Tales from Pentoga

The great turkey hunters
Neighbor Mike and Germaine

May 10, 2017 - Wednesday

47 degrees/partly cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Tuesday was another busy one on Pentoga Road. The day was a bit cooler, almost perfect for rolling up one's sleeves and getting to work.

Work I did.

After arriving home from my daily walk, I busied myself in the garden repairing raised beds.

The giant sunflowers are the primary culprits. Their roots penetrate every nook and cranny and pry the boards loose. Fixing them has gotten to be an annual rite of spring.

Still, I'd rather repair the beds than do without my giants. Along with the pumpkins, they're my babies.

It was from the garden to the front of the garage to fix the corner trim that I'd hit with the four wheeler while plowing this past winter.

In the end, I had to fashion two pieces and paint each. I'd also scraped the siding with a tire and painted that area.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the garden where I finally planted the first giant pumpkin seedling in a Wall of Water.

This is a Miller x Wallace cross, a new variety for me. I decided to try something different in my effort to grow a pumpkin larger than six hundred pounds. (The Miller x Wallace mention is strictly for my benefit, so I can return to this page for future reference.) I'll plant another new variety along with two plants from my own giant strain.

Four more walls of water were made ready. Three will surround giant pumpkins.

It's a wonder anything grows in this soil. This boulder heaved towards the surface this past spring and had to be removed before I could make the area ready to plant.

A bag of cow manure/compost was buried under each Wall of Water and mixed with the existing soil.

Rather than grow one plant at each end, I've decided to try two. It will take intensive feeding to keep them growing in such a small space, but nothing ventured/nothing gained. I always have the option of removing a plant during the growing season if it gets too crowded.

I'm also going to try raising a few tomato plants in cloth pots this year. Each will have its own Wall of Water to surround it for the next month.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent designing a retaining wall for the waterfalls. It will bring the soil up to the level of the falls and hopefully, rocks can be placed alongside to create a more natural setting.

It was well after 6 PM before I came inside, took a quick shower, and left for Iron Mountain so I could ride home with Sargie. Coming back, we had a small black bear cross the road in front us, our first bear sighting of the spring.

Sargie opens the Vision Center this morning. I'll ride with, then turn around and come back home and get busy. I want to work on the retaining walls around the waterfalls and I need to think about cutting the grass. I know once I start, it will be next October before the mower will be put away.