Caterpillar Relocation Program

I've been trying to tackle small jobs in the garden each day. 

With temps still getting into the 90's,

it's "get out early or forget it"!

The grapevine covering this trellis

by the rain barrel was taking over.

I would like to have a place for it to grow properly,

but for now, I don't.

It had to come out before it occupied the whole corner.

Little did I know what was hiding underneath.

I found these two lil' guys.

What to do?

I wasn't sure exactly which plant they had been feeding on,

as there are no milkweed plants in that area.

I felt sooooooo bad!

They were gingerly moved to one of our milkweed plants.

They appear to be monarchs.

I know we've had a lot more butterfiles

and cats this season, probably due to the addition

of the milkweed plants in the garden.

They both found a spot right away,

so I'm hoping that's a good sign.

I will keep checking on them to see if they're eating.

That's a bit tamer.

On to the next lil' project.

Hope your garden is full of wonder for you today.

Upcoming Gardening Workshops

Here are some upcoming workshops for Florida gardeners

in the Lakeland/Bartow area:

Florida-Friendly Landscaping™

Design 101 and Plant Sale

Thursday, Sept. 8, from 10:00 a.m.—noon

Circle B Bar Reserve

4399 Winter Lake Road, Lakeland

Plants will be for sale at this workshop!

Please preregister at:

http://design101.eventbrite.com/

Composting

Friday, October 14, from noon—1:00 p.m.

Lakeland Electric Admin Building

501 E. Lemon St., Lakeland

Park in parking garage Level 1A, 1B or Magnolia Building. Attendees must have a photo I.D.

Lunch is included. Preregistration is required.

Please preregister at

http://polkcompostingworkshop.eventbrite.com/

Rain Barrel Workshops

Thursday, September 29, 10:00 a.m.— noon

Circle B Bar Reserve, Polk’s Nature Discovery Center

4399 Winter Lake Road, Lakeland

Rain barrels will be available for $60. If you would like to purchase a rain barrel, please preregister at:

http://rainbarrelcirclebarb.eventbrite.com/

Saturday, October 29, 9:30 a.m. — 10:15 a.m.

UF/IFAS Polk County Extension Service

1702 US HWY 17 South, Bartow

You MUST preregister if you would like a rain barrel.

Please preregister at: http://bgfrainbarrel.eventbrite.com/

Hope to see you there!

 

Making a rain barrel

One of the best things we did was add rain barrels

to our landscape.  The weather patterns here have changed over the   5+ years we have been living in Central Florida. 

No longer can we anticipate any consistent rainstorms

in the afternoon during the summer months.  

It's one of the things I miss most...

Vessels filled with the liquid gold are a sight for sore eyes.

I guess I am easily contented,

but it does my heart good to know that

there will be plenty of clean water

to indulge the plant life around here.

The bonus is that Mother Nature provides it free of charge.

The convenience of having water right next to the garden

makes it less likely that I will forget to keep the soil moist.

I enjoy physical labor, so the idea of carrying water

to its distribution place does not deter me.

Rather, it helps me feel connected to the garden,

and to those who came before me

working as farmers to provide others

with food, flowers and beauty.

Because of the HOA in our neighborhood,

we have been forced to

relegating the barrels to the backyard,

so it is a bit more trouble to have to tote water

from the back to water the front garden. 

No matter.  I am happy to do it,

knowing I'm not spending one penny

to keep the garden growing.

The following link is from one of my favorite

newsletters, Living the Country Life.

Rain barrels are part of our lifestyle.

How 'bout you?

Making a Rain Barrel
(I miss Paul James.)

 

Rain Barrel Redo

I ended up moving the rain barrels around-again! As I was forced to move this one to the backyard, I decided to place it on one side of the patio and connect the two remaining ones.

I have planted morning glory seeds in front of the trellis. That should disguise it

well enough to keep snoopy Board members at bay.

I had placed the other in the corner of the garden by the pineapples, but since we don't have gutters, it wasn't able to catch any rain water at all. The solution? Add on!

Now the runoff from one barrel will go into the other.


Here's all ya need to accomplish this task.
The other ingredient is silicone.



Drill a small hole in one of the barrels using a drill bit.

After we had completed this step, we realized that it

probably would have been better to place the holes near the top.

We put it near the bottom, so that each barrel fills up

simultaneously. It works, either way. One of our barrels

is directly under the corner of the roof, so it manages to

catch all that precious liquid.

Here's one end. Don't forget to put silicone or some other

type of sealer around the tubing, so it won't leak.

Here's the other end. Being clear, it's hardly noticeable. Added bonus? My lil' guy likes to watch the water make its way around...

The plumbego started here should soon cover these two. I have the spigots off to the side, for easy access. I'm still thinking about adding a drip irrigation system to the barrels, for the veggie garden and surrounding plants. Poor fern here looks like it could use it! It'll come back.

Thanks to hubby for hookin' us up!

It's Coming Along...

The plumbego does a pretty good job of disguising

the rain barrel in the backyard. Guess it doesn't mind

having wet feet, as it is located directly under

an angle of the roof.

I've mostly transplanted gems from the front yard. Everything

else is from seed. I don't really buy plants anymore, unless

I feel a maternal yearning to nurture a specimen on the

"dead" rack at the nursery.

Here I've got visitors from the front yard of African Iris and a couple

of mystery plants that I have yet to identify. The tall bushy plants

are some kind of tree that keeps cropping up in the front bed. It

has white flowers on it in spring. That's one thing I wish I had more

time for, identification. I often find volunteers and don't know what

they are. As long as they are growing, I don't worry about it too much.

Eventually, I'll figure it out.

I transplanted the pineapple plants I had out front to frame the

area around the newly relocated rain barrel. Another plumbego

has started to take off. I've got my bamboo sticks ready for tepee

making later in the week. A few pots are growing seedlings, but

aren't quite ready for the front walkway.

The vegetable garden is in the processof being revamped. I staked

my beans on the newly acquired bamboo poles.The basil was

pruned back and I like the standard look of it. I think

I'll do that next year when I replant it. I'm still getting

eggplant from the same two plants I bought

from Debbie at Barefoot Gardeners.

The stakes are in for the tomatoes and there's

a pepper plant doing well. It looks like jalepeno,

so I guess we'll have salsa! On the left side,

I just left the same trellis-like structure

for the peas to climb.

I bought a beautyberry bush from Debbie at the

Lakeland Farmer's market this weekend. It already has berries on it, so I'm hoping the birds will find it

and stick around our yard a bit longer. I want to find

the best spot for it so that it will get lots of visitors!

I think it's time to move on...

We are looking forward to moving to a place where covenants and restrictions are non-existant. After several violation letters from the home-owner's association, we are ready for a
change. The latest violation is about this rain barrel in the front of our house. I mean, can you even see it from the street? It's painted, it's in the corner of the house, behind a large bush. We've been told that it is not allowed in the front of the house, although there is a state law on the books that no covenant can prohibit Florida-friendly landscaping, including those which conserve water. I am being asked to consult with a committee, so that they can work out some sort of resolution to this percieved problem. I guess the aesthetics of one's home is more important than conserving water for our community and world at large.

Sounds like some mixed-up priorities, if you ask me.

Time to move on to a place where we can live our simple life in peace. Where people are less concerned with appearances, and more in touch with what really matters. I see it coming, and it's gonna be grand!