Wintertime by Facilities Manager

Greetings! This week Tamara takes a much-deserved blog-a-cation while I share my recent activities here at Chickadee Gardens. While my time during good-weather months is spent on big projects, i.e., a hen house, rebuilding the deck, napping, our cold-weather months are spent addressing small stuff. I enjoy little projects because they usually are not physically demanding and I can use a cold rain-shower as excuse to come inside for a cup of coffee and a slice of freshly made bread with a topping of a friend's marmalade. 

This winter (2022-2023) has been gentle on the property and structures. At least to me, it has. Tamara can tell you about the plants; I know she does so weekly. So please understand there's not much garden-talk below. Let's start with a wheelbarrow and a shovel.

A giant truckload of wood chips arrived a week ago. Thank you, ChipDrop. Now, it's not the cleanest pile of chips we've received, but it works for paths and such. I move 10 loads a day, which takes me less than an hour. I call it my light workout because frankly the chips aren't heavy and I like the smell. And please note on the package box there sits my faithful Sony radio. I like to listen to sports talk programs and, of all things, pop music. Keeps me going, I guess. Makes me feel younger than my Medicare card suggests! Yikes!

I am covering the woodland garden on the west of our property. Replenishing the old chips to keep the weeds under control. Works quite well, actually. Looks nice and helps to retain moisture in the dry months. Tamara seems to enjoy raking the piles. 

The Entry Path to the woodland. Now, this load of chips features a great many long pine needles. I wonder if they will help with weed control. Are conifer needles slightly toxic? Hmmm. (no, FM, they are not)

On the other side of the property, I have spent time removing the lower branches of these fir trees. A big branch busted off during the December snow storm and poked a hole in the poly of the greenhouse. And, you know, I want the chicken yard there on the left to receive some sunshine to dry it out and help plant growth in there. Our hens are not gentle on plants, and it was kind of a muddy mess. So, with the sunlight it should improve. By the way, I repaired the hole in the poly with that expensive tape that the loud fellow touts on television by riding in a clear-plastic boat. Worked like a charm. Sticky. Very sticky. Don't put it on your face! Not good!

This winter's fourth load of fir boughs with some filbert limbs tossed in. We go to the nearby bark/compost business and I pay to leave this behind. Then, when I need compost I pay to have some delivered. I pay both ways. Kind of like taxes! 

I keep an eye on our many trees and shrubs in case they start leaning in the wet soil. This is a recently gifted eucalyptus tree and so is just planted. I'll leave the ropes in place until probably May. Just to give it a go in its new home. 

No, it is not a Frank Gehry-designed beehive. It is an empty beehive. Sadly so, too, because it means the bees must have absconded in November. I tend to leave the hive alone, let Nature take its course. Of course, I treat for mites and added some pollen patties for food, but after the recent warm weather led me to check for activity inside, well, I found a field mouse couple making a home in there. There were very few dead bees in the hive, so I know they left. And, it is the fourth year out of five our bees have flown away. Is it my breath? My hair? I do not know, but I will replace them in April or so. We just like having them around. Geesh, bees!

Here's a new device, a blower that pumps air into the space between the two layers of poly in the greenhouse. Supposed to provide some insulation and strengthen the poly in the event of snow. And it works. When inflated the greenhouse looks all smooth and puffy instead of like an old pony with big ribs. And when it rains when the poly is inflated? Well, you cannot listen to pop music, that's for sure. 

The old John Deere lawnmower is another project ahead before the grass grows. It lost its engine cowling last Fall due to . . . umm . . . your faithful FM's poor decision-making skills. So I plan to clean it up, install a bumper and go with the flow. This ain't no fashion show!

And there is the cowling. I will attempt to see if its recoverable, but I suspect not. The point of this picture is the cart in which the cowling rests. I aim to clean it, varnish it and fix the tires. These carts are super useful, so we can put it to use. It may see some wood-chip action. 

Ever take a picture of a gravel incline? Impossible. Well, this little slope has caused many an Open Garden guest to take a short slide under their shoes. Tamara and I both have found ourselves on our bottoms looking around for witnesses. So I aim to dig out a staircase and use those bricks next to the rototiller as steps. Oh, it will be rustic, but better.

Our orchard is split in two halves. I planted a fescue and rye mixture five years ago. The fescue grows in clumps, which I swear played a part in weakening the mower's cowling because it is so bumpy. So I spread about 50 pounds of bluegrass seed to the lower orchard last fall. It came up, happily, and I look forward to a more "filled in" field this spring.

The upper half of the orchard did not receive the bluegrass seed. As you can see. I plan to remedy that with seed probably in mid-March or early April. I wanted to test it, and so it will be interesting to watch how fall grass is different than spring grass. 

Hard to tell, but the lower half (on the left) seems more green than the upper half (on the right). Perhaps I am just imagining things. Anyway, it's how I pass my days. 

Surely, we cannot have a blog without dear little Annie giving us a look. She takes care of all of us, including her elderly brother Hobbes. Annie is not a project. Well, now, she does demand food and her blankets a certain way, but she is our sweetie. 

So that is it for FM this week at Chickadee Gardens. Winter has been not too bad for FM. Many little projects completed. Many more to do. But our wonderful life is like that. We are blessed. Cheers.

And that's a wrap, thank you so much for reading and commenting. We love hearing from you! Happy gardening everyone!