Above image: Just last week the ground was frozen. Now the grass is turning green.

There are two months until the official last frost date is here in Zone 7A, and I am excited. We have just enough time to plan the garden, start indoor seedlings, and prepare the growing areas. A few select plants can go into the dirt prior to first frost, such as lettuce, spinach, carrots, beets and potatoes.

Some of you may remember the saga of us fencing in a quarter of an acre last year by ourselves. We put in ten feet tall treated posts two feet deep into the ground, anchored with cog-crete, and trenched, burying bunny wire below the dirt for extra security. While the local farmers and supply stores assured us this was overkill, on account of everyone near the mountain has a local bear, the fact is these locals seek to supplement their food with a garden. I want to know we can feed ourselves no matter what. The eight foot high fence keeps most of the deer from going over ↑, the mean bunnies from digging under↓, and the bear who just leans on garden fences to topple them → from going through.

We completed the fortress garden fence in June last summer and the garden season was already well under way. Planting what we could inside the old garden fence, which was hanging on by a thread within the new garden boundaries, we still ended up having a banner growing year.

But this year, I am a kid in a candy store. I have this gigantic space to work with and can devote my time and energy to doing just that. The last of our snow melted last week (knock on wood) and finally Cog and I had a sunny day to assess and make lists. What began as a let’s take a walk and take notes agenda turned into a full kick your butt work day as we rolled up our sleeves and got to work.

Having the map of where plants were located in the garden for last year’s crops, we discussed what we wanted to grow and how much. I read it's all about crop location, rotation, rotation. And I admitted more than a hundred tomato plants was a bit overboard, but we used them one way or another and now I know better.

Cog used the big Husqvarna tiller and turned the “early bed” for cabbage and lettuce and two new perennial beds near the fence. He then squared up the larger field. That tiller is so large, it makes quick work of turning lawn into soft clay and rock loam. And it is teeming with worms. :-)

Over the cold winter months, I had obtained an old rusty metal mailbox and its large wooden post. I sanded, primed and painted the mailbox during a few cold recent evenings. After turning the beds in the garden yesterday, Cog dug a hole and put in the old post for that mailbox. When I have finished painting and sealing it, he will anchor the mailbox itself to the post so I can keep a pair of garden gloves and pruners in the garden safe from the weather. The post is large enough to put a hook into and hang a basket of flowers. He really is wonderful about humoring me and my pretty projects in between getting the real work accomplished.

One of the beds Cog turned was a plot in the corner of the garden to be my permanent strawberry patch. I had carted with us a couple of very large pots of strawberry plants in worm dirt when we moved here. They were already several years old and even though I had repeatedly left them to die, they wintered down and roared back each spring. Now those four year old plants, along with their babies and grandbabies will be deposited in their own plot of earth, approximately ten by ten feet large. I may add a few new additions, but at the rate these have divided and multiplied over the past few years, I would hate to have another explosion similar to the tomato deluge. Can one ever have too many strawberries?

Another new addition, a hearty perennial, will be purple asparagus. I will give them a full year to let them take root and have some initial growth before we harvest any to eat, but these plants should be on autopilot thereafter. Cog turned a strip about ten feet long and two feet wide in a sunny space for me to plant them at my leisure. Generally within four weeks prior to the last frost is recommended.

"No honey, you DO like asparagus. Just wait and see."

After planning our plant choices and crop rotation for this year, we began looking into added several more trees. Within the garden fortress are the six apple trees, a plumcot (plum/apricot hybrid) tree, three hardy kiwi trees, two monster blueberry bushes and our latest addition of two dwarf peach trees last year. This year we are adding two kiwi trees (a male and a female) of a different type. We have already purchased them and they are staying dormant in an unheated out-building until we can plant them after the danger of frost has passed.

 

The three pecan trees we planted in the back yard last year are doing well. You may recall we bought two different types, as they need a different type of pecan tree in order to pollinate well. One of those died and the other one thrived. We had a heck of a time replacing the deceased. Late last summer I became lost on poorly marked back roads while searching for a strawberry farm and accidentally came across a nursery that had other varieties of pecan trees. What are the odds? Just to hedge, I bought two. So this spring the original Pawnee and the two new Stuarts are thriving and full of buds waiting to explode with growth. In five years or less until they should yield almost 100lbs. of pecans each year.

We are looking at the details of obtaining three hazelnut trees for the front yard. Much smaller and more manageable space wise, this would be a great addition as hazelnuts are one of Cog’s favorite snacks.

Aside from planning to plant all the usual suspects, I am undertaking two other new adventures this growing season. One is mustard, of which the entire plant is edible. I confess I am in it for the mustard seeds which are necessary for pickling and are skyrocketing in cost over the past few years. In keeping with a more frugal and less consumeristic mindset, I am going to try to use the whole cow, or in this case the whole mustard plant, leaves, roots, flowers and seeds. The second new challenge is horseradish. I have a write up in the works on the advantages and extreme perils of growing that beast.

Many lessons were learned last summer as I continued the transition from city mouse to country mouse including biting off more than I could easily chew. This spring and summer, I am limiting my growing efforts to a few select spots. Aside from the garden proper, I plan to limit the high maintenance flowers, herbs and container growing to the front porch and indoor sunroom. Last year I had hanging baskets and oversized pots on the back deck and in several locations around the property. No longer in the suburbs that scream for meticulous lawns and manicured beds, my ornamental growing can be delegated to perennials such as bulbs, roses and hydrangea.

There is a raised barrel bed where I have mostly perennial spices growing. I hope they will come back as planned this year. The rosemary, chives, echinacea and my favorite flowers carnations were well mulched and I have my fingers crossed.

On another note, a new batch of possums are now visiting both the front and back porches. I’m not sure which disturbs me more, that the word is out about the cat food porch buffet at Chez Cog, or that I know them well enough to tell them apart to realize this is a new crew lol.

I hope everyone plans to grow this season. Even if you have no room or time, I encourage you to dive into what you can grow from the grocery store. I bought a bunch of organic fresh scallions and have regrown them after consuming more than six times now. Even the teen reaches for a few to chop on top of a sandwich, baked potato or bowl of soup. Lettuce, onions, celery and garlic are just a few of the things you can regrow with no fuss. There is nothing quite like having live, fresh food that you have grown yourself with your meal.

 

And finally, for fun and inspiration, here are a few of the sayings I found for small signs or to paint on herb pots.

Trespassers Will Be Composted

Frog Parking - All Others Will Be Toad

GROW! damnit

Gardeners Know All The Dirt

Give Peas a Chance

Compost Happens

Gardening - Just Another Day at the Plant

Garden Tours 5¢

Ring Bell - If No Answer - Pull Weeds

We Are So Excited We Wet Our Plants

Kinky Is A Cheap Garden Hose

Forget The Dog - Beware of The Children

Now Entering the Seedy Part of Town

When Cog and I moved into our new home up here on the mountain, we never actually sat down and created a formal division of labor. Since we were both anxious to dive in and roll up our sleeves, we each tended to deviate toward skills we were familiar with. As such, while Cog operated the mechanical and more technical aspects of setting up a more sustainable lifestyle, I directed my efforts towards growing and preserving food, learning how to cook food from scratch and making our home more comfortable.

But more than a year and a half after moving here, something has hit me like a freight train. If I need to know how to run this property without Cog because he became sick or disabled or if he needed to dash for a family emergency or even the more unthinkable, he passed away suddenly, I wouldn’t have a clue how our basic mechanical systems work. We have added so many layers of alternatives and backups to our backups that it is a veritable maze to navigate for the uninitiated.

Even though the propane standby generator switches on automatically, I need to learn how to manually shut down the regular electric grid supply to our house and manually activate the power supply from the propane standby generator if automatic doesn't work. I need to learn how to turn the standby generator off in case we need to conserve propane. I have no idea how the options work to charge our bank of deep cycle batteries via the solar panels or from either of our two generators or even from the grid for that matter. And the list goes on.

As Cog has installed these various independent systems, he has meticulously run all the wires inside conduit with the corresponding switches and electrical panel boxes all along the way......both inside and outside the house. In addition, Cog installed our backup hand pump system in our well last December. He did it in such a way that it will feed water into the house's pressurized water supply system so we can, at least on a limited basis, operate ‘normally’ with quick showers, cleaning chores and normal commode flushing.

The benefits of all these complimentary systems are enormous, but some of the components need maintenance and experience occasional problems. I have joked for many months that I would need to follow Cog around with a clipboard and take extensive notes, and I recently gave this some serious thought. With this in mind during this last bitterly cold week I began my clipboard training. Obviously my timing sucks.

I have a whole new respect for Cog. While I always appreciated the fact he ran our wood stove boiler in the winter months, it is a different reality to actually experience trudging out to the boiler in negative wind chill temperatures, often after he stops just long enough to make my morning coffee and feed the cat. Now he waits (notice I did not say patiently)  while I fumble for my arctic ensemble and secure my long hair under a large hat so the embers can’t get to it. Together we tend the stove as he fills me in on all the details of this temperamental beast and its various quirks given different wood and various weather conditions.

In between following Cog around the property this week I took the one sunny and almost warm day we had to move cinder blocks into the garden for my new composting system. I took it as no coincidence that I came across an article this week about why we should never use cinder blocks to line gardens, raised beds or compost areas. It seems most cinder blocks are made with fly ash, which is a toxic residue from coal power plants. The concern is this fly ash will leech into our soil and then our garden plants exposing us to yet another health threat.

After considering other construction options and the amount of compost our garden will require, I went ahead with the concrete block frame but have left room to line it with non-pressure treated wood later this season. I can easily begin the compost pile without it touching the block itself in the meantime.

Our possum visitor, Whitey, has returned almost nightly for a stroll across our back deck. Not only was he not deterred from stopping by just because he found himself trapped in our house one evening, but I recently found him leaning against our sliding glass door as he literally sat in the cat’s large food bowl while he ate from it. As I took pictures, and even another video, I am certain he knew we were right there. Nothing was about to come between him and his second grand meal at Chez Cog.

When Whitey finished Tramp’s food and waddled off stage right, Tramp immediately appeared at the door looking a bit miffed. “Let me in! I thought he would never leave. Um… can I get a refill please?” There seems to be an unspoken tolerance between the animals. This is not this first time we have witnessed them walk in wide circles around one another in avoidance. Perhaps the so-called Ukrainian combatants would benefit from observing how this is easily accomplished.

We are battening down the hatches as we prepare for tonight’s frigid weather. The forecast is for a low of 2°F overnight, but the wind chills with the expected 25+ mph winds should put it well below minus 20°F. However, out here on the shear edge of the mountain we are in a micro-climate which, among other adjustments, greatly intensifies the wind. Several storms per season result in winds well over 50 mph, dropping temperatures even lower. I am readying my long johns for my late night and early morning “clipboard” rendezvous with the wood stove boiler.

In defiance of this ridiculously cold weather, I have planted more cilantro and started lettuce seeds in my sun room window. I find it hard to believe just now, but Spring is just around the corner.

 

I woke at 3:30 am this morning to find no sign of Cog. My phone showed a bunch of texts and a missed call, all from him. This was not good.

Note his tone goes from pleading to instructing to teasing and finally machismo.

As accurately predicted by several of our Two Ice Floes members in the thread beneath ‘Independent Cat’  something besides Tramp did indeed enter our cozy abode through the magic kitty door. Located directly behind Cog’s office chair is the custom cat door with a board secured to the window sill for Tramp to sit on and contemplate the world before venturing forth. We refer to his perch as the diving board.

I was already in bed sound asleep when around midnight Cog decided to turn in as well. He shut down his computer monitors and swiveled around in his chair only to find himself face to face with a plump mostly salt and pepper possum. Whitey was frozen on the diving board in sheer terror, only to increase in intensity when Cog began to talk to him.

Being the resourceful quick thinker he is, Cog reached for his iPhone, snapped a few quick shots and then began video-taping. I’m not sure if he was motivated to film in order to have something to laugh about later or if he wanted an accurate description of the ‘incident’ for the insurance adjuster just in case something went horribly wrong.

Now that I’ve heard his story and seen the video I am just a bit put-off he was talking the possum into remaining calm and playing ball with the exact same tone of voice he uses with me. Reading Cog is one thing, but realizing I am the recipient of his verbal propaganda after listening to him cajole and influence that wild animal while watching the master work on another… well, I just want you to know I’m on to you Mister.

Slowly talking his way past the possum, Cog carefully maneuvered around his desk. Aside from a few twitches of his ears, Whitey remained frozen in place. As Cog continued to film he interrupted his mesmerizing possum mantra and loudly called out for me to wake up. Alas it was to no avail; he was running solo for this little adventure. Leaving the office for a moment, Cog hurriedly scooped up Tramp and shut him in the bedroom with me. The last thing he wanted was to get stuck between two furry animals with sharp claws.

Retrieving a broom from the closet, Cog returned to the office still talking in the same calm soothing voice while he used the stick to open the kitty door behind the diving board. Whitey turned his head to look out, but remained frozen in place. Freedom wasn’t sufficient bait to overcome his fear. Cog quickly realized it was going to take a bit more encouragement than his Weirding Way and an open door to get Whitey back outside.

Returning to the scene with a second broom stick, Cog once again propped the door open with the first stick and used the second stick to gently nudge Whitey. Cog was a bit disappointed he had to stop videoing the episode and use both hands and had briefly considered using the tripod to hold the phone while he worked. But it happened to be sitting on the windowsill next to Whitey so Cog erred on the side of caution and ceased filming.

Slowly Cog opened the cat door and began to gently persuade Whitey towards freedom. Whitey decided to stop playing possum and reluctantly turned towards the cat door behind him, only to slide off the side of diving board. In what Cog describes as an amazing feat of possum dexterity, Whitey dangled from the side of the board hanging from his back feet.

Cog retracted the stick holding the door open and now used both sticks to hoist the fat, now hissing possum back up on the diving board. Finally back where he started, Cog continued pushing and lifting until Whitey’s front paws were out the door. Suspended half in and half out Whitey once again froze lol. Not to be deterred Cog poked a few more times and the furry guy got the message and finally departed. Cog says the last he saw of Whitey he was hurrying past the window on his way home to tell his story.

Still thinking on his feet Cog immediately locked the cat door, then located Tramp’s kitty collar with the magic magnet used to release the lock and let the door open from the outside. Freeing Tramp from his temporary exile, the collar went on with little fuss and Cog’s castle was once again safely returned to the illusion of security for a night.

I located Cog at 3:30 am where he had finally collapsed on the living room Lazy Boy. I had seen his frantic texts and missed phone call and asked what had happened. He relayed the story to me in its entirety, complete with images and video proof. We’ve hung out on the internet long enough to live by the mantra, “Pictures or it didn’t happen.”

I imagine Whitey got home after his trip to our house and burst into his dwelling. “Gladys! Gladys, you’ll never believe what just happened to me! You know that cave, the one on the big hill that lights up? Well, I found a way in and there’s a gigantic bear that lives there! And I came face to face with him. Gladys, you’ll never believe this, he talked to me! I was terrified! But I did just what we learned and played possum while he beat me with a stick. And it worked! Gladys, it was just awful.”

After Cog told me the story, presented his proof and we spent an hour laughing, we attempted to get some rest. Perhaps Cog was still suffering from a bit of PTSD (Possum Traumatic Stress Disorder) because he never fell back asleep.

The hilarious video of the incident can be viewed below.

Mrs. Cog

01-30-2015