All summer I tortured this shade-loving perennial by forcing it to live in clay soil on a south slope with full-sun exposure. It’s foliage was bedraggled and weed-like, and I often considered ripping it right out of the ground. And then this happened.

The thing is covered in blooms! It’s particularly gorgeous when the light shines through the small hairs that cover each flower. The entire plant shimmers and it has a mythological, magical feel about it.

As soon as it’s finished blooming, I am digging it up and relocating it to the shady side of the house. If it bloomed this well under duress, who knows what it will do when it gets into a happier spot?

The first weekend of October was devoted to installing the new forest. The purpose of this mass planting is to create screening between my neighbor’s house and mine and to also block the view of the back of my house from people coming down the road. To give you a sense of scale, the installation is about 200 feet long and 30 feet deep.

I had bought 44 trees and shrubs, and it took two long weekend days of nonstop work to install 27 of them. I am grateful for my tree planting partner father, as well as his backhoe and tractor and skid steer that made it possible to pick these trees up. Some were quite large and must have weighed several hundred pounds. And even with the heavy equipment we both did a lot of shoveling. And we’re still not done…

My vision for this part of the landscape is of a multilayered hedge with mixed tall evergreens forming an all-seasons background screen and shorter deciduous trees in front to provide seasonal interest with their flowers and fall color. It looks a little sparse now as I positioned the trees with a mind to their mature sizes but already it’s having the effect of drawing attention away from undesirable views and toward the trees. It is a major change for what used to be perfectly pretty pasture, and I hope it works out! Below is the view from my neighbor’s fence line back toward my compound.

I spent all last Sunday watering the trees and staking them. I am torn about staking: all the recent research suggests that it can do more harm than good to young trees. Stress and movement of the tree in the wind actually encourage the tree to develop a stronger root system and stockier trunk. However, I also know that this field is incredibly windy in the winter, and I fear that without some support these top-heavy evergreens will be lifted right out of the ground. So each tree got one stake, to be removed as soon as the roots show signs of having knit themselves to the earth. I found this publication by the University of Minnesota to be incredibly helpful.

I also loosely wrapped the trunks of the deciduous trees in balled up deer netting and tied it on. The theory is that deer don’t like the feeling of the netting and refrain from scratching their antlers against the trunks—a rather rude act that can kill a young tree.

Now I just need to order a couple of truckloads of mulch from my mulch guy and tuck these babies in for the winter!

This weekend I have plans to plant 44 trees and shrubs.

Last weekend I went looking for trees to create the living screen I wanted between my house and my neighbor’s. I hit pay dirt at a nursery over the mountain. All their material was 50 percent off, and they were willing to deliver. So I bought trees. Lots of trees. And some shrubs too.

The plants arrived early this week, and I spent some time yesterday moving the smaller material into the field. Tomorrow reinforcements—and heavy machinery—are arriving for the Big Dig.

Even clean-up was pretty.

I spent today working on my fall garden—probably half a month late but what the hell. The half inch of rain we got courtesy of Hurricane Irene made the soil perfectly moist for planting. I sowed seeds of brocolli, kale and chard, bok choi, mustard and assorted greens. Then I covered two rows with wedding veil fabric. It’s pretty, but I don’t think it’s a great choice since it’s fragile and already ripping. Plus I ran out with only two rows covered.

One “submit order” click later and the real deal, Agribon 15, is winging my way. I am really excited to start experimenting with row covers. Particularly after tonight I turned over a ripe watermelon in the garden and smashed an entire palmful of squash bug nymphs that were hiding out there making lace patterns in the watermelon skin.

More planting to come—the faster-maturing salad greens that will take the place of the summer crops (beans, peppers, cabbage) as they fade.

If I’ve learned one lesson this summer as I attempt my first organic gardening season, it’s that I need to use row covers. The idea is that you plant your seeds or starts and immediately cover them up with material that’s impenetrable to pests but that allows light and water through. Obviously I missed my chance with my summer crops, so I thought I’d give it a go for my fall plantings.

My original plan was to make my hoops—the row cover supports—from nine gauge wire bent in a semicircle. However, a nice salesman at Lowe’s demonstrated to me that even with heavy-duty cutters, I’d probably break my wrists just cutting the wires. I am sure I could have gotten it done, but I’ve injured my fingers a lot this summer and they are sore and weak. So I looked for an alternative.

Mother Earth News suggested saplings stuck in pipes, so I picked up a few 3/4″ pieces of PVC and headed home. Once there I commenced to saw the pipe to 10″ lengths using the only tool I had, a jab saw. It wasn’t nearly as fast as a nice chop saw would have been, but I got a good workout and Tucker—who had to be right in the middle of the action—got to experience snow in August.

Once I had my pieces cut down, I took a maddox and buried them in the rock-hard dirt along the edges of the garden bed.

Then I headed into the woods behind my house for saplings. I have to admit it was satisfying to walk through my own property to find something I could put to use.  Through trial and error, I found poplar to be flexible and strong.

I also got in to a nest of seed ticks, which swarmed up my arm. Hard to see, huh? That’s because they’re each the size of a pinprick. And I’ve spent the last week going nuts with the 38 bites I suffered in the name of this row cover project.

But I digress. Once the saplings were cut to length, I inserted one end into a tube and then very slowly bent it over into an arc to meet the other tube. This bending was one of the most meditative things I’ve done in the garden as I had to go so slowly and listen to the wood with my hands as I bent my body into its curve, breathing into it like deepening a yoga pose. If I went too fast, the wood snapped and I had to start again.

Once the sapling was bent, I used cut pieces as locks to hold the ends in place.

Two days of labor (!) later, and I had four beds ready to go. All this messing around took way longer than I thought it would, but I am pleased with the result. I like the natural look, and that I was able to achieve my goal with materials partially found on my land.

Now I just need to get the energy to plant my fall seeds: greens, lettuces, broccoli—all the plants that like a bit of cold and that often do better when frost-kissed. That was on the chore list for this weekend, but it didn’t happen. I know that subconsciously I am dreading having to tend seedlings in the heat of August, and thus I’ve been putting it off even as I’ve been preparing the row covers. But I know I am running out of time, so motivate I must.

Maybe tomorrow.

And finally, an overview shot of the mid/late August garden. This gardening season has taught me a lot, but that’s a subject for another post!

It split in the rain—yes, we finally got some—so was an emergency harvest.

I first grew Mr. Stripey in my community garden plot in Arlington, Va. I was taken with its coloration and sweet, mild flavor.

I’m picking Mr. Stripey from my garden right now, and he’s still a stunner.