Monday, July 2, 2007

Weeds & Stuff

So far, I have only shown you the nice pictures of flowers and scenes in my yard. Before you get to thinking that I have these really great looking gardens, here are my "confession" pictures--the things I have never shown you before.

Here's my vegetable garden. I'm sure things would be growing much faster if the weeds weren't stealing all the nutrients and moisture from the soil. One of the concepts of dividing the garden into sections was that I would weed a section at a time and that would break up the weeding chore into manageable segments (kind of like dusting one room at a time--another chore I hate and almost never do!)

As you can see my theory hasn't worked. See that big thistle right next to a tomato plant?

The center sections containing onions and leaf lettuce aren't quite as bad as the rest because I just planted them a couple weeks ago and those sections had been covered with weed-barrier cloth till I was ready to plant.

OK, it's only going to get worse....this is my asparagus patch. If you look really close you can actually see some asparagus plants in there....yes, they're right next to that large-leaved, 3 foot weed on the right side of the picture. How do these things grow so fast??

Here's my butterfly garden behind the garage. I used the weed whacker yesterday to cut away all the tall grass growing around the rock border. At least I can see the rocks again now. Next I need to actually get into the garden and pull out the rest of the grass (no, those aren't daylily leaves blowing gracefully in the front--that's all grass!) I've got a spray bottle full of vinegar all ready to spray these weeds to kill them, but I always run out of day before I run out of projects (know the the feeling?)

I also weed whacked all this tall grass that had grown up over the rock border under the deck. It looks pretty good now. Again, a little strategically applied vinegar would work wonders in this area.

OK, now that I've shared these horrifying scenes, I will pledge to you to get them cleaned up in the next week and show you photographs of my accomplishments next Monday. My brother and his family are coming for a visit next week and we're planning a family picture in our backyard, so I want everything to look nice for their visit. Nothing like company coming to get serious about sprucing things up.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ & Stuff ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


In addition to 3 gray squirrels in my yard, a little red squirrel also showed up over the weekend. He's a pretty clever little squirt. When I came home from work today, I found he had discovered the tube feeder filled with the delicious cardinal mix (containing sunflower hearts and shelled peanuts). The cage was designed to keep grackles out of the feeder, but nothing stops a determined red squirrel. The tray provides a perfect spot to sit and dine for this little rascal. I finally chased him out, figuring that if he ate too much, he would become too fat to squeeze out through the holes anymore.

So cute and yet so naughty!


13 comments:

KGMom said...

Oh what a crafty squirrel! You are too understanding. I would have chased him out at the beginning.
But he is cute.

RuthieJ said...

Hi Donna,
Squirrels are still such a novelty in my yard and they haven't destroyed anything....yet. It's really funny to watch them scramble when the Cooper's Hawk flies through!

Anonymous said...

Little red squirrels are SO cute sort of like chipmunks.
Weeds grow to all heights but that's how you tell them apart from the plants, they're the biggest, but be careful pulling them so you don't pull out the good stuff. Have fun!?
MOM

RuthieJ said...

Hi Mom,
I'm sure Anna doesn't feel the same way about her chipmunks and red squirrels...
The weeds are getting a reprieve till tomorrow....had to catch up everyone's blogs!

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

I think it's the beastly hot weather we had that made the weeds go nuts- my flower beds lokk gross too.
Red squirrels are such cheeky little things but I sure think they're cute!

Jayne said...

Awwww... what a cutie, but like you said, he might get too fat to get out! Weeds they do grow, and sooo fast. Don't feel bad. We are all in the weed club.

Mary said...

Ruthie, I love this! Your posts are so honest - but best kind.

I apologize for laughing all the way through because I know how discouraging weeds are - it's like sweeping sand off the desert!!!

I'm the same way - hate to dust and do it infrequently - only if I have loud music playing. I get serious when company is coming, too.

I look forward to seeing the transformation!

Mary C said...

Hi Ruthie - why is it that we all wait until company comes to get things cleaned up? :) I know the feeling - been there, done that! And as for dusting, I'm always trying (mind you "trying") to delegate that job to another family member. Dusting is right up there with ironing - nobody irons anymore, do they? :)
Loved your squirrel pic - I don't think we get red squirrels here in Calif - he does look smaller than the regular gray squirrels which we do get around here.
Happy weeding!

nina at Nature Remains. said...

It does help to have a deadline--I know how much we let slide UNTIL somebody's coming!!!! Then the panic begins--it's nice to know we're not the only ones.

RuthieJ said...

Hi Lynne,
My spouse had this afternoon off and said when he got home there were 2 of those "cheeky little things" inside the guard. Wish I could have seen that!

Hi Mary,
Don't apologize for laughing, that was my intent for this post. Got a bit of a start on those weeds tonight before the rain. The onions and lettuce are standing taller already.

Hi Mary C,
You're right about waiting...I should just make it a point to keep these weeds away for my own enjoyment.

Here's a comment from my mom: "I still iron [I love to iron] and I do dust only when somebody moves something and it shows."

I will confirm that she does love to iron. Fortunately my dad wears dress shirts to work everyday, so she has plenty of ironing therapy every week.

Hi Nina,
Those weeds, they start out so small and then in just a few days they're out of control. However, I'm pleased to say that they're all organic! Too bad I can't use them in a salad or something

RuthieJ said...

Hi Jayne,
When I walked out to the feeder to take a picture, the little squirrel did seem to have a hard time getting out of the cage; could've been panic, but I think it was due to overeating

LauraHinNJ said...

I have a similar amount of weeding to do - quite daunting!

Robin (Bumblebee) said...

I totally LOVE this squirrel photo. I have to bring my bird feeders in at night or they are totally trashed in the morning.

--Robin (Bumblebee)