February 26th, 2013 by Marc Opperman

It’s been a while since I’ve done anything with this space. Mainly I’ve stopped gardening now that I’ve moved to a rental duplex. While that normally wouldn’t stop me, the yard I have is completely shaded by elm trees, and mostly devoid of anything other than what most people would consider weeds. The trees are nice, but not much good for sun-loving vegetables.

I’ve poured a lot of energy into a few other outlets. Mainly, Capital Area Master Naturalist volunteer work, and raising Lukas – he’s almost three! – with a sense of wonder about the outdoors and nature.

I’ve been teaching him various specific Central Texas plants and birds. He can identify evergreen sumac, ashe juniper, twist-leaf yucca, prickly-pear cactus and oaks by sight. And he remembers the names without prompting! Pretty good for three years old!

I’ve taught him a few birds. He recognizes red-shouldered hawks, American crows and bewick’s wrens by sound, and turkey vultures by sight. The wrens have been easy – we have a few in the elms around the house, and they are singing a lot right now. Also, they fearlessly poke around the porch and eaves of the house looking for bugs and nesting spots. So today, we made a wren house out of a gourd I’ve had for a few years. It was thoroughly dried from hanging in a garage. I’m sure I got it from my parents, but I don’t know anything about what kind it is.

But I’ll let photos tell the story of how we made our birdhouse.

It wasn’t even finished – the urethane was still drying – when a wren sat on top of it and poked its head inside. Such curious birds.

bewick's wren, bird house, gourd, make, wren

September 22nd, 2010 by Marc Opperman

I’m really happy the weather has seemingly made a turn. With it, my willingness to claim I even have a yard/garden has returned, and the urge to hibernate has receded.

This weekend I had a very productive time of it in the yard. The usual mowing, weeding, trimming, etc. But some of my effort was motivated by the city’s bulky brush collection day in our neighborhood. I wanted to get the dead chinese tallow out of the yard for good.

Another small project involved a few pieces of 50s-era pine I got from my friend Grog. He’s been remodeling his own kitchen (yes, he did most of his own work), and he tore out some old cabinets. Those had some very serviceable 1×12 pine boards that immediately looked to me like good material for a raised planter box:

Here’s what the box looked like after it was put in place. The box is in the middle of the photo, and on the lower portion, I attached a 12″-piece I built out of some old shipping palettes. I piled a bunch of shredded grass/oak leaves I had saved in them so they could compost down.

It was nice to have a couple cuties visit, too! And, in the background, you can see the box with my bush beans. I’ve not gotten tons of green beans yet, but as of tonight I’ve had two solid handfuls in the past half-week… enough for two people to have them as a side at dinner. And many more are on the way!

I don’t see a lot of mantises in the yard (though I have at least seen them consistently), so was a little thrilled to see this mama staking out my compost pitchfork:

Lots of other good visitors, blooming things and volunteers – the rain has been a huge blessing. But more on that later.

May 7th, 2010 by Marc Opperman

Happy Friday, y’all. Hope the weekend includes some garden time!

toad

May 1st, 2010 by Marc Opperman

It’s a good time of year to spot birds. So many migratory birds are passing through Austin and Texas, resting and feeding here as part of their long journeys northward. Some – migratory or not – are raising young here, as the Bewick’s wren did recently near my front porch.

Many of the birds I see are pretty common, and many are introduced. But despite his name, this one is NOT common in my yard. I was lucky and glad to nab a photo of him picking bugs off the bushes.

This guy reminds me of one of the many reasons I garden, that my efforts aren’t all about me and my needs. There are many critters out there that depend on my small patch for sustenance and shelter.

bird, common yellowthroat, warbler