As if yesterday's reports of critters crawling the Lovestead and eating up all my garden and yard flowers weren't enough, I discovered a new "hole in the dike" late yesterday morning.
Several of those beautiful blueberry bushes I planted last week are now missing most of their leaves and the pretty little blossoms brought on by greenhouse warmth. I have since decided that anyone who thinks they want to do gardening in Critterville must have active and well-honed problem-solving skills.
I thought off and on all day of how I was gonna save the rest of my blueberry bushes before another dark night brought out another herd of thieves. What added to the challenge was the busy afternoon ahead---several hours spent at a CASA gathering in town and an afternoon visit with my dear friend, classmate and daily blog reader Janet Eakin Anthony.
Janet called me Monday, telling me she was in town and had decided to stay an extra day. So, we agreed to meet here after I returned from the in-town meeting. We enjoyed a lovely visit on the deck on a rather perfect April afternoon. During our visit, Mike Boseth came pedaling down South Center Valley Road.
I had already mentioned him in a conversation, regarding my New Zealand penpal who died recently. Mike and Robyn's husband Steve have begun correspondence. I matched the two of them up in hopes that their common interest in sailing and biking might lure Steve this way some day.
Janet also knew Mike because he works in the hospital lab where her mom Jean and stepfather Bill worked for years. After hearing me yell to him, Mike stopped, turned around, rode in and visited with us, telling Janet that her mother had served as his mentor when he first came on board in the lab several years ago.
We finally said our good byes, and a while later, the blueberries and sundown reminded me that deer would soon be scouting out the best pathways through the Lovestead food court. There was no time to build a fence, so I grabbed eight tomato cages and planted them around each new blueberry bush.
The cages are still standing this morning, and it looks as if the blueberries have gone untouched overnight. Between now and when my established bushes sprout their leaves, I'll build nine more cages, and hopefully that problem will be solved.
Never in three previous years has a deer touched my bushes, so I know that this year may promise lots of unpleasant surprises in the gardening mission.
One pleasant surprise came this morning when hundreds of blossoms popped out overnight on an unknown fruit tree near the barnyard fence. In past years, that tree has been one-sided, with its branches chewed off over the winter by long-necked horses who may have tired from eating the fence.
This year, the electric fence wire to protect the board fence has deterred them from the usual munching on said tree. I told Bill about the blossoms and then opened the drawer where there's a map of the fruit trees planted by the previous owners of this place.
Turns out the tree with its first crop of blossoms is a Yakima plum tree, while the little one next to it is a pear tree. The little one hasn't burst out quite yet, but it did have one blossom last year.
So, I live in excited expectation---that my home orchard may just bear more fruit this year. Last year Mother Nature got in the way by blowing forth a cold front right after the blossoms popped out. I'm hoping she'll stay in the good mood we've seen over the past few months and smile down on us.
And, if we do actually luck out with a few plums this year, what problems will I have to solve to ensure that they make it to FRUITION?
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On another note, I'd like to extend my condolences to the family of Mary Margaret Cochran. Mary Margaret was a regular reader of "Slight Detour." In fact, I took her some tomatoes the year before last after she commented about one of my postings.
Her children, Tim and Cathy, and many of her grandchildren have been dear friends to both Bill and me, and we keep them all in our thoughts.
My thoughts also go out this morning to my friend Frankie Roberson, her family and the Becker family who are mourning the loss of Frankie's daughter, LeAnn.
LeAnn and Mary Margaret were both much loved, longtime residents of this area, and they will be missed.
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