Life and Death in the Garden

WARNING:  Images may not be suitable for the weak of heart.

Lots going on in the garden as preparations for fall/winter are in full swing.  All the raised beds have been planted.  Two beds are full of mustard to produce green manure for soil nourishment.  The other two now have a variety of lettuce, beets, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and peas.  The garlic just arrived in the mail today; so that will get planted soon.

My first pests in the garden are the mourning doves.  Those turkeys eat the seed, make filthy nests, and breed like rabbits.  As the sun rose this morning, I discovered the warm remains of one of those pests right in the middle of my young mustard.  Yeeeek!  I don't have garden kitties anymore; so what did the butchering?  Perhaps a bird of prey swooped in before sunset.  An owl?  We have those in the neighborhood.  Hawks hang out here too.  As I looked for clues, fresh kitty poop (warm like the dove bits) was discovered barely covered by the path gravel.  Filthy beast.

Bagrada bug was harmed in the production of this blog post.

Other pests have been discovered in the raised beds.  The University of California Cooperative Extension in Davis (The internet is a wonderful thing.) identified this wee beastie as a Bagrada bug and it doesn't have any predators (besides me).  Oh yes.  This bug thrives on mustard, broccoli, and cauliflower.  Great.  Just great.  This afternoon, there was a Bagrada bug orgy going on in the garden.  If they win, I may be kicking back this winter and buying expensive produce that doesn't taste as great as fresh from the garden.  Until then, I will remain vigilant/vigilante.

Happy Easter

Sweet Pea Mix

 Right on cue, the sweet peas are in bloom for Easter.  The seeds can be planted between October and December here in zone 8-9 in the south central San Joaquin Valley of California. Yesterday, reminded us all that summer is on the way with temperatures knocking on the 90s.  Today's cooler breezes are welcomed before we enter into the dreaded swam pants season.

 

Ladybud on the Warren Pear

Ladybugs are showing up in bigger numbers now.  They didn't really seem to hibernate this winter.  Unusual.  Glad they are showing up because the aphids are showing up as well.  Nature is kinda balanced in the garden for now.

 

If I only had a predator for all the mourning doves.

Hop Along

 

The Butter Bush Squash is coming along nicely since those pesky squash bugs left the garden.  The recent rain helps to keep the beds nice and moist.  But that danged moisture is very attractive to earwigs (aka earrywigs).See the little darling cradled in the munched on squash blossom?  Jerk.  There’s precisely one gagillion just like this pestoid trying to take over the garden.  But…

…there seems to be a large crew of mourning doves hanging out on the ground of the garden.  Most particularly, they enjoy the bed where the squash is growing.  This morning there were about a dozen birds picking at the ground out in the garden.  One particular dove has a bit of a handicap.  It walks like it’s trying to start a motorcycle with its right foot.  Regardless,  these birds are helping to balance out the good guys vs the bad guys.

Take a look at the video of Hop Along if you have absolutely nothing better to do.

Hop Along helps to keep the garden bug free.

Hoppy says, “Eat your bugs to grow up big and strong.”  That’s swell.

oooooo! Super Scary Tape

She’s baaaaack.  I will believe that this is the same mama dove that built a lame nest on the other side of the beams a few weeks ago.  Why?  Because that lame nest she built fell down causing the death of her two newly hatched chicks.  So.  She went out on the town and got knocked up again.  Come on girl.  Don’t you know that Dove Season is less than two weeks away?  Nonetheless, I don’t believe that the manufacturers of scare tape will be contacting me for a testimonial even though it works pretty good against the other breeds of birds around here.Can’t blame the old girl though.  The wisteria is still blooming and provides some relief from the summer sun.  I hope she knows that Dove Season starts on September 1 outside of the garden; but it’s Dove Season all year long inside of the garden.

Bird’s Eye

Early in 2009, a pergola was constructed to create shade.  There was shade before; but the ratty trees that were in this area had to go.  And they did.  Back then there was an unorganized mess surrounding the structure with a pile of bird’s eye gravel to be spread beneath.Wisteria was planted to make the shade more dense during the hot summer.  Family heirloom ferns were transplanted into baskets. Now over two years later, the bird’s eye gravel is a pain in the Croc; but most everything else is moving right along.A basket of mixed plants thrives in the late afternoon sun.  Moon flower vines are creeping up to the top of the pergola.  I’ve never grown moon flowers before and am anxious to experience the perfume they are said to emit at night.All the ferns are as tough as they should be.  Their survival was nothing to worry about.And the wisteria is creating a bunch of thick shade.  The only thing that’s bothersome about the pergola is the bird’s eye.  Not the gravel bird’s eye.The mourning dove’s bird eye is bothersome.  I can’t keep these flying rats out of the stuff.  Scare tape didn’t do the trick.  I can’t blame them though.  It’s a cushy pad.

Mutha Nature

Mourning doves in the garden have been a thorn to me this season.  The trash they dragged in to try to construct so many feeble nests.  Their poop they let fly with abandon.  And most recently, two chicks – Tisket and Tasket – were determined to meet an early end a la Charles Darwin.  This afternoon, I needed some onions for some salsa so I headed out to the garden to grab a few.  GASP!  A collection of small feathers that looked to be those of a mourning dove were on the lawn in the shade of the Chinese Elm tree.  Pumpkin!  What have you done?  The basket in the grape arbor was empty.  No way would Pumpkin take the initiative to climb up and grab a snack.  Once upon a time Pumpkin was known to sit under the bird feeder then spring at least 5 feet up to snag a dove.  Not now.  Time has passed.  The chicks must have made another lame attempt at flight and fell right on top of Pumpkin.  The old gal may not be as limber as she once was but with time she has gained wisdom and patience.

I continued on into the garden to pull some onions.  Up in the grape arbor rested an empty basket that briefly held Tisket, Tasket, and their mama.  C'est la vie.  While pulling onions I spotted Tasket tucked amongst the onions.  I snagged her and put her back up in the basket.  At sunset, the basket was empty.  Let’s simply believe that Tasket made a successful flight to the neighbor’s dilapidated orchard and is resting comfortably in a dying lemon tree.

Some creatures believe that you can’t fool Mutha Nature…

 

 

 

…while other creatures have no opinion.

Tisket & Tasket

Late yesterday afternoon the wind began to pick up.  The lame nest that the dopey mourning dove built on the grape arbor crumbled to pieces.  Her two babies were down on the gravel floor of the garden and she was cuddling close to them.  This was hopeless.  They were all doomed to be cat food as soon as the sun set if not sooner.  I told myself to not interfere.  This was the way Darwin had explained it.  Right?  This dopey mom with no nest building skills was destined to be eliminated.  I went inside for approximately 1/2 hour checking on the situation about every 5 minutes.  It was getting dark and I couldn’t stand it anymore.  I went out to see what I could do to keep the babies out of harms way rather than experience a night of terror. 

Everyone was gone.  There was no sign of a struggle.  No feathers.  No blood.  A quick search of the garden found the 2 babies huddled together on the other side of the corn patch with mama sitting on the fence above them.  I gave her a few choice names then went to the shed to get the ladder and an old basket.  Mama flew away.  Tramp.  I quickly gathered the babies and put them in the basket.  They were returned to the grape arbor not far from their dilapidated nest.  Guess who was up on the arbor safe and sound?  That’s right.  Mama.  Tramp.  I tucked the basket amongst the vines and hoped it would be secure.

The wind really picked up in the night and brought rain down here in the valley and snow up in the mountains.  It is nice a brisk today.  I’m pleased to report that Mama and babies (now named Tisket and Tasket) are resting comfortably in their new nest.

 

There is someone in Darwin’s plan that is not happy that I interfered with Nature’s Plan.  I’m the FEMA of the garden.

Sorry Pumpkin.  Let them fatten up a bit more.  You’ll thank me then.

Ingrate Eviction. Nothin’ but Trash!

Not that you would want to with the photo below, but if you want a larger image of a photo simply double click on the image and a new window will pop up with a larger version of the photo.  This is information that could be helpful to the gals of the DBE that follow along occasionally.

Here’s another tip gals:  If you want to leave a comment and have it appear on a post you will be asked to type some letters in a window to confirm you are not a nasty robot leaving spam junk.  No, not the kind of canned meat that Anna makes famous sandwiches with.  Make sure you get through that process and then your comment will be included.  It’s that way on most all blogs.

Now for the ingrates.  Honestly, the stupid mourning doves that nest in my yard aren’t doing me any favors.  Just look at the mess below one of the nests in the pergola.  They brought in so many weed seeds with their nesting materials that I consider them extremely bad tenants.  Soon this single mother will have some babies she will try to raise before she “hooks up” with some other fly by night fella and be back on the nest.  The pile of poop can only grow.  This continues all summer long. 

The plan is to remove any nest once it’s empty and replace it with a healthy amount of scare tape.  Doves are pretty and all but poop and weeds are the limit.  If there is evidence that doves eat earwigs I may reconsider the eviction.  Otherwise, notice has been served.

Friday Mystery Solved

It’s not much of a mystery.  Not much of a mystery at all; but it was something that needed to be solved. 

Who left me this gift of bird parts just outside my patio door?  The evidence was fresh.  I had to act quickly in order to find and stay on the trail of the culprit that was responsible for this slaughter.  Oh yes.  The carcass was that of a mourning dove.  Dovie was not on her nest in the grape arbor.

The chick had flown off after the start of Dove Season; but Dovie would hang out in the sweet apartment she was claiming as her own like a squatter in a McMansion.  She flew down one evening feeling very safe as she landed very close to Pumpkin.  Her escape should have been a lesson.  Doves have never been guilty of being smart.  Since Dovie was nowhere around the garden, I assumed that my patio gift were her remains.  Now who committed the deed?

As I collected samples for the CSI lab (waste can) I noticed blood dripped onto the garden steps and pathway that had just been sprayed with grass clippings from the gasoline powered lawnmower (Note:  carbon footprint citation should be issued.).  As I was spraying off the walk and steps to loosen the blood evidence before a stain took hold (Note:  enviro citation should be issued for use of water with abandon.), I noticed that one garden kitty wasn’t hungry.  This kitty is ALWAYS hungry.  It’s hard to be hungry when your gut is full of dove.

Pumpkin

aka Doo Doo’s

aka The Cutest Baby One

aka Stinky

aka Devil Cat (not by me)

On the Grapevine

The 2nd season for the Red Flame Grapes is coming to an end.  Production was great.  There were many bunches of grapes although the size of the fruit was pretty small but flavorful.  The vine has grown vigorously over the arbor and along both sides of the adjoining fence.

  (Notice the Luffa Gourd in the background, right?  Not one stinking bloom.  Nothing.  Also note Pumpkin loitering around the grapevine.  This will come into play on the last photo.)  The grapevine is doing great with few pest problems.  Throughout the summer I found a few hornworms on the vine as well as on the ground below.  Those critters were squished.  This evening I saw something a little unusual.

I’ve never seen a hornworm any other color but green.  Because of the unusual color (to me), I’m leaving this guy alone to see what happens.  Maybe the birds will spot it easier.  Maybe it will form an unusual pupae.  It can’t do much damage now and I’ll deal with any of its offspring next year.

Is it peculiar for grapes to form a 2nd time in one summer?  If not – will these grapes mature in time for Thanksgiving?

Old Dovie seems to be making it through dove season just fine.

The End

Get it?!

Garden Update

Lavender is clipped on a regular basis then dried for use in potpourris.  I did notice that lavender buds are being used to toss at weddings in place of rice or birdseed.  I like that choice.

Dove chickies have hatched up in the grape arbor.  Don’t they know that dove season starts on September 1?  Perhaps they’ll simply hang out in the garden for a while.

The tomatoes just will not stop producing.  My freezers are stuffed and I have loads of salsa.  There are little yellow blossoms on most of the plants.  In the background, the apricot is screaming for an espalier pruning.  This will probably be the sixth trim this summer.

Summer sweetness plumps up the peaches as they continue to ripen.  I enjoyed a peach this morning and thought it was great.  Farmer MacGregor didn’t think it was sweet enough yet so I won’t harvest just yet.

The chives are blooming and need to be snipped.  Most all the herbs in the garden are growing well – chives, parsley, basil, thyme,  and rosemary.  The summer savory I planted with the beans never germinated.  I planted twice.  It must have been a dud package of seeds.

I’m not sure how to best preserve the peppers since the favorite way to use them is in salsa or stuff them with cream cheese, wrap them in bacon and bake them.

Pumpkin looks forward with anticipation for the upcoming dove season.

Licorice continues to supervise all activity in the garden between naps.  Looks like she’s ready to take a dive.

Scare Tape Revisited

The Red Flame Grapes did way more than I expected from them this season.  The 2 year old vine grew up and over the arbor and is now growing along the fence.  Fruit production was at least 10 times more than the year before.  Although the grapes were kinda small, they had plenty of flavor.  The scare tape still dangles even though there is no more grapes to protect from pecking birds.  It still keeps the birds away from tomatoes, strawberries, and peaches.

The scare tape works really well.  Birds stay out of the garden.  I don’t know if it’s because of the tape or the garden kitties.  Pumpkin (one of two garden kitties) is a menacing creature and always enjoys a good cut of meat.  Since she lounges in the vegetable garden, she may be the one responsible for keeping the birds away.  However… …it seems that birds could get used to the scare tape and disregard the metallic glimmer as if it were only a disco ball.  Thankfully, the local birds remain scared of the tape and Pumpkin - except for the birds that I believe are one of God’s dumbest creatures.

That’s okay, Pumpkin.  I know you’re letting this one fatten up before Dove Season officially starts on September 1.  Hope you have the discipline.

HAPPY EASTER

Dovie’s eggs hatched during the week leading up to Easter.  She now has two hungry babies to fatten up.  Customers to Darwin’s Diner lounge below the hanging basket of fern that cradles the nest.  One particular customer sniffs the air in anticipation.

Happy Easter from Maybelline’s Garden.