March 30, 2019

As I awoke this morning, I saw a pair of robins pecking at the front garden just outside my bedroom window.  The rain this winter must have brought out the worms.  The blue salvia in the narrowest and shallowest part of the slope garden is the first to bloom this spring.

MJ has told me and I have accepted that the back yard is subject to intense sun through the summer.  The new box garden along the side of the house is partially sheltered because the sun travels over the house during the day.  Inspired by my reading in The Invention of Nature, I am going to measure the exact amount of exposure that bed receives on a sunny day such as today.

Penumbra 12.44, Full Sun 4.18, Sunset 7.23

The penumbra time is when the front edge of the box garden first comes out of the shadow of the house and is exposed to the sun.  To my surprise it took three and a half hours for the shadow line to reach the back edge of the box garden, essentially the side of the house.  The result appears to be three hours of direct exposure to the sun for the back of the planter box.  If we have sunny days anytime soon, I will continue my measurements.

Mike was up with his sawhorses, circular saw and complete tool kit to cut the one by six board and build the new calendula box.  He also found another use for his new jigger that allows him to drill at a forty-five degree angle.  He drilled the connecting screws for the four sides inside the box to be covered by soil, leaving a clean outside board edge on all four sides.  With a little shaving of the back board Mike accommodated the siding on the house so that the box sits flush with the wall.

I am back to mowing the lawn in the back yard on a weekly basis.  The weed whacker started on the first try after a few idle weeks and old gasoline.  The weed whacker is useful around trees and to the right side of the driveway where the tractor cannot maneuver.