Trees on my Property on December 2 2022

 It's December 1.  2022.  I've been observing the tall and very old Norway Spruce conifer tree at the Northern tip of the property that forms a triangular shape. I believe this was a living Christmas tree planted in the early 1960's.  It could be 60 years old and 60 feet tall.  It's kind of shaggy looking.  And invasive English ivy is climbing back on it and I must cut the ivy down before it kills the tree.  

With fierce winds, the cones have been falling randomly to the ground.  And I've been collecting them.  A friend, Carrie, has shown interest in having some cones.  I've bagged them so I don't run them over with the mulching lawn mower.  

The cones are long and closed when they fall off the branches. They tend to develop rough and scaly bark because of woody projections that hold the needles to the tree. Typically grow into a “perfect” conifer shape.

• Norway Spruce are monoecious. Their female flowers are red and oval-shaped and typically grow on the upper crown of the tree. Male flowers form in clusters of stamens and are also red in color but turn to yellow once pollinated. Female flowers are wind-pollinated, turning green and enlarged. Once this happens, these female flowers then further develop into red-brown cones. The cones of a Norway spruce are relatively long and have diamond-shaped scales. The seeds of a Norway Spruce are released in spring.

                                           Some examples of cone trees. 

I plan on using some of the Norway spruce branches for decorations in my window boxes.  

to be continued. 

Quackgrass weed in the November vegetable garden

 I knew laying down old bales of straw (not hay) might attract mice, but that it was basically weed free to use as a top mulch. When prepping the soil in the back garden on November 27, 2022, for Spring vegetables for 2023, I observed a grassy weed dying back on the ground. QUACKGRASS. Wow it was hard to pull! Hmm deep rhizomes/roots. They can come from bales of straw. I had to dig them out. I made sure the long narrow spike head with seeds was removed - each one has about 25 seeds. This is a noxious weed very hard to get rid of. This year I tried to go around the property and remove as many seed heads as possible.

I'd like to do a weed count in the organic garden.

It was hard work but I spent 2 days moving containers with native shrubs from the east side to west side of back yard vegetable garden, remove the old weed cloth, and begin turning over the soil and top dressing with freshly mulched grass and leaves, then covering with new weed cloth for the winter.

My goal is to remove ALL weeds in the garden especially the quack grass and blackberry brambles.  I have all the rest of bare soil to do before the ground freezes. 

It's February 9 2022 - continue cutting down ONE wild, overgrown Privet Hedgerow plant over 20 ft tall

We see immaculateely pruned privet hedges all over Long Island. This is an invasive plant to the U.S. known as Ligustrum Ovalifolium.  I never planted this shrub.  It came up probably from birds dropping seeds around 1999.  It has turned into a monster.  I need to remove it.  I'm getting too old at almost 72 years old for the constant work on my property removing wild invasives. Now there is an invasion of English Ivy underneath the privet and growing up on it.  The area has become a thicket. And now there's Black Locust with killer thorns surrounding the privet. Multiflora rose and Mulberry have also invaded the wild hedgerow. I've been tackling the removal of long, thick, tree-like trunks from a shrub all Winter.  Removing the cut off pieces is slow.  I've filled so many 100's of giant cans with cut up pieces it's endless - I'm talking years of work to cart away in small batches. The Village Sanitation is helping me with larger pieces now as they see me struggling with the chain saw, and loping shears to put it out on the curb for pick up. 

The long 10 foot pole is just half the length of a stem turned into a trunk and this is very heavy.  The top of it is multi branched and bushy like.  

 

The privet develops shoots off the main trunk that grow quickly.  Or they come out of the ground off of roots to grow new plants.  

My plan is to finish topping off the 20 ft hedgerow shrub and place a thick steel chain around it and have a truck rip it out of the ground, and then cut it up into smaller pieces to lift into a garbage truck on lawn rubbish day.  I'll have a crater of a hole left to fill in. Then begins hand ripping out English Ivy and rakng the area clean to begin planting Native plants.  

Half of the Privet was cut down by Feb. 6th 2022, and you can see how massive this plant still is and how long the trunks are, but how bushy the top growth is. Winter is the time to cut it down while the birds are not nesting in the surrounding forsythias - another nightmare non-native plant that is spreading into thickets along the front property.  The Forsythia has to go, too. 

January 25 2022 this is how much was still on the privet after removing a trunk full of cut down branches/trunks. 

December 30 2021 the cutting down of the privet has been ongoing and endless work for me. 

In the above picture, on the last few days of 2021,  I'm using battery operated chain saw and long handled loping shears. 

 Privet can come back again strongly after being cut to ground level. Make sure you remove all traces that you cut back out of the garden or burn it all, don't compost it so as not to re-infect again.  Privet grows particularly well in riparian forests, which are found throughout the SE U.S. Although tolerant of varying soil and light conditions, including a tolerance for shade, privet survives best in mesic soil with abundant sunlight.

When privet is an invasive species, the cost of controlling and removing privet is economically detrimental, something that is problematic for conservation efforts.  

The Moral of this story is DO NOT PLANT a PRIVET HEDGE.  

 Do privet shrubs have deep roots? 

Root depth really depends upon soil type and moisture conditions. Under reasonable growing conditions you can expect to find privet roots in the top 6"-8" of soil, extending out about one and one-half times the diameter of the plant. The roots are not generally thought of as being invasive.  But I disagree.  

December in the Garden

 Allowing leaves to remain where they fall, I have had to steel rake an area surrounding Mom's old Queen Elizabeth climber that has become over run with nasty White Snake Root, and English Ivy, and many 6 foot tall Canadian Horseweed (Conyza canadensis) with tiny daisies and milliions of seed heads ready to drop everywhere. I've pulled out fibrous roots that were 4 foot long. 

The Silver maple quickly dropped all it's leaves during the last windstorm. 

 Also, Greenbrier vines have grown decades here. These native plants are dioecious, meaning they are either male or female. Female vines bear 1/4- to ½-inch fruits that turn blue, red or black when mature in late Autumn. Each fruit contains one to four seeds. These fruits will often remain on the vines well into winter and provide food for more than 40 songbirds, including hermit thrushes, sparrows, cardinals, American robins, gray catbirds, fish crows, wild turkeys, common grackles, northern flickers and mockingbirds. This past winter I watched a mockingbird eating greenbrier fruits more than 26 feet above the ground. The fruits are also devoured by opossums and black bears. White-tailed deer, eastern cottontails, and swamp rabbits will eat greenbrier leaves and vines. Believe it or not, beavers will even feed on the rhizomes. Greenbrier is also important to a fascinating little butterfly known as the harvester. The small, rarely seen butterfly is our only carnivorous butterfly. The harvester lays its eggs on greenbrier leaves. The butterfly does not do this because its caterpillars feed on the plant's leaves. To the contrary, its caterpillars eat wooly aphids that suck juices from the leaves. The food value of the greenbrier has long been recognized by humans. Some folks mix greenbrier in their salad greens. Others use it to make jelly. Native Americans used greenbrier to treat urinary infections and joint pain. In the past, the perennial vine also was used to treat gout and skin diseases. Greenbrier tea was used to alleviate joint pain. I have saved some berries to experiment with and left some for the wildlife.

November 30 - Tempus Fugit - Where did Autumn Go?

 Tuesday, 11/30/2021 - It's 37 degrees with W winds 3 mph.  I've been non-stop working, but at a snail's pace.  I did go camping in October from the 17 - 21.  It was a pretty miserable experience with rain and high winds.  I had booked 2 half day trips at Hither Hills.  I lost $111 and did not go in early October as the weather and my exhaustion were not in best form.  Feeling buried in back-logged chores, I stayed home and worked the best I could inside and out.  

 I'm not sure I want to save a spot for next year in late August - early September because there is a split pole on the tent from gusting winds and not sure I have the energy to do this by myself, anymore.  Many years Ive spent solo camping because no one wants to camp with me. 

Today is November 30th and I have much work before me cleaning up the property, the organic veg garden, and cleaning the shed out, storing tools, and scraping/priming/painting window trim on south windows.  

the bare wood needs to be covered.  It's too cold now.  I may have blown the window of opportunity to finish this.

I'm on the 5th day of a Panceas cleanse and began another blog to cover the food plans.  

https://foodplanforgoodhealth.blogspot.com/

Hoping to get at least 10% of the exterior and interior work done before New Year's Day. 

                                     garden strays that withstand a chill

                      transplanted lettuce into this container for a winter salad

Carrots taste better after a frost

Dug up some newly re-seeded lettuce plants from the earlier lettuce plants.  Will be growing them indoors in December. 

Handful of carrots picked 11/27/2021