by  Emily Cates

I’m sure you’ve noticed it for a while: brown patches on the lawn, wilted leaves on garden plants, dusty soil, and wild animals of all sorts sighted in unusual locations in an earnest quest to find water. Usually by now there’s an abundant harvest in the garden waiting for our attention. This year, though, the harvest seems sparse and late. There’s no denying it – we need some rain!

While I’ll try not to be all doom-and-gloom in this article, there are a few tactics we can employ to make the best of our gardens during a drought. We’ll look at methods of water conservation and water-saving modes of irrigation. And we’ll examine a few plants that aren’t, surprisingly, as fazed and will still produce deliciously without a lot of rain. For more information, check out this helpful article from Cornell: http://emergencypreparedness.cce.cornell.edu/disasters/Documents/Hort%20225%20Gardening%20Under%20Drought%20Conditions%20Jan%2004.pdf

The first thing we want to keep in mind is what our priorities are. Most plants (especially newly-planted trees, shrubs, and annuals) need about an inch of water a week. Is there a rare or expensive specimen that is a clear candidate for supplemental watering? Are there trees that were planted within the last few years? Well then, by all means, these should be watered. Plants with adequate moisture around their roots will not become stressed from a lack of water, and then, in turn, will be more resistant to pests and pestilence in future years.

There are a few tricks, though, to maximizing the efficiency of watering: First, get rid of weeds, which steal water from desirable plants…. but don’t spray herbicides or fertilizers during a drought – since they will burn plants. After weeding, apply a thick organic mulch of straw, aged sawdust or wood chips, or similar materials. (The best part about mulch is that it can conserve around 90 percent of the moisture in the soil!) Then water deeply until the soil around the roots is saturated. It’s better to water deeply once or twice a week, rather than to sprinkle lightly daily. Water in a cool part of the day when the wind is still to prevent evaporation. Remember, too, that raised beds and mounds tend to dry out quicker than standard rows. (My squash plants planted in a manure pile at the far end of the garden need daily watering. Let’s hope they produce a whole bunch of fruits to make it worth it!)

Better yet, use drip irrigation. This low-cost system of watering uses perforated hoses buried in the ground or under mulch, and takes the water to where it is needed – the roots. Since the moisture goes right to the soil, there is minimal risk of evaporation that commonly occurs with overhead watering and sprinklers. Drip irrigation does not need high pressure to operate; in fact, it can be as simple as a hose running from an elevated 5-gallon bucket full of rainwater. Recycled or relatively clean surface water can be used whenever possible. If the perforated hose is installed with the holes facing upwards, there will be less of a chance of it clogging. Drip irrigation is a great choice for both standard and container gardens, and is incredibly efficient. Do consider this as an option in your garden and orchard if possible, as it is well worth the effort and minimal expense.

Another thing to keep in mind during a drought is our lawns. Which, by the way, will be much happier and better-looking if we don’t mow when it’s dry. If the temptation to mow is irresistible, try only mowing after it rains.

Also, try to put off pruning for a less water-stressful time. Dead and diseased branches are fine to prune, but hold off on pruning otherwise –  since pruning stimulates new growth that is especially drought-susceptible. Deadheading flowers, however, is a good idea. Spent flowers suck up needed water and should be removed. Plus, they look prettier this way.

Now, for the good news! Some plants don’t mind a lack of water, or tolerate it better than others. Raspberries, for example, aren’t so bothered and seem – in my garden anyways – to boast sweeter fruits and have less problems with diseases. Same goes for garlic: I made sure to mulch it like crazy and keep it weeded, and it surprised me unexpectedly this year. Despite me insisting on not watering it, my garlic rewarded me with healthy, delicious bulbs of good size. (By the way – if you’re reading this and you haven’t harvested your garlic, do it now!) The cherries, hazelnuts, cabbages, beans, peppers, carrots, kale, peas, herbs, and onions in my garden all seem to be OK  without supplemental watering, too. The plums, tomatoes and cucumbers, on the other hand…

Well, I hope this helps. Eventually, it will rain – hopefully sooner than later and in the right amounts.

by Roland D. Hallee

The drive from work in South China to my summer camp in Vassalboro is short – 4.7 miles, 10 minutes. But, along the way, I have made some observations that kind of make me think.

For instance, I came across a flock of turkeys in a field on the Nelson Road the other day and thought nothing of it. Then, it hit me.

There was a time, not too long ago, when the sight of a wild turkey was eye opening, generally causing me to stop the truck, get out and create a Kodak moment. Nowadays, I see turkeys and it’s just another sighting. Turkeys have become so common place that we don’t react like we used to.

As a matter of fact, in the last three days alone, I have almost collided with two that jumped out of the brush on the side of the road, and decided they had the right of way.

I guess you could apply the old saying, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” What used to be novel, is now irritating.

A mouse at work

On the morning of July 4, during my vacation, I was sitting on my deck with a cup of coffee, with a strong case of the thousand yard stare. I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye, and saw a field mouse sitting on the barbecue pit. From there it  ran into the wood pile that is located nearby, and disappeared into its center. A few minutes later, it emerged, jumped onto the pit and proceeded to the hole of one of the cement blocks. It gazed around as if to make sure nothing was observing its movements, dropped its cargo of leaves and bark, and proceeded down the hole. It then popped its head back out of the hole, grabbed what was obviously nest-building material, and hauled them down the hole.

It then came out of the hole, ran back into the wood pile, and repeated the steps. I sat and watched it for approximately 10 minutes, and it must have made at least a dozen trips in that time frame. The appearance of the black lab on the scene caused the mouse to retreat to the wood pile for cover.

I went over to the barbecue pit and peered into the hole, and sure enough, the mouse was in the process of building a nest.

Fat cat

While sitting in my screen house one evening we heard some scrurrying around the fireplace. At first we summized that it was probably either a raccoon or skunk. Upon closer examination, we saw what is perhaps the fattest house cat I have ever seen. Apparently, during its nocturnal travels, the cat visits many camps and gobbles up whatever grub it can find.

Circle of Life

I was sitting on my couch one day, catching up on the some reading when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw an extremely quick movement outside through the glass, sliding doors. I put the reading material down just in time to see a cat haul a chipmunk out of the fire pit, and proudly pranced off with it in its mouth. Initially I was a little irritated that the cat couldn’t leave that little guy alone. My wife and I always get some pleasure watching the chipmunks go about their business, whether scrounging under the bird feeders for some discarded seeds, or playfully chasing each other around. Then I realized I had just witnessed nature’s circle of life in its purest form. It was the second time I witnessed something like that this summer.

Whether it’s turkeys, mice, or a common house cat, it’s simply amazing to watch Mother Nature’s creatures, large and small, go about their chores, foraging for their next meal, the hunter vs. the hunted, or preparing for winter, even in July.

Mozart: Abduction from the Seraglio – Ferenc Fricsay conducting the RIAS Orchestra and Chorus, various soloists; Audite 23 413, 2 CDs, recorded 1949.

Mozart’s most well known operas are Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, Marriage of Figaro, and Cosi Fan Tutte, while the Abduction has

Wolfgang Mozart

occupied a more minor position. To me, it could easily replace Don Giovanni, which I feel is long-winded and overrated. In fact, every aria and chorus in the whole opera has melodic appeal of a most engaging quality which the others, as great as they are, simply don’t sustain.

The plot centers on a seraglio or Turkish harem and  focusses on the rescue of one of three women who have been sold to a Sultan by pirates. But the tone of the opera is one of comedy and joy.

The performance is excellent on all levels- singing, playing, conducting, characterization, etc. And the 1949 performance, originally intended for broadcast on German radio, has been remastered for cd with the utmost clarity and presence. One could easily mistake it for a more recent recording. It is also still in print and reasonably priced through such Internet sites as the  Amazon vendors and the Berkshire Record Outlet.

One monarch once criticized the opera to Mozart as having too many notes; the composer replied, “It has as many notes as it needs.”

Franck: Redemption – Michel Plasson conducting Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse with chorus and soloists; Musical Heritage Society S 160605, CD, recorded 1994.

Cesar Franck

This is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written. Scored for narrator, soloist, chorus and orchestra, it has the characteristics of a mass or oratorio of a devotional quality, similar to Verdi’s Requiem Mass, Beethoven Missa Solemnis and the Mozart Requiem, The composer Cesar Franck (1822-1890), after completing it in 1871, considered the work a tone poem, which is for orchestra, as is a symphony, but has the other label instead. The recording of the full score is the first one, unlike recordings of the opening Prelude which were the norm previously. It is also top-notch and still very much available.

Franck’s fame was  based on his gifts as an organist and he was the lead one at Saint Clotilde Church in Paris for at least 3 decades. His father recognized his musical gifts when  Franck was a boy but proved to be such an arrogant,  domineering jackass  even throughout his young adulthood that, when he was courting his future wife, her parents saw the situation with Papa and offered to let him stay with them; the reason being that they really liked him but understandably wanted to keep an eye on him and their daughter.

A suspense novel.

John Sandford: – Deadline; G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2014, 388 pages.

John Sandford

I have covered one or two thrillers by John Sandford that were centered around the uncannily brilliant Minneapolis/Saint Paul investigator Lucas Davenport the protagonist of the more than 25 novels of the Prey series. Deadline features Davenport’s colleague Virgil Flowers, who covers the upcountry Minnesota lakeside/sticks region. I have read one or two of the previous Flowers novels but didn’t find them   hanging around in my memory.

This title is different and significantly more exciting – I gulped it in three days! There are basically three different situations Flowers is confronting, a series of mysterious dognappings, a neighborhood meth lab and a very murderous local schoolboard stealing millions over a period of years. The crimes and perpetrators do overlap, mostly unwittingly, with the schoolboard providing the most narrative interest.

But enough of the hints. A must read!