Garden Update

All is continuing busy-busy-busy around here.  I often think about doing a blog post and then don't get around to it, but here's a brief update on a few points of note, and then a longer discussion of some garden updates.

My World in Brief:

• COVID-19 status in New Brunswick is excellent.  We have had 2 new cases over the past 3 weeks, and there are still no deaths.  Some things in the province have begun to reopen, carefully, with proper distancing and other precautions.  I feel very lucky to live where I do.
• Sir Francis the duck continues to do well in the house, but his duck hut and enclosure are in progress outside.  I hope he will soon be able to make the big move!
• I hatched 13 eggs and have another 17 to go.  Will do another chick post in future, I think.  All the initial hatchlings are thriving.
• Saw my first warbler of 2020 in the yard this weekend.  Yay!
• Moth season has begun but many nights are too cold for them, so it's starting slowly.
• Seedlings started in the basement for this year's garden.  All doing well.
• Knitting a few projects at the moment but don't have as much time as I'd like.  Status quo!

The Garden Update:

This year, I wanted to make some improvements in my yard.  This was in my plans for a while now - it's not because of COVID-19.  I know that's making some people turn to more home based food production, but this was a long-felt need (want?) around here!  The part of my yard that my home office looks out onto was mostly scrubby space that nature had taken over.  I love nature as any regular reader will know, but I also love to use my yard for gardening, so a balance is needed.  Much of my yard is woods and other natural habitat, so the scrubby area was designated as space for my garden expansion.  Here's how it looked on Friday.  The shed to the right is my hay storage shed.

Here's the left side of the area, which joins up with the covered chicken run.

Here's the piece of equipment that showed up to do the work!  You can see a lot of logs in the foreground.  Those are from the large-toothed aspen that fell in Hurricane Dorian last September.

The equipment had what is called a mulching head on it.  Here it was getting started.

And here's how it looked a few hours later.

A huge rock was discovered during the work, which they positioned (at my request) near the bird feeder area.  I think I will plant flowers around it.  

The same piece of equipment was used to dig a large hole and install a new post for my laundry line, since that also came down in the hurricane last fall.  The pole is in but the line isn't up yet.  I was worried about any wildlife that had nests in the scrubby area, so we checked carefully for critters but didn't locate any.  After the work was done, this poor little Northern short-tailed shrew showed up and was rushing about and trying to dig into the cleared area.  I have a bad feeling that we might have destroyed its home, but I hope it will relocate into the woodsy area and forgive me at some point.  

Today, after a rainy weekend, the crew showed up to start building the greenhouse-type structure that I wanted to put in place.  This will help me get a head start in our short growing season, and hopefully will ensure earlier tomato harvests.  It was really exciting to watch the progress through the day.  A base and a wall went up.

More walls went up.

And suddenly a frame was nearly complete.

Then the heavy poly began to be stapled in place.

Nearly there!

Ta da!  The nearly-finished project was completed early afternoon, with some ventilation screen ports in place and a door has been made.  The hinges will be purchased and the door installed later this week (after the predicted rain has come and gone).  Some compost and soil will be brought in to add to the base soil (which has a lot of mulched wood in it from the clearing process) and I will add some of my own chicken manure.  The building is angled so that the low side of the roof faces south for maximum sun.

The guys also assembled these small 4 x 4 foot raised beds that I bought from Costco.  I plan to put in some more raised beds soon.  

Next will be the addition of a small garden tool shed (between the greenhouse and the hay shed) and then an extension of the outdoor chicken run.  I also plan to install some posts and wires for some raspberries, blackberries, and grapes.  I'm really pleased and excited about the possibilities that this development opens up for me.  I'm thinking a couple more fruit trees will go in, and perhaps an area for additional berry shrubs - currants and bush cherries perhaps.  I do love having gardening space!

So I'll sign off for now with this winter firefly (Ellychnia corrusca).  Unlike the summer fireflies, the adult winter firefly doesn't glow, but the larvae do.  You might see the adults in the early spring in your area - they're about half an inch long, and easy to recognize with those red "parentheses" on their heads.  They lay eggs in April and May and then the adults die off.  The larvae take 16 months to fully mature, which takes them into the following fall.  The adults will then overwinter and emerge the next spring.  

Friday's Hunt v 2.21

Friday has come around once again and we are starting to get close to the end of the alphabet!

Today's prompts from Eden Hills are: Starts with "U," week's favourite, and nature.

Starts with U
I recently installed a suet feeder in my bird feeding area.  I love to watch the chickadees using it because they often eat upside down or at least underneath the feeder!  It's fun to see their different poses and positions.  I'm getting a number of woodpecker visitors as well, which are also great to watch.

Week's Favourite
I was excited this week to have the opportunity to photograph a shrew in my yard.  I was watching the chickadees through my office window when I saw the movement under the bird feeder.  At first, I thought it was a mole, but upon closer inspection, I realized it was a shrew.  It's fairly rare to see shrews, at least for me, unless they are ones that my cat has dispatched.  I believe this one is a short-tailed shrew, which is the most common species in my area.  It has a little tunnel under some leaves and it comes out to get seeds and takes them back inside.  The fur looks so velvety-soft, and although I'm sure many would disagree with me, I think this shrew is really cute!

These are not great photographs in a technical sense, especially since they were taken through a window, but the subject matter was the exciting part for me!

You can see how tiny the eyes are - like little pin-heads!  Shrews can eat up to twice their body weight each day.  Remarkable little creatures.

Nature
I think the majority of the photographs I put on this blog are nature shots!  All of today's pictures are nature photographs.  Here's another one I took that I like - a fall leaf on the grass covered in water droplets.  Nature has so much beauty for us if we slow down and look for it.

Friday's Hunt v 2.12

Again, it's Friday!  This week has gone super fast! But, regardless of speed, it's time for Friday's Hunt, hosted by Eden Hills. As usual, there are 3 topics for today: Starts with L, Week's Favourite, and Critter.

Starts with L

Here is a Lovely Landscape shot that I took today at the Sackville Waterfowl Park.  The trees are still mostly green but you can see hints of yellow.  The temperatures are getting lower at night these days, almost dipping to the freezing point.  Soon the fall foliage will be in its glory.  Also there is a Lake in the picture.

Because she is the herd queen, and demands her proper publicity level, and because her name starts with L, here is Lucky Nickel.  (By the way, she is also a Critter!)

Week's Favourite

My little chipmunk friend, having a rest in the sun.  (Yep, also a Critter!)

Critter

Usually I post cute, cuddly critters, like my goats and sheep, or birds (and I already posted two of those!).  For the critter category, I'm posting something a little different.  This critter is a shrew. There are quite a few shrew species in Canada and it's difficult to tell them apart unless you're an expert, which I'm not.  The only thing I can tell you for sure about this shrew is that it's dead.  I turned it over so that it would be more like it looks when it's alive.  It is most likely the Masked Shrew, or Cinereous Shrew (Sorex cinereus) simply because that is the most common species.

Unfortunately, our cats seem to kill shrews more than any other animal.  I have seen a few dead voles, and the odd dead mouse, and I've never seen them with a dead bird.  However, I have seen a LOT of dead shrews.  We try to keep both cats in at night - Izzy is an outdoor cat in general due to her problems with the concept of the litter box, but we try to keep her in the garage at night - but we aren't always successful.  You can identify a shrew by its very long, pointy nose and its lack of cute round ears, such as you see on mice.  They have very tiny eyes.

I don't know why the cats seem to favour shrews.  Are they easier to catch?  I have no idea.  Cats won't eat shrews because they emit an unpleasant smell that cats don't like. Poor little shrews.  I quite like shrews because they are insectivores and eat lots of bugs that might otherwise damage my plants. I wish that the cats would leave the shrews alone.