The Mockingbird Moon

Been too busy to blog lately, due to a combination of teaching, wedding planning, and moving. Haven't been paying much attention to mockingbirds lately, but I did catch some photos of some other birds that have more to do with the subject of last moon's post...

This flock of absolutely gorgeous birds drinking out of my neighbor's overturned-trashcan-lid birdbath are Cedar Waxwings. "Waxwings" because the bright red and yellow tips on their wings and tails supposedly looked like the wax people used to use to seal envelopes, and "cedar" because they love to eat berries, including juniper ("cedar") berries. They migrate through here every winter in big flocks, feeding on Ashe juniper berries. So here are some more fans of the dreaded Cedar.

But what I really wanted to show you are photos of my new garden(s)!

Or at least what might become gardens. My new yard is so heavily wooded, that there are only two spots which may be sunny enough for planting edibles. One patch shown here is in the front yard. Dare I plant a vegetable garden in the FRONT yard?

The other patch is in the backyard. This area has the remnants of a previous occupant's raised bed lined with cinder blocks that has long since become overgrown with grass again.

My nightshades are waiting patiently to go to their new home. I've got potato seedlings from true potato seeds, tomatoes, and peppers here.

Meanwhile, I've been horribly neglecting the current garden. Just been so busy, and it seems like a waste of effort if I'm going to have to mow it down soon anyway. We've been getting a lot of rain lately, and the garden is being taken over by clover, which is probably just as well. You can barely see some of the red and green lettuce and peas sticking out.

I feel a little bad abandoning the old garden, but I guess that's how it goes. I'm going to try to transplant the garlic to the new garden, since it was a bit of an investment buying it from Seed Saver's Exchange, but I don't think I'll bother trying to save the lettuce, peas, etc. *sigh*

I promise once I move in I'll start posting a lot more about getting the new garden ready. I need to get a soil test done, rent a rototiller and till it, get a load of compost or manure delivered, and plant my transplanted garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers. Lots to do!