Jacques

The fight is on. In spite of all the protection that I am providing the plants in the garden, there is still picking and digging going on. I know who the digger is: it is a pocket gopher, and as I have no experience catching them (as opposed to pack rats), I have asked my friend Dave, who does have experience, to get rid of this guy and a trap has been set.


I am suspicious of the quail doing the picking of the leaves. The melons and peppers in particular are suffering as the birds can get their head through the chickenwire, or over the upside-down pots. I have gone to bigger pots in some cases, but my newest way to foil them is Jacques. Dan made his frame and donated a shirt; I donated jeans and the hat. He is realistic enough to get Emma to bark at him and I finally had to let her check him out.


The quail or other birds better be fooled, as I am every time I look towards the garden. Don't ask why he has a French name because I have no idea why I am on this French kick. Awhile back we had a rooster called Henri-Pierre ...

As for the sunflowers at the barn, in spite of the chickenwire and protection of upside down pots (with bottoms), I am down to 7 plants, from a dozen. The victims get nipped off an inch above the soil, at night when the pots are in place. I have no idea how the animal, a rodent of some sort, gets to them. Plants need to grow quickly to outrun the appetites.

Sunflowers

I planted the sunflowers today for The Great Sunflower Project. I received the seeds awhile ago, but they weren't shipped in a padded envelope (funding for the project is limited) so they arrived rather smashed . Not a problem, I knew the variety (Lemon Queen) so I ordered another package and started them in the laundry room/cold frame. I was afraid that if I planted directly into the soil, the birds or some other animal would get the seed and I would forever be waiting for a plant to show up.

I am enthused about the project (did you know that bees are responsible for every third bite of food?), but I am also a firm believer that Arizona should look like Arizona, and I have not grown any non-desert ornamental here. Where to put sunflowers? Sun is not a problem but wind is, and Lemon Queen will grow 4 to 6 feet. I finally settled on the south side of the horse barn. Lots of sun and a tall wall to lean against when our southwestern winds blow. Should look nice too when you come up the driveway.



I amended the soil with manure and fertilizer and 12 plants are in the ground. I know it does not look like much (they are in those chickenwire enclosures next to the cacti), but hopefully I will be able to track their growth with a picture once in awhile. I had about 6 plants left over that I put into the garden. Same exposure, just not as high a wall to lean against.


Meanwhile, the Santa Rita cactus is blooming in the driveway circle. Gorgeous, or what? And as luck would have it, here is a bee who just rolled around in the pollen.

Dragoon Spring and Jordan Valley

When "out back" in the Coronado National Forest with our horses we always keep an eye out for new riding spots. It would be so cool to be able to get from one side of the Dragoons to the other, but it is complicated. For one thing, the mountains are steep and a lot of the washes are huge: sometimes the walls are 20 feet high. I don't feel comfortable taking our beloved horses on 30 degree slopes, or ask them to climb out of straight-up situations, hence our explorations on foot.

The original plan today was to see if we could approach Council Rocks from the north side as it would be much shorter than our trip a couple of weeks ago. We did not make it very far as, shortly out of Dragoon, we came across a sign for Dragoon Spring, and decided to explore.


On the way to Dragoon Spring is a turnoff for Dragoon Spring Station which was the westernmost stone fortified stage stop in the Butterfield Overland Mail Route. The station, in the heart of Apache country, was used from 1858 until 1862. The stone ruins are still there.


After the stage coach stop we drove on to Jordan Valley "road" and finally abandoned Subie and continued on foot. Dragoon Spring is dry now, or at least it was today, but it is supposed to be the site of the signing of the peace treaty by Cochise and General Howard.


I thought I recognized a rock outcropping that we had seen from our (east) side of the Dragoons so we hiked on to see if we could find a way across, or rather through, the mountains. Emma and I even went straight up the hill to reconnoiter, but the view was not clear and neither is the Google map. I would like to go back and walk through the wash and see if it connects with a known wash. This of course would not be in the monsoon season, but that is still about 10 weeks away. It would be spectacular to see the washes full of water, but it would be way too dangerous: flash flood extraordinaire.