Sassy and I went to Lowe's, where she normally stays in the car with the windows wide open. She loves going on errands but always barks at me to hurry up as I go inside. A Lowe's employee said, "Someone has a dog along." I told her that I leave Sassy where she can watch me shop inside the gardening center.
The Lowe's employee said, "Bring her inside. We love having dogs here. We get to pet them." Sassy was delighted to come inside. She stays close by and obeys my hand signals - usually. She had to check out some alternate aisles when I went to the mulch section. She comes back again so quietly that I call her "Ghost."
It was another almost-raining-but-just-stifling-hot mornings, so Sassy stretched out on the cold cement while I checked out. Sassy barked her happy barks - very loudly - as I finished.
I needed more mulch for the back garden and a bag to Photoshop the rose garden, where weeds slipped through the area between the first roses and the second group.
Our helper showed up to work on the back garden. I now have 75 feet of fence planted with hollyhocks, pole beans, bush beans, Malabar spinach, pumpkins, and gourds. Soaker hose runs along the top of the fence. When the water is running, birds perch on it to drink and bath. In the artificial rain below, more birds gather to drink and clean their feathers. I have some shallow bowls placed to catch water for their ceremonies.
Birds also gather at the faucet, where someone laid brick long ago. This produces another shallow bathing and drinking spa. Our yard is constantly alive with birds, and we are getting some butterflies too.
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| Butterflies obtain salts and nutrition from mud and manure. |
A puddling area of mud or manure is appreciated by butterflies. The front faucet area is frequently muddy, since it lacks a bricked area underneath it.
The ideal lawn and garden not necessarily friendly to all of God's Creation. A trashy yard is friendlier to them than a sculpted one. Supposed weeds like Queen Ann's Lace are attractive to bees and butterflies. Some birds nest in the ground, in tall grass and weeds. They always look annoyed when disturbed in any way.
I do not want to emulate Dogpatch, but I see tall plants as havens and food sources for a wider variety of life in the yard. We have a grassy-weedy no man's land between the houses on Joye Street and our street. That is where I sowed Queen Ann's Lace by tossing the seed-heads into the area.
I can picture some very tall varieties of Butterfly Bush lining the back fence some day. That would make a green screen that also attracts butterflies and other insects while serving as a place to store natural bird food for the winter (larvae).
Surprise Visit
Sassy supervised the latest effort, sitting in the shade and bringing her ball to me to toss. I already had the fence garden extended and watered, but I needed total mulch and newspapers on the future vegetable garden. Since it is mid-July, I decided against planting every row, but that might change in later. Spinach is a good crop to plant in the fall and harvest in the early spring.
We initially covered alternate rows with mulch and newspaper. Planting in the grassy row means digging it up, which is already done on the other side. We covered the rest of the garden with newspapers galore and cypress mulch.
Sassy began barking when we were almost done. She ran to the back gate, which I could not see. I assumed she was talking to the pit bull across the street.
When I was laying down the last few newspapers, our helper's family showed up on the other side, where the sunny garden is (tomatoes, sunflowers).
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| "I'll have one of everything." |
"So that is why Sassy barked! She was happy to see you." I invited them to the backyard, so they came around. I had two little helpers to pick up more of my pruning work. They wanted to help again, as they do whenever they come along with their father. They get paid, which was especially fun this time, because...
Just as we left the backyard, the ice cream truck turned onto our street. I yelled, "Run! Run!" Their mother saw he was already slowing down for them.
The kids had their money and could barely suppress their grins. Sassy joined them at the truck, because she loves ice cream treats. Instead, we had frozen yogurt inside.
Today we should enjoy the long-promised rain. The new mulch and newspapers will block grass and weeds from growing, and soil creatures will do the tilling for me.
One person calculated that the earthworm creates as much fine soil in his castings as he has food to eat. That means all the mulch and newspapers will turn into the best soil, teeming with soil creatures, from the little-known springtails to God's own plowman - the red wiggler.