Vegtable Toad

The silent toad was gone for 4 or 5 days but has returned.  This guy reminds me of a pickle.  He is green, bumpy and doesn't do much.  Have you ever seen a pickle do anything?  I sure haven't and that's exactly what this toad is doing... nothing. 

Unless his brother who lives at the Playboy Mansion comes by and gives his pickle look'n sibling a few pointers we can just forget any toadlets blessing the pond this season.

Maybe he's got a trick or two up his green sleeves (they should make a song titled that) to entice a green damsel to let him have his way with her but the enticement will have to be on a par of put'n a man on the moon.

Maybe I can order some toadlets on the internet...  now that's a thought.  Not a very good one, but a thought.

Whoohoo

Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow, Hypertufa-Wow-Wow

"Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" is a 1962 novelty nonsensical doo-wop song by The Rivingtons. If you don't know what doo-wap is then your probably very young and inexperienced in the ways of the world. Right, sure, anything you say 'ol man. OK I admit 1962 was 48 years ago... To me that seems like just last week. I was about 14 and invincible, had my first job at $0.93/hr, ready to move up a grade in school. Life was sweet (I can't help myself but to say, if I only knew then what I know now).

So why bring up doo-wap and that dopey titled song? Because, grasshopper (another reference to times of pre-gray hair) I wanted to tell about my new hypertufa pot, not trough, and was trying to be a little entertaining. Can you say that again? I didn't quite hear you. I said, little is right... very little in the entertainment genre.

OK, I'll quit B.S.'n and just put up the pictures.

Note the face and the little guy seems to be wearing a hat.

From this angle you can see he also has rocks in his head.

I was trying to explain to my granddaughter that you can't always get things right the first time you try to make something.  Sometimes you have go keep trying and then you will get better and better each time you try.  She gave me the look!

My next hypertufa creation will be in color...  Stay tuned boys and girls.

Whoohoo!

Maybe He Is Confused...Mosquito Control Visit

Who may be confused you ask... I'm referring to the toad that moved in. 

He appeared to have the manner of the strong, silent type in that he could be seen, hard to scare and very quiet.  I was thinking that maybe he was a juvenile and too young to mate and too stupid to hide (probably never heard of blue herons).  Of course it's really hard to mate when there is only one of you.  God knows I've had my turn in that situation... but this isn't the forum for that story.  Anyway, this toad was silent. 

Then all of a sudden at dusk he started croaking and color me orange like the great pumpkin if he didn't croak all night.  Yea... that's more like it, I thought.  Call those sweet green darlings to your wet haven.  He croaked for 3 nights in a row, starting at dusk and only stopping when the horizon got light and then back to the silent treatment.

We haven't seen any potential mates or any other toads at all.  I guess on top of being the strong, silent type he is also a loner.  So while I was really thinking we would have a batch of toadlets this year it's not looking so good now.  There is still time!  I know there's a pony in here somewhere.  If you know any homeless toads... send 'em on over.

An interesting aside:  The Grand River Mosquito Control lady came to my door on Monday... actually it was my garage door as I was futzing in the garage.  She asked if I would allow her to check out my pond for mosquito's.  I told her if she could put up with my stories about having a pond she was welcome to come and look, sit, check, have coffee any 'ol time she wanted.  She passed on the coffee and having a seat but was stuck listening to me.  She did scoop some water into her official white cup-on-a-stick and inspected and detected.  I have been officially declared a mosquito free zone.

I'm here to tell you those damn skeeters might not be growing up in my pond but they sure are stopping buy for meals as my arms, legs and neck can attest.

So that's the latest from Red Tail Ridge...  Whoohoo

Beauty... In the Eye of the Beholder

They are beautiful to me.   Of course I'm a bit prejudice since it was my idea to add some color.  OK, a lot prejudice.

I'm referring to the diamond shaped  "windows" with the stained glass panes (before you say it, yes, if turned 45 degrees they would be square windows).

When the sun shines upon them from the front or rear they will be even more beautiful, as if that's possible.  I realize, of course, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I not only made these stunning works of art I am also the beholder of same. 

I'm not sure how I came about the idea of hanging some stained glass in the pergola.  I like the way it looks.

Whoohoo!

Half a Toad Couple

Yesterday we were visited by a Woodhouse's Toad (AKA Rocky Mountain Toad).   I was thinking the toads were not going to show up this year... Whew!  Now we have half a couple.  I haven't heard any evening serenade's but since I've only spotted a single toad maybe there isn't anyone to try and woo or a rival to bluster.  I'll try and be patient.

This toad showed up about a month later than the toads did last year.  The reason might possibly be the very cold winter, the colder than usual spring or both.  Whatever the reason at least now we have a hope we may have toadlets by July or August.

Aren't y'all excited?

Whoohoo...

Hypertufa

Have you ever heard of hypertufa (pronounced hyper-toofa)? If you have then your ahead of most folks however for those of you who answered no or yes I'm going to tell you a little about it.

First, hypertufa is intended as a manufactured substitute for natural tufa, which is a slowly precipitated limestone rock; being very porous, it is favorable for plant growth. Got that jewel of information from wikipedia.

Now the common definition: It's a planter!  A planter that folks make by combining ingredients, mixing them up, putting them in a mold and then, after it's dry and mature, planting stuff in the planter.

It's easy. It's fun. It's like playing in the mud. The planters will last many years.

Last week I conned my granddaughter into making her first hypertufa planter. Well, actually she only made about half but she is only nine so I cut her a little slack and mixed up the stuff for her. Her job was to get her gloves all messy and decorate the edge with rocks.

This planter to the left was one of the first we built.  Actually the first we built is under this planter and we're using them for legs.  They are a bit on the small side once you calculate the walls of the "legs" are about 2 inches thick thus leaving a hole for the plants to be about 4 inches.  Way too small for the likes of these desert dwellers.

We don't call our hypertufa pots, pots.  We call them troughs because they look more like troughs than pots to us.  Seems reasonable don't you think?

The picture on the right is another hypertufa trough that you will be surprised to hear is sitting in a pile of rocks.  Never would have thought that would ya?  We placed the trough in the rocks because we couldn't think of a better place to put it.

Below is our granddaughters creation.  It is in the curing stage and won't be mature for at least a month. 

So how do I build a hypertufa creation of my own the lady with the red hair asked.  I'm so glad you asked.

First gather the pieces and parts you'll need.  Those are:

• 1 part Portland cement, 1 1/2 parts peat moss, 1 1/2 parts vermiculite.
• A container like a 5 gallon bucket to mix up the mud.
• Water... but not too much or too little.  Not soup but more like cake dough if your into cakes or engine sludge if your a backyard mechanic.
• Something to actually mix up the mud... I use a 1/2 inch drill with a stirring attachment, if you don't have that then get a brawny guy and a wheel barrow.
• A mold.  This could be a cardboard box lined with plastic or a wood mold you make yourself with a release agent on the wood so the mixture doesn't stick to the wood.  In the picture we used 2 cardboard boxes, the larger for the mud and the smaller for the planter.

Put it all together by mixing the mud and pouring it into the mold.  We poured the bottom and then placed the inner cardboard box on top of that and then poured in the rest of the mud around that box.

You want the walls and bottom to be thick enough so they don't break when being moved.  Experimenting is good but common sense is the best I can suggest.  If you make something really big and heavy it will need to be thicker than if it's just a dainty little thing.

We then cover the whole thing in plastic so it won't dry too fast.  The one pictured has been in the mold since Wednesday and I expect to leave it in the mold probably until a week from Monday (tomorrow).  When I cover it with plastic I don't make it real tight but let it breath a little so it will eventually dry.  I was told that having it dry slowly will make it much stronger... I don't know if they knew what they were talking about but I certainly don't, so I'm passing it on.

Once it's out of the mold just leave it sit outside in the weather for a while.  The cement has lime in it and if you plant something before the lime is gone or cured or what ever happens to it your plants will protest by playing dead only they won't be playing.

There are a number of places on the internet with variations to the above directions.  There is a plethora of different things you can make as well as examples of very ornate and complicated masterpieces.  There are also different recipes for the mud.  Some folks are really creative so do take a look before you jump into your first project.  There are books on how to do all this too.  Heck, even our local nursery has classes on hypertufa projects.

You'll find that the finished product, be it a rough trough or a dazzling masterpiece, is a great planter.  With the peat moss and vermiculite in the mix it will hold water and also still breath.  One of our first attempts at making a pot had walls that were a bit thin so the hold water thing didn't work very well but it's still around doing duty as a leg.

Give it a try... if you want, call me and I'll come over and help you the first time around.

Whoohoo!