Just for Fun

Last fall, we found a bird's nest that had been knocked out of a tree near Beds 29-30. Some nice purple yarn was part of the nest material. We have placed  the nest on the ledge attached to the watering shed. Perhaps it will be reused this year.

Early Blossoms

Three Avens (geum triflorum)  in the Road Garden:

Marsh Marigolds (caltha palustris) in the wet end of the Parking Lot Garden:

In the Heat of the Night

Even though we have had a cool spring (despite last Monday's +30.8 C temperature), things are heating up in the thatch that Parks Canada gave us last Friday. On Wednesday, the internal temperature of the thatch pile was 140 F (+60 C). Here's the compost thermometer:

Here's the pile as we started to knock it down and create more surface area. Part of the pile went into the compost bin where it is now actively making new compost.

Thatch is Good

Today, the Parks Canada maintenance staff cut and vacuumed the grassy areas of Riel House. You can see the vacuum machine in the background. The thatch has been dumped next to our pile of wood chips. During the summer, we will use the thatch as mulch in the Produce Garden and Kitchen Garden.

Woodland Path

Today, we added a new layer of wood chips onto the Woodland Path. If you look just to the left of the path, you can see some of the native plant debris that we added to Area 1. Since this debris is full of seed heads, we anticipate that some of the shade loving seeds will emerge and start to populate this area that, in years past, has been overrun with burdock, an invasive plant.