Going for the Gold!

  This was the day that I planned the garden spot for the tomatoes.  I have been informed by my kids that they are out of tomato sauce, salsa and ketchup and their shelves need to be replenished.  This means that Michael and I will be planting a lot more tomatoes this year!  Since ground space is limited due to the fact that we live on a very steep, sloping hill, my garden plots are dotted throughout the yard. This year, the tomatoes will be planted between the hedgerows of Boysenberries.  I have dead-wooded the berries and pulled out all of the weeds that managed to take over the space.  Now the ground is bare and turned.  (My poor aching back wishes I had used the tiller instead of the shovel!)  If the plants are squeezed in with the crates side by side, there is space for thirty-six tomatoes. More will be planted in another space but this will do for a start.

   Several railroad ties surround this garden spot as to act as a terrace retaining wall.  Mark and I lugged the things from down near the marsh to edge this hillside garden.  It took years to fill the area with enough dirt to make it even semi-level.  Now that the dirt has settle, the large timbers can be moved.  They will be placed in a different spot with the same terracing idea.  As I tugged on one of the huge boards, a bright bit of gold caught my eye.  Ok!  That was enough to make me stop to investigate.  Times like these are what make yard work interesting!  Wow!  What a pretty bee..err..wasp...err..bug, oh whatever!  I sat watching the critter as it tried to crawl.  I had obviously uncovered it from its overwintering spot and it was not one bit pleased. While I was admiring the brilliant yellow coloring of the wasp, Michael happened to walk behind me.  "Nice yellow jacket." he stated.  Yikes!  I was actually poking at a yellow jacket!  No wonder the thing looked so familiar and huge! This was the new queen yellow jacket!   Enough of that!  

  Each spring the queen yellow jacket will crawl out of hibernation and build a small hive.  Usually this hive is underground or in rotted wood. Already mated before her winter hibernation, she will single-handed raise the first generation of workers.  By the end of summer this hive will be home to nigh on to a thousand workers.   Under my railroad tie seemed to be her majesty's desired palace-building spot.  If I had not found her, this colony could have been quite worrisome.  Being so close to the house and garden, the yellow jackets could have been a severe danger to all of us.  Now at least this queen will not be calling our yard her realm!  I wonder how many more are lurking just beneath the ground...hmmm?