Benjamin Bunny & friends

This nest must have been built by a very inexperienced mother bunny--maybe her first litter. She built it right next to the dog kennel, and barely scooped out a depression. I've surrounded it with bricks and put grass over the top to give them some shelter, and kept the dogs in the house, unless they're out with me, or leashed. At the rate they're growing, they'll be ready to leave the nest and start eating my garden in no time.

On the same day we discovered the bunnies, Zach discovered a pair of very young skunks--but still old enough to give him a squirt right in the face--probably their first encounter of the dog kind. They did themselves proud, and Zach was much less exuberant when he came home. Bill whipped up some hydrogen pyroxide, baking soda, and dish detergent and we gave him a good scrubbing. It eliminated most of the odor. I doubt if Zach will be quite so interested in baby skunks from here on out. Too bad the bunnies don't have a similar defense.

Summer garden report, such as it is (not much). The sweet potatoes (a few Puerto Rico bush purchased from a local nursery, the rest are slips from a sweet potato I got at the market) are looking good, the foliage anyway. The female squash blossoms haven't appeared yet--I have the feeling it's too hot. Three kinds this year: zucchini, acorn, spaghetti. I'm putting my raised beds back for fall; gave them up a couple of years ago, when I was touring in October. Then China's pub date was moved to April, so October is available for gardening again. And in the current circumstances (with oil hitting $140 a barrel this week, peak oil here or on the way, and climate change already upon us), it is definitely time to get back in practice again. Oh, and I'm making both compost and manure tea, with a little help from the ladies up the road (Texas and Blossom, our cows). You should see me with my shovel and buckets, out there picking up cow patties! And at least the heat is good for something: perfect climate for cooking compost! The center of the pile is up to 140 degrees.

While I'm on the subject of gardens, I ran across something (with help from a blog reader, Pam Price--thanks, Pam!) that I think is very, very important. Some people are urging a revival of the Victory Garden--like the gardens my mother and grandmother, skilled gardeners both, grew during WW2, and which I remember so clearly and with such affection. Check it out, think about it. Some of us are feeling that we can't do much to halt the direction we (this nation, the world) seem to be headed. This is what we can do, can teach, can encourage. You'll be hearing more from me about the subject.

Book report. The Tale of Applebeck Farm is emerging out of the labyrinth of multiple story lines. I'm at 59,000 words and moving pretty well. It's due at the end of August, but I'm hoping to be finished by the end of July, so I can get out to NM for August. I'm also keeping up with the journal book, my other big writing project for the year. And working with our Story Circle Book Review website. A reminder: we're always looking for reviewers, so if your reading interests coincide with ours, please join us.

A note to faithful blog readers: thanks for sticking with me through the busy times, and for your notes and comments. I learn something from each one of you, and you're all special to me.

Reading note. When we’re finished grazing in the garden, I want there to be some garden left. This is more than an aesthetic desire--though surely it is the beautiful complexity of nature that woos me. It is a moral desire. To use nature beyond its capacity to restore itself is to destroy the force and power that have given us our lives.--Alison Hawthorn Deming 

Comments

[Robin at Getting Grounded]

Susan,
I love the bunny pic - how on earth did you manage to get so close to them without waking them? It's incredibly sweet. And how nice of you to give them your sweet garden for dinner...
Robin

[Jinni Turkelson]

Julie you might find that other critters also like cat food. My sister, who lives in the country,used to feed her outside cats on the deck until she looked out one day and saw two skunks eating it!

[Julie]

The bunnies are adorable; thanks for sharing the photo. There are no baby bunnies here but we have been regularly visited by a mamma raccoon and her 4 young ones. If the outside cats don't finish off the crunchies we put out for them, the raccoons will. We've been trying to remember to bring the pan in at night but sometimes we forget. I know it's wrong to encourage wild animals to eat human provided food but they're just so darn cute!

[Marti Johnson]

Ah, yes, the Victory Garden. They happened just before I was born (1947), but I'd read about them and thought they were a great idea. I've planted gardens for years, and this year's was a "victory" garden of sorts; namely, digging up a part of my sad rose garden out front, and planting it since the back yard needs a major overhaul. As a result of this 12' x 10' arc in my front lawn, I've produced more than 10 gallons (ziplock bags) of snap beans, many tomatoes and edible peapods, and the cucumbers & bell peppers are getting close to picking. The squashes are still a week or more from setting, but I fully expect them to do their part as well. The sad part is all the people who seem stunned that you can (1) put a vegetable garden in your front yard, and (2) that vegetables do actually come from the ground. The look of shock on their faces as they taste a really fresh-picked vegetable is priceless!
P.S. thank you so much for your very kind words over losing my dear kitty, Irish. Its been a long week without him and your thoughts & words are much appreciated.

[Linda Mandeville]

Hi Susan,
The bunnies are so cute! I don't have any where I live (and I know I should be glad even if they are really cute!), so I bought the cutest bunny for my patio. He is very deep in thought and hiding under the salvia that hangs over the patio..and I named him Benjamin!
Wish I had some of your zucchini. I would make zucchini bread--yum!!

[Ranchwoman]

Don't be too sure Zach has learned his lesson. My dogs seem to think skunks are living atomizers. Once they even found a place where a skunk must have squirted some other animal, and they all rolled in it!

[Becky Lane]

Dallas bunnies must be pretty darn smart. A momma bunny at our house there managed to hoist herself up into one of my whiskey barrel planters and build her nest right in the middle of my lettuces - which I had planted there to keep them away from bunnies!

[Nancy Bauer]

Hi Susan! Those bunnies are just too cute! I saw I tinie-tiny one on our farm road coming in last nite. Couldn't have been more than a few days old. Where yours nested reminded me of last year one made a nest in my sweet peas! Just a little area dug out under the vines and padded with fur (hers or the dogs/horses I don't remember). Thank goodness our dogs didn't get them. Enjoyed the pic of the squash blossom - I had to go plant more, my two zuchinni's up and died in the terrible heat wave we had here in VA early June, and I had momma blossoms:( New seeds have sprouted along with the pumpkins, gourds and winter squash. My tomoatoe plants are VERY healthy, they liked the hot weather I guess. Yes, I agree with you about providing more of own food, I love the summer to just grow vegies and herbs and stay home and eat them! Also have chickens for tasty eggs - do you have any chickens? They are a funny bunch to watch pecking around! Stay cool...Nancy Bauer

[Jinni Turkelson]

I loved the Victory Garden site as it brought back many memories. My father died early on during WWII and mother had to go to work to support her 4 children under the age of eight. Consequently, she didn't grow her own produce but we were given bushels of fruits and veggies by our farmer friends in the rural area in which we lived in Southern NJ. Mom would can peaches,applesauce, green beans,tomatoes, pickle relish and strawberry jam. She even won ribbons at the county fair. I didn't eat "store bought" produce for years and when I first bought a peach at a super market I was horrified at the small, rock hard, tasteless peaches which couldn't begin to compare with tree ripened fruit.It's a shame that today's kids don't know what it is to eat like that. I have started growing herbs--although the bunnies wiped out several of them--and want to try container gardening next year.Thanks for sharing your expertise in gardening. I find it very motivating.