Category: Infrastructure

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07/11/2023 bizarrely wet summer

We got another 2.8 inches of rain overnight according to the Oklahoma Mesonet. I went outside to look at the puddles and remaining sprinkles and saw the partridge pea in the caliche planter had produced a new beautiful yellow flower and the whole plant was covered in little raindrops.
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07/08/2023 too much for baby yucca

We planted two baby Arkansas yuccas a week or so ago in front of the house. The bigger one (see next picture) is doing fine. this little one, which I am pointing at, has been struggling hard and has about half a leaf remaining. At first I just watered it extra but now I have added a shade and moisture retention barrier on the west side consisting of a wall of sticks and leaves about 2 inches high.
I point at the bigger yucca seedling. It has three skinny blue-green leaves. A stray strawberry leaf is visible in the back.
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06/14/2023 some rearrangements

I moved several pots of flowering plants to where they can drop seeds and also keep the dog from trampling the Baptisia australis in her borkenings at the neighbor dogs. I also moved pavers to try a new human path.
I planted the silverleaf nightshade and fern acacia too. This let me rearrange the pots here in a more tidy and compact arrangement.
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05/25/2023 Thursday shenanigans and winecup looking

On the left is this year’s soil to bring the level up. To the right is last year’s winecups!
A baby two leaf senna in one of the caliche planters!
The guard flamingo is keeping a careful eye on Briar. Gotta keep her from squishing the Oklahoma penstemon.
Every night Gram wants to go past Briar in the hall. Every night she waits for her chance to slobber him. This only happens at night. It is now a ritual. She smiles. As soon as he attempts it and she slobbers him, then they saunter into the room together. Photos by Paula.

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05/27/2023 backyard before and after

All the pulled invasive dayflowers and bermudagrass was piling up on the path by the mini prairie.
Since we had guests coming this evening for an outdoor meal I swept everything and pulled up some of the endless maple seedlings that were sprouting too. This shows off the tepary beans starting to climb the trellis too!
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03/19/2023 tomatillos having a hard time

Both of two varieties of tomatillos have died of damping off fungus. Here’s a second try (in a different container with fresh soil) of tomatillo verde. Going to try to keep them drier this time by keeping them at the windiest part of the tray (where fan mainly hits). Been rotating all the other seedlings through to get them evenly moist but these friends seem to be more delicate.
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03/05/2023 more compost business

After moving the new soil to the garden yesterday, Paula wanted to move and layer the newer pile today.
She put layers of leaves between layers of kitchen waste. Now we’re ready for more on the empty side!
We put this compostable takeout fork in at some point and it didn’t compost. Apparently some compostable items require higher heat compost than our “cold” method.
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02/05/2023 peppers growing

Before, a tall pepper seedling in a big yogurt container.
After, with new potting soil up to near the leaves. We did this to all the peppers and ground cherries. This is my experiment to reduce transplanting stress by just letting them grow more roots in place since these can root from stems.