Emergence Sea

I trimmed the roses today. We have one old fashioned rose that blooms once a year in the spring that I think has been here since the place was homesteaded in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

On the east side of the hill there are the remains (only the foundation and trash pile) of the original homestead. Occasionally I scour the trash heap to find bottles and other odds and ends. The place is rumored to be a Hooverville during the depression and so there is evidence of "camp sites" all along the overgrown road at the bottom of the hill. I even came across the bones of a hootchery (whiskey still). The other rumor is that people would occasionally use the place as a free dump.....(which sounds more plausible to me). Of course both may be true.

The inhabitants of the homestead had a garden and some flowers, I'm sure, but the only remnants of that is two clumps of "flags" that have wandered away from the original sight. Both clumps are located just outside the tree lines; one near the house and the other at the top of the hill.

In the garden swarms of flies, gnats, and spiders have come out to play. You know they are aiming for my garden. But what would a garden be without insects and spiders.

On our place which was located on the north side of hill facing the Arkansas River where there is plenty of gypsum for conditioning clay soils typical of Oklahoma.  I had to adjust for the change in climate from having a garden in the city to one in the country.  One advantage of being on the north side of a hill is that the cold air drains off the hill and onto the area below delaying the first frost in the fall by about a week and a half.  If I put plants under a cloche I could extend the season by another month here in Oklahoma.  The fall will usually last up until the 1st of December.  After that I could keep the plants under a cold frame but the plants wouldn't grow much because of lack of sunlight.