My crazy neighbor...

Back in April, I wrote a blog about how I met one of my new neighbors, and how they threatened to shoot my dog. Now that I have lived and worked in town for a while, I have heard other things about this man to solidify my original suspicions that this man is crazy. Here is my own personal example:

After the incident with the dog, I called the Police the next day and advised them about what had happened. I told the Officer everything that happened, and it was all the truth. She said that I had 2 options at that point. That I could charge the man with uttering threats, or I could allow her to give him a call, and find out his side of the story. Because we were so new to town, I didn't want to stir things up too much, and allowed the Officer to give him a call, and find out what he has to say. When she called me back, I was a bit surprised to hear that he stated that he was terrified of dogs. I mean, if its true, then fine. But it didn't seem right to me. The officer also told me that she advised him that he cant make threats or else he could be charged, and reminded him that if he sees an animal in his yard, to call animal control.

Now, it has been a while since this has happened, and I haven't seen him for a couple months. Just recently however, I have seen him out and about, tending to his yard work, and whatnot - but only because I walk to work, and have to walk past his house - although I do cross the street. Normally I see him with his leaf blower, blowing the dirt and gravel off of the road in front of his house... Why? Who knows! (He's crazy, remember?)

Today I work a closing shift at work so I dont leave until the afternoon for work, and during the day, I like to tie the dog up outside so he can have some fresh air, and chew on his bone. Around 10:30 this morning, the dog started barking like crazy, and normally, when someone pulls into the driveway, the dog barks like crazy... So I went to go see who was here - but no one was. I walked outside, and all I could hear was a weed eater... The crazy neighbor was whacking my weeds!

Mikey just finished cutting the lawn the other day, and here is the crazy neighbor cutting the strip of grass between the lawn and the curb... The dog is going crazy!! Then I hear the weed eater die off, and the crazy neighbor is actually barking back at my dog! (yeah, I'm so sure he's terrified, or else he wouldn't have come near my lawn knowing that we have a dog, and he definitely wouldn't be mocking or teasing it) He cant see me of course, because the front porch is secluded by the large tree out front, but I can see him. (I should have taken a picture... shoot!)

I really wanted to walk over to him and tell him to get the Eff off of my property, but with a weed eater in hand - I'de rather keep my distance. he finally walked back, but came back once again with a lawn mower, to mow out the same edge. I don't know what he is trying to accomplish, but coming from him - I don't appreciate it. I don't know if I should call the police again, and ask the officer to give him a call and let him know that he shouldn't be on my property, or what.

What would you do?

Garden Photos

I meant to post a link to my facebook album with all of the garden photos in it... so HERE IT IS! Sorry for the delay! If you can't view it, please leave me a comment.

Fairy Rings

Have any of you ever heard of Fairy Rings? Well, if you haven't - like myself - once you have your own lawn to care for, you'll learn quickly! Once the grass in the yard started turning green, I noticed that there are a few distinct areas that were not growing in at all - I mean, there wasn't even grass to grow. Since the grass has been growing longer, I've noticed that the patches of no/dead grass are circular. I thought maybe the owners before us had a kiddie pool, or something on the lawn that could have killed off the grass? But... there is still grass growing in the middle of the circle... thats peculiar.

Then I remembered a neighbor telling us to make sure we bleach the bottom of our lawnmower so that we don't pass on any fungus or diseases from the last lawn it cut. He also mentioned that he has been battling Fairy Ring at his last 2 properties now... Well, what is this fairy ring? Mikey told me that he remembers a Fairy Ring in their yard when he was younger, and that a bunch of mushrooms popped up in a circle in the lawn... Crap, we have a few Fairy Rings.

I did some research online, and found out that there are a few different kinds of Fairy Rings, and depending on what kind you have, you can see symptoms of mushrooms, dead/withered grass, or dark green, lush grass, and they can form in arcs, or complete circles. Hidden in the soil is a complete network of threadlike fungus as it grows deep into the ground to find food. The fungus can deplete the soil of valuable nutrients causing the grass to whither, or produce hormones causing rapid luxurious grass growth.

There is also quite a bit of folklore surrounding the origin of Fairy Rings, which has a multitude of stories, and depending where you hear it from, can include elf's, fairies, witches, and even the devil. But I wont get into that right now, what I am most concerned about is.... what am I going to do about it? After some more research, it looks pretty hopeless. If I wanted to try and remove it entirely from our lawn, that would include digging up and removing all the "infected" soil - which could be more than a few feet deep - replacing the soil, and grass, and hoping it doesn't come back, but its not garunteed.

You could try fungicides, and nasty chemicals, but with no guarantee, is it worth it? I know for a fact that I have at least 3 Fairy Rings in my lawn (because I checked the soil and it has the white threads of fungus in it) and I am not about to dig it up, or pour chemicals on my lawn. But I did find something to help mask the problem, it's called the "poke and soak" method:

"Poke and Soak"

Using a soil probe or similiar tool, poke holes into the fairy ring, approx 2 inches apart until you have opened up a great many areas within the fairy ring. Once this is achieved, soak the ring with soapy water (dish soap is fine) . The soapy water acts as a wetting agent and makes the water "wetter" helping the moisture get deeper into the mycelium layer to get to the turf grass roots. If you can get enough moisture to the root structure of the grass it will continue to live and not die out creating a dead area. This method must be done on a rigid schedule in order to succeed, once a day for 4 to 6 weeks so as you can see it is somewhat labour intensive. Interestingly enough most of the so called "cures" you find at farmers markets and such will sell you a product that uses this method to incorporate their product into the affected area. You can do the same thing without shelling out your hard earned money.

Beacuse I dont have any grass at all around the circle, we did the poke and soak, minus the dish soap, and then sprinkled grass seed on top. Once that seed starts to sprout, we may continue with the soap. I'll have to make sure that its OK on new grass tho. Now, we just have to wait and see if it helps at all, wish me luck!

Here are two photos I took this morning of the 2 noticeable Fairy Rings (the other one is only a small arch):

Insane in the Membrane

Someone once said: "Insanity is repeating the same action over and over expecting different results." ... ... That sounds a lot like gardening! Ha ha, I don't take this saying with any seriousness, but if it were true, I'd be a loon in no time! (Or maybe I already am..) Today I did a lot of work in the garden, and I know for a fact that next year I will be doing the exact same thing, with different results I'm sure.

Yesterday I wrote out a huge to do list for the house and garden before our housewarming at the beginning of June! When I woke up this morning, I finished replacing the doorknobs that I started yesterday, then for the next few hours I worked outside. I started by removing anything that was dead in the garden. I removed debris like pine cones, broken branches, leaves, I cut out dead flowers, plants, tree limbs, and I also pulled some weeds.

I filled my wheelbarrow about 5 times with cuttings, and I'm sure there is more that I missed or just couldn't get to. It feels like there is still so much to do! (I'v only knocked about 2.5 things off of the list) I've noticed some newer stuff emerging in the garden, and some of the smaller trees are starting to bloom! The leaves on the larger trees in the yard are starting to unfold too. Oh, and my Rhubarb is growing like crazy! I even found a second Rhubarb plant in amongst some bushes. I picked out the perfect spot for our hammock, its not in the sun, and it is secluded from our neighbor, but also has a view to the open field behind us. This means on a hot and sunny day, I can lay there in the cool shade and relax/nap after a hard days work in the garden.

You know, it's crazy what a difference something simple like raking your lawn can do for your yards appearance! I was in behind the house where I am hoping to put our fire pit, and the entire area is lined by pine trees. But you see, a handful of pine trees = millions of pine cones! This specific piece of yard doesn't have a lot of grass (another reason why I picked it for the fire pit) but it just looked so forgotten and messy. The solution? I raked up all the pine cones and broken branches, and whatever else was hiding down there. It looks a million times better!

I also had to look up the fire and burning bylaws for our area, which advised me that the fire pit needs to be 3m away from anything combustible (house, trees, etc), needs to be made out of a thick metal, and needs to have a grate. That is perfect, because I made a fire pit at the farm while we were living there out of an old barrel that was already cut in half, and we found a metal grate to place on top! We'll just grab it from the farm and Viola! Perfect sized, law abiding fire pit!

Now it's almost dinner time, and I am starving! Maybe I'll pull something out for the BBQ! ... Wait a minute... doesn't everyone try to make dinner every night, and hope for different results? I know I sure do. Maybe we're all Insane!

How to make this summer a little more green!

Now that I have my own yard, garden and home, I have been doing a ton of research on how to lessen my impact on the planet while I garden, BBQ and relax in the sun this summer - even if it is something small and seemingly insignificant, even these small steps can add up to overcome great feats. I am determined to make my garden chemical free, and be confident that I will grow safe fruit and veggies for me, my family, and probably some friends, while giving the environment a break! I know I've posted this on Facebook and previously on the old blog, but here it is again - because its a great reference!

Our garden - picture from sale listing last summer.

Here are a few tips that I have come across and have already, and will be executing during my spring and summer lawn and garden care:

Looking for a chemical free all purpose fertilizer? Make one yourself! Add 1 teaspoon of horticultural molasses, 1 tablespoon of liquid kelp, and 2 tablespoons of fish fertilizer to 2 quarts of water (all available at your garden center) and then sprinkle away! (Apparently helps your tomatoes taste as sweet as ever!)

Weeds won’t kill you, but toxic pesticides will! Here are a few eco-friendly options for you, and your lawn! Over seeding and mowing regularly to a height of 3" keeps weeds at bay. Remove weeds by hand before they go to seed, and make your own herbicide by spraying a mixture of gin and vodka with water on weeds (carefully avoiding other plants). Straight vinegar and flat Cola also works. They'll be dead in a week.

Trying to choke out weeds with more grass? Plant low maintenance fescues or perennial rye grasses. Over 90% of grass seed sold in garden centers contains Kentucky bluegrass - rethink that option because it is super thirsty and needs lots of water and chemical inputs to look happy and healthy. I picked up a 2kg bag of "Canada Green" high density premium grass seed, which is a mixture of perennial turf-type ryegrasses, and creeping red fescue for about $17 at Canadian Tire!

In the market for a new lawn mower? Did you know that running a two-stroke gas powered mower for one hour can puff out as much pollution as driving a new car for 550 km? If you must have a gas model, opt out for a 4 stroke instead – they are 70% more efficient and choke out less smog-inducing fumes that two-stokes. Electric models are even 90% less polluting then their gas cousins. Check out Mow Down Pollution – the largest dirty mower take back program in Canada (through Home Depot)! To date, the program has retired over 35,000 inefficient mowers and trimmers and has prevented more than 1,500 tones of greenhouse gas and smog-forming emissions.

Watering your lawn and garden isn’t always a walk in the park. Try to water early in the morning or late evening to avoid the water from being evaporated in the hot sun. Instead of sprinkler watering, water deeply with drip and soaker hoses (about $25 each from Canadian Tire) which you can bury in the soil or place along plant beds. Make a point to save and use rainwater for garden watering to save yourself on water costs!

But don’t just grab for any rubber hose! Several leach unsafe levels of LEAD into your water, and then into your plants, fruits, and veggies! Look for hoses labeled “safe for drinking”! I picked up some “Apex” Healthy Habitat hoses at Canadian Tire for about $25 each. They are lead and phthalate free, and are even made with reduced material with equal strength as any other hose!

You’re probably thinking about replacing those broken, cracked and stained plastic patio chairs... probably a good idea to exchange them for something more renewable, healthy, and stronger! Naturally weather-resistant bamboo is an exotic option that’s actually sustainable compared to a material like teak. If you’re looking for strength, take a gander at wrought iron – it will last forever! If you still want plastic, opt for patio furniture made from recycled plastic – its sturdy and low maintenance – but it can be pretty expensive! Wooden furniture would be best bought in cedar – cedar has natural oils which allow it to age naturally and stay strong, that means no chemical sealants or treatments are needed.

Time to kick that broken BBQ to the curb eh? Just remember that charcoal and wood BBQ’s send soot and smog inducing carbon monoxide into the air – these should be curbed as well. When looking for a new BBQ – beware of cheapies! Steer clear from chrome coated aluminum, which chips easily, leaving you with bare aluminum cooking surface – not good for the brain cells! You’re safest bet is cast iron or stainless steel grills. The porcelain coated kinds are very common, and also quite good. Did you know BBQ’ing with either natural gas or liquid propane are both more efficient that cooking in your kitchen oven! So go get some fresh air already!

Source: "Ecoholic" by Adria Vasil
If you have any eco friendly tips or tricks or anything, please share!