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it's a wild life
Apr. 19th, 2014 08:30 pmToday we took on moving the berry patch(es). We started at around 10am in Freeport, digging up blackberries. We dug up all of the blackberries we've deemed "the nasties" in respect to their thorns. They are root spreading and with the nasty thorns, we didn't want to leave them where they might be left to go crazy. We took a sample of the everbearing raspberries we planted a few years ago. We left enough of them to provide late berries for anyone who wants them. We also took a sample of our favorites, the wild early season blackberries from the property. Digging up berry canes is tiring work and by the time we left Freeport at about 1pm we were both pretty much done, but digging them up is only half the job.
We put the early season blackberries on a bank between where the pool currently sits and the lower terrace that has the horseshoe pits. My idea is that they can spread as much as they want on the bank and it'll be easy to mow above and below them. No one will want to walk through the patch because it's a bloody steep bank. The everbearing canes we place on a bank behind the house down a bit from the level of the lawn around the house. The idea being if you're sitting on chairs on the lawn you'll be able to see over the canes and enjoy the downhill view a bit. That bank is nothing but vines and rose right now, so it will be nice to have something on that side of the house that isn't something we have to rip out.
We didn't manage to get the nasties placed. They are going to go further downhill in a spot that will allow me to mow around all four sides of the patch. We started to clear some of the debris in the area, but didn't have the energy to start another batch at that point. So I wrapped them in a tarp and sprayed them with water. Hopefully the roots will survive. If they don't, we can buy more if we choose. Those originally came from Fedco. By the time we got back into the house it was 6pm. Utterly exhausted.
We also discovered we have a frog in our pool. He was sitting in one of the inlet filter baskets, croaking sonorously. I decided to rescue him and pulled the cover off to have a look. He's a big frog and he has no interest in being rescued. As soon as I started to reach for him he was off, out of the inlet, and into the bottom of the deep end of the pool. He will have to come out eventually, but for tonight, he's happy where he is and seems quite healthy.
We put the early season blackberries on a bank between where the pool currently sits and the lower terrace that has the horseshoe pits. My idea is that they can spread as much as they want on the bank and it'll be easy to mow above and below them. No one will want to walk through the patch because it's a bloody steep bank. The everbearing canes we place on a bank behind the house down a bit from the level of the lawn around the house. The idea being if you're sitting on chairs on the lawn you'll be able to see over the canes and enjoy the downhill view a bit. That bank is nothing but vines and rose right now, so it will be nice to have something on that side of the house that isn't something we have to rip out.
We didn't manage to get the nasties placed. They are going to go further downhill in a spot that will allow me to mow around all four sides of the patch. We started to clear some of the debris in the area, but didn't have the energy to start another batch at that point. So I wrapped them in a tarp and sprayed them with water. Hopefully the roots will survive. If they don't, we can buy more if we choose. Those originally came from Fedco. By the time we got back into the house it was 6pm. Utterly exhausted.
We also discovered we have a frog in our pool. He was sitting in one of the inlet filter baskets, croaking sonorously. I decided to rescue him and pulled the cover off to have a look. He's a big frog and he has no interest in being rescued. As soon as I started to reach for him he was off, out of the inlet, and into the bottom of the deep end of the pool. He will have to come out eventually, but for tonight, he's happy where he is and seems quite healthy.
