Summertime - Bring It On!

I've been busy, busy, busy these past couple weeks. Last Saturday my dirt/soil arrived (yay!) and it was waiting for us in the driveway when we returned from a picnic. I donned on my garden clothes and started prepping for the physical work to begin and was so thankful and happy when both my boys came outside and started to help. They shoveled and hauled the wheel-barrel into the backyard where it was dumped and I moved it to where it needed to be. It took a couple hours, but it was great to have it all done, with the driveway clean and washed before the sun went down. 

The Boys shoveling Mom's dirt.

"Smile Boys!"

The weather has been increasingly warm. Unfortunately it's been all over the board as the temperature has risen, fluctuating between 82 degrees (F) one day, and 62 degrees the next. Not only does this reek havoc on what to wear when you're heading out the door in the morning, but it causing our plant starts to not. Start that is. Although I do have to say our blueberries appear to be doing fine, thanks to the pruning and love given them last fall. I believe our crop that we're just harvesting is the biggest and tastiest to date. Yum!

Yummy

This is what was left after my #2 and #3 realized they were ready. My #3 did help, holding the colander and picking some herself.

Almost a full large colander is pretty good off of two bushes. About half the berries are still ripening. I'm looking forward to when we have all seven bushes are producing at this level. That will allow us to enjoy blueberries for several more weeks.

I moved the sign to the main side of the house...it just
seemed more appropriate given  my new garden beds.

You can see in the below picture that I planted three new Chandler Blueberry bushes along the garden area in between our home and Yia-Yia's home. It gets a lot of sun and just enough of a breeze. I expect excellent harvests in the summers to come. They're small, but they have plenty of space to grow...although the angle of this picture makes them look like they're all crammed towards the fence.

There's 3 bushes total. Small now, but they
should grown fast in this spot.

Almost all planted now.

Walking into the back, you can see that I now have more veggies planted in the beds. For fall, I've planted carrots (not visible yet), potatoes (low green leafy plants on the back left of the front bed), head lettuce (same bed and finally growing some bulk), fennel (second bed), along with beets, bok choy (not visible in the picture), and bush green beans (just beginning to get some height on them (under the metal frame in back left bed). I am always amazed at how warm the earth feels as I stick my hands in. I opened a pack of carrot seeds, and smiled as I poured them into the palm of my hand. The weight was slight, but the warmth they held was a surprise. These tiny little seeds felt perceivably heavier since they were warmed. Like the warmth and energy of the sun had added to their mass, just a little bit. Needless to say, I'm excited, and a little apprehensive to see how everything grows as it will impact what I do next spring.

              

The front of the house looks pretty with my pots all filled out and blooming. The heliotrope is WONDERFUL and fills the air with the most wonderful vanilla scent. Sometimes it borders on smelling like black licorice. Not being a huge fan of licorice, I just move to the next basket. =0)

Our wedding plaque under the one hanging basket.

I love seeing the seasons come into their own, and experiencing all the bounty it has to offer. Odd as it may seem, it gets me excited for the next season! Fall is my favorite time of year...but until then, I'll enjoy the summer days and spend time putzing out in the yard. There's plenty of time yet to ready for the changing seasons. 

Got Dirt?

I thought this would be an appropriate title for today's post since I've dug, shoveled and hauled about 52 cubic feet of soil over the past few days. And I've only filled two of my beds - sheesh! But today, my raised beds are officially a garden...as I planted by basil in the first bed. YAY! (Now it's a real garden, right?)

Maiden plants - Basil!

It's a little sad looking...all by it's lonesome...but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? This weekend will be busy with hauling more dirt and starting my fall crop. I haven't determined exactly what my final crops will be, but garlic will definitely be on the list!

My #3 came out to check on my (I think to mostly make sure I hadn't passed out somewhere on the side of the house), and she was just in time to see the frog I found hiding in my empty starter pots. He was a good sized frog with BEAUTIFUL markings. If fact, I KNOW I've heard him outside our living room window - CROAK! CROAK! CROAK!

Our backyard resident

We admired his beauty and then let him "escape" to the cooler, moister underbrush by the lavender. It was fun knowing that we had a sweet little frog in our yard. He's the second one I've seen this season.

Summer in Oregon is still playing games...switching between gorgeous sunshine and rain...oh well, it's the price we pay for green! I'm looking forward to this weekend. Time to spend with family, putzing around the house and yard. Soccer season will be upon us soon, so I'm enjoying our "free" weekends while they last.

Blessed be! And I hope your days are filled with sunshine, health and activities that bring you joy!

A Hard Day of Work Ends In Happiness

This morning started at a leisurely pace around 10:00 a.m. I was excited about what the day held. I headed out to the backyard and began to get ready for the delivery of my NEW RAISED GARDEN BEDS (yay me)! I still needed to clean out and move the Rubbermaid shed...the last piece of the corner "stuff" that needed to be cleaned up. I haven't been through the stuff we've been storing in there for a few years. Okay...maybe several years...and I knew there was probably going to be a couple of crawly things...so I moved very carefully and gingerly. And boy I wasn't disappointed!

I found her...all 3" of her.

I found quite a large hobo spider under and around some of the things we had stored inside. I say under and around, because she moved pretty quickly once she was exposed doing this start-n-stop-crawl-over-everything-creepy-move thing. I say she because I assume that the larger ones are the females...just makes sense to me somehow. 

So what did I do? I, of course, ran and grabbed a canning jar and captured her. I thought it would be a great chance to share this amazing creepy crawly with the kids. I was doing great until I came across four additional specimens. These spiders, I will admit, died a very quick death. It was pure primal reaction on my part--it's amazing how quickly you can stomp your foot when you're startled! There really is no explaining or controlling your reaction to something at that level of "gut reaction!"

You can see the Hobo Hotel in
the picture on the left.

So the beds arrived - thank you Ben from the Chicken Gardner - and went up under an hour. And wow did they smell awesome! Each board is at least 2" thick of beautiful cedar. 

After Ben finished, I leveled out the ground a bit more and began filling the beds with dirt from my other raised beds. Lots of shoveling and hauling, and I filled ONE..even though it was the smallest of the five beds. Oh well...

My beautiful beds!

There's always tomorrow! Not to mention extra Ibuprofen. But now I'm that much closer to having my garden!

I'm a happy mom. =0) 

"I'm not sleeping...I'm just taking a little break."

Today was an absolutely GORGEOUS day in Oregon. The kind that make people from all over the world fall in love with our beautiful state. I spent the day nesting around the house...airing out bedrooms, striping beds, doing laundry, running errands. All very relaxed and randomly while enjoying the summer breeze gently move through our home...listening to the birds sings and call back-n-forth...our children play and laugh.

On one of my many trips outside to the garbage can and our outside recycling center, I stopped and pulled a few weeds, filled bird feeders and basically milled through my gardens. As I was walking past some volunteer foxgloves, I noticed there was a little someone in one of the flowers.

My winged little Rip Van Winkle

Now these volunteer foxgloves stand over six feet tall (YES, seriously, they're over 6 FEET tall), so I didn't have any trouble finding this little pint-sized Rip Van Winkle. I thought it was quite a good spot he selected...if fact if I was tiny like he, I would probably hide away myself of sunny lazy afternoons and catch a few winks too! I don't blame him (her?) wanting to take a siesta...I have a lot of flowers in my yard and there's a lot of nectar and pollen to be gathered, carried and dusted along the way.

All 3 different kinds each have a wonderful fragrance!

Another fabulous reason I love my gardens are the different rose bushes I've added over the years. These are various rose bushes that I've purchased, not because I was looking for any particular type, but just because they spoke to me. I am thoroughly enjoying the heady sent of these beauties!

I have a lovely bouquet sitting on our dinner table, and have taken a couple into work for my desk. While I love their fragrance, for tonight's dinner, I will move them from the table as I suspect their perfume won't go well with pasta a fagioli!

They're Here...They're Here...They're Finally Here!

I've been waiting with great enthusiasm for my package to arrive. Everyday I've been checking the front porch and the mailbox... waiting... waiting... waiting! (Who would have thought 7-10 working days would take so FLIPPIN' Long!?) And today was FINALLY the day! I was so excited when I walked in the door and Husband asked, "who got all this bulk mail?"

I love opening up packages, don't you? Especially when you know that something you've ordered is IN THE PACKAGE! I found myself so anticipating opening up the packages, that when My #3 asked if she could open one, I automatically said "no, these are mine" without even thinking. Does this make me a "less-than-ideal" mommy? Well if it does, I guess I'll have to learn to live with the guilt.

My newest additions to my gardening library.
I just LOVE used books!

So I opened them up and laid all my new treasures out on the table...

Oh, there is nothing like the smell of a book... the potential of what is to be discovered... the anticipation of what knowledge is just laying in wait, waiting to be claimed, learned and shared.
I'm so excited about the new information I'm going to learn. =0)

Gotta go now... dinner's done, dishes can wait until tomorrow morning (I promise I'll get up early and do them before heading out for school drop-off and work). Besides, there's a cup of tea calling my name!

I See the Light at the End of the Tunnel!

Today, just like last weekend, I worked outside attempting to reclaim our yard from the overgrowth of weeds and other invasive growing things (read "nasty blackberry vines!"). Last year was such a wet and cool summer that I completely ignored our side yard. We were so busy with sports and work, that I pretty much ignored the rest of our yard too. Had it not been for Hubby mowing the lawns, and the children pulling just-enough-weeds, I think the weeds would have swallowed the house!

Oh where, oh where are
my raised flower beds?

The last part that I needed to reclaim was our side garden area. Our children have always referred to this area as the "Secret Garden" and has been home to some wonderful, imagine-filled times outside as they played together. So I pulled all my garden tools and gloves and got to work. Some of these weeds were over 5' tall...must be all that Oregon rain!

When I finally got out to this side of the yard, it was already 76 degrees outside - which is sweltering when you consider we haven't yet hit over 70 degrees and it's already June!

Going...

Gone!

Going...

But it was beautiful...the sky was a gorgeous blue, there was a nice breeze and I had my hands in the dirt. One benefit I did find in ignoring your side garden for two years is that all the extra plant material and potting soil I'd thrown (read "added") to the raised beds, composted really nicely. 

Nature's health meter!

I was completely tickled every time I pulled up some weeds to find these beautiful wigglers everywhere. And some of them were quite large!

It confirmed that my adamant stance on NOT using herbicides (or pesticides against the spiders) has paid off. The quality of the soil in my beds is far better than anything I could purchase. 

It also explains why this seems to be a banner year for nests. All of a sudden our yard is "the" place to raise a family. It's quite entertaining to see how the different finch, hummingbirds, robins and the other birds carve out which tree is theirs and where they go digging for bugs and worms.

Who says you need a
trampoline to have fun?

So after working for 5 hours, I realized I'd filled not just our yard debris but our neighbors too (thank you Yia-Yia!)! But alas, I found a tool to get the last of our weeds into the bins. This is what I call the "#3-blond-smasher!"

With 60 lbs of jumping energy, my #3 managed to compact the debris enough for me to get the remaining piles in - YEAH! 

So now my yards back under control, and I can begin to focus on building raised beds, getting my greenhouse and organizing my vegetable garden. If I persevere I may still make this growing season (read "if my back and legs hold out").

Volunteer Lavender - the visiting
bees LOVE it!

Columbine

I do have to admit, there is something about physically working hard, feeling tired at the end of the day, and stepping back and seeing what you've accom-plished. Here's hoping my back holds out! 

The Sweet Smell of Spring!

Common traffic vehicles

Each day as I head out to work I have the joy of driving through the rural part of my community to the next connecting city. It's a drive that I thoroughly enjoy and purposely drive just at or slightly under the speed limit. There are no stoplights or stop signs on this main thorough-fair through the valley. As I drive I take in the surroundings and watch through the seasons as the landscape changes from the browns and dark greens of winter (usually through a curtain of rain) to bright pinks, yellow, greens and blues as spring and summer push their way through.

Cover crop near home...there are LOTS!

The last several weeks I've patiently
awaited the first of the cover crops to bloom...CLOVER! Today I stopped by one of the fields anticipating the picture that I might capture. As I opened my door the scent of the clover was intoxicating. The air was warm and the breeze was gentle and the fragrance of these amazing flowers was simply wonderful! I fully understand why the bees are so busy this time of year.

After taking my pictures and climbing back into the car, dreaming about how good honey tastes, my thoughts wandered to the bee house I needed to replace (darn those curious raccoons!). This bee house isn't for our honey-producers, but for a gentle, solitary pollinator the Orchard Mason Bee (Osmia Lignaria) - check out Knox Cellars for houses and instructions. There's a lot of concern over hive collapse throughout North America and in parts of Western Europe. Regardless of whether its the honey bee or mason bee, hive collapse is an important issue.

Honey is used as a natural alternative to people allergic to cane sugar (the key here is "natural"). Yes, there is always agave (which is one of our family's favorites) but sometimes you simply hanker for some honey.

And our little sting-free pollinators are key to our food production (although I'm sure Monsanto is working on a self-pollinating frankenseed if it doesn't already exist). If nature's little pollinators are missing, that's a major loss in the food-chain, and EVERYONE will feel that one. There are two items that are ensured to increase in value as the scarcity increases - FOOD and WATER. If we don't have pollinators, our food chain will collapse.

So do yourself a favor, buy a bee house. Don't use pesticides in your yard. Plant flowers that have bright, variegated blooms. Then pour yourself a nice glass of wine, sit back and enjoy the symphony of sounds as pollinators and honey gathers flit throughout your yard. I know that's what I'll be doing!