Bluebird rescue continues

Our physician son has taken over bluebird rescue duties at Deerfield during his visit. It's a family affair.

Nelly stands vigilant watch by the stove to alert us when there's a bluebird trapped.

This morning's rescue was particularly satisfying. When Lem released the bluebird on the porch, it was enthusiastically greeted by its relatives and welcomed back to freedom with loud chirping and fanfare. The birds played tag in the woods and then merrily went on about their business.

We are three out of four on stove rescues. Bluebirds have friends in Deerfield.

Sleeping, creeping and leaping

Among the things learned Saturday at a UT Extension Course on gardening:

* We are in the 6B-7A zone of the USDA Cold Hardiness Map. That zone is able to grow more varieties of plants, but the extremes of heat and cold mean we may not grow all those varieties in the best quality.

* Count on three rotations (early spring, summer, fall) in the vegetable garden with May 1 to Aug. 1 as prime growing season.

* Vegetable garden needs 1 inch of water per week to thrive. (Tip: If a sprinkler must be used, put old tuna cans in the garden to measure water.) Soaker hose is always the best.

* Ideal organic matter percentage for garden is 16%-20%. More or less equally can be a problem.

* Plan on three years to make a garden. The first year it sleeps, the second year is creeps and the third year it leaps. As usual, I'm pushing the envelope.

Rain and a little rest

With two days of rain behind us (1.3 inches) and two more on the way, not much will get done this weekend. Getting all the brambles, berries and grapes in the ground was a good move. Sunday night low is predicted to be near freezing. I cut up four old cotton curtains to cover the blueberries just in case.

I helped a neighbor haul lumber for a building project. He will be at the ready when I need him.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Our son from Minnesota is coming in tomorrow for a week, so I'm not sure how many posts there will be in the coming days. This is his first time home in nine months.

Broadband berries

I think my trellis system will serve our berries and grapes well. Remember I told you that the wire strung across the posts is actually old coaxial cable that our provider tore out when they were trying to solve our broadband problems.

The 18 posts are landscape timbers which I found on sale. They are sunk two feet in the ground and set in concrete.

I know you movers and shakers out there have your Blackberries. Mine are lowercase and suit me just fine.

Brambles, blueberries and grapes planted

We're getting serious now, folks.

Just finished planting:

* (8) Ouchita thornless blackberries
* (8) Red damron raspberries
* (4) Carlos muscadines
* (3) Concord seedless grapes
* (1) Jumbo bunch grape
* (7) Rabbiteye blueberries (4 Powderblue, 3 Tifblue)

The brambles and grapes will reside on 200 feet of trellis.

Most of the planting was done in a soaking rain. Should be a good time to get plants in the ground. We are in for three more days of rain.

Photo above is of a raspberry plant. If all goes as planned, next year we'll harvest several gallons of berries from this puny little thing.

I asked Gabe, my preceptor at the nursery, if there were any tricks I should know about planting brambles. He said: "Just stick 'em in the ground. Anybody can grow brambles."

We shall see, Gabe. We shall see.

A tale of two bluebirds

Our dog, Nelly, knew something was amiss in the cold ashes of the warm-morning stove in our breakfast room. She kept pawing and whining at the stove and brick hearth. Then we heard the chirping.

I opened the door of the stove this morning to find two bluebirds -- one dead and one very much alive. I removed the dead bird and carried it to the woods. I stroked the feathers to find they are very much a beige with with just the tips costuming the bird in blue. Its burial place was a nice pile of leaves. I see why John James Audubon shot and trapped the birds he painted (photo from a print we have). That's the only way you can really take a close look at one. Inquisitiveness has its price.

I gently corralled the live bird and took it to the front porch. As I went to put it down to see if it might survive, it took flight to the woods, apparently no worse for spending the night in the stove.

I thought the cap on our chimney was bird proof, but bluebirds have a way of sneaking into small spaces. Next time I'm on the roof I'll check it.

One bluebird gone, but one survived. Small blessings.

Play day

Even though there's quite a bit to do at Deerfield, I played hooky today so I could have a round of golf with an old newspaper friend from St. Louis.

For the record, post-hole digging, chainsawing and log splitting do not improve one's golf game.

Back to trellis building tomorrow.