Garden Update 060912

Praying for rain!  Just finished watering the garden, by the time I was done it looked as if I hadn't even watered.  Tomorrow I'm putting down the final layer of heavy mulch along with the seaper hoses!

My grapevine has grapes on it for the first time in 8 years, mainly because the neighborhood thief didn't shear it off to the quick this past winter!!!  Yes I actually have someone who has been coming into my yard and cutting back my vines, and then stealing them!!! 

Anyway, we'll be putting netting on the arbor this coming week to keep the cardinals, and other birds, from stealing my grapes.  Mainly it's the cardinals that have been causing problems, they did a pretty good job of stripping the cherry tree that's just behind the grape vine, and the cherries hadn't even turned red yet.

Vineyards in Iowa

John and I went out earlish - for me anyway - this morning to take photos of a vineyard in progress.  Vineyards used to be a mainstay here in Iowa, just like potatoes and mangel beets, but alas sometime in the 60's they went the way of the dodo bird.  Ten years ago, however, the vineyard made a comeback here!  The mark they leave upon the prairiescape is unique, in comparison to corn and soy beans, and thusly my Prairie Harvest series will be including vineyards as part of the imagery!

Aphids

Aphids - they are everywhere and they are devouring everything!!! I guess it's time to pull out the big poisons - Sevin - and kill everything off! I truly hate to do this but we have them so bad that they are actually eating the leaves on our oak trees!!! I've never seen an aphid on an oak tree before but I guess anything IS possible.

My grape vine is all but dead and I'm trying to keep a 150 year old english rose root stock alive!