Jarbidge to the Oregon Trail

I got up this morning determined to get ahead of the sorrel, dandelions and assorted other weeds that took over my little prayer garden last summer after I hurt my ribs. The consolation for not having been able to keep up on the weeds is that I did kill the grass, so I don’t have to deal with that this year.

It took me three and a half hours, several glasses of water, one cup of coffee and breakfast to get this far. The weeds are that unsightly pile in the middle. I also pulled up the weed barrier I put down five years ago.

I have decided that weed barrier is worthless: the weeds grow on top of it and the plants I want to grow can’t expand because of it. And all the mulch I’ve put on the top never gets to mix in with the soil below, so the soil below remains a strong mix of clay and hardened soil.

What you see blooming are forget-me-nots, Oregon grape and bleeding hearts. I rescued the bleeding hearts from under the handicap ramp to our house; they’re thriving in my little part-shade garden here.

It looks somewhat barren right now, but I’ll have to reweed in about two weeks, just to get ahead of the suckers. I pulled Himalayan blackberries, thistles, dandelions, sorrel, chickweed & I-don’t-know-what-else out. And the grass is gone (YAY!). I can now concentrate on really planting things I want to grow inside the fence, like something tall to grow along the chain link and block out the neighbor’s shed with the blue tarp on it.

While I was pulling weeds, the Orchard mason bees were busy. So I grabbed my camera and tried to get a photo.

Not a bee in sight. Dang. But you can see where they live, under the eaves of the shed (that needs painting). And they’ve filled up several straws with larvae already.

Oh look: box elder bug! Or something very similar. We do have box elder trees in the neighborhood and since this looks very much like a juvenile box elder beetle, I’m betting that is what it is. Box elder bugs are pretty stupid bugs, but they’re also very destructive to box elder trees.

This tiny darkling-type beetle was shy and hid right after I snapped the fuzzy photo. The only reason I kept the photo was the red lichen that is eating at the piece of plywood I use to bar Murphy from my garden.

While I was down on my knees, I also found more little bee holes in the ground. Or earthworm holes. Certainly not yellow jacket nests: they aren’t out yet, for one thing, and for another, I think I would have noticed the yellow jackets before I accidentally discovered the little holes.

I still haven’t seen the bees that my husband claims digs the holes & lives in them, so I am now leaning toward the theory that I have faeries in the garden.

There are at least five holes in this clump of moss. I think they are faeries homes and until my husband proves something else to me, that’s what I am sticking to.

It was a productive morning in the garden. But now I think I need a nap.

ttfn!