Early Summer in Denmark

We visited my wife's mother in Sverdrup yesterday, and I had the opportunity to pick some tools of her late husband's, and, among other things, I was lucky to be able to bring home an electric chainsaw, very useful for a job I had to do in the garden today.

I had to cut down a large rose bush, which had toppled over across the driveway to the back yard when we had some high winds this spring - and the chainsaw was a welcome help in this!

I still need to trim it a bit with branch cutter, but the job is well done

I used the offcuts to cast a Wall of Brambles, and I expect the Mana drawn form our more than 4000 sq.m. garden to be sufficient upkeep.

Later today, I cleared the north and east edge of the veggie garden and rolled out some weed control fabric.

It has proven too difficult to keep all kinds of weeds (especially goutweed and grass) from spreading into the garden, so I have decided to border it with this fabric on three sides (we already covered the ground under the blueberry bushes last year).

Lea procured the stones for keeping the weed control fabric in place - luckily we have a lot of stones on the slope behind the buildings.

I am planning to tidy up the outdoor fireplace behind the house this week, as the summer seems to have arrived for good, and it is time to get the Oseberg pan working again.

I also have to remove some of the stuff in the actual fireplace, as it will be hazardous to set fire to that pile of crap. Some of it can be added to the barrier I am building among the trees in the back yard, to prevent dog walkers and playing kids straying onto the lawn.

The picture taken out there today better shows the blue Me-nots than the one I took a week ago or so. I shall be very careful, not to mow the area before they have shed their seeds, as I want them to thrive and multiply, and spread even more.

Springtime in the Garden

The sun has been shining and temperatures rising over this past weekend, so I have not been indoors stooped over miniatures all the time.

Our early potatoes are sprouting nicely, and it is soon time to earth them up, as a lot of weeds are also benefiting from the weather.

Around our fireplace, a lot of me-toos have been spreading over the last couple of years, and I refrain from mowing the area where they grow, allowing them to develop seeds and spread even further.

I took the photos at a bad time, as the sunlight was reflected by the petals, so the delicate blue colour does not show, but i can assure you, it is a lovely sight!

I shall make some other photos of them one of the next days.

Our tulip tree is also in full bloom - as is the sorry remnants of our japanese cherry, which I have not taken a picture of, yet - I need to find an angle that lets it look nice, and the light came form the wrong direction this evening.

Progress in the Veggie Garden

This morning, Lea and I planted the 'late' Sava potatoes - and we removed the protective plastic from the Hamlet rows, as, hopefully, we shall not get any more frost, now.

The blueberry bushes seem to thrive right now - all ready to pop some leaves.

I am very satisfied with the weed cloth and layer of mulch we have applied around the bushes, and I think we may have to do the same with the North and East edges of the veggie garden, to prevent grass and goutweed/ground elder to spread into it.






















As always when in the garden, Bella was keeping me company (and craving being petted).

It is a nice thing to have an animal so devoted to be around you - I can always count on her being around when I have work to do outside - especially in the backyard, under the big trees.

Springtime in the Backyard

Earlier today, after I finished digging the veggie garden, I took the camera for a stroll in the backyard, and I was greeted with a meeow from a tall elderbush.

Our eldest cat, Kitte, is always happy with company outside.

The birches along the creek still have no leaves, but I am certain, they will be all green in a few days time, as we have over 20 degrees C, now.

I have found the charger for the lawnmower battery, and I expect to try starting the mower up tomorrow afternoon, after letting the battery charge for six-seven hours.

The lawn in the frontyard needs mowing soon, so if the mower needs service, it is about time I find out about it.

Last year, a clamour of rooks started nesting in some of our tall trees in the backyard. I got a permit to have a licensed hunter regulate them by shooting the offspring, but the spring was so cold that they hatched after the foliage popped out, and the hunter was not able to see the damn birds.

I am about to get a permit this year, too (and next year I shall apply for a permit to shoot the adults before they start breeding - I know some others in town got that this year).

Well, hopefully we can keep the numbers down, because even with only 10 nests, they make so much noise that it is a real nuisance, and they shit all over the place (not to mention they plunder the nests of smaller birds, severely reducing the number of those in the vicinity).

A real pest, no matter what bird-lovers may think of it!

Veggie Garden all Cleared!

Finally got the last corner of the veggie garden dug and cleared of weeds. If the 'Sava' spuds have all gotten sprouts, Lea and I shall plant them Sunday, I think (and we shall probably also remove the plastic from the Hamlet rows - spring has come full throttle here, now, the forecast promising about 20 degrees Celsius today and the next couple of days).

More Gardening

Lea and I managed to plant three rows of potatoes (all the 'Hamlet' ones) Sunday morning, and we covered them with a clear plastic 'tarpaulin' to 1) create a greenhouse effect, heating up the soil a bit faster, and 2) to provide protection from frost, should the thermometer drop below 0 degrees Celcius.

This morning, I dug through another strip of the veggie garden, now leaving only about one third of it to be done.

If you wonder about the small white dots, it is fertilizer pellets I have spread to provide nutrition for the rest of the potatoes, and whatever vegetables we decide to grow.

Springtime, at Last!

About two weeks later than last year, I have now finally been able to get half the veggie garden prepped for planting potatoes.

If the forecast is right, I should be able to get the 'early' spuds in the ground tomorrow - I expect to get Lea to help me, so that it can be done relatively quickly; tomorrow afternoon, Duregar/Ulolkish comes to visit for a delayed celebration of Lea's 12th birthday, so no time for working the veggie garden then.

Because it was pouring down all of last autumn, I did not get the soil worked through, and it shows in the half that has not yet been prepped - but as next week is going to be relatively dry (again, depends on the accuracy of the forecast), I should be able to finish digging it.

Springtime in the Garden

Here you can se why I have not been very productive on the hobby front this last week. The soil in the vegetable garden had to be prepared for planting and sowing, starting with the potatoes next weekend, if the weather is nice. I shall rake and fertilize the area for the potatoes tomorrow (if I still have some fertilizer left in the garden storage room in the garage).

The plasic bags are bark mulch, meant to be placed around the blueberry bushes.

I took a couple photos more - the first is the large pinetrees between the vegetable garden and the creek, and the next one is a close-up of the flower bed I created for my wife a couple of years ago now - it will be in full bloom very soon, I think, which I am joyfully anticipating.

Sadly, some rooks have settled in some of the trees on the other side of the creek, and I think I shall have to find a way to get rid of them (I may have to go to the extreme of taking a hunter's course to get a license and the right to buy/use a hunting rifle).