Destructive Deer, Bugs, Vines and Snow: It's Always Something
In a “perfect” world – i.e., one in which all living creatures and meteorological phenomena benefited human comfort and bowed to our supremacy – there would be no need for deer fences, bird netting, herbicides, insecticides, fly swatters, mousetraps or even snow shovels and umbrellas.
Deer, rabbits, woodchucks and birds would stay out of our gardens; along with slugs, locusts, moths, weevils, cutworms, beetles and other herbivores; bittersweet wouldn’t strangle our trees; nettles, briars and brambles wouldn’t catch on our clothes or slash our skin; black flies, deer flies, mosquitoes, wasps and other winged pests wouldn’t swarm around our eyes and ears; rodents wouldn’t invade our homes; snow wouldn’t pile up on driveways, ice wouldn’t coat sidewalks and stairs, and rain wouldn’t soak us, because all precipitation would fall only where and when needed.
Sadly for two-legged creatures, Mother Nature doesn’t see things this way and regards us the same way it treats raccoons, sea urchins and three-toed sloths: with indifference rather than deference.
Though such disregard for human dominion inflicts discomfort and occasional misery throughout the year, certain times are best suited for taking corrective/preventative action.
After this latest (and we hope) last winter blast subsides, I’ll be preparing the garden for spring planting, and I can see one particularly burdensome task awaits me.
Last month’s heavy snowfall didn’t filter harmlessly, as anticipated, through the bird netting I had carefully installed over my blueberry bushes, but formed a thick blanket that shredded some of the mesh and pulled down or snapped some of the support timbers. I now will have to labor for hours with a pick, shovel, hammer, saw and staple gun to rebuild my anti-avian fortress if I expect to enjoy my favorite berries this summer. Flocks of greedy, opportunistic catbirds are already lurking just outside the enclosure, waiting for their chance to feast.
The snow also snapped a number of evergreens, which now must be sawed down and hauled away. I’ll replace them with seedlings that have been growing in a makeshift nursery ears. This will make room for another couple hundred seedlings I plan to plant next month.
More troubling has been an infestation of budworm that has begun to spread among the spruces. Rather than spray them with insecticides, I’m snipping damaged branches with hand clippers and plan to burn them. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will nip the problem in the bud, literally.
Once it thaws the compost pile we’ve so faithfully accumulated all fall and winter must be spread on the garden.
Speaking of growth, during a warm spell a couple weeks ago I was astonished to see that the more than 200 garlic cloves I’d planted last fall had already germinated and poked through a layer of crushed leaves covering them. Normally these plants don’t pop up until late March or April, but the mild winter – except for the past week – has given them a head start.
Cutting, splitting and storing firewood is a year-round task, but late winter/early spring is a good time to take stock of and replenish next year’s supply. I’m happy to report that I already have at least eight seasoned cords in the woodsheds, another two or three stacked in the driveway that have to be hauled uphill for storage; and enough felled trees that after beinh cut up and split will yield another three or for cords. At this rate I have enough firewood to last at least four years – longer, if mild winters persist.
I had feared that this year’s relatively tepid conditions would inhibit maple sap production, but was delighted that a burst of cold weather combined with rising daytime temperatures produced a bountiful yield.
We hosted our annual maple gathering a couple weeks ago and managed to boil up more than a gallon of sweet, savory syrup over an outdoor fire. Best of all we rescued the first batch just before it would have incinerated, and savored a sumptuous, caramelized sauce that tasted more like crème brulee.
Sometimes it’s tempting to question the practicality and value of so much toil, but an evening by a well-stoked wood stove during a raging blizzard, and hot maple syrup served with pancakes cooked outdoors in a cast-iron skillet over an open fire, among other rewards, provide ample fruits of our labors.
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