This morning I made three barrels of leaf compost from the brush. There’s still a lot of it left..

I also spotted a juvenile rabbit in the yard. A few days ago my spouse saw something dart into the yard at night when she came in from work. NowI know what it was. It seemed this morning to be hanging out near the shed, which apparently is a pit stop for rabbits. I will need to secure the sides so that other small critters don’t find it enticing.

Despite the confirmed presence of a pest, I went ahead and started putting the fruit plants into the ground. The blueberry had not developed too many roots in its pot, and seems in good shape. I had smothered the grass in this area with grass clippings and the topsoil had small insects and other life. And lots of worms.

Next in was the raspberry. I put it between the two stumps of the willows for wind protection. I was going to put it next to the blueberry, but I decided against it. The raspberry hasn’t developed any large canes, and I am concerned that because there are so many leaves close the ground, the lack of airflow may invite mold. I put in a willow stick to support the body of the plant away from the ground.

It was interesting to see that the soil quality next to the trees was much better than other areas of the yard. The soil, while still composed of a large amount of clay, was crumbly.

I decided to transplant the serviceberry from under the big tree (which turns out to be a non-fruiting mulberry) and put it near to the side of the house. The serviceberry may grow 10 to 14 feet high, and if it’s going to do that, it will not create shade as it is already in the shade of the house. It will get full sunlight all morning and part of the afternoon.

It will be interesting to see if I can espalier the serviceberry. It’ll be hard to harvest its fruits if it gets to full height.

I decided to plant here one of the rue sprouts I was saving for the roses in the front yard. I am counting on it, plus plenty of soil nutrients, to fight against damaging insects. I read a little bit that rue may have some medicinal properties, but I mainly just want it to keep away beetles, etc.

Seeing as there is now a rabbit trapped in the garden, I have started propping up the brush so it is not encouraged to nest. And if any other rabbits make it into the yard, I don’t want them to get together.

The wavy branches are willow.

I am going to start a third large bed into which to transplant the vegetables which are struggling under the mulberry tree. I laid out cardboard to soak in the rain. I don’t have time tonight to create the box, but the raised box only takes about 30-40 minutes for me to put together.