Protection
Protecting our gardens from marauding animals can be quite a task. Over the years I’ve developed various methods for protecting individual plants as well as large plots of edibles. Everyone seems to have methods that work for them. I was at my neighbor’s house yesterday and she tied plastic shopping bags on strings around her garden to keep the deer out.
This works fairly well for her. I have found that for my large vegetable garden, an electric fence is a must to keep deer, turkeys, groundhogs, raccoons, and other pests out.
What methods have you found that work well for these large garden pests?
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Friday Favorite: This Dish Brush
We’ve been washing dishes by hand for year, even when we had a dishwasher. For a while, I used Twist sponges, they’re made of natural materials and compostable. Then they became difficult to find and I went searching for a better option. I came across this Redecker wood & natural bristle brush many years ago and we’ve been using one to wash dishes ever since. Not only is it made of wood and natural bristles, it lasts FOREVER and never gets stinky like regular sponges do. In fact, I just replaced the old brush we were using, it gave us almost 3 years of service washing all of our dishes.
Considering the cost of one of these brushes, that’s an amazing amount of money saved on kitchen sponges and on waste produced. They’ve changed the design a bit since I purchased mine. I have a few other products from Redecker as well (including the toilet brush) and have been super happy with them. Whenever possible, I like to purchase/use products that are wood/natural instead of plastic. Not only do they usually last longer, they often clean better and don’t scratch surfaces. When they’re worn out, we typically put them in the woodstove, but they can also be composted.
Have you discovered any great household products lately?
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The Year of the Cutting Garden
Every year I add a few more flowers for cutting. This year I feel like I’m finally getting a good number of things. I can have bouquets of one variety of flower or mixed bouquets in different colors. Here are a few of the arrangements I’ve cut from the garden this year:
I’m a big fan of bright green, purple, black, and light pink when it comes to flowers to cut for bouquets. Although this year I have loads of sunflowers and flowers in other colors.
What colors do you tend to love when it comes to flowers?
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Transplanting….
I’m always transplanting perennials and shrubs. Over the years I’ve found out what works and what doesn’t. When Northern Gardener asked for article ideas for the 2019 season, I recommended one about dividing & transplanting perennials.
Since they accepted, I’ve been out deciding what I need to move. I’ve transplanted a few roses, bronze fennel, and other various herbs so I can take photos of the process.
The things I transplanted last month are starting to leaf out once again and should be lush by the end of September. When we moved to Maine 6 years ago, I brought almost and entire moving truck filled with plants from my old garden. Every single one of them survived, which was amazing since it was early December when I dug them up.
Do you move plants frequently? Any great tips/tricks to share? Or any specific questions you have that I should definitely cover in my article?
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A Week Off
Sorry for not blogging last week, I had grand intentions of writing posts ahead of time to post while I was in Ohio. Preparations to be away got the best of me and I didn’t end up having time to write the posts ahead of time. We drove to Ohio last Monday and spent the week visiting with family. My brother drove up from Georgia and my dad had just arrived back in the US from South America. Since my sister lives close to my dad’s Ohio home, she was already there. Here we are at Brandywine Falls in Cuyahoga National Park.
We went to the art museum, we went to gardens, we went out to eat, we laughed, we had a great time catching up. Then we had the privilege of attending the wedding of a dear friend on Saturday. All-in-all, a great week, albeit tiring.
