New "Set"

 
I purposely put my new compost pile near a tree so I could see what's eating the kitchen waste. Here's the first picture I got.

Tree Identification

 
Our yard has so many tree seedlings that I've considered going into business selling them-mostly oaks, a few maples, a couple hollies, and magnolias. If I don't know what something is, I let it grow until I figure out what it is and whether it's a good thing or bad thing. (In the case of our invasive vines--bad thing). Now that we experienced a tree nearly smashing our house, I'm more prone to wanting to cut down the seedlings before they get too well established. I noticed a bunch of new seedlings popping up, and decided to figure out what it was. I found a good website which leads me to believe this is a tulip poplar. The VTreeID website says these can grow to be over 100 feet tall. I don't think I like the idea of 100 foot trees growing within 20 feet of our house.

Invasive Species or Dinner Side Dish?

 
We have plenty of poke in our yard. Last year I let it grow out of control, noticed it had red berries and thought maybe something would like to eat it. Then after the winter all these dead branches were left which weren't too visually appealing and not very fun to get rid of. Camera Trap Codger identified it as poke. This spring I decided I would stomp on them so I wouldn't have to remove the branches later on. Well, that got old as the days wore on because they just kept growing back and after finding a deer tick on my toddler, I didn't really feel like traipsing through the pachysandra anymore. I had a vague recollection that my dad said they were edible. So I googled it and found this link. Apparently cooking it up like greens can cause "bad guts". I think I'll pass.

Will You Accept This Rose?

 
Okay, so that's a joke for any of you Bachelor or Bachelorette fans out there. ;) This rose has unfortunately been accepted by Japanese beetles, which explains why the leaves are holey.

What's Growing Out of Control

 
 
 
 
Most of our gardening woes are due to our yard being under attack by invasive vines. We recently had a bunch of vines removed, and these (insert expletive) grow back at the rate of like 6 inches a day. The vines are all criss crossing over and under the ground, and if left to grow at their own devices, will take on a jungley appearance up in the trees. Using the heavy duty clippers is enough to give me achey shoulders for a week, and the ticks love to hang out there in the jungle. Maybe in the fall we'll be able to get this under control...until next season when it will surely assault our yard again and gain new territory.

What's Not Growing So Well

 
 
On the north side of the house, not much grows. I planted a hydrangea which is looking pretty pathetic, and creeping jenny, which looks like something is eating it. So I finally got smart and decided to buy shade loving plants. I've actually tried planting shade loving plants there from seed, which never took off. It's kind of depressing though going to a local garden center, seeing all these beautiful flowering plants, and the only thing you can buy are these rather puny boring looking shade loving things. I bought Irish moss, autumn fern, and a hosta. I am debating whether to plant them in the ground or pots.

What's Growing In My Garden

 
 
Finally something I planted from seed seems to be growing. The little buds are wildflowers. Whether they will ever amount to anything by the end of the season remains to be seen. The taller plant is in the general vicinity where I planted the pumpkin seeds, but this looks more like tomatoes to me, which I did not plant, but I do compost tomatoes.

What's Growing

 
 
 
The berries are starting to turn red. Unfortunately I saw some white powdery stuff on one of the branches, which we've had in the past on various plants which isn't a good thing. The lily looks pretty photogenic although I've never really been that fond of them. The Virginia creeper is creeping nicely over the lattice.

Tadpole

 
The tadpoles are coming along nicely, but they are hard to see with all the duckweed.

Poor Fox

 
 
 
This poor guy looks mangey and skinny to me.

Ginormous Frog

 
 
Ginormous is a word, isn't it? This frog is too smart and hops in the water as soon as I walk outside with my camera, so another photo taken from inside through a window is better than nothing. This is the hugest frog I've seen in this pond. That's just its head. Imagine how big the whole body is.

More Fox Pics

 
 
 
These aren't the greatest pictures (taken at a distance through a window), but I keep forgetting to put my camera back out, so this is the best I have for now.

Little Fox

 
 
 
This little guy just likes to hang out in our back yard. He seems a little itchy sometimes. I wonder if he's looking for a handout.

Little Raccoons

 
These look like babies to me. How cute!

My Serendipitous Berry Vines

 

My New Compost Heap

 
I am building an open roofed three walled log cabin around my compost heap. The logs are pretty slimey disgusting things covered in fungus and all kinds of creepy crawlies.

What is this?

 
This was already growing at the site of my old compost heap. It's the most promising thing in my garden.

My Garden

 
The rocks are where I planted the seeds in the wooden rectangle, from left to right: green onions, cantaloupes, sunflowers, and pumpkins. As you can see, it doesn't look like much is happening.