Don't stick your toes in the holes and other lessons...

I’ve learned a few things about patio gardening, and southern gardening, that I didn’t know before.  For instance:

When you see a 8” mound of mud in the middle of your three sisters planting in your community garden plot, don’t stick your finger in it.  It’s not an anthill.  It’s a crayfish hole.  You know – the tiny lobsters with big claws? (No, the boys didn't get pinched, but someone yelled a warning at them before they could.)

It’s not a good idea to put a string between your seedling morning glories and the hummingbird feeder, led by some misconception that the birds will like the flowers and the cover.  It just turns into a trapeze for more ants than you knew were in 100 yards of you to climb up and invade the feeder.  And drop on your head while you’re drinking coffee.  

Running a hose from your kitchen sink to the patio is a much more efficient way to water your plants… but beware the tightening process.  Water is expensive in the south, and the squealing the pipes make when you’re not releasing the pressure except by leakage will have folks looking at your apartment with “Take cover!!!  It’s gonna blow!!!!” written all over their faces.  (Yes, that's my actual contraption.  A $5 connector on a $10 hose.  Totally worth it:D)

And speaking of neighbors and watering, have you ever wondered if some uptight businessman in an expensive suit three floors below you might sue because you accidently aimed a little too high when trying to water your red geraniums?  Creating a shower on the walkout three floors below?  I have.  Luckily, he ducked.  And I looked wicked contrite.  

But the learning process is paying off!  Check out today's view:

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King's Mountain Military Park

Sometimes, a good stiff hike is just the thing to do... especially when boys are running around screaming so loud that you are either going to go deaf or deck someone out of self-defense.  I chose my usual favorite: burn, energy, burn!
I've been wanting to go to King's Mountain Military Park for awhile.  The park part isn't really on King's Mountain - it's more of a foothill to the mountain.  I knew I could take the boys and not end up carrying them most of the time. 

This weekend presented the perfect opportunity.  It is Memorial Day weekend, so they had an event where re-enactors dressed up as soldiers from time periods from the French & Indian War and Revolutionary War (whose King's Mountain Battle the park commemorates) all the way to the current Iraqi & Afghanistan wars.

The best part?  The weapons demonstrations.  Watching how cumbersome Revolutionary War weapons were to load and unload was very interesting.  So was seeing the evolution of weapons over the years.  Quinn, however, had a near panic attatck from the noise of the weapons (especially the cannon) so he and I ended up taking a hike by ourselves towards the end.  1.5 miles up a minor minor mountain and down again?  My back is still a little sore from the parts when I had to carry him! 

Also very fun was the fact that the re-enactor the boys hit it off with - the hunter from the Revolutionary War period - was a teacher from Rockford!  Talk about a small world!

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A Latta Plantation Nature Preserve Hike

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The Beginnings of a Patio Garden

Before I came back to MI, I got my patio garden off to a start.  I didn't have time to make it pretty, but that doesn't matter as much as actually having things growing:D

Gerber Daisies from Harris Teeter, a sock grass man Torin made at school, a variety of morning glories (to be spread out in different pots later), and a white pot with a moonflower that hadn't sprouted yet.  You can see my hummingbird feeder in the background.  I have no idea if hummingbirds come through my area at all, but better safe than sorry;)

Before I had found a community garden plot, I went on the assumption that I wouldn't have one.  So the terra cotta pots have pole bean and wax bean seeds that hadn't sprouted yet.  I think I'll leave them - what's more fun then going out to the porch an picking some yummy treats?  I have no idea if the smaller pot is big enough, but let's just call it an experiment!

The metal wash bin has a variety of salad fixins - a lettuce mix, green onions, radishes, etc - and two types of nasturtiums (which are edible too!).  There are some cucumber seeds under the wire cage - I'll let the healthiest plant climb up the cage instead of the porch.  Once the greens are over with, I'll fill it with later season crops and/or flowers.

 

Lettuce, spinach, flowers, parsley, dahlias from Harris Teeter... I would have to look at the seed packets to remember what is where.  There is another bird feeder there too.

See the cardboard underneath?  Well, the last apartment I lived in (about 5 years ago) taught me a lesson in remembering to be aware of drippings... the stuff that falls between the wooden floorboards on unsuspecting neighbors below.  It was a incident involving one of those small blue wading pools full of water on the patio, Torin, and neighbors coming in with groceries at just the wrong moment... I don't like to speak of it now.  :D  So, in a preemptive move to avoid patio wars, I used some giant cardboard strips left from new mattress packaging to prevent an invasion of dirt and compost raining down on the neighbor below. 

 

Finally, some basil.  Basil needs more light than my patio is able to provide, I think, so I took a different approach.  I bought one of those kitchen rod hanger sets from Ikea, bolted it to the outside rail, and wired the pots to it so they wouldn't blow off.  I'm going to do more of that, I think... the pots already have holes in the bottom, and the rods are pretty inexpensive!

I'm going back this weekend, so I'll have an update on how things are doing soon.  I'm such a geek - I can't wait to see how many true leaves have emerged!

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A Conundrum

So, as luck would have it, I'm moving to Charlotte, NC.

I'm very excited about the whole thing, really.  I look forward to living close to the ocean and in a reasonably warm climate again.  The gardens and sanctuaries there are amazing.  Plus - all the mountainous backpacking a girl could ever want within an hour's drive or so.

But...

I'll no longer be Michigan Mud girl. And since I'm moving to an apartment, relegated (at least temporarily) to community gardens, I won't even be much of a North Carolina mud girl.

Michigan Mud transplantee?  Does that sound like a good name for a blog?

Next up?  "Strange and horrifying things I found in the backs of cupboards and closets." 

Be afraid.  Be very afraid.  :D

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OK, so I cheated. And neglected.

I cheated by retroactively publishing a post I'd started in October.

I neglected my blog.  Oops.

The truth is, I was busy.  Busy with work, busy with the harvest, busy with Torin's school.  Just busy.  Then there was Art Prize.  And Halloween.  Then, it was Thanksgiving, Torin's birthday, Christmas... 

Four months of absence on a blog can seem like a lifetime, but in reality it went by in the blink of an eye.

So, anyway, I'm back.  I'll come up with something more interesting to post later.  In fact, I'll probably publish some more retroactive posts of autumn and winter activity.  After all, this blog is only part reader oriented.  Much of it is me keeping record of our lives.  (If I were a scrapbook person, it would be different, I suspect.)

So anyway - cheers to a new year!  Lets see what adventures we invent in 2011:D

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