Barn in Winter Sun

One pleasant thing about the erratic weather is that between cold fronts you get the occasional lovely day! Yesterday was in the 50's and sunny. Perfect for a long walk about the place. Over the fence I can see the neighbors hay barn, show above. I love the way the afternoon sun shines on it in the winter, especially combined with the silver and golden winter grass.

My inner "Garden Clock" started stirring this week. Despite the arrival of the garden catalogs starting in late December, it was quiet. But yesterday I felt the first stirrings of the 2009 gardening season - within anyway! Soon I'll be getting the monthly garden guide out (Thanks Arkansas Extension Service) and doing the little mental calculations to adjust the suggested dates, which are for Little Rock, to our slightly colder NW Arkansas. If I remember correctly, there's stuff I can start planting as soon as mid to late February! OK, not much stuff, but a thing or two? I'll check and let you know...

Thanks for stopping by Larrapin Garden. It's good to be back.

What a difference two weeks makes...

Still on the subject of time, I look around today at the thinning leaves on the branches, the sea of copper oak leaves on the grass, and I can't believe that just about two weeks ago it looked like the pictures below.


The fig tree made it up pretty big this year! As I've said before, being from Alabama where figs really grow into tree sized, this still seems like a fig bush to me.



It's a brown turkey fig tree (bush) and this year for the first time we had several handfuls of delicious figs. Incredibly, this hot spot against the south facing wall is still a little too shaded by a neighboring sycamore tree to bear fully. The figs don't really ripen till October. By that time the sun has dropped low enough for the sycamore to cast shade. Hmmm. I'd like to plant another higher on the property to get *more* sun. Amazing that the Arkansas Ozark sun is still not quite enough for these guys!



This narrow leaf sunflower was a beauty this year.




This was one of the last monarchs to emerge. This was his first hour of morning sunshine. His wings were still soft. I hope he caught a strong tailwind and made it down to warmer climes before the first frost we had on October 25th or so.



So it will be many months till it looks like this again. But there's plenty to do, designing, reading and dreaming of the garden 2009! Thanks for stopping by Larrapin for a look back to two weeks ago. The next post will be a Buckeye update!

Where does the time go?

My Grandmother always said time speeded up when you got older. I guess I thought she meant when I got her age, not my age now! Autumn is here in all her glory. The leaves are full of color and falling on every breeze. This purple birdhouse in the front yard maple looks like a postcard for Autumn to me. Of course it is Arkansas, so I'm out messing around in the garden every day, getting beds cleaned out and covering them with a deep coat of chopped leaves. Ahhh, back to the chopped leaves.

You see for the first time ever, this year I was on the ball enough to plant a cover crop. A lovely cover crop, the "soil-builder" mix from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply. It came up and got about six inches high. Looked completely lovely, like it was doing fabulous things to the soil right before my eyes. Then killer-bambi descended.

We are having deer trouble for the first time in ten years of gardening in two states surrounded by deer. Our big dog Shug is about 13 now. She's still pretty tough up close - she's a big chow mix, but her eyesight and hearing have faded enough that she doesn't see or hear the apparent HERDS of bambi that must march like hungry zombies out of the woods towards the garden while Shug keeps her nearsighted and nearscented watch from the porch many yards away. Ahh, the indignities of old age... Shug would be mortified if she knew there were armies of deer *just* over there in the garden. You can tell them by the crunching...

So anyway, the deer ate the cover crop down to the stubs. Horrors. So I'm back to covering the raised beds with deeps layers of chopped leaves. Not as good for the soil as cover cropping, but the next best thing for me. Sigh... I will get even with killer bambi. I've been online and discovered the electric-fence-wire-dabbed-with peanut-butter treatment. Next time I'm at Tractor Supply, a fence charger is on my list. And a big jar of peanut butter. Bambi, prepare for a PB & J (peanut butter & jolt) you won't forget!

I know this sounds harsh from a person who welcomes (most) wildlife to the garden with open arms. But some wildlife just can't be good neighbors with the garden. Nevermind there are fields of grass all around that seem fine for cattle. And acres of brushy woods that deer favor. So bambi, please back off a bit. I'll try the fence and see if that works. It's not fatal, if a bit startling, no doubt. If that doesn't work, I may have to sit out in the garden with the shotgun like Ozark gardeners of the past have probably done many a night, protecting the garden, and planning for venison stew!!

Larrapin Mid August

We've been creating the Larrapin landscape for three years now and it was only when I looked back at the pics we took when we purchased the house did I realize how far we've come in three fast years. When I add in the facts of our one to two inches of topsoil over a gravel/clay mix, then I realize that these gardening methods I've learned from my many teachers really, really work!

Here's the front of the house the day we bought it:


And three years later:


Here's the side yard the day we bought it:

The dirt gash you see in these pics is where the owner had just installed county water in addition to the (very deep and productive, but slightly-sulphur-smelling) well we use for the garden now.

Here's the side yard now:


Here's the front yard, future site of Larrapin Garden in August 2005:


And Larrapin garden in August 2008:


Now I can't claim credit for *all* the increase in green, because this year we had already reached the year's average total rainfall by mid June...while in 2005 the area was in a drought...

Am I ever glad we took those "before" pics just so I can see our progress! I can see a productive, mostly edible, naturally grown, wildlife & bird friendly landscape inspired by many garden teachers and (recently) the ideas of permaculture, starting to take shape!

Thanks for visiting the Larrapin Garden Blog. I'd be delighted and honored if you would leave a comment by clicking the comment link below this post so I'd know you stopped by!

Mid-June Garden Goings On

First let me say: how the heck did it get to be mid-June already! My grandmother always said time sped up "when you get older." I thought she meant 80's -- not 40's! The speeding up of time though, is making me choose what I spend my time on much more carefully than ever... Gardening ALWAYS passes the where-to-spend-this-speeding-time test! There's a lot of good garden eating going on around here as seen in the pic above. I love beets. Now that I figured out how to use a juicer I really wish I'd planted more - they are delicious with carrot and apples.



While the amazing amount of rain has been disastrous for the yellow squash, the kale is still going strong. I haven't been quite bold enough to juice kale, but I hear you can..



Here's Larrapin's golf-ball sized watermelon. It's a variety called "Blacktail Mountain" is is supposed to be very early. I'll say! Hope it does better in the damp than the squash have -- which went from lovely to covered-in-mildew literally overnight. Eeek. I'm planning to replant rather than try to save it I think (and hope for more sun, less dampness.)



The zuchinni are currently surviving....



Aren't borage blooms amazing. I plant them to keep the tomatoes company and the bees love the blooms too.



And I've got stuff to plant that I don't have space for! Sigh. Garden is never big enough. :-)



Bush beans going strong. The little fence is enough to keep the bunnies at bay during that irresistable 2-6inche stage, which these have gotten past. If we get some good sunshine, we'll have beans before we know it.



The dill has managed to attract a celebration of swallowtail caterpillars. It's nice to be able to walk by and say words of encouragement and praise to a future butterfly.



So I was standing back admiring the garden, thinking what a beautiful place I have the privilege to learn from, when who should fly down from her nest in that tree at the end of the garden path but...



One of the roadrunners. This may be the female and maybe that nest is more serious than the usual piles of sticks in trees (and in the garage) that we call their "hunting blinds." She stood all puffed out in the sun, drying out for a moment in between rain showers.

Thanks for taking a mid-June walk around Larrapin!

The Beauty of a Clothesline, Part II

When Is a Clothesline a Work of Art?, originally uploaded by Gardener At Larrapin.

I posted the pic above a few days ago, when the sun was shining enough to dry clothes in about an hour. Today it's raining and I want to add my promised addendum to the clothesline post. Thanks "Amanda" for your comment and agreement about the beauty of clothes hung out to dry -- and the silliness of communities that outlaw this simple way to save energy.

One group has gone even further to celebrate the clothesline:

Project Laundry List
Our Mission: Project Laundry List uses words, images, and advocacy to educate people about how simple lifestyle modifications, including air-drying one’s clothes, reduce our dependence on environmentally and culturally costly energy sources.

What fun! And why not get behind these simple things that can go a long way to reducing energy usage.

The main block to handing out clothes (as long as you don't live in a clotheslines-outlawed community) is lack of time. Then the question becomes: Do I want to have the kind of life where I don't even have time to stand out in my lovely back yard and hang up clothes while listening to the birds sing? That is the kind of question that has driven me to seek more simplicity and less consumerism. The less I buy and spend, the less I have to work outside the home, the more time I get to spend with the wind, the birds and my family. Now that's a good deal.

I'll end with this wonderfully poetic take on the beauty of clotheslines from poet Mendy Knott called "Instruments of Peace" from her blog A Creative Life. Here's a snippet:

"Looking out the window, hands in the kitchen sink
washing up the dishes gives a person time to think.
I see our colorful clothing fly,
this old Arkansas home’s prayer flags;
from t-shirts stitched with slogans to denims and dust rags.
The blessed sun shines down.
The breeze it blows and fills.
They sail and pull at pins
as if the billowing clothes
could keep this old world spinnin’
spinnin’ spinnin’ spinnin’ spinnin’
spinnin’ round."

(Read Mendy's whole poem here: Instruments of Peace)

For 2008: More Milkweed!

Maybe the milkweed has made me crazy, but the experience of watching the dozens of butterflies zoom around it and the dozens of monarch caterpillars happily munching away, has me committing more area to butterfly habitat next year. Here's another visiting lovely -- a swallowtail? -- pictured above. I'm searching through the catalogs looking for the magic words in the description: Attracts Butterflies. In particular, I hope to add a Paw Paw tree to draw Zebra Swallowtails.

I haven't had the chance to post due to dealing with a family illness. After being out of state for nearly a week, it was such a healing experience to drive back home and see the garden. Even though it's starting to fade as the heat is releasing it's grip a bit and the light begins to look like Fall, it looked like paradise after a week in hospital waiting rooms.

I'll start watching for the Monarch butterflies to be traveling by soon. One of my clearest memories from when we lived in North Carolina (and along a major Monarch flyway) was looking up into a stunningly blue September sky and seeing butterflies high above, so high they looked like pieces of distant confetti, tumbling southward. It's amazing they travel so far with that up and down rolling flight. This time, I'll be hoping that some of the butterflies traveling will be the offspring of some of the fat caterpillars that munched on this milkweed at Larrapin Garden.

I'm thinking this is why it's called milkweed!

This is one of the Milkweed seedheads as it opens and releases the seeds with their little flyaway equipment. The fluff feels like silk -- no wonder it's called Silky Butterfly weed!

The Tropical Butterfly Weed

This is the tropical milkweed I've mentioned in several posts. Milkweed is the preferred caterpillar food for Monarch butterflies as well as a great nectar source for everything that flies. It was recommended by our wonderful local Monarch garden supporter, Cindi C.

I got the seed from Swallowtail Garden Seeds online. It's called Silky Butterfly Weed (Asclepias curassavica) and comes in red and gold (yellow). The Red has produced more seeds but the yellow was the initial preference of the Monarchs in my yard. Since then, both kinds are popular, with a handful of Monarch caterpillars on every plant.

June Poppies

June Poppies
Originally uploaded by larrapin67.

Luna Moth

Luna Moth
Originally uploaded by larrapin67.

Glimmer the Golden Locust

We had a golden locust back in NC and Mendy adored it, so I got her one in November 2005 for her Arkansas yard. The color in this photo is unretouched -- it really glows like that, particularly with dark evergreens behind. She named it Glimmer. (Mendy also names the roadrunners, woodpeckers, etc) Of course this photo was taken before the freeze. Those golden locks are now dangling like weary streamers... But they'll come back, I hope. In the WNC mountains, the locust loved full sun. Here in AR it enjoys morning sun and seems to enjoy plenty of added water, at least in the these first two years. Those are daffodils, with a couple of faded, remaining blooms planted around the locust.

First Butterfly of the Season

Followed this beauty all over the yard to get a portrait! These are the little blue flowers which are everywhere this year ...still don't know the name.

Mid-March Daffodils

After a week of balmy springtime, it's cloudy and cool today. This photo is from a week or so ago, when new daffodils I planted last fall were beginning to bloom. I found a big bag a hundred bulbs at a local store for $14 and decided to plant them as a surprise for Mendy. That new, very bare tree in the photo is the Golden Locust I gave her in November 2005. I'll post pictures of the amazing green-gold leaves as soon as the tree has some this year! The bluish cast on the foreground are tiny blue wildflowers whose name I don't know yet...

Now that the daffodils have started, I hope to plant a hundred every autumn, all down the gentle slope that is the backyard. That's the view out the kitchen window while washing dishes -- one of the most important vistas of the garden design in our opinions.

Digging a little hole even big enough for a daffodil is a challenge in this incredibly rocky soil. I cheated on these and used the soft dirt around the new tree, which I busted up already. Under the sycamore there are huge roots -- real danger for the riding mower, so I cheated by planting the bulb nearly on top of the ground, then covered with a few inches of top soil from my dwinding pile (purchased from a "dirt farm" in Prairie Grove, AR) then topped it all off with shredded leaves for the winter. Judging from the results, this works! More on my favorite leaf shredders in the next post!

What a difference a few days makes

Just a week ago, this was the feel of the day:



Now, this is the feel of the day:




There's a strong southwind blowing, which usually means rain is coming. I saw bluebirds in the yard this morning, but no activity around the bluebird house yet. (See previous post) I have strawberry starts wrapped carefully in the fridge, waiting for the ground to get dry enough to plant...