We’ve had some new developments since I posted “Garden Update: The Good, the Bad and the Undetermined.” The big news is that Kalamazoo Kal showed up the next day, apparently to apologize for stealing my kale. He popped out of his old hidey hole and stood on his hind legs as soon as I sent him the mental message, “Not acceptable, Kal!”
He normally only stands on hind legs when the cat teases him, but this time, he seems to have been responding to my lecture about kale thieving. Soon afterwards, he went right to spots of the yard I had tagged earlier in the day as in need of weeding. He even munched dandelions in the mulched area between our magnolia and purple maple. (Sorry for photo quality. It’s tricky to photograph through window screens or at a distance through the sliding glass door.)
He later approached the hostas, but this time ignored them and only plucked some dandelions that had invaded the bed. He kept looking up at me to make sure I noticed whenever he plucked one of the weeds I had on the next day’s docket. “OK, you chubby rascal, you’re forgiven. Help yourself to the sacrificial kale on your side of the driveway. Just stay away from my front yard garden.” (11:11 a.m. as I type this.)
Without getting into too much detail, according to some scat near the sacrificial kale plant, it’s not a bunny munching on it. One night last week, I happened to see Kal dart across the driveway far past his bedtime. Something just prompted me to open the front door right then and look out after 10:00 p.m.. Kal’s roly poly rumble on his usual path is unmistakable, even in the dark. In any case, no one has bothered my other kale plants again, but that same night I saw Kal, someone left a calling card of sorts right near the sacrificial kale. We have returned to our old understanding, even though I’ve not seen the guardian kitty since mid-September.
I did, however, find some new kitties the other weekend. I had seen a small grey and white one before, but this time, I noticed the little grey and white one, along with my new favorite all black cat:
They had such fun playing hide and go seek, darting into and out of the shed via the now universal hidey hole. Older than kittens, they still play with exuberance, except when Mama Cat slunk along the spruce and told them to settle down! After many antics, the black one curled up in one of my black fabric pots by the shed. A flicking tail over the handle provided the only evidence on this one’s location. David can confirm my squeal of delight. Synchronously, just as I began today’s post, the black one showed up for a requested photo shoot through the sliding glass door:
You can just see her to the bottom left, with some osage orange balls behind. I’m struck by how similar she looks to the black fox faery sis Tania Marie recently reposted. I say this black cat “synchronously” showed up today, because I have not seen any cats in the yard in over a week. This one arrived alone right after I thought how much I love the little black one.
Whenever the cats vacate, the birds immediately return. In lieu of kitties, I’ve seen cardinals, blue jays, chicakadees, a downy woodpecker, and twelve Canadian geese who spent two mornings nibbling something in our front yard.
I had to giggle when cars needed to honk at geese crossing the road, because, well, honks! Geese! Anyway, the critters provide hours of entertainment, and the students in Saturday’s Reiki 3 Master Teacher class could not believe how much wildlife and seclusion we have while living a very short walk from all sorts of amenities.
Aside from watching live, on-site episodes of Animal Kingdom, I’ve spent time preparing the garden and yard for Winter. Warm daytime temperatures mean tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and basil continue to produce, but cool nights mean late Summer sown lettuce, chard, arugula and spinach are finally showing good growth. I began amending beds and planting next year’s garlic and shallots. Attempting the 200+ daffodil project resulted in some realizations and changes:
1) I realized that even with the limited garden here, I’ve put the Crazy back in CPL (Crazy Plant Lady).
2) David bought me a bulb augur (thanks for the tip, Karen!) that uses a drill to plant up to 500 bulbs per hour. We’ll see if it lives up to the advertised ease, but it will for sure beat my 12 bulbs per full body workout hour record of planting daffodils in this dry, compacted yard.
3) The gifts of plants from various friends necessitated buying more pots and yes, more potting soil and compost. Despite “overbuying,” I always need more. (You might be a CPL when the checkout woman at Menard’s starts comparing you to a legendary CPL who, um, bought fewer spring bulbs than you did.) In any case, new and transplanted irises, asters, lilies and perennial veggies will now have homes in pots and/or the soon to be thinned yellow iris bed up front.
Amidst the whirlwind of sessions, gardens and wildlife, David and I continue to love Kalamazoo. Synchronicities abound, and we particularly rejoice in all the musicians, artists and amazing farmers we keep meeting. With any good fortune, this mad dash of Fall planting will result in decades of easy gardens, a low maintenance feast for the eyes, nose and belly. Wishing you and yours an abundant season, whatever that means to you!
source https://laurabruno.wordpress.com/2017/10/09/garden-update-new-critters-compost-and-putting-the-crazy-back-in-cpl/
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