A Way To Garden

A Way To Garden

'horticultural how-to and woo-woo'
the source of organic gardening inspiration
margaret roach, head gardener

Menu
  • podcast
  • Plants
    • annuals & perennials »
      • groundcovers
    • bulbs
    • trees & shrubs »
      • conifers
      • deciduous
    • vines
    • vegetables
    • tomatoes
    • herbs
    • fruit
    • houseplants
    • taxonomy 101
    • decoding botanical latin
  • recipes
    • soups
    • entrees
    • side dishes
    • salads
    • desserts
    • pickles & condiments
    • freezing & canning
    • baking
    • guest chefs
  • how-to
    • weeds
    • pests & diseases
    • shade gardening
    • container gardening
    • water gardening
    • garden prep
    • composting
    • organics
    • pruning
    • garden design
    • from seed »
      • seed starting
    • lawn care (organic)
    • garden faq’s
    • for beginners
  • nature
    • bird sh-t
    • frogboys
    • insects & worms
    • jack the demon cat
    • mushrooms & other fungi
  • about
    • margaret and her website
    • my public-radio podcast
    • my books
    • 2019 events
    • my email newsletter
    • my garden
    • horticultural ‘woo-woo’
    • sponsorship
    • resource links
  • Home
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • Pintrest
    • Feed
    • Podcast
  • my books
  • 2019 garden events
  • when to start seed
  • webinars
  • monthly chores
  • garden faq’s
  • top-50
  • andre jordan doodles
  • slideshows
  • Garden Tools Co

doodle by andre: whodunit? please, please do tell.

Tweet
Pin
Share
0 Shares

I HAVE TO CONFESS, EVEN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS of gardening, I still wonder what in the world causes those spontaneous mounds of soil here and there in the garden that appear out of nowhere. Ants? Moles? Voles? UFO’s? Who are you laying your bet on? (Wild monkeys? Orangutans? Loch Ness monsters?). :) Thanks as ever, beloved Andre Jordan.

Related

Frog with headphones
Don’t Miss Out!

Get my award-winning podcast...

Listen on Apple Podcasts

...and my ribbiting free newsletter.

no comments
October 7, 2010

comments

  1. meemsnyc says

    October 7, 2010 at 2:44 am

    Probably moles. We have moles in our garden. They are gross little critters.

    Reply
  2. Johanna says

    October 7, 2010 at 7:06 am

    At my house it’s prairie crawfish, and they make mud volcanoes all over the place! Who even knew there were crawfish in the prairie??!!

    Reply
  3. Michelle B says

    October 7, 2010 at 7:24 am

    I get these adorable little piles of freshly thrown up mounds made by earthworms and their castings, in the spring only it seems.

    Reply
  4. Halley's Mommy says

    October 7, 2010 at 9:07 am

    This is the exact issue I’m dealing with/obsessing over lately! Mysterious holes all over some of my planting beds. I am about to resort to night vision goggles, a lawn chair, and a really large thermos of coffee.

    Reply
  5. andre says

    October 7, 2010 at 9:10 am

    Little man (our almost blind dog) and i found a baby mole crawling through the garden the other week. Little man looked at me. i looked at him and said ‘don’t tell your mother’.

    he never said a word

    Reply
  6. ann says

    October 7, 2010 at 10:51 am

    OMG, Crawdads on the prairie!
    The volcano part is making me wonder as there are very small mountains of black soil scattered throught my yard, hesitate to call it a lawn. Some areas are entirely different with no erruptions but you can actually feel paths under your feet so think that is those red wrigglers.. I, too still wonder and it is wonderful.

    Reply
  7. Linda says

    October 7, 2010 at 11:13 am

    Moles here, in straight lines down the garden. Little piles of fine earth, pushed up from underneath. We sweep them into a pan and put them onto the compost. The piles of earth, not the moles.

    Reply
  8. Brian G. says

    October 7, 2010 at 5:47 pm

    Isabella planted the head of her slain lover Lorenzo in a pot and from it grew a great basil plant….So, how big are these mounds and have you done a ‘head’ count of the neighbors lately?

    Reply
  9. Judy P. (Mom-in-Law) says

    October 7, 2010 at 6:52 pm

    Farmer Jim hunts moles almost 24/7 these days, reminds me of the movie Caddyshack, he hates those mounds of dirt in his garden. Worst of all, when they go straight down the row of corn and then they fall over (the corn not the moles)………..grrrrrrrrrr. You tell Little Man that Grandma and Grandpa are proud of him (and you) for not telling his mother.

    Reply
  10. christina says

    October 8, 2010 at 11:44 am

    This summer I just barely missed hacking a nest of baby moles with my Japanese weeder. They were nestled between rows of Chiogga beets and were tiny, pink and hairless. I was so surprised that I ended up covering it back up (after showing it to my kids, of course. I had quite the time disuading my daughter from popping one into her pocket). That night we hatched a plan to relocate the nest, but when we checked back the next morning, they were gone. I suppose the mole momma came up with her own relocation plan. The other day my daughter and I were out picking carrots only to discover a huge tunnel beneath the bed. I ended up picking every single carrot for fear there’d be nothing left for us. Any carrot that was too small, my daughter threw back onto the soil and yelled, “For the moles!”

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      October 9, 2010 at 7:47 am

      Welcome, Christina. That happened to me with a squirrel next in the compost heap this spring. Hilarious about your daughter giving them the small carrots; a generous girl! Tell her what they like to eat are worms and grubs, actually — they don’t eat many veggies, they just uproot them while looking for that “meat”. :) See you soon!

      Reply
  11. Tammy says

    October 8, 2010 at 4:57 pm

    Oh, the woes of gardening, and Andre tells it so well.

    Reply
  12. Susan says

    October 14, 2010 at 8:18 am

    I am certain that the earth “burps” during the night around my old 1760 house. Thus the mounds. And thus the rocks which mysteriously appear every spring as I go to work in the gardens. I suspect it will continue long after I’m gone too!

    Reply
  13. Wendy says

    October 14, 2010 at 8:35 am

    We have moles that cause humps in the lawn.

    They are lovely little creatures. We don’t often see them but last year one was out in daylight and I caught a neighbors cat trying to ‘play’ with him. I was so surprised at the screeching noise coming from the mole. it was so loud. I got a bucket which the mole quickly ran to. I gently placed him in the ground cover.

    Whether we like moles or not I truly think we should learn to live with them. Its their world too.

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      October 14, 2010 at 9:37 am

      Welcome, Wendy. It is their world, too, and they provide a big service by “tilling” the soil, and aerating it, so to speak.

      Hello also to Susan. That is hilarious — the earth burps! Love that explanation.

      Thanks to you both for saying hello, and come by again soon.

      Reply
  14. Lynn Dunning-Vaughn says

    October 14, 2010 at 10:36 am

    In our yard it’s voles that are doing the “aerating.” (What a positive spin on ankle-turning footing!) Voles are new to me as of 3 years ago. They are feisty critters double in size to a mouse with lots of very sharp teeth. I watched one as it faced down my cat: mouth open, teeth bared, utterly unintimidated! Sounds as if your readers consider underground creatures rather benign while I’ve considered my father’s oft-told 80 year old method for ridding the yard of moles. It involves a hose connected to the tailpipe of a car, engine idling….

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      October 14, 2010 at 2:52 pm

      Welcome, Lynn. I am overrun with voles at the moment. It would be funny (except it’s not) — like some animated cartoon, you know, animals (voles, plus chipmunks galore and some moles) rooting around everywhere so the ground is lumpy-bumpy and full of holes and whatever else. Am not laughing, but trying not to cry. :) Cute as they all are, I am not exactly in love, you know?

      Reply
  15. Nancy C says

    October 16, 2010 at 5:27 pm

    The voles have completely wiped out our drifts of Iris cristata. Our extension agent theorizes that last winter’s deep, persistent snow cover (unusual for us here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland) spawned the vole population explosion. We built the vole trap per Eliot Coleman’s instructions, thus far have caught one field mouse.

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      October 17, 2010 at 7:17 am

      Welcome, Nancy. I am overrun at the moment, too — actually have been all season. Add to that the fact that my dear Jack the Demon Cat has been sidelined with a paw injury (after a nasty fight about a month ago) and therefore not on all-night hunting patrol as is his typical schedule, and it’s U-G-L-Y here too. Trying to pretend it will all iron itself out somehow… :)

      Reply

leave a reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK

facebook-1

Podcast: Soups, Soups & More Soups

I’VE FOLLOWED a vegetarian diet for decades, but it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I mastered a really good vegetable soup. Now I’m learning variations on vegetable-based soups, plus ones with beans and even ideas for mushroom soups, too–all thanks to Alexandra Stafford and these recipes. (Stream it below, read the transcript or subscribe free.)

https://robinhoodradioondemand.com/podcast-player/6211/vegetable-soup-ideas-with-ali-stafford-november-5-a-way-to-garden-with-margaret-roach.mp3

Margaret Recommends

My picks of garden gear, books, and mulch, mulch more, all things I use myself. (Disclosure: includes affiliate links.)

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

RECENT FAVORITES

  • david lebovitz's french onion soup (from 'my paris kitchen')
  • top garden tools, for gifts (or for you), with ken druse
  • 'the way through the woods: of mushrooms and mourning,' with long litt woon
  • in a time of bird decline, counting and feeding them, with emma greig of feederwatch
  • spice it up! flavorful new cookbooks, with alexandra stafford
  • talking pests, with clemson entomologist j.c. chong
  • growing and blooming clivia, with longwood's alan petravich
  • winter squash-coconut milk soup with garam masala
  • pumpkin custard: holiday pie, minus the crust
  • must read: 'late migrations,' with margaret renkl

awaytogarden

mad gardener, nature addict, award-winning writer & podcaster, rural resident, corporate dropout, creator of awaytogarden dot com and matching book.

Instagram post 2190297402408409324_444552553 Snow day. To be followed by a snow night. #awaytogarden #wavehillchairs
Instagram post 2177779417009402040_444552553 No matter that it was 11F and 17F on mornings this week; my lifelong companions and I are all tucked in, each in our respective offseason spots. Three giant pots of #cliviaminiata that are actually pieces of my long-gone grandmother’s original plant from many, many decades ago, love the offseason bright cold of the mudroom, and get no water till around the new year or so. They need a chill (under 50 but above 35) for about 40 days to trigger timely bloom in late winter/early spring (without it they will bloom whenever, later, like June or even summer). The #alocasia reacts to the cold of the mudroom by shutting down and going dormant and leafless, and then I’ll let it sleep till late winter, when I give it a drink to see if it awakens. That one sleeps and wakes on its own timetable because I do not have a proper spot for it (ideally warm, like 60 or 65 at least, and humid and bright...no can do the humid part here). We have been together probably 10 years anyhow, despite my shortcomings as a #plantparent . #alocasiaamazonica #clivias #houseplantsofinstagram #houseplants #awaytogarden
Instagram post 2172580656557749859_444552553 Gardener: “I raked all the leaves!” Nature: “Oh, really?” (Cue sound of demonic laughter from on high.)
Instagram post 2170506606641504178_444552553 I wanna tell you how it’s gonna be You’re gonna give your love to me I wanna love you night and day You know my love will not fade away Not fade away Nope. Not this #cotinus leaf’s fiery hot love at least. Like the 1957 #buddyholly song I first heard by #therollingstones in 1964, it keeps going. #awaytogarden #fallfoliage2019 #cotinusgrace #notfadeaway
Instagram post 2168987273989949378_444552553 “Jack Frost nipping at your, er, geraniums...” And here it comes.
Instagram post 2166837817953503284_444552553 Constant companions: If you want to keep good company all winter, grow some good keepers. My house is stuffed with piles of #cucurbita awaiting their time in the oven or soup kettle. Each one is a character, distinctive. On one chair in the mudroom two close cousins in #cucurbitamoschata — the horse collar-shaped one called ‘Tromboncino’ or ‘Tromboncino Rampicante’ snuggles with some ‘Butternut.’ The ‘Tromboncino’ are better eaten green and small as #zucchini but I can’t resist their eventual mad size and shape, big enough to wear around your neck. I use their meat for enriching vegetable stock; the ‘Butternut’ are far more rich and delicious. Seed respectively from sandhillpreservation.com #sandhillpreservationcenter and @turtle_tree_seed (whose ‘Butternut,’ selected for “lastingness” for decades, will keep and keep into next spring or more). #wintersquash #awaytogarden #goodkeeper #cucurbitaceae
Instagram post 2162565040882902064_444552553 Furry fall friend: I look forward to crossing paths with this woolly caterpillar of the #giantleopardmoth this time of year, when its fiery intersegmental bands and plush coat seem to be just the right autumn-into-winter look. Miraculously this tiny animal will overwinter in a woodpile or in the leaf litter, even here in the North, building up a concentration of antifreeze (glycerol I think?) in its cells before the worst weather begins to avoid disaster. (Reminds me of the super-hardy #woodfrog who does similarly. Such heroes.) Swipe to see a beat-up pic of the adult moth, tattered with scales missing at its wing margins, but still dramatic. Unlike various spine-covered caterpillars that can sting you, this one’s hairs (or setae) won’t, but he will roll up tight if touched, in self-defense. I am in awe of such complex strategies of survival, I am. #mothsofinstagram #caterpillars #awaytogarden #hypercompescribonia #hypercompe
Instagram post 2161992098629435854_444552553 Beans are life. I mean, not only do I live on them daily (as I have as a vegetarian for 40+ years) but each one is a seed, a living embryo, a distinct and gorgeous little DNA miracle. I have been inspired by the hashtag #31daysofbeans by @lukasvolger lately, loving watching someone unknown to me (um, who shares my oatmeal thing too apparently...also see his #28daysofoatmeal) dish up the #phaseolus. We both admire bean ambassador Steve Sando @rancho_gordo and this photo might be my fave bean of all that I “met” via Steve years back, big and flat and chestnutty ‘Christmas Lima.’ My advice: don’t wait till Dec. 25 to dig in.
Load More...

SEARCH ANY TOPIC

Welcome! I’m Margaret Roach, a leading garden writer for 25 years—at ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ ‘Newsday,’ and in three books. I host a public-radio podcast; I also lecture, plus hold tours at my 2.3-acre Hudson Valley (NY) Zone 5B garden, and always say no to chemicals and yes to great plants.

  • © 2008-2019, Margaret Roach Inc.

  • contact
  • sponsorship
  • privacy policy
  • terms of use
built by WebDevStudios; design by Kenneth B Smith