A smidge of motivation....and then it was gone

 When getting ready to go to visit with my sister recently, I felt such tremendous "loser energy" at the state of my garden boxes. I mean, here I am, a badass nature girl, working 15 acres of land and fighting invasive plants, blah, blah, blah.....and my garden boxes are atrocious! 🙈 To my defense, we have not "gardened" in years, and I was working a lot the past four years, recovering from various illnesses, and four surgeries, but still. My sister is a garden goddess, and when she sent a text that had a colored pencil DRAWING of the layout she wanted for her garden, I was blown away at how gorgeous even just the drawing was!

And then I looked out the window my tragic attempts that had not been nurtured.

One box had lost its wood sides years ago and I replaced them with black scallop-edged border. I filled that bed with native plants like milkweed, brown-eyed Susan's, heart-leaf asters, and more. But soon the weeds started filling it in, like ground ivy and chives that we grew decades ago (and I will never do again now that I know better.) I could see that not a lot of things were coming back, so I went out early in the morning, while the area is still in the shade, got down on my hands and knees and got to work. Literally! I wanted to make my sister proud of me. 👇

I have a hard time getting rid of these white mulberry everywhere around our home. Maybe I am not cutting them at the right time of year. 👇

And this ground ivy (a.k.a. creeping charlie) has spready everywhere!!! In my garden boxes, in the tree line next to my yard, and in certain areas of my yard. 👇

But out of everything else good that didn't come back, the milkweed survived to try another year to host some monarchs! 🦋 👇

Look at this mess. 😲👇

Woodchucks grapes are beginning to form! He is kind of sad at the thought of leaving them behind when we move and is toying with the idea of doing some grafts from them. Last year we only got the white grapes in, so I juiced them. Fresh grape juice is so tasty!!! What we didn't use right away, I froze, and have made a cucumber white grape juice soup during the hot months. I'll be making it again soon with the last of the juice from the previous season.

Halfway mark! 👇

I think that is a hickory tree of some sort.....👇

I found an egg on the ground that was next to the box and under a birdhouse. I didn't even think about the possible reasons it was down there or the ramifications of me moving it, and I feel horrible about that now. But I picked it up and put it back in the birdhouse, and now I don't think that was the right thing to do. 😕 I checked it again a couple of days ago and it's right where I left it. 

And done! The remaining plants were spread out just far enough that I can't make the area too much smaller, so the only obvious thing to do is to keep it cleaned up and eventually get more native plants to fill it in. 😂

At the land, I continue to do bits and pieces when we go, but honestly, it's been so brutally hot that we can't do much. It's even too hot in the barn, with doors open and the ceiling fans running, to do anything in there too. What is it going to feel like living out there, having it all in our face, and not be able to go outside and work? I'm sure initially it will be maddening! But for now, I am trying to see all that I can see, make notes of things to do when it cools off, and learn what I can about how the land and plants and animals live and interact. 

As the trees grow, and the vegetation gets taller, I've been having to move trail cams to more open views. One area that we have a camera caught lots of different animals, the most we've ever seen to date! While no human trespassers have been seen yet, we know that will change as hunting season approaches. This raccoon has been seen on the trail cam numerous times now 👇

The crows there are lovely and vocal! 👇

 So many images of deer! 👇

A coyote. 👇

This black cat only reveals itself in person to Woodchuck! 👇

Beauty out in nature can come in the smallest forms 💜

On this rushed trip to the land, not even rain showers could keep us away. Will it clear up?

I found the most amazing family of shroomies! How incredibly perfect are they?! 

 

It's a good thing we didn't get more rain than we did! This is our only way to the back part of the land right now. Woodchuck has not heard from the new neighbor to the North of us about potentially selling us an area that we've been trying to buy for three year now that would square up the property line and allow us another access to the rest of our land. 

Well, one good thing about the rain and wind is that they push all of the water meal to one side, opening up the surface in some areas.

The sun is really trying to come out!

Just enough to get the boots wet.....

There's the sun! Reflecting off of the back ditch water by some blue flag iris!

My destination was the watershed, to check a trail cam out there. I stood in the shade of this Bur Oak. 

And then what to my wandering eyes should see? I thought this was a salsify when it first popped up and made a mental note to come pull it. I could see the deer had been eating from it, but now that it was grown more, I knew this wasn't a salsify, but I had no idea what it was. My plant app pulled up a couple of possibilities, one of which was wild yam. I posted pictures in the invasives group I am a member of, and they said it's in the Smilax species. I will keep watching it!

All of this, being done with another injury. The injury is old, the pain is constant, and I am on my 5th podiatrist. He's the one that ordered this ankle brace (they call it a boot), and I am to wear it any time I am on my feet, for the next 3 months. It was made in the wrong color (it was supposed to have been brown), it's hot, it's uncomfortable, it doesn't fit right, it causes bruises all up the front of my shin and top of my foot, and I just had my follow-up MRI and appointment with the podiatrist. He's having me wear it another two months, but I need to contact the company that made it to let them know it doesn't fit right. If this doesn't help for the tear to come together (the podiatrist thinks it is possible, the maker of the brace does not), then surgery is my only option. I'll know more in August!

The heat continues for at least the second week, but we are hoping to get to the land in a couple of days, even if to just take a quick walk to make sure everything is ok. I do believe the land has gotten more rain than we have at home, as a recent flood watch was in effect there, and I have seen pictures of places that I follow in that area getting rain. If you would like to make a donation of funds towards our land projects, you can do so at: paypal.me/badassnaturegirl. You will be able to see all of the progress here on the blog! 

Feeling the cabin fever and the Spring pull

 So Woodchuck went out to the land yesterday to help the contractor. I could not go, due to doctor and physical therapists orders, and it was heartbreaking! Having to rely on seeing things in pictures, like you guys have to do, is just not cutting it for me. Not only do I want to see how things are progressing, but I am missing things as they are waking up. What kind of ephemerals do we have there? What kind invasives are popping up, especially now that the land has been disturbed? AGH! The weekly online classes that I am attending, though helpful in that I always learn at least one new thing, only make me more antsy to get out there. I literally feel like a race horse being held back at the starting gate.

But, at least some work is getting done out there, even though it's not the kind I do. From what I understand, all of the front CRP trees that we designated for cutting are down now and will be moved out to the prairie to be sorted. The piles of debris that we made cleaning up between the prairie and fishing shack have been or will be moved out to the prairie too and into one pile for eventual burning.

The picture above shows the piles of debris starting to be made into one on the prairie. They'll eventually be burned.

 The shipping container, once on the very edge entrance to the front CRP has now been moved to that very area. The trees that needed to come down from the ingress/egress are now so, and will be moved to the prairie to be sorted. Whatever we keep will be stacked.

In the picture above, the contractor followed the flags put down by the NRCS to mark what will be the ingress/egress road to get over to the watershed. This picture was only from the first day of working on it. The road goes behind our front CRP, through this area, around the Northern edge of the pond (the pond is to the top left in this photo), and around to the Western edge of the pond where the watershed can be accessed from. 

I found out yesterday that the land around ours is selling off again. If we had an unlimited source of money to build and keep buying land, I would have done so, but that is not possible. I love the idea of keeping that land as it is, and to provide a safe haven for the wildlife from hunters. But for now, at least, that will need to come from the land we do have. I admit that I am terrified of going through there what we have gone through here with neighbors over the past 20+ years. I just want to enjoy my land, listen to nature, and be left alone. All we can do is keep hoping that the Universe would not play such a cruel joke on us to have that land and have our enjoyment of it infringed upon by those around us. Fingers crossed!

We are starting to think about where to plant things or move things. I have some elderberry that needs to be moved before it falls into the pond, and I think I have the perfect spot in mind that will still keep its feet wet, but remove the danger of losing it the spreading pond banks. I have to wait for the work in that area to be done so that they don't get run over or damaged after being moved. Woodchuck was thinking about trying to take our grapevines from home here, but after watching some videos and reading up, he thinks it might be better to start all over again. Either way, we are thinking those can go over by the blueberry bushes. And the prairie? Well, it's in full sun right now for nearly all of the day, but that will change over the years as the white pines grow that we transplanted to separate us from the neighbors and allow for some privacy. We can always transplant them again if they are recreating too much shade over time, but for now they are little whips. Our garden will be going out on the prairie area, unless I want to keep all of the food stuff in one spot and put it over by the blueberries and grapes. It's pretty wet over there though. I find that part of things highly overwhelming and really the last thing that I want to do, to figure out where plants will go, but I also understand that Woodchuck wants to get some things established. It's easy to think of too many things at once! He was thinking about fruit trees too, but ugh, I can't handle that right now!

So what still needs to be done right now? Well, there are some dead trees at the front of the CRP between it and the road that are dead and need to come down still. They were the ones that we tried to do ourselves before I went in for surgery, but one cut and his chainsaw locked up. He's fixed that now, and also bought a second one. A driveway!!! The stone will be delivered tomorrow for that and it should all be leveled out by the end of the weekend. And it better be, because that's when I intend on breaking some rules and heading out there to take a look! I'll be super careful and walk slowly. I told Woodchuck he can empty out my work wagon and pull me around in that 😂 Seeing things in pictures makes me worry. Am I going to regret what we've done when I see it in person? Even though we took every precaution that we could to not take more out and down than we absolutely had to, I'm sure it's going to look so very different. I'll get some more pictures then! 

Eventually, but soon, we'll need to think about burning the ditches. They are so overgrown with crap that we can't see the condition of the culvert And some time over the next month or so, the NRCS will need to come out there. Best to get it done earlier, before everything starts to wake up and explode and getting out there will be nearly impossible in the current state of how things are overgrown.

We've priced some things that we want to get now, such as building a pole barn, but prices are too insane! We are also waiting for the revised first draft of the main floor plan from the designer we hired. We went in a different direction than we anticipated with some of the rooms, because, frankly put, we were having a hard time fitting everything we wanted where we wanted it! Compromises had to be made and I have no idea where we are putting all of the art stuff, and the guys' workout equipment. I wouldn't mind a little She Shed of sorts by the house, but I wouldn't call it a She Shed. How about, The Den of a Creative Forest Witch? Too long. Eh, I'll figure something out. But having something outside means 1) when I'm old, I still have to walk over to a separate building in the Winter. 2) I would have to think about controlling the climate inside for me to be comfortable working in there in all weather 3) there are going to be some things that can't stay in there without the temperature being consistent. So much to think of! But the workout equipment? I have a horrible feeling that I'm going to have a punching bag, weight racks and stinky, grunting men lifting them in the living of the new house. 😳

Nature girl, radish edition

While I love the thought of being completely food sufficient, I know better. My gardening skills are entwined with the name of this blog...."Flying by the Seat of My Pants". It's always a crap-shoot on if something will work for me, and since gardening is a lot of that anyway, the odds are always stacked against me...and the plants who are in my care.

I did manage to get some organic radish seeds going in the greenhouse and although I transplanted several seedling into the garden bed, only two took. Hubby thinks I'm not loosening the soil up enough when I plant seeds and seedlings. I think he's right. I tend to just make a whole or trough and in goes the seed or plant. I see pictures of people I follow who are great gardeners and one thing they don't have around their beautiful and luscious plants is hard, packed soil. I really need to pay more attention to that from here on out!

But. All of that being said, I did manage to grow two radishes!!! Hubby said he thinks I didn't plant them deep enough and that I probably picked them too early, but I was just so excited and eager to taste them! He was wrong when he said they probably wouldn't have much flavor, they were PERFECT.  And of course, my kitty had to check them out too. She will cry pitifully at the window and dance around my feet when I come inside until I bring her something fresh from outside for her to smell, rub up against, or play with.

And in my efforts to use up as much as I could (I do take my kitchen scraps to a local chemical-free farmer for his compost piles), I decided to try and make radish top pesto! I usually make a pumpkin seed and basil pesto, which is cheese-free but tastes like there's some in there, and it is my absolute favorite! But when I did a little looking online, I was intrigued by the recipes using radish tops. I seriously doubted I would like it, and after handling the prickly little dudes, I thought for sure I'd choke and gag, but the recipes ensured me that the texture of them raw was completely unnoticeable in the pesto.

So I tried this recipe, from Food.com.
https://www.food.com/recipe/radish-leaf-radish-top-pesto-435728

And my verdict? I LOVED it! I did modify it a tad for the machine I was using to make it, and what I had on hand. I probably didn't have 2-3 cups of the greens, but it still turned out! I keep a container of minced garlic in the fridge and that's what I used instead of the fresh, I used more than two tablespoons of olive oil because there's a certain consistency that I prefer and again, the machine I was using is a cranky gremlin. I used the cup container that was too big, not thinking ahead to the bushy greens getting mashed down in the blending process. A little more olive oil helped keep things moving (although it might look really liquidy in the picture, it was the right state of solid for my likings). I left out the sugar and used almonds in place of pine nuts (because $20 a bag, yo?! I'll use what I have on hand, thank you very much). A bit of  fresh ground Himalayan salt, but no pepper, sprinkled with some freeze-dried organic basil. And yum!!!

It was just the right amount for me, since nobody else was interested in trying it and, yes, the texture was perfect! No choking or gagging for me! So I ran outside and tried planting some more seeds in the garden. I'm sure it's not the right time of year now, but you never know what will take, so it's worth a try! I will definitely make this pesto again anytime I have radish greens on hand!