Monday, April 13, 2009

Gardening report from the Aerie

On the way back from my bird walk today, I stopped at Arnot's Building Supply and picked up half a dozen or so 2" x 4"s and some two foot wide hardware cloth. (That's galvanized wire mesh for the uninitiated.) The idea is to construct covers fro the onion sets I want to put in. I want to make sure there's no chance of squirrels, turkeys or other critters helping themselves to the young onions before they get a chance to grow.

When I got home I used two of the 8'-long 2" x 4"s to built two frames measuring 32" by 24" and covered each with the hardware cloth. I took them outside and started to open the bags of top soil I had stacked at the planting bed with the idea of creating several rows of rich soil in which I could place the onions. Unfortunately, when I opened the plastic bags, I found the top soil to be extremely wet...too wet to plant anything in. So, I changed my plans.

I opened all the bags of top soil at each of the three planting beds and scattered the wet soil about the surface. In most cases, it created a 1 to 2 inch deep cover. Raked smooth like it is, it should dry out pretty darn quick and I'll get the onion sets in the ground tomorrow afternoon...before the predicted showers arrive. (The morning will be for another bird walk. I'll start at the same spot but walk south along the bike trail.)

Oh, and I stopped at Cooper's Sporting Goods and picked up my fishing license and a couple of boxes of ammo. Trout fishing season starts here on Saturday so I might bring a rod with me when I lead the bird walk at Hills Creek State Park.

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