Besides death and taxes, the only other constant in this life is change, and once again, we are in a Season of Change. Summer birds have already left the land of the north, and other birds and plants are showing their cards. They are gearing up for the Season of Change by flocking and flying together (flotillas of geese are taking flight each night), while plants are yellowing, browning and bearing their fruit as fast as they can before the first frost hits.
We cannot deny it: the endless summer cycle is coming to an end, and the fall cycle has begun. It is time to pick and process the fruits of our labor, and it is time to share the abundance and good fortune with others.
The Season of Change is upon us, and we need to stop, celebrate and share with others in our tribe and community.
Speaking of communities, let’s start this discussion by focusing on our feathered friends in our gardens: the backyard birds.
Backyard Birds
As I sit on my deck on a cool late September morning, I am watching the birds gather and flit from tree to tree to tree.
For those of us who are backyard bird feeders and watchers, we know that the birds have started their season of change migration cycle. The red winged blackbirds, orioles, rose breasted gross beaks, hummingbirds and most of the (annoying) grackles are already gone, and it seems like yellow finches and robins are gathering this weekend. Our maples, cedars and walnut trees are bristling with waves of birds this morning, and it is fun to watch and listen to them.
Not all the birds will leave us, of course. The cardinals, some finches, doves, blue jays and others will stay with us through the winter.
Soon the dark eyed juncos will come down from the north and stay with us. We had a good crop of them at The Landing last year, but it was less than we had at the farm (as you can imagine). The interesting thing about dark eyed juncos, doves and cardinals: they prefer to forage food (seeds) on the ground, so you might want to spill a little seed for these wonderful birds when you fill up your feeder (PROTIP).
During the summer, the grackles and starlings were very aggressive and dominated my feeders. I took down the suet feeders or kept them empty to slow the horde of hungry and aggressive grackles and starlings at The Landing.
The drawback was that it also removed a favorite food of the downy, hairy, red-bellied and pileated woodpeckers visiting the yard. All of these woodpeckers were “frequent fliers” in the Landing backyard bird sanctuary, but removing their favorite food made our land less appealing (unfortunately).
Recently, I replaced the suet feeders and filled them up. I have already noticed that the woodpeckers are coming back and eating the suet in my backyard feeders. With most of the grackles gone (except the one hitting the suet feeder right now), these other birds are coming back to The Landing. Grackles tend to get really aggressive and dominate the feeders in the summer, and I will be happy when they have left for the winter. I like seeing my woodpecker friends back at our feeders!
As I have learned over the past few years, the birds will tell you what is coming and what is happening. Right now they are bulking up and heading out. It is interesting that they seem to come and go in waves with incredible activity and lots of birds everywhere….and then it gets quiet with no activity or birds. Interesting!
Like it or not, the Season of Change is coming fast. We see it all around us: in our backyard bird feeders, in the fields and in our own gardens. Speaking of gardens, let’s discuss the Season of Change in my Small Scale Garden!
Season of Change in the Small Scale Garden
Last week was a tough one for the Small Scale Garden. I was in St. Louis last week starting on Sunday, and we had hot and humid weather while I was gone. Temperatures in the 80’s and low 90’s can be hard on your plants, and I did not have a chance to recharge the Wicking Beds and fill up the Hybrid Rain Gutter Grow Systems.
Of course, I could lie to you and say it was all part of my grand plan and big experiment, but that would be a big fat content creator lie.
Nope, I just ran out of time and had to travel.
The results were predictable: the Wicking Beds worked perfectly; the Hybrid Rain Gutter Grow System did not.
Wicking Beds
The tomatoes, bush beans, zucchini, basil, broccoli and cabbage planted in the Wicking Beds look pretty good. I would say great, but my tomatoes are showing blight (which doesn’t make me happy). I’ll write about that later.
The Wicking Beds are working as I planned: a “larger” reservoir or water two feet below the soil is in reserve for times like these. Water wicks upward and the plants self water. I need to recharge the reservoirs to make sure the plants have enough water for the week.
The heat+light+water really pushed growth in the Wicking Beds. The zucchini, basil and broccoli shot up a few inches. I picked 3 zucchini’s and have 2 or 3 more on the vine. I’ll pick them today.
All in all, the Wicking Beds have worked brilliantly, and I am very happy with them. That is no surprise to this Small Scale Gardener!
Hybrid Rain Gutter Grow Systems
My Hybrid Rain Gutter Grow Systems did not fair as well, and that is to be expected. The poke beans and cucumbers need a bunch of water as they set beans and cucumbers, and they just didn’t get it last week when it counted.
There is only a 1/2” reservoir of water for those plants, and water soaks up into the grow bags quickly. At the same time, the water reservoirs are exposed to the sun, and they will dry out quickly.
This is especially true now that I have removed the maple from the back corner of the garden. These planters get full sun for more hours, and they need more water as grow bags dry out.
The cucumbers, green beans and three tomato plants took a hit this week. All were dry and stressed. It was my job to get those plants unstressed and growing again…and that’s what I did!
They needed water immediately, which I gave them as soon as I got home and saw the damage.
The plants perked back up, but they are looking pretty rough. It is the season of change: we are in the frost danger zone now. We typically get our first frost on October 12th, but here in Western Wisconsin where we don’t have the Minneapolis-St. Paul heat island effect, the first frost can be earlier!
One interesting observation: the peppers that were on the struggle bus all year suddenly look like they want to grow and produce peppers. It has been a horrible year for peppers for me, but whatever. You do you peppers. I’ll help you along as best I can.
Small Wicking Bed: Ginger Experiment
One of the highlights this year is my small wicking bed and my ginger experiment. I had started growing ginger in 2020, and that experiment ended early when I tore out my whole garden because we had to move).
This year I started ginger in the base of a rain barrel that I had purchased at Menards. I added a water filling snorkel, weep hole (drain), good compost and ginger roots.
I am happy, no I am thrilled, to report that the ginger is growing GREAT! I am so happy to see it taking off, and I will definitely have more ginger than I started with.
Because ginger is such a slow grower, I am trying to decide how to proceed as these days get shorter and colder. Ginger is a tropical plant, and I could move it inside to the Creation Station Indoor Garden.
I am not sure if I want to do that, but I am considering it. I want to see if I can continue to grow the ginger (and rosemary) and see what happens next. I might just go ahead and move it inside where it will be warmer and be under my grow lights.
Learn, Do, Grow Lessons Learned
This past week and experience tells me I need to have more beds with deeper soil and bigger water reservoirs not exposed to the air. The Wicking Beds and Small Wicking Bed did great and kept their plants alive in the heat where the grow bags dried out and plants didn’t fair well.
This lesson learned ties in with my decision to make the Hybrid Rain Gutter Grow System self watering tables into Barrel Wicking Beds. More soil (cover) over a bigger reservoir should translate into better growing opportunities and healthier plants.
The reality is that I am going to be traveling in the summer. Being gone for 5 or 6 weeks at a critical time in the summer (end of summer and start of harvest season) impacted how my plants grew and how much produce I could harvest.
Dead or stressed plants are not productive plants, and we need to do what we can to keep our babies alive and thriving. I want systems that work even when I am on the road, so I need to make adjustments and changes to help me manage the garden.
Bigger water reservoirs under the soil are the way and path forward, especially as I contemplate expanding the garden footprint in 2025. Yes, dear friend, Julie and I discussed that already, and I have some ideas! 😉
Remember to learn, do, grow, and be a little better everyday!
~Tom