red pepper water (my own concoction that I've used with success in the vegetable garden) but I did find out that soap water can be an effective deterrent. I also found out that the traps are controversial. They do trap the beetles, but the pheromones actually attract beetles to the area so you might get more than just the resident beetles. I also read that the beetles are pretty much around all the time at different stages of their life cycle.

The adults come out early to mid-June around here and have particular preferences of flowers and plants. Females will leave the blooms and make their way down to the soil where they lay their eggs before returning to the blossoms and leaves where they munch away, skeletonizing the leaves, leaving only the veins. They repeat this through the summer and sometimes lay as many as 60 eggs or so. When the eggs hatch, they go through several instars (cycles), including a little white grub worm stage. These become more evident late summer and you can dig up small patches of sod to see if they're there. They stay in the soil all year, sometimes taking two years to complete their full life cycle depending on the climate conditions.

So, my garden has been soaped because I decided against getting the traps set up. There is a bacteria that is effective, but it is costly and takes 3-5 years to completely manage the Japanese beetle population- you never really get rid of them, only manage them. Their northern range runs through central Maine, so right now they aren't as bad as they are in other areas. A close inspection of my mom's irises this morning revealed none and she's just 5 miles from us. Diligent attention to the garden might keep them under some level of control this year, we hope.

In other news, we put in over 70 raspberry plants in the new berry garden! It's nice to have some time to spend around the yard this summer.

Bridgton Community Contradance

Saturday night we had the opportunity to call at the Bridgton Community Contradance. It was our first time down that way, mainly because we thought it would be a really long drive. Turns out not to be that far away, relatively speaking... just over an hour. This dance is new - but the organization and energy poured into it can be seen and felt as soon as you walk in. A lot of super nice touches like stringing mini-lights around the hall, tables with tablecloths and fresh flowers and candles, free popcorn and refreshments, and a low admission price all work together to make this THE place to be if you're anywhere around the Bridgton area on 5th Saturdays. Tunes by Perpetual e-Motion keep the dancers on the floor until the very end of the evening. We felt fortunate to have been invited to call, and look forward to going back again- to call or to dance!

Sweet Smell of Early Summer...

The lilacs are in full bloom right now... too overpowering for me in closed spaces, but wonderfully sweet in the great outdoors. I love smelling them as I walk up to the house. I know Richard loves them, so I do too. My grandmother had a big stand of lilacs on the lawn she shared with her neighbor who happened to be my friend Robin's grandmother. That's how Robin and I met years and years ago, hanging out under the lilacs. One of my favorite color combinations is deep green and purple... coincidence or connection?

Workin' the Soil

It has been wonderful having a few days of rest and relaxation, and the time, space, and energy for "special projects". With the spring semester officially completed, and the May term class starting on Monday, we managed to use the five day interim effectively... rototilled and prepped the garden plot (and expanded it from last year), picnic on the beach, cleared off my desk, baked some bread (thank you Kathie), put up a couple of clotheslines and got ALL our laundry dried in the sunshine... and managed a couple of short afternoon naps and some walks through the woods.
The garden is looking really beautiful. We have just one more corner to plant with beans, and the peas and sunflowers on the north side of the plot. We built up a raised bed for the carrots to encourage them lengthwise, and hilled up the rows a bit for the other seeds so the walking trough is a little lower and more packed (hoping to deter weeds, I know it's a losing battle, but we'll see if this helps). The greenhouse starts got started late (thanks to a rigorous study schedule that distracted me from remembering to get out there), so we'll probably purchase a few starts from the local greenhouse... I'm hoping my late seedlings might produce a later crop if the season is long enough (and mild enough toward the end). I'm happy to have worked my summer schedule out so I can be home and tend to these things... add to that a couple of short term courses and an independent study, and this looks to be a super summer!

Caught in the Act...

Today was so nice and warm, we decided to make some sandwiches and head to Popham for a stroll along the beach... of course, it's always colder at the coast than inland and even though we brought sweatshirts, we decided to forego the walk until we'd at least eaten our supper. As we sat on the bench between the old fort and Spinneys, we noticed activity in the harbor... lots of activity. Seals, seals, and more seals were chasing, diving, slapping the water as they flipped around in what appeared to be either a lot of play or some courtship behavior. Judging from the many pairs forming, we think the latter. Amazing to witness it at all, but in such numbers! I don't know much about seals, but it looked like they all chose this harbor on this afternoon to choose a mate (one or more, I'm not sure).

Happy Birthday Mom

If you see my mom today, wish her a Happy Birthday :)