Quote of the Day: Margaret Atwood
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”
~Margaret Atwood
I certainly do. You know it’s been a good day in the garden when you step into the shower and see swirls of dirt running down the drain!
Barefoot or shoes, which do you prefer?
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Hello Little Friend
Ever since we moved in here I’ve been hoping to spot a snake or two in the garden. A few years ago I found a dead baby black rat snake laying on the back deck, but I haven’t spotted a live snake until now. Yesterday, I rescued this little beauty from the outdoor cat.
I grew up around snakes and don’t fear them. We had pet boa constrictors almost my entire youth. Here you can see my dad when he was in high school with a big snake. We even had a pet snake that laid an egg once, which was super exciting for us kids.
I’m very excited to see this little guy in the garden. Sadly, many people are scared of snakes and kill them if they see them. Snakes are very beneficial to have around because they control pests. If they’re small they eat insects, slugs and other small prey, if they’re larger they can be of great help in controlling rodents. It’s important to learn about the snakes in your particular area, any that are venomous and the ones that are harmless. You should also find out if there are endangered snakes in your area. Educating yourself will go a long way in doing away with some of the fear you may have of them.
For years I’ve been building snake habitat in my garden. I figured I had snakes around and just hadn’t spotted one. I’m happy that I spotted this little guy and rescued him from the cat, luckily it wasn’t injured. Hopefully he/she will live a long healthy life here at Chiot’s Run!
How do you feel about snakes in the garden?
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Friday Favorite: Floursack Towels
Up until last year I always used normal terry kitchen towels. When we stopped at Seed Savers Heritage Farm last August I purchased a few of their vegetable flour sack towels. When I got home and started using them I quickly fell in love and all my other kitchen towels started collected dust in the drawer.
So what do I love about them? their large size, how quickly they absorb water, how quickly they dry and with these how beautiful they are! They are available at Seed Savers Exchange if you’re interested.
I’m going to have to purchase a few more of these this summer because I occasionally run out. My other kitchen towels will be demoted to rag towels when that happens.
Do you have a preference when it comes to towels that you use in the kitchen?
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The Road to ?
Mr Chiots and I are on our way home from Maine today. Last week we decided to take a last minute trip to look at a piece of property. As a result, it was quite the crazy weekend trying to get a week’s worth of work done. We packed everything, jumped in the car and set off into the sunrise on Tuesday morning. Yesterday we looked at a property we’re interested in and this morning we were up early and back in the car to head home. Almost more hours spent in the car than in Maine.
House hunting 14 hours away can be a difficult proposition, those photos on the internet just don’t tell the whole story so you have to look at things in person. I certainly can’t wait until we can close out this chapter of our lives and start the next. Change can be exciting and scary all at the same time, especially when you’re not quite sure where the road is going to lead.
What was the farthest you’ve ever relocated?
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Keeping Track
Jefferson’s garden diary, or Garden Book, is an enduring expression of Enlightenment. Begun at his boyhood home, Shadwell, on March 30, 1766, with the notation “Purple hyacinth bean begins to bloom,” the Garden Book concluded on Septebmer 15, 1824 with the completion of his vegetable garden Kalendar and the planting of the Winter spinach and Brown Dutch lettuce.
Peter J. Hatch from “A Rich Spot of Earth”: Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Garden at Monticello
One of the areas I really need to work on as far as gardening is keeping track of what I’m growing and doing in the garden. I’m really good at taking photos, so generally when I need to know when I planted something, I look through my photos. That’s how this blog got started originally, it was going to be my garden journal. Garden journaling is something I really struggle with. I have a file on my laptop and I try to remember each evening to write down everything that I did, more often than not, I completely forget until it’s been too long to remember exactly what I did.
A garden journal can be a valuable tool, especially if you note the dates for seeding, germination, transplanting, harvest, fertilization, etc. I’ve tried a variety of methods, from a spreadsheet to a simple text document, so far I can’t seem to do any of them with regularity (besides writing this blog). I also have a binder where I keep old seed packets, interesting articles, and other garden related things.
At least I do have photos and I write planting/seeding dates on my plant labels so I can note days from seeding to harvest. Someday I hope to be diligent enough to keep a good journal to document the things going on in the gardens of Chiot’s Run.
How do you keep track of what’s going on in the garden?
