The Moon and Other Garden Jewels

The Moon and Other Garden Jewels

Recently I was out in the side gardens of Mezzacello Urban Farm doing some routine maintenance. As it grew dark, my solar powered allee lights and the sidewalk access LED lamps came on automatically. I was struck by how beautiful The Moon and Other Garden Jewels were at that moment.

Document Everything

I believe it is important to document and record things so you can come back to them later. Every bit of data has value, if not alone then as part of a data set that correlates with trends. This is how I realized I had a reall groundhog problem here at Mezzacello.

There are three pots of parsley that I started midsummer when I realized that the parterre garden boxwoods had grown too tall to allow some delicate herbs in the tighter corners to grow. You can see here that the parsley has been nibbled down severely.

I assumed it was the squirrels. But on this night I discovered it was a groundhog and they had decimated my turnips as well. Now I have data on where that groundhog is hiding.

Underlying Issues

The moon that night also exposed a series of underlying issues at Mezzacello. Namely:

1. The boxwood parterre needs trimmed and dead material removed.
2. Collecting cardboard for reuse all year is a bad idea as groundhogs and rats love that.
3. The water collection and storage IBCs need reset and raised so that the groundhogs can't make dens under them.
4. The solar array for the allee lights need to be joined into one 9 volt array to save on resources.
5. I need more trash receptacles at Mezzacello if I am going to keep the grounds clean.

All that from a quick snap of the moon on an autumn night. Now I have documentation on things that need to be done over the fall and winter of 2023-2024. I'd better get busy.