Anemic pears; God bless the auger

I gave the Bartlett pear trees a good dose of iron sulfate at the suggestion of Gabe, my nursery guru. I hope this shot of iron brings their droopy leaves back to life, but at 62 I'm beginning to know the droopy feeling. Pass the Geritol, please.

AUGER DREAMS: When I dug the 18 holes for the trellis posts, it took me about 7 hours over two back-breaking days. I had nightmares (not to mention back spasms) of dark holes caving in on me. Today, my neighbor with the tractor-powered auger came over and drilled the 21 holes for my garden fence in about 45 minutes. On the northeast corner of the garden we hit heavy clay which would have made hand digging even more miserable. If the garden doesn't work out, I can always try pottery.

Living on the edge of a hard freeze

The low last night at Deerfield was 34, so we didn't suffer a hard freeze. The straw mulch helped to keep the low plants safe and warm.

The apple and cherry trees kept their blooms, but for some unknown reason the two Bartlett pear trees lost all their blooms and the leaves have started to close up. I have a call in to Gabe at the nursery to see how concerned I should be. Are pears more susceptible to the cold than apples?

It's touch and go for the dogwood trees. The blooms are beginning to show a little brown around the edges, but they are hanging on valiantly.

Plants all snug in their beds

We got a reprieve last night on the freeze. The best I can calculate it got down to only 35 degrees. A hard freeze is forecast tonight. Don't let the blue skies in the photo fool you. It was spitting snow even as I snapped the picture.

I got moving today and bought some straw to put around the young berries and grapes. I'll cover plants around the house with old curtains I saved just for that purpose.

Nothing can be done for the brilliant dogwood blossoms. They were nice while they lasted.

It's 10 p.m. Know where your blueberries are?

Tonight's forecast is 28 degrees with possible snow. I went down to cover the blueberries with old curtains, but the weight of the cloth was too much for the young plants. I feared the cloth would do more harm than good. A quick call to Gabe, the nursery guru, confirmed my thinking. I should have gotten some straw mulch, but it's too late.

So, I will let the blueberries spend the night without any protection. I feel like a bad parent.

The dogwoods around the house and in the woods are a brilliant white. They may be a dirty brown when we wake tomorrow.

The plot thickens

I completed the layout today for my vegetable garden. I've had to move it several times because I'm finding areas of my land that do not percolate well.

The final plot is 48 X 32 (1536 sq.ft). It will have a 6-foot high fence built on 4 X 4 treated lumber posts. Each 8-foot section will have three 1 X 6 stringers wrapped with 48-inch chicken wire. Around the top of the posts will be a wire to which I can attach aluminum pie plates if the deer seem to want to get inside.

My neighbor with the auger attachement is on call to dig the 21 post-holes, but it is still too wet for the tractor. More rain is expected tonight.

I have been trying to amend the soil with organic matter (dead leaves, grass clippings, sawdust, ashes), but I have a long way to go. I will wait until the first week in May to start planting. I should have the fence completed by then.

I have not decided exactly what to plant. Any suggestions besides the normal tomatoes, cucumbers and cabbage?

The grass is always greener . . .

The fescue seed I planted on Feb. 25 is up and has about 2 inches of growth. Even though I double-sowed the seeds, the patches continue to look a little thin to me, but I'm not complaining. This is the best germination I've had of any grass seed I've planted. The plentiful rain in March obviously had much to do with it.

You can see for yourself. The photo below was taken before I planted the seed in a shady spot on the west side of the house. Photo at top right was taken today.

I'll be fertilizing it soon. Will it last through the humid summer? Only the fescue gods know.

Rabbits and Deer: BEWARE!

The spring weather has brought to life the wildlife at Deerfield. We have seen all manner of deer, rabbits and wild turkey of late. One turkey had the audacity to leave a rude deposit right in the middle of the driveway by the house -- while we were watching, no less.

To protect our young fruit trees and plants, I have attached garlic spikes (see photo) to the branches. These spikes are made from garlic oil, the scent of which is said to be 1000 times stronger than plain old garlic. Also, on the timbers surrounding the plants, I sprayed a product called Liquid Fence which is made out of (no kidding) rotten eggs, garlic and sulfur. I spilled a few drops on my hands. When I got to the house Willie was giving me funny looks.

FAMILY NOTE: We said goodbye to our son today who will spend the next week in Seattle before he returns to work in Minneapolis. What a pleasure to have Lem home, to attend concerts and go on hikes with him. It was also funny to watch the last episode of "E.R." together, a TV show we haven't seen since Lem was in high school. He explained all that doctor gobbledygook which, it turns out, is real stuff.