After a Storm: CRY!

Tree Rose After Wind Storm: Bird Back 40

There are gardening writers in the local blogosphere (is that even a word?) who offer helpful and handy tips of what steps to take now that a storm has come and gone.

I'm here to tell you that I am not one of those bloggers. If you're looking for good advice, go elsewhere. If you're looking for "can't possibly fail" gardening tips, you've tuned to the wrong channel. But if you're here to laugh at my misfortunes, congratulations, you've reached Nirvana.

I suppose the point I'm trying to make is that it doesn't take long for Mother Nature to utterly destroy what took you months to build. Mere hours of misfortune can result in epic disaster, especially if you've devoted an entire Bird Back 40 to this insane gardening endeavor.

St. Patrick's Rose Stem Ripped from Bush

Case in point? That nice looking tree rose bush pictured above right? That's not just any tree rose, my friend. That is the St. Patrick's tree rose. It was a gift to the wife that is Venus a few years back for her birthday. I would later to have to invest in another tree rose that went with the St. Patrick as it snapped in two following a rather ferocious wind storm.

That's gardening for you. Investment and epic failure. I'm here today to tell you that I babied this tree rose like no other when the first spring shoots began to emerge in February. It was given the best fertilizer on a once-a-month schedule. Daily and deep watering would follow. And if any bad bugs appeared to munch on those yet-unopened rose buds? They got a shot of something special, which also protected said tree rose from other maladies of the fungal variety.

Flavor Finale Pluot Tree: Mangled

But, in the end, when a sustained wind rips through the North Natomas river bottom, as it did this past Monday, it really doesn't matter. Because those howling winds just about tore everything to shreds, or mangled it to the point where it looks like someone beat on it with a crow hammer.

Those branches and buds of the Saint Patrick's tree rose that I'd cared for, nurtured, performed concerts for now lie in a heap on the ground. They are broken. They will not be roses. They will be waste for the Green Waste can. I am disgusted. What a waste.

Pluots That Will Never Ripen

That same despair and disgust applies to just about everything that Venus and I nurtured during those spring months. Why did we graft those new varieties to the Flavor Finale Pluot? So they could produce more pluots that the wind could just knock off the tree?

Oh, and that ingenious little contraption that I wrote about here that makes a nice little cover for my tomato plant starters? I also discovered, sadly, that it makes great kite material. This is after it blew off somewhere into Yolo County. I might find it someday and mount on a wall as a testament of good ideas gone very wrong.

Broken Arapaho Blackberry Vines

Never again will I visit those emerging Arapaho blackberry vine flowers and get visions of blackberry pie or blackberry cobbler. Not with visions like this one. Tender blackberry vines and sustained gusting winds do not mix. Something's gotta give, and it wasn't the wind.

Our spring of discontent doesn't end there. There's no need to "cull" the peach trees of extra peaches. Mother Nature did it for us. Whether we wanted to do it or not. Consider it done. And as desperate as I am, I will NOT try to glue those peaches back on the tree. Unless, of course, someone tells me it can be done.

If it didn't break, it got bent. If it didn't get bent, it flew two counties to the south. There was a time when the spring artichoke crops were close to growing over the fence. Not anymore. Some of them are growing to the east, while others grow to the west. Some are growing down. Did they survive? Sure! Will those plants snap off at the base under the weight of a heavy artichoke crop come this spring? By golly you betcha they will!

Bent Artichoke Plants

So, dear gardeners, take heed. No matter what measures you take to prevent disaster, no matter how hard you try, Mother Nature can undo all of it with a single blow. And then you begin to wonder why this lady doesn't like you so much.

A wise gardener once wrote the following: Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes." If that's the case, this must be a case of shock therapy at it's best.

Of Artichokes N' Blooms

Excitement Level = HIGH!

We're getting close to Bill & Venus Bird's favorite part of the year. More so me than the lovely wife -- but Spring is getting ready to Sprung in ye olde North Natomas Back 40.

The wife loves this time of year too -- don't get me wrong. But she can hardly wait for the 100-degree nights (sans Delta Breeze of course), Johnny Miller calling the play-by-play on KNBR, cats chasing after insect ghosts in the dark backyard night and a refreshing drink containing high-class gin that comes from a plastic bottle.

Now that children -- is a good time for all. I happen to like it too.

Winter is a bit of a bummer for us backyard enthusiasts. Yeah -- you receive reams of catalogs to go through. Seeds must be ordered. Gardens must be planned. But that's all INDOOR work. Meanwhile -- for those of us who would rather be outside in the garden -- all we can do is look out the window at the downpour.

But the first hint of spring for us? That's when the daffodils burst open. We got quite the show this year. Next up? The Santa Rosa plum tree turned bright white with a thousand blossoms.

And now -- finally? The artichoke plants are beginning to perk up and look like artichoke plants again. In another month or two -- the first artichokes will begin to emerge from the nine or ten artichoke plants in this bed. By mid-May? Artichokes will be on the menu just about every night for supper.

There's nothing quite like a meal of a big, meaty artichoke, some melted butter, garlic salt and fresh herbs from the garden. It is Heaven on Earth.

I was a tad worried though -- earlier this year. The freeze that hit in December really walloped the artichoke plants that had emerged last fall. Usually -- artichoke plants emerge in the fall and grow right through the winter months. They are usually quite gargantuan by March and April. But something strange happened this year.

I'm not sure if it was the December freeze or perhaps a neighbor got a tad too generous with some Roundup -- as our plants started to die back in January. Some of the damage -- as the photo to the left illustrates -- is still with us. There was a time when every plant looked exactly like that one leaf. I'd never seen it before.

But -- thinking this could also be freeze damage -- I followed the advice of other well known gardeners who advised "leave it alone." It's true that artichokes do love cold, foggy conditions. But they draw the line when the mercury drops too far -- as it's been known to do in Sacramento. Give them a coastal climate and they'll shower you with love and artichokes.

Most of the time -- we have that. But there are those "exceptions..."

I'm not only happy to see them bouncing back -- but the return of my natural bug hunters brought a big smile to my face. I'm not exactly sure why ladybugs are so wild about my backyard -- but I have them in abundance. They are the best control that I have against the aphids and other pests that will begin munching on the artichokes and artichoke plants later this spring.

Eventually -- the aphids and the heat will always win out the day. But the ladybugs do their part in keeping the bad characters away. Now -- don't get me wrong here. You can't just cut -- steam and eat on home-grown chokes -- unless you really like getting a mouthful of yard critters. They love hiding ON and INSIDE the artichoke.

The best defense then? A good salt water bath is a must once you've brought them inside to prepare for that evening's meal. A good 30 minute soak in a salty brine will remove most of the bad actors -- and you'll be surprised to find out just how INFESTED these things can get.

Bill Bird -- and an overabundance of bugs -- love artichokes.

If you desire artichokes as big as your hand for dinner -- the time to start preparing for that experience is now. I fertilize my artichoke plants regularly -- with both organic and non-organic materials. The plants get a least a gallon of water mixed with Omega 2000 and Maxicrop every week and I also distribute several cups of Osmocote brand fertilizer in the bed during the month of March.

As the weather warms and the plants begin to produce? Normal watering schedules go by the wayside. The bed is soaked thoroughly with a hose on a low stream of water at least twice a week.

This method usually results in a first crop of artichokes that will be large -- meaty and very tender. Successive crops will result in smaller artichokes. And -- as the weather really begins to warm in mid-June -- artichokes take on the consistency of leather. They're still good mind you -- but tough on the teeth!

Perhaps more experimentation is needed? We will be expanding our artichoke planting efforts into a second bed later this spring. The bed is built -- but isn't irrigated yet nor do I have the required planter mix. Put that on the list of "projects to be completed later this spring."

I never do get to all of them.

Oh -- I promised BLOOMS! And here you go! This is another reason to get excited about the approaching change in seasons that is spring. The two peach trees in the backyard are flowering like nobody's business.

Although there are some growers who reccommend that you don't allow a peach tree to produce ANY fruit for the first three years -- well -- I couldn't wait. This O'Henry Peach tree produced a few peaches during the first year. Last year? An avalanche of peaches. The tree had to be culled regularly to keep branches from bending and breaking under the weight of loaded peaches.

As for Year 3? While I really should pull each and every peach from the tree and allow root systems to develop -- you should know me by now. There's peach pie to be had later this summer!

Spare Time? New Planter Box!

The days of joyously working out in ye olde garden are about to come to a screeching halt. Rain is due in next week. :(

It's a time to reflect on the landscaping jobs that didn't get done this summer -- and work furiously to complete what you can.

Case in point? The new planter box located to your right. This is one of the last BIG boxes that I will build for the backyard -- at least -- I think that's the plan at this point.

But you never know what the future has in store for this "Backyard in Progress."

The supports holding up the new planter box *should* be sitting on a layer of freshly planted grass. Should is a key word in the world of landscaping. It's one of those projects that just didn't get done earlier this spring. The legislative year was a rather tough one on us legislative types. A lot of time that could have been spent in the backyard, was instead spent at my desk in the State Capitol.

It's not a complaint mind you. It's more of a lament. Like most "Weekend Warriors" I always bite off far more than I can chew when it comes to the two issues of "projects planned" and "projects completed."

The box above illustrates that point. The goal was to build the box, stain the box, put it in place in one of the side yards, install drip irrigation inside the box, move five yards of planter mix into the backyard and then -- finally -- fill the box with planter mix and other soil amendments.

Yeah -- umm -- good plan. I can tell you -- at this point -- that the box is "built." And we'll have to wrap it up from there.

This is why the new box is needed. That lovely greenery to your right? Those are the artichoke plants that sprang back to life about a month ago. This box had been nothing but bare soil after I cleaned out and cut back last season's artichoke plantings. But, as you can tell, next spring's crop is already off to an enormous head start.

The new box will be placed to the immediate right of this box pictured to your left -- about eight feet away. In between the two is a lovely Pomegranate Tree -- the Sweet variety -- that is producing a bumper crop of large, gorgeous-red pomegranates in just its second year of production. It's one of the most productive -- and successful I might add -- fruit trees that I've got growing in the backyard. When the tree finally reaches it's maximum height and width -- it well be framed against the two artichoke boxes. I'm hoping for a pretty good show.

The slowdown in the local housing market does have at least one silver lining. It means the lumber selections at the nearby Man's Toy Store, aka Home Depot, are not just "pretty good" but OUTSTANDING. Add to that? The wood is CHEAP. If I would have tried to purchase the redwood boards that I used to build the new box in 2005, it would have cost twice as much and the quality of the wood would have been far inferior.

Lucky me.

Don't be fooled. The box pictured to your right is constructed with nothing more than the cheapest redwood fencing board that Home Depot offers. Sure, it doesn't look like fencing board after I get done with it -- but it's nothing more than that. The wider, thicker, boards that make up the sides and ends of the box are currently selling for about a $1.50. The thinner "trim" boards that line the top and sides (including the center "V for Venus finish job) are selling for less than a buck.

The box is held together with one foot sections of a redwood 2X4. There's one in every corner plus two more in the middle for added stability.

The nice thing about this project is the good folks in the Home Depot lumber department will be more than happy to do the bulk of the required cutting for you. That includes the one foot sections of the anchor 2X4. The trim boards are cut later, after the main part of the box is constructed. But, other than the 45-degree angles required for the "V for Venus" finish decoration, the cutting job is a fairly simple one.

Here's how it works: I pick the best looking boards that I can find out of the stack of redwood fencing lumber in the center of the lumber department. The edges must be smooth. The boards need to be relatively free of knots, which are tough to saw through and will fall out later after the wood is seasoned. Once I find six of the most perfect boards that I can find -- I move on to the trim boards -- where I repeat the process of finding five or six of the best boards that I can find. The final step is finding a single, unblemished, six foot long, redwood 2X4. There's at least one or two in every stack.

Next? I move over to the saw and issue some fairly straightforward cutting instructions. I want the dog-ear, top portions, of the six wide fencing boards lopped off completely. That provides four boards for the sides. The remaining two boards are then cut in half -- providing me with the end pieces. And finally? The six foot redwood 2X4 is cut into one foot sections.

The project also requires the purchase of gold screws in differing sizes -- and then everything gets loaded into the car for the final trip home.

The project is easier if you have three cordless drills at the ready. One is used for drilling pilot holes for the screws. Another drill is outfitted with a countersink. And the third and final drill is used for the actuall drilling of the screws that will hold the box together. Without the three drills, you're switching implements from one drill to another, which will slow you down.

At some point this weekend I will move this box to its new home on the other end of the yard, install drip irrigation, and wait for the rains to come. If the weather cooperates? I'll move soil in the following weekend and then start transplanting artichoke plants from the old bed to the new bed.

If the weather doesn't cooperate? Well -- there's always blogging...