The Circle Makers

No, they aren’t crop circle hoaxes. Although it might be beautiful, it isn’t meant to be a work of art. My husband is much too practical for that kind of thing. Aliens have not visited. Neither has a strange new fungus infected our backyard. The neighbors stood with their mouths ajar; they were awed, confused and befuddled watching Ron (with a little help from David) created perfectly round, large circles across the entire width of our yard. Two of them were brave enough to ask, “What in the world are you doing?”

The four circles are 26 feet in diameter. Apparently, when our apple trees grow up, that is where the drip line of the trees we will be. The circles were dug in order to plant yellow and white daffodil bulbs. Daffodils are supposed to crowd out the grass and deter our vermin friends from approaching our crops. We have squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits.

Inside the circle will be a veritable garden of bee attracting plants. We want to pollinate all our apple flowers so we can grow plenty of apples. At some point in the future, these circles are guaranteed to produce maintenance free apples. And, we will have plenty of apples. We can eat them, make pies, strudels, cakes, sauces, salads, preserves and relishes. Then, we will still have enough apples to make our own apple pectin. (Yes, I know I can buy Sure Jell at the store for fairly cheap. You are missing the point!) You see we have 6, yes 6, apple trees in our backyard. Ron bought and planted four. Beverly ate an apple and planted 3 apple seeds in an I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-Not-Butter container and they took off. Before it froze, Ron found a home for two of Beverly’s trees. I am quite sure that she will never get over the fact that he put one of her trees in “the compost.” There simply wasn’t room.

Signs?

Back to our circles. We also want to attract birds that will eat any insects that try to feast on our trees.

I don’t think Ron is planning on moving anytime soon. I am not enamored with Minnesota winters, but I suspect I better plan on putting down my roots.

Finally, I wanted to share what was happening in this photo. Last year I got David a real David-size shovel. So, David got his shovel and worked with Ron. He was a muddy mess when he came in, but I will never, ever discourage industriousness. Anyway, David is digging dirt from around a rather large rock. It kept him occupied while Ron finished the rest of the circle.

As they came in the house to wash for dinner I heard David say,

"Thanks for helping move that big rock Dad!" ~ David, 4-years-old

Oh, how proud my mama heart was! I giggled all the way through finishing up dinner. And, cooking dinner is my least favorite time of day.

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering… we do have a third child. She is busy finishing her senior year and working. It is hard to find things to write about her when she is never home anymore. How did that happen?