We have three lace cactus plants from one original cutting. They’ve all been flowering! I photographed the in-ground ones today.
Continue reading “05/07/2025 lace cactus”Goodbye, bermudagrass
Hello, new beds and more buffalograss! Our plan has always been to gradually decrease the mowing area of the yard. Ideally before our third-hand ancient lawn mower dies. Which we successfully sold in late 2024. This post covers from 2024 to 2025, our first year without the lawn mower.
In conjunction with putting in the first of four new raised beds, we also determined we will move the Salvia greggii in front of the new raised beds so we stop having to trim them mid-summer to be able to access the vegetables in the existing raised beds. You’ve seen them in the new place in recent posts.
We also replaced all the grass and non native forbs between the Salvias and the curb with buffalograss. Since the salvias get a good 3 ft wide, this will leave a path about 4-5 ft wild at the curb for us to roll the garden cart along and people to get out at the curb if needed.
The triangles between the existing edging and the new raised beds have become beds with Antennaria (pussytoes), sensitive briar (Mimosa), Baptisia bracteata, and gramagrass.
We will probably keep irises by the mailbox. Since essentially no pollinators visit them, it makes the mailbox extra safe for any postal people who might have bee allergies or fears thereof. however, we’ve since dug them out and replant them to ensure it doesn’t become a refugia for Bermudagrass to attempt to re-colonize the yard.
Continue reading “Goodbye, bermudagrass”04/28/2025 tepary planting
More storms this week so I’m making an effort to put out the tepary beans.
Continue reading “04/28/2025 tepary planting”03/28/2025 last year paying off
I am so behind on posting, so I’m going to post this one draft from March then jump straight into April. April’s almost gone????
Continue reading “03/28/2025 last year paying off”03/22/2025 up to four spring beauties now
Mom gave me two Claytonia virginica and there is now a third by them! Plus, a neighbor let us dig another from their yard.
Continue reading “03/22/2025 up to four spring beauties now”03/21/2025 wooly lip fern hardening off continues
Our baby ferns from spores!! Woolly lip fern (Cheilanthes tomentosa) theoretically should be fine in drier habitats, but these young plants have been very sensitive to removal of the container lid. So over the last few weeks I’ve been opening just a corner at a time to get them used to regular air without dying of shock. They curl up less and less each day with increasing exposure!
Continue reading “03/21/2025 wooly lip fern hardening off continues”03/17/2025 leaves pushing up
Excited to see some newer friends emerging.
Continue reading “03/17/2025 leaves pushing up”Tomato season
All seedlings have been diligently protected from Shackleton the cat this year. We do not trust him after last year’s grazing incident.
Continue reading “Tomato season”Sponge cake by the chefs
The Chef doesn’t bake often but he got wild yesterday.
Continue reading “Sponge cake by the chefs”02/16/2025 prairie grazing!
Briar likes to eat some of our prairie grasses sometimes, she’s no herd of bison. This winter we’ve been meaning to escalate into a full trim. The weather today was crisp, clear, and not too windy sheltered by the house, so we did the cuts! This is in hopes that we’ll get more species from past seeding events coming up.
Continue reading “02/16/2025 prairie grazing!”