Tuesday, May 5, 2009

In the Garden

I managed to sneak in a little gardening this weekend too. I use raised beds, no tilling required. A combination of alpaca manure, leaves, grass clippings and sometimes shredded paper put right in the bed and allowed to compost makes a wonderful, crumbly soil rich in organic matter. Now, in the spring, I just mix in the previous years mulch with what my Dad always called a scratcher (a cultivator? a long handled tool with three offset curved tines). Mine is old. When I saw it at an auction, I made sure it went home with me. It is exactly like the one my Dad had, and reminds me of him.

As I was scratching away at the bed, I saw the soil move. What the?

Isn't he cute? It makes me very glad I don't use a tiller. He would have been chopped to bits. Instead, his nap was just disturbed. I put him back in the bed, covered him with a little soil, and he soon buried himself proper and went back to sleep. Or whatever it is toads do when they bury themselves.

My goal is to be a good steward of the land, so it makes me feel like I am doing something right with the soil if toads like to overwinter in it.

I also found this.


Aren't birds amazing? Master weavers and builders. It was very windy, so it must have blown out of the tree. Assuming that it a new, unused one, judging from the lack of feathers or bird poop, I am saddened to see all that work go down the drain for the birds. On the other hand, I'm glad it fell down now, empty, rather than going when it had a little bird family in it.

7 comments:

sophanne said...

I very mcuh love that toad.

Anonymous said...

Mr. (or Miss) Toad certainly does look a bit snoozy. They will probably think "now that was a very strange dream" when they wake up proper. :-)

~Amanda (gr8aunt)

Lilac Haven said...

Cool pictures.

rilera said...

So cool that a toad winters in your garden. And that bird's nest is perfect!

Lynn said...

Off topic, we are on DishNet and we have a family package which is pretty limited. But, this month, among the "free" extras, they are showing the Memory Loss Tapes on channel 300. On Sunday evening 9-10! I am so pleased! After reading your blog I wanted badly to see it! Thought I'd mention this in case there are others with DishNet.

bulletholes said...

Behold a Birds Nest!
If a bird can do all that, no thumbs, no tools, why do i have such a hard time getting through a day?
Hi Annie!

josephine terese said...

god, what a perfect nest. i doubt many humans could do that.