Brutal heat and extreme drought affects the Ozarks

So this is extreme drought, eh! Make it stop.

                                  This is my backyard, where lush green is transitioning into brown.                                             All growth has stopped as the trees struggle to survive.

Extreme drought is what they call the transition from a beautiful green landscape to one that is dying before my eyes. The redbuds that line the backyard in the spring seem to be the first ones to lose their leaves in these hot, dry conditions North-central Arkansas has experienced since mid-spring. I believe where I live, there has been just a half inch of rain since April. Rain has occurred in areas all around us, but we are at a little higher elevation. It must be drier up here. We also must be closer to the sun because the temperatures have also been higher here than elsewhere around us.

It isn't just the redbuds, but other trees are losing leaves as well. Some of them are visible in the distance. What is normally a palette of lush, green colors is being replaced by the dead look of drab brown.

Bushes and plants aren't faring much better. Pots of marigolds, zinnias, petunias, and newly-planted trees continue to wither despite daily watering. The joy I once felt from just sitting on the front porch overlooking all the growing things in the yard has been replaced by the need to stay indoors where it's cool.

The string of triple-digit temperatures combined with weeks and weeks of no rainfall is not just hard on us humans.

It is also hard on the flora and fauna.

Tufted Titmouse

This poor little bird is trying to cool off by keeping its mouth open.

We keep several bird baths full at all times in both the front and back yards, refreshing throughout the day, just for our feathered friends.

This guy is sitting on a pot of marigolds which doesn't look too great either. It has been very difficult to try to keep  flowers alive in this brutal heat, even though they are out of the full sun. Even the pots in the shade of the front porch or along the north side of the house are drying out.

A White-tail deer forages for food

I followed this deer recently. She was foraging in our front yard, getting dangerously close to a young Bradford Pear tree and a pair of lilac bushes. That is not acceptable, even though she thinks she can help herself to anything that grows. We don't always agree.

Moments before, she was right next to the front porch munching on my flowers. By the time I got the camera, she had ambled this other garden area.

It seems that all animal behavior is altered by the excessive heat and arid conditions. Squirrels are more frenzied than normal in their desire to eat as much bird food as they can grab. In the past two days they have destroyed two bird feeders. One feeder which they had been unable to pilfer for the past eight years, has finally been squirrelized. They dragged it up to the roof of the house where they promptly ignored the squirrel baffle and feasted on its contents. Then, they proceeded to throw it to the ground. Needless to say, we went bird feeder shopping. Same story, another day.

Ruby-throated hummingbird

The hummingbirds have continued their zeal for the sugar water we make for them when needed.

There don't seem to be as many hummingbirds as in past years, but the ones that are here remain hungry. This little guy perches atop what is left of a red geranium. I thought about trimming it,  but this little hummer has taken to sitting on that tiny stem, so I decided to leave things as they are for now.

At the moment this picture was taken, his mouth was closed. Often times, they too open their mouths to cool off. It is like panting, and helps to expel the warm air from their bodies. Birds will also fluff their feathers, allowing heat to dissipate. Poor little things have no means of sweating to keep them cool.

I see by the radar, that rain is in the area, even though it is a hit-or-miss proposition. I'm always hopeful!

Hot, hot, hot

A poor hummingbird tries to stay cool as he perches on a
fern, also a victim of the effects of the hot weather

What is worse than surviving a heat wave? How about the air conditioner failing during the hottest day of the year?

That just happened here, but thankfully, it didn't last too long. 

It has been hot!

While watching TV Sunday night, I noticed it felt a little warm in the house. I thought that odd, because I'm usually cold when the air is on. My husband, John and I fight all the time about where to set the thermostat. I'm comfortable at 78º. He likes 77º. It may be only one degree, but I can always tell the difference. When he comes in after being outside, he tries for 76º, usually to no avail, unless I'm cooking. When the kitchen gets too hot, even I give in to the temptation to turn it down.

We were watching Ice Road Truckers. The sight of all that snow and ice apparently made us forget how warm it felt in the house. But when it was time to go to bed, John retired first. I was still using the computer, which is right next to the window. The air conditioning unit is just outside. I heard the thing try to kick on, but it didn't. I listened again and all I could hear was the fan. I woke John who confirmed my suspicions. We had no air. This had happened before. It appeared to be the same problem, so we knew it would be costly, albeit probably an easy fix. At least that was our hope.

Though we didn't panic, our minds were certainly working overtime, trying to anticipate all possible scenarios and all the what if's.

It was almost as if we were expecting a problem, since our of neighbors had just experienced a problem with their unit. Although theirs was much more involved and costly. Their problem resulted in their having to buy a whole new unit. That news would definitely have induced a panic.

Needless to say we weren't looking forward to facing a night without air conditioning. That is one time when we agree on the temperature. Neither of us can sleep when it is hot, so we turn the thermostat down at night, to 72º.

In the morning we opened all the windows, turned on every fan in the house. Fortunately, the humidity was decent and the temps were hovering around 70º. I can't figure how it could be so beautiful in the morning and so ghastly hot in the afternoon. We called the repairman early and had air conditioning by that afternoon. We were lucky.

The last few days has wreaked havoc on every living thing outside. That includes my beloved plants, birds, and other wildlife. The heat, which has gotten as high as 106º has been brutal. On top of that, we have not had any measurable rainfall in many weeks. 

All of Arkansas is under a severe drought and fire warning. Cabin fever is beginning to set in, not unlike what is normally associated with winter.

I've watered all the plants, filled the bird baths, and hopefully, the cool mornings have allowed both to recover enough to face another day. It is so hard to watch the birds with their little beaks open, as if they are panting. That, and holding their wings away from their bodies to allow for air to circulate, is about the only way they can keep themselves cool. I'm sure their frequent baths help too.

Finally, gardening success

Everyone who knows me, is probably familiar with my struggles to maintain a productive vegetable garden. I want to report that this is my year!

Since John and I moved to the Ozarks eight years ago from the land-of-glacial-till, topsoil-rich Illinois, I have been relatively unsuccessful at raising my beloved tomatoes, probably one of the easiest crops to grow in all the universe. Yet, every year, one thing or another has destroyed my chances to harvest big, red, juicy tomatoes. I have been successful with cherry tomatoes and some tiny, under-sized Roma tomatoes, but their larger cousins have eluded me. 

This is the year we finally got it right! 

Today, I picked my first tomato pictured here during its last few moments of life on the vine. 

This is a relatively new garden, installed by John. It is a raised bed and is filled with store-bought dirt. I started some  heirloom tomatoes in the house this winter. I also bought some plants. I believe this is one of those, although my grown-from-seed plants are doing well also.

This little heirloom tomato, of an unknown variety, is the first of what I hope will be many, is the product of years of observation. To me it represents a successful learning experience.

When we moved to Arkansas, one of the first things we did was pick a spot for a garden. I ignored all the people who told me not to bother trying to plant a garden. 

"It's just too darned hot," they said. But, I wouldn't listen. I am a firm believer in gardening and eating fresh, organic food that you grow yourself. Besides, there is nothing like the flavor of a fresh-picked tomato right off the vine. 

Our property is largely forested, but when we first began our gardening quest, we assumed that if we picked a sunny location, all would be well. We even overlooked all the rocks in the soil as John ran our little rototiller through it, stopping frequently to leverage a huge rock out of the tines. To me, nothing holds more promise than a newly-tilled garden. 

Our early efforts looked promising. We had planted corn, beans, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, peas, strawberries, and asparagus. In the early spring, the plants looked lucious. Then it started getting hot. I underestimated the hot, arid Arkansas summers. I watered now and then, but was afraid to water too frequently since we use well water. The plants stopped growing and soon withered.  

Another year, we noticed that our sunny spot was now in the shade most of the day.  The plants never really did very well. I know that some trees have a cycle whereby one year they produce seeds and another year they are more leafy. I assume Oak and Hickory trees have such a cycle. They had also grown bigger and blocked more sun. The garden was on the east side of the house, so the garden had to rely on its sun during the earlier part of the day. The plants soon looked malnourished--probably because they were. I recalled hearing how the least fertile soil type is that of forest land, simply because trees take all the nutrients out of the soil. What I needed was a fertilizer rich in nitrogen. I tried that, but with mediocre results.

We decided we needed a new plan, so John built a raised bed garden in the back of the house adjacent to the patio. We had an herb garden there that was doing pretty well.  

That was the year we learned the hard way about rabbits, deer, squirrels, and other woodland creatures that were drawn to my garden delicacies. 

This year our answer was to take some of the chicken wire fencing around the initial garden and install it around the raised bed. That seemed to do the trick. I water every day. There isn't much in the garden except for tomatoes and peppers, but, that is OK with me for now. At this point, all I wanted was to eat a fresh tomato.  I consider this to be a very successful venture. In the future, and maybe even this fall, I can plant a variety of vegetables.

For the record, I almost couldn't lose this year. I also planted tomatoes in pots on the deck and in pots on the front porch. Pictured here are a pot of nice-sized Roma tomatoes. A couple of them are turning red, so it won't be long for these either. 

I've always been successful at growing one of my favorite things--Serrano peppers. They were introduced to me by a dear friend and former neighbor whose family is from Mexico. He brought me a couple of plants one year and I always grow them now. I always think of Cel when I plant them and when I eat them.

They are my favorite hot peppers. They have a much better flavor that japalenos and a different kind of heat. I eat them both fresh, cut up in tacos and in fresh salsa. I really like to cook with them though. They have the most delightful flavor. One of my favorite things to use serranos for is canned salsa. 

I've been wildly successful with these. Hot peppers must love Arkansas. They seem to love the conditions here.

I started this plant, shown at right, in a pot last year, brought it into the house for the winter, where it continued to produce peppers. It was a shadow of its former self this spring when I transplanted it outside, but it is perking up nicely. I have already picked a few peppers from it. Though they are hidden by leaves, there are a few peppers on on it, along with future peppers in the flower stage. I don't often wait for the peppers to turn red. They are just as good at any stage.

Critters can be challenging

I absolutely love living in the woods. There are certainly challenges, however, such as trying to also maintain the place, not to mention, trying to have flower and vegetable gardens. There are many reasons I find gardening here in the Ozarks to be a challenge, not the least of which is because of all the critters that run around like they own the place.

OK, I know, they do own the place. We are all just squatters in the forest. And I'm very grateful to be sharing the woods with them, but there are times when we humans just have to act like the top of the food chain. I insist that we learn to get along. I will just not tolerate the deer eating my tomatoes, or rat snakes climbing into the bluebird nest, both sad topics I've written about in the past. As long as we can have an understanding, I am thrilled to be able to be up close and personal with all the wildlife that seems to abound in our little Ozarks forest.

Bandit, the raccoon

This is bandit. He and his pals appear nightly, although this time I caught him during a lazy afternoon. It is really hard to resist that face. This has to be a young fella, evident by the fact that he didn't pull the feeder, the pole that holds it, and all the seed onto the ground for easier pickings.

We have resorted to bringing the feeders in at night, simply because these guys, while cute, are pretty destructive. 

Even the noisy crows like to get into the act

Rarely do I see the many crows in the area come into the yard. I have no idea what that means, except perhaps that it has been pretty dry this spring. They are probably looking for an easy handout.

This morning I saw them foraging on the ground, but at other times, they have been hanging out at the bird feeder with the rest of my feathered friends. Wanna see a tiny chickadee run for its life?--Just throw a giant, noisy crow into the mix. These guys are huge. 

They aren't shy about talking about what they want either. Crows are beautiful birds, but their voices will never allow them to be American Idols.

A myriad pesky squirrels

Of course this little guy is no stranger to anyone's garden. He and his extended family are just about the biggest pain in the neck in our lives. 

While the antics of squirrels can often be quite charming, it has started to become a little annoying. In fact we are getting pretty aggravated about their trying to steal ALL of the bird food we put out. The little buggers are smart and apparently smarter than we are. We shall persevere however. 

Suffice it to say, if one or more squirrels get eaten by a bigger animal, there would be no crocodile tears shed by me.

Terrible the terrapin

The other morning, I was sitting on the front porch enjoying the beautiful weather of late, when I had to actually scold this little fella. Normally I just ignore him, but when I saw him take a big bite out of my impatiens, I decided it was time for him to go. I picked him up and carried him to another part of the yard. 

Darned if he didn't come back, so I repeated the process. I know it was him because he has a little cut in his shell, right near his right hind leg. The other day I found another--a different tarrapin--trying to follow in his footsteps. Sheesh!

I ran into a rabbit this morning, but it was too dark yet to get his picture. So far, I haven't caught them doing anything I didn't approve of. I really don't mind if they want to stick with the clover. If they start heading for my vegetable garden though, that will not be tolerated. I've seen chipmunks, skunks, and some other critters, but not when I was armed with my camera. Who knows, that may be something to strive for along  with growing pretty flowers and lots of healthy veges.

Water trumps food for birds

Despite the last few days being unseasonably warm, I've spent this spring  enjoying the front porch during the early morning hours.

Even before my eyes are fully ready to view the world, I amble to the kitchen, grab what I hope is a clean, empty, cup, and aim the coffee carafe toward it. My aim is pretty good, so I usually don't pour too much coffee onto the counter. Before heading out, I add a little cream and sugar because that's how I like it. Still in my pajamas, I position myself onto my favorite chair--a wicker rocking chair. Only then do I take that first sip. 

From then on, it is just pure enjoyment as I watch all my feathered friends going about their busy routines. It is so nice to move vicariously through them as I sit perfectly content and relaxed watching their frenzied behavior.


This little tufted titmouse had a great time enjoying the bird bath. 

There have been many more birds this spring. There are more than normal woodpeckers, blue jays, which never came into the yard, let alone to the feeders. Then there are the regulars; chickadees, cardinals, doves, nuthatches, indigo buntings, etc. This year, even the crows are eating at the feeders. What a site; they are just huge.

With the warm weather, the birds have been particularly fond of the three bird baths we have strategically placed in the front yard. In fact, I think the water was almost more of a draw for them than the bird feeders we painstakingly fill nearly every day.

For me, this is not just a study of avian behavior, but also one of human contentment.

Chiggers; nature's cruel side

Anyone who knows me, and probably some who don't, knows that I absolutely love living in Arkansas. But I'm realistic too. I know that life can't be beautiful all the time.

This week is one of those weeks. While working in the yard, unbeknownst to me, I became dinner for a thriving, starving chigger (Trombiculidae) population. If you have never been victimized by these heinous varmints, it is nothing like anything you have ever experienced! Tick bites are itchy, but at least you can see ticks. When you notice a tick stuck, head first into your skin, you kinda know there is gonna be an itch there. The same is true for mosquitoes, although sometimes they can be invisible too. But mosquito bites are nothing compared to chiggers. Chigger bites are a surprise. You don't see them coming. And the result is pure misery.

I've read plenty about these creepy insects. Contrary to popular belief, they do not burrow into your skin. Rather they insert a feeding tube into which they inject an enzyme which destroys the host tissue. This is what causes the intense itching.

The internet is filled with information, home remedies; some of which are pretty bazaar, and prevention tips.

There must be a world population explosion of chiggers in our front yard too, because I have become their prey. I made a joke on Facebook recently. I made the claim that human beings are not at the top of the food chain. That slot is taken by chiggers, ticks, and mosquitoes. We are beneath them. They are our predators. They feed on us, and what a feast they must have had, on me, judging by all the little red bumps on my skin, nearly neck to ankle.

I was pretty proud of myself that day too, doing yard all day, happy to be out on such a beautiful day, That was three days ago. I haven't been outside since. The out-of-doors, which I normally love, now frightens me.

I got so much accomplished that day. Because I was out all day, by the time I came in to take a shower, it was already too late. All those tiny red bumps started to appear. No area was sacred. Chiggers are not modest and have no respect for anyone who might be.

Thankfully, I have some great and understanding Facebook friends who offered advice. One woman told me to wash the bites with cold water and then to apply rubbing alcohol. She also said to use Aveeno lotion to apply afterward. I've tried this application and it does have some benefit, albeit temporary.

I was also advised a few years ago from a woman I met in a local shop, to use Fels-Naptha soap, which has long been used for treating stains in laundry. I tried that too. It does provide temporary relief for the infernal itching.

Then there is my other favorite, ChiggerX, an over-the-counter cream that for some reason provides soothing, temporary relief. Stores around here keep plenty of it in stock, thank goodness.

With all three of these remedies, at least I've been able to sleep. I keep a supply of ChiggerX on the table next to the bed, so in the middle of the night, it is easy to reach for the jar and apply to the itchy spot, without even opening my eyes. As long as my eyes don't open, getting back to sleep is easy.

Monday night, my husband applied the chigger killer poison spray throughout the front yard, so when I work up the courage, I can go back outside to keep up with the gardening chores. I absolutely hate using poison on the ground, but I hate chiggers more.

I think the worst of it is over. I'll be anxious to once again love putzing in the garden and enjoying life again.

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Springtime and Spider plants

Ah, Springtime! This has been a spectacular season so far. There has been a variety of weather--though more rain is always desired. What a joy to watch the green living things come to life, take shape, thrive, and fulfill their natural life cycles.

As is tradition, when the weather gets warm, I bring my indoor plants outside to their summer home on or near the shady front porch. I had one plant that was very eager to move outside.

It was my favorite spider plant. I don't even know how old it is, but it seems I have had it forever. It was one of the few plants we were able to bring with us to Arkansas eight years ago when we moved here from Beecher, Illinois. At that time, we only had one cat. Now we have five.

For some reason I just haven't been able to teach the kitties to respect my plants. Here Kenni is doing what she does best, relaxing. She is totally content lying on her bed of soft, cushy leaves. I suspect the dirt is warm from the sunshine. Cats love to be warm.

Kenni wasn't the only one that liked to lay on the plants. Now that I think about it, I believe I've caught all of them there at one time. When Kenni was really little she thought the dirt in the pot was a litter box. I'm not sure how I broke her of that nasty habit, but thank goodness she doesn't do that anymore.

Needless to say, she destroyed the middle section of the plant, so I had to trim the leaves back. The once beautiful full plant, was reduced to a mere ring of bent and broken leaves. I tried everything, including sticking cinnamon sticks in the dirt. Cats are supposed to be repelled by the scent. Didn't work. They just moved them out of the way or laid down on top of them.

When spring arrived and I could put my plants outside, it was a new day for my spider plant. Today, she thrives once again.

This is what she looks like perched on her traditional pedestal, a rusty milk can.

She is rejuvenated, making lots of spider babies, and loving life.

Kenni doesn't seem to miss the plant either. She just sits on the table where the plant used to be, looking out the window and enjoying the sunshine.

I guess all in all, life is good!