Magical Mornings in our Gardens

Early morning in the garden can be magical. Please share your stories of mornings in the garden.

I love that first cup of coffee in pajamas, visiting each bed, making a mental list of what I would like to achieve for the day. Birds and pollinators starting their day. Being in CA, even the winters mornings in the garden with a hot cup of coffee is a great way to start the day.

I try to get dressed (no PJs) before heading out into the garden. To do otherwise may frighten the neighbours. There is not a lot to see yet in the SFG other than a whole bunch of empty squares. It is then that the panic sets in ... what will I plant, where and when. Thankfully two 4x4 beds are complete ... one with strawberry plants and the other with garlic, onions and leeks ... and there is a 2x2 bed of garlic. A couple of times as I walked toward the SFG and got to the corner of the house, I had a close encounter with another creature. It's usually a rabbit also heading to the SFG. We startle each other and for a moment stare each other in the eye before the creature makes a quick exit. This morning there was a chipmunk out back on the grass as well as a woodpecker on one of the bird feeders. Who knows what lurks around out there in the middle of the night.

Living in the city can still offer morning surprises. Those living in rural areas must see critters much larger than rabbits. Like KJ and the bears.

Turan and KJ. Can you copy and paste here what you wrote in Mr. Booker's thread?

Indeed, there is something very magical about mornings in the garden. I usually wander out with my second or third cup of coffee, fill the bird feeders and put down more shelled corn and seed for the turkeys, ducks and other various wildlife that inhabit my little slice of heaven here. Check on my asparagus & rhubarb, see if any of the sunflower seedlings have survived and try to tell the animals that I'm planting that stuff for them! They are not patient beings 

Then, on to the garden enclosure. I fill the water barrels and check each square to make sure the drip system is working. Right now, most of my time is spent evaluating my various pest control methods. It's a good morning when nothing has been dug up and there are no missing plants. That's happened ... once or twice this season. Working on it! Then on to the traditional in-ground perennial beds to see what is peeking through the ground. If I have more than a day or two of no blooms in the flower garden, I'll go searching for something that will bloom during that time. It's an ongoing project to plant a flowering succession in my front yard flower beds.

The snapping turtles should be climbing out of the pond and the creek to lay their eggs any time now. I love sitting quietly on the deck sipping my coffee and watching the effort and care they take to pick the spot, slowly digging the nest, laying the eggs and covering it all up before making the trek back down the hill to cool off in the water. Several years ago I noticed the raccoons would visit those nests in the evening and dig them up and eat all the eggs. My late husband used to ... "water" ... the area to put a human scent on the bed.   Since I am not equipped for marking territory, I cover with more dirt and sprinkle with blood meal so they are not attracted. 

I've noticed the snappers generally return to the same area every year - one prefers my front perennial garden, one likes the sandy extra parking area, and a couple just dig up the yard in the same place every year. The one that frequents my perennial garden has been laying her eggs there for at least a decade now. I've watched her grow up and become more diligent about covering the nest. It's mesmerizing to watch.

In my avatar, you can see my screened porch that I added to the back of my house a few years ago. It's an ideal place for morning coffee, bird/squirrel/bunny watching. It has the added bonus of being mosquito free, and I can lay in the hammock on a rainy afternoon or evening, and read or just listen to the rain. I placed my SFG directly in back of the porch so that I can easily look out and enjoy my tomatoes. Quiet, early mornings are an especially enjoyable time on the porch. It's the best money I ever spent.

Snapping turtles returning to lay their eggs!!

Katie and I shaking mulberries out of our newly-discovered tree this morning. That will be our new morning ritual from now until they're gone.

I haven't seen a white mulberry tree in many, many years. When we were kids, we used to go out and pick mulberries in the early mornings and our mom would wash them and we ate them in our cereal. Yum yum.

countrynaturals wrote:Katie and I shaking mulberries out of our newly-discovered tree this morning. That will be our new morning ritual from now until they're gone.

Try some of those mulberries in a bowl of cereal with some cold milk and sugar....

Here is my magical morning garden experience, today. It doesn't get any better than this.    

This morning I sat next to the rutabagas with my coffee and pondered about 'terroir'.  How different does a French Breakfast radish taste from my garden versus yours?  At my son's wedding last week there was lots of comments about how delicious the lamb was.  How much of that was the work of an uncle acting as chef, and how much was it being lamb from our flock, raised on our fields, seasoned with garlic from this garden?
I love the idea that there is a unique taste associated with place. Or other variations of manifestations of phenotype caused by the unique context of place.

sanderson wrote:Snapping turtles returning to lay their eggs!!

Indeed! Since my post, I've been watching for them; yesterday morning a young mama snapper was on my sidewalk, looking for a spot. She is definitely new - I've not seen one this small before. 



A few hours later, she found a spot in the back yard:



I watched all day in the usual spots for the bigger ones. They must have waited until sunrise this morning; my morning ritual, all I found were the nests. One in the back gardens (dug up a bunch of sunflowers) and two nests in my "extra parking" area.



Sorry about the rotated photo; having an issue getting it to rotate correctly. Landscape orientation for my pics from now on. Anyway, you can see the difference in size from the "baby mama" and the nests for the returning faves. I recently upgraded computers and haven't switched over my photos yet. Some day, if I remember, I'll post a pic or two of the huge 50+ year old snappers laying their eggs.

BJW, do the turtles live on your land all the time or do they come and go? How many are there? Do you feed them or make any other accomodations or do they take care of themselves?

CN - They live in the creek and the ponds in my backyard:



I don't do anything special for them, other than try to protect the nests after they lay eggs and I don't mow the lawn during the hatching time. It's a long trek for those tiny little legs to make it to the water. They've been here longer than me, and will probably outlast me without any help. Although they do seem like to nibble strawberries

These were taken in my old beds a few years ago. I used to sit there with my morning coffee watching the flying bugs and waiting for my wife to come and join me...how I miss those days that are forever gone...

I'm sorry, Jimmy.

BlackjackWidow, I love people who make accommodation for the small creatures that live with us. I draw the line at slugs and aphids.

Yesterday at about 6:00am I was enjoying my breakfast and looking out the side window looking at the results of my efforts to tame the garden, when there was a sudden movement and the cat leapt off my lap to look closer.  I have new neighbours who have a large 130 pound lab/mastiff cross and a small pug, and along with the dog from the other side, they were making good use of my gardening, watering and fertilizing.

How I wish to could afford to fence my yard. 

Also within the last year I have counted seven new cats crossing my garden so I have to make an extra effort to cover newly sown seeds and plants.

All this in addition to the deer, the bears, and the flock of wild turkeys. although I am withing ten minutes walk of our town centre, I am also on the edge of hundreds of miles of forest and mountains.  That is because I live at the end of a long skinny town that is located between the Columbia River and a Kame Terrace which was the result of the glaciers moving along a few million years ago. It does make for wonderful scenery.

I have a red Fox who comes through my garden every now and then. I was just now sitting in the garden when he came trotting through. I said, "Good morning Mr. Fox". He just stopped, looked me over then trotted off.
 I'm going to set my trail cam up and try getting a pic of him.

MrBooker wrote:I have a red Fox who comes through my garden every now and then. I was just now sitting in the garden when he came trotting through. I said, "Good morning Mr. Fox". He just stopped, looked me over then trotted off.
 I'm going to set my trail cam up and try getting a pic of him.

Ooo, looking forward to that. I've only seen one fox in my whole life.

BlackjackWidow wrote:CN - They live in the creek and the ponds in my backyard:



I don't do anything special for them, other than try to protect the nests after they lay eggs and I don't mow the lawn during the hatching time. It's a long trek for those tiny little legs to make it to the water. They've been here longer than me, and will probably outlast me without any help. Although they do seem like to nibble strawberries

AWESOME! Gorgeous back yard. Is the pond natural or manmade?

Jimmy - I can totally relate to the mixed feelings. I miss the precious little moments that I had with my husband; he's the biggest reason I started having an interest in gardening, although we mostly focused on landscaping and flowers. Over the years, I've managed to transition the memories to this quote "Don't be sad it's over, be happy that it happened". It's a process, but it helps me. 

Kelejan - I get a lot of grief from my kids about "feeding the wild animals", but they love seeing all the wildlife as much as I do. I'm trying to plant a few things by the feeder that I consider "for the animals" as a way to distract them from my veggies. They are not as patient as you would think and rarely let the stuff grow. 

I think I would not be a polite neighbor with all those dogs invading my garden. I could never afford to fence my whole yard. I have put those green fence posts around my gardens, and then wrapped them with fencing/hardware fabric. I had one of the grandsons help me dig down and we buried about a foot in an L shape, to keep the groundhogs from burrowing underneath, but to keep the dogs out you wouldn't necessarily need that. Even if you just buy a few posts as you can afford them, and then use whatever mesh or netting you have around, it might help to cut down on the "visits". 

Kelejan wrote:I draw the line at slugs and aphids. 

  Me, too!


MrB - That's one thing I've never seen here - how cool to have a fox around! I love sitting quietly and seeing random wildlife sauntering through the yard.

Countrynaturals wrote:

BlackjackWidow wrote:CN - They live in the creek and the ponds in my backyard:

I don't do anything special for them, other than try to protect the nests after they lay eggs and I don't mow the lawn during the hatching time. It's a long trek for those tiny little legs to make it to the water. They've been here longer than me, and will probably outlast me without any help. Although they do seem like to nibble strawberries

AWESOME! Gorgeous back yard. Is the pond natural or manmade?

Aw, thanks! I believe the ponds were created - I have another much larger one on the west side of the house (backyard is south). Back when they built the house, it was typical to dig a hole to get the fill dirt for the house foundation.  The water table is very close to the surface, and there are artesian wells beneath the surface. The creek you see running through the back originates a mile or so upstream from the well springs. My well water is fed via artesian wells too.

countrynaturals wrote:

MrBooker wrote:I have a red Fox who comes through my garden every now and then. I was just now sitting in the garden when he came trotting through. I said, "Good morning Mr. Fox". He just stopped, looked me over then trotted off.
 I'm going to set my trail cam up and try getting a pic of him.

Ooo, looking forward to that. I've only seen one fox in my whole life.

  Over the decades, animals have lost their fear of man and I think that's sad. That's why we see dead animals on the roads. In my 18 wheeler, I can buzz right by deer standing on the edge of the highway and it doesn't even bother them.
 
  A few blocks across town, where I park my 18 wheeler, I saw a mamma fox with a litter of young ones and they looked just like a litter of young puppies, except for their bushy tales.

  The only animals I have a problem with are those dad blamed squirrely squirrels. We are infested with them and they just ravage my tomato crop. I wouldn't mind if they took a few tomatoes and actually ATE them but I find tomatoes on the ground with only a few bites taken out of them and they go get another one.  If their going to steal'em EAT'EM.

 In early spring, cats were using my freshly planted salad bed for a litter box. My wife told me to put Pinesol on paper towels around the garden and it worked like a charm. Cats hate the smell of Pinesol or Citrus.