Sunday Mowing Between Rain Events

Turkey Tracks: May 30, 2021

Sunday Mowing Between Rain Events

We finally got some good rain up where I live (rain bands don’t always uniformly spread around rain here), and we are about to get two days of off-and-on rain from a big storm heading up the coast. It is moving slower than predicted this morning I think—which might mean we get more rain than predicted.

No complaints here—we need the rain.

Due to the wind, I think, the grass dried out enough for me to sneak in a mowing of already-very-long grass mid-morning—after I ran an errand and took AC for a hard run chasing his ball. (Two days of rain will NOT be easy for this active guy.) It is very cool sweater-and-sock weather—and the wind meant no black flies—so this mow was a delightful hour outside. See how dense and dark Maine woods get in the summer? I love that about them.

The daylilies lining the crest of the very difficult hill were planted last spring by Leslie Smith (Smith Tractor), who dug them out of this overgrown bed in the picture below at the far left of the hill—which freed up space for the new blueberry bushes I planted last spring too. All of the transplants came back and are now increasing in size.

Mulch will come next for these now-weeded beds. You may recall that I’m just letting the hill bed go to whatever wants to grow in these—except for trees and except for the strip of bed I’ve carved out of the perimeter. It’s too hard to keep that bed weeded—the slope is terrific and there is a sheer drop-off at the edge. The natural growth, like the Jewel Weed and the Bishops’s Weed, keeps erosion from starting. And the transplanted daylilies are the wild ones, so they will fit into the “natural” look. I have moved some plants in this vein—like Rudbekia and some Gooseneck Loosetrife—into this bed, and it is all “taking” well. I think I’ll look for some Queen Anne’s Lace seed this year to throw into the bed. It has a great taproot and seeds profusely. There are, down the hill, some rugosa roses and bay shrubs.

Where the bed starts to get shady down on the far right, I have put in some other plants over the years—there are two established hydrangeas, some Astilbe, some hostas, a Bleeding Heart, and so forth.

My little lawn is easy to mow and weed whack except for this hill—which is way steeper than it looks in this picture. But, I go slow and manage it. The hill is steep enough that I can’t mow a straight path along the curve, but instead, have to let the mower go up and down the slope from the top. The exercise is great!

Now, after eating lunch while I play Word2 for Friends , the rest of the day will be mine to sew.

Lunch is a salad with my lettuce and the last of the spatchcocked chicken. I’ll be buying another chicken very soon now to spatchcock! The bones are now all in the freezer for a broth after the second chicken’s bones are ready.

Enjoy your long weekend!