Vegetable Garden Distractions

I’ve been interested in vegetable gardening for most of my life and have had some type of garden every year since I was eight years old.  Maintaining a vegetable garden is an activity that my wife says makes me appear more normal in the eyes of the general public.  It gives me a second topic besides the weather of which I have an interest and which I might discuss with others while creating idle conversation at social events.  I’ve learned that most people can only stand a few minutes of weather talk and generally have no interest in my thoughts about managing land for native ecosystems.  Talking about gardening gives me something to do besides reading a book or standing alone glaring at anyone who comes near.  This pleases my wife and gives the illusion that I’m having a good time.

My garden is located in the lower portion of a field drain where eroded soil was trapped behind an elevated farm lane.  This was the only place I could find with soil deep enough to securely anchor fence posts.  People sometimes question why I carved my garden out of a nice prairie field.  In this situation there was no prairie when I created the garden.  At that time, the field was all oat stubble, remnants of the last grain crop to be grown there.  The garden was long established by the time the prairie came in.

The garden is maintained in raised beds.  Through the summer I fill the trenches between beds with whatever organic matter I have at hand, mostly mower clippings.  Each fall I till the trenches and scoop the half composted organic matter to the top of the beds.  Worms and other organisms work on the organic matter over the winter and the beds are ready to receive seed in the spring.  Onions, peas and potatoes are currently growing.  Row cover was placed over the peas to protect them from some predicted cold temperatures.  They made it through a couple of 20 degree nights with no damage.

But there are other things going on in the garden that easily take my attention away from the vegetables.  Several native prairie species are grown here for seed production.  The natives are not as well behaved as the vegetables.  These Prairie Dock will not stay confined to a bed and are continually increasing their territory.

The organic mix atop the beds seems ideal for germination of Prairie Dock seed.  I’ve decided to limit the Prairie Dock to one bed and they’ve just about taken that.

Clumps of False Gromwell last for three to five years before dieing.  In that time they produce huge quantities of seed.  Some of that seed manages to germinate and initiate growth of another clump.  False Gromwell are always in the garden, but their location is constantly changing.

Butterflyweed has claimed a three by three foot section at the end of one bed.  It came in as a volunteer and I let it stay.  That was about fifteen years ago.  Since then it has attracted swarms of interesting insects to the garden.  For the past three years it has hosted the caterpillars of the Unexpected Tiger Moth, an Ohio rarity.  The garden keeps losing ground to natives, but there’s still plenty of space for vegetables.

The cedar fence posts around the garden continue to expand their collection of interesting lichens.  It doesn’t take much for the lichens to distract me from my gardening chores.  I have yet to take the time for any serious lichen studies, but when I get around to it, there should be plenty of lichens here to get me started.

I am serenaded constantly while in the garden.  This Song Sparrow nests in an ornamental juniper that is kept in the garden just because birds nest in it.  It was planted there as a seedling 28 years ago along with several others that were intended for landscaping in front of the house, but it was not used.  Instead of getting rid of it, I left it there in case one of the junipers in the yard failed to grow.  By the time it became obvious that it wasn’t needed for landscaping, it had become a favorite nesting site of Song Sparrows, Catbirds and Cardinals.

Although not as melodious as the Song Sparrow, Henslow’s Sparrows call out their territorial warnings from perches in the tall Indian Grass surrounding the garden.  Since these birds return here every year and I hear them calling well into summer, I’m assuming that they are nesting.  It’s hard enough to see these birds in the field.  It would just be dumb luck if I ever encountered one of their nests.

A Burrowing Wolf Spider has claimed a territory near the Butterflyweed.  The burrow should be safe from disturbance in this location, so I will have time to coax the spider out for some photographs.

While on my knees looking at the spider hole, I glanced beneath the Song Sparrow’s juniper and saw this garter snake.  I think the garden is an appropriate place for this snake since, as a kid, I used to think their proper name was Gardener Snake.  This one kept doing strange gyrations with its tongue as though trying to convey a message in snake semaphore.  Maybe the message came through, because I suddenly thought of something I should be doing.  That’s how most of my garden forays progress; distracted by the native plants, distracted by the birds, distracted by the bugs and gone.

Garter Snake and Common Blue Violets

I found the Water Garden Garter Snake wreathed in violet flowers while warming itself on the sunny brick patio.  It was early enough in the morning that the air was still cool, so I thought I would try for a few close-up photos before the snake became more active.  It was probably the snake’s cool morning sluggishness combined with the protective feel of the surrounding violet leaves that caused the snake to allow my close approach.  I took several shots before backing away and allowing the snake to continue warming.

Snake eyes have a neat habit of reflecting their surroundings.  If the snake is cooperative, I try to get in close enough to capture my reflection in the snake’s eye.  That’s my head and hands showing between three and four o’clock in the snake’s pupil.  I was belly down on the patio and about two feet away when I took this shot.

Common Blue Violets gave a wonderful background for the snake.  This native plant is quite aggressive and will readily colonize any open ground.  It has done exceptionally well at surviving in the spaces between bricks on our patio and at filling in between the rocks around the Water Garden.

I eliminate the non-native plants that try to grow here, so the violets can develop without competition.  Common Blue Violets seem to be eaten by any animal that includes vegetable matter in its diet.  Ants commonly visit the flowers to collect nectar.  The plants won’t make it through the spring without suffering some damage from plant consumers.  Sometimes they get eaten right to the ground.

The lower petal forms a rearward projection known as a spur.  Length of the spur can vary considerably between species and is often an important identification characteristic.  I find it amazing how many people have never looked at the back side of a violet flower.  This flower is found in millions of American lawns, but is so often ignored.

There’s considerable competition between violet seedlings for any available space.  Only a few of these will develop into mature plants.  Now, if I get really lucky, I’ll come out one morning to find a litter of baby Garter Snakes lounging in the young violet plants.

Garter Snake

It’s the middle of March and I’ve already had my second snake encounter.  I hope this means that 2012 is shaping up to be the year of the snakes. 

I was working around the front of the house when I heard the frightened squawk of a Green Frog followed by a splash in the Water Garden.  I peaked around the corner of the house to see what was going on and immediately spied the answer.  One frog startled by one very pretty Garter Snake. 

I think the frog was a bit larger than the snake could have handled, but I guess the safest course is always to run away.

One of my reasons for having a Water Garden outside the front door is to increase my chances of viewing interesting wildlife.  So far I’ve had four species of snakes attracted to this area.  I believe that to be a positive experience, but many people claim that attracting snakes is a reason for NOT having a Water Garden near your house.  I don’t argue the point.  I just think that those people are a little bit odd.

I eventually crowded the snake and it took to the water to hide.  I’m sure it will stay around, but as the plants around the Water Garden get taller, the snakes will be harder to see.  Those same people with odd ideas about Water Gardens outside the door also advise me that it’s not wise to allow thick, weedy growth up near the house.  I then point out how fortunate it is that none of those plants are weeds.

Eastern Garter Snake

Having a permanent water source means that you will attract a variety of water dependent species, especially during a severe drought. If that water happens to be outside the front door to your house, you will most likely have frequent encounters with those species. I found this Eastern Garter Snake hunting in the overflow pool from my water garden. Like a child, this snake should have had a face wipe before the photo session.

This is what caught my eye as I was walking by. It looked like a piece of hose had been thrown into the water. Since I didn’t have any striped hose, I knew it had to be a snake. I really love finding snakes.

I followed the line of the body through the duckweed and finally came to the head. For some reason I always have trouble getting snakes to stick out their tongues for the camera. I had the camera lens about eight inches from the snake’s head, but I still had to waggle my fingers in front of its face in order to get any reaction.

This specimen measured about 18 inches in length. Its coloration blended quite well with the duckweed and algae. Since there are people who don’t share my enthusiasm for finding snakes, I’m glad that the snakes are so good at remaining unnoticed.

Overflow from the water garden enters the tub from behind the pine branches. In a year of normal rainfall, this pool is always full of water. We’re now entering our fourth consecutive month of drought and there hasn’t been any overflow to replenish this water supply. This is also the preferred pool from which the deer like to drink. Thirsty deer can use a lot of water.

I imagine this is what the snake was after. There are several of these newly transformed Green Frogs in the overflow pool. Baby frog is a favorite of garter snakes.

Garter Snake

I never tire of finding snakes and it’s amazing how many of them are willing to sit quietly while I take pictures. The camera lens was six inches from the snake’s nose when I took this shot. This is the Eastern Garter Snake, a common species in Ohio that is normally found somewhere near water. This one was about 100 feet uphill of the creek. The Garter Snake seems to be the last species to head under cover in the fall and is usually the most common snake I find in November.

When I was a kid, finding something like this was like finding buried treasure. Back then I didn’t mind the snake’s “Stinky Poop” defense and would have had this guy scooped up and half tamed before my Mom could say “What have you got there, Steven? Put that down!”

This snake is looking a bit blue. Maybe it’s just depressed at the thought of cold temperature soon to come. This species can display quite a range of colors and confuses some people into thinking they are seeing many different species of snake.

The two old snake nests are not far from where I found the Garter Snake. Garter Snake young develop inside the female and enter the world fully formed and ready to go, so those nests couldn’t have been made by this snake.

 When I looked up from photographing the snake, I was startled to see this object. At first I thought Rover had come to return me to The Village. Then I saw it was just balloon number five of the season. Not a Halloween balloon as I had predicted, but good enough to tie my record for one year’s find. One more balloon before the end of December and I have a new record.