In A Nutshell

blueberries!

 

In January I purchased an armload of blueberry bushes (earliblue, spartan, bluegold, bluecrop, chandler, darrow). The best thing about this selection is that they will successively ripen throughout the season. My plants are still teeny tiny and I'm not sure if they'll produce fruit this year, but there is no doubt it will be worth the wait.

From what I've read, it is recommended that you prepare the bed for planting a year in advance to be sure that the nutrient requirements are just right. I didn't do that. For the filler I used 1/2 top soil and 1/2 azalea/rhody mix, 1/2 bag of worm castings, plus two 65lb. bags of all purpose sand. I'm hoping that will do the trick without having to fuss over it for a year. Fingers crossed!

the seed list

Tell me, what are your gardening plans this year? Will you be planting vegetables, flowers, or herbs? Will you be trying out something new?

The last of my seed orders trickled in today. Being a newb, my "to plant list" probably seems a little overly ambitious, but if I can get at least 75 percent of my seeds/seedlings in the ground, I'll be happy.

I was more agro-conscious of where I purchased my seeds this year. I tried to avoid companies that aren't owned by or distribute Monsanto/GMO seed. Here is the complete list of what I aspire to grow this year:

 

Seeds of Change

beans, bluelake
beans, shirofumi edamame
cucumber, sumpter
zucchini, dark star
tomato,  brandywine
tomato, amish paste
tomato, cherry fox
tomato, yellow perfection
dill, dukat
parsley, italian
parsley, forrest green

 

 

Territorial Seed Company

basil, sweet
cilantro, santo
corn, country gentleman
watermelon, moon & stars
nicotiana, only the lonely 
cosmos, chocolate 

 

Swallowtail Garden Seeds

hollyhock, indian spring mix
nasturtium, whirlybird mix

 

Ferry-Morse 

chinese lantern
moonflower, evening glory
sunflower, sunspot dwarf 

 

 

Millington Seed Co.

corn, strawberry popcorn

 

Bonanza

pumpkin, big max (the picture sells itself!)

gardening bug

 

The gardening bug has already hit me. The weather is warming up. Granted, it's in the low 50's but generally speaking, it feels warm. That is something this California girl never thought she would say. 
 

I've been pouring over my seed catalogs since they arrived in the mail several weeks ago. Today, I was finally able to make up my mind as to what will be going into our spring/summer garden and made my seed purchases accordingly. I feel very pleased with myself at the moment. This year I purchased the greater majority of my seeds from Seeds of Change and Territorial Seed Company. They are "safe companies" that are neither owned by Monsanto, nor carry Monsanto seeds. 

 

One of the things we are doing in our garden this year is planting blueberries. I have six baby bushes that may not produce anything this year, but Logan made a nice raised garden bed for me (the first of many) to put them in. I can't wait to fill it up with dirt and get 'em in! 

 

 

For the kids, I will be taking a couple of ideas from Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots this year. I set up a moon garden teepee with bamboo poles a few days ago. My boys are really excited to get this going and so am I. Waiting for growing season is the hardest part! I'm going to plant lunaria (I wild harvested the seeds a few days ago - you can see the "parent" plant in the photo above), chinese lanterns, and dwarf sunflowers with them. We'll try and get a giant pumpkin going this year. Although, the success of that undertaking is highly questionable.

jack frost

My alarm goes off in the morning. It's cold in the house and my bed is warm. Cozy. I don't want to get up. I imagine myself sitting at the breakfast table with a warm cup of coffee nestled between my hands. This, I decide, is my motivation. I will get up. I will make coffee.

I half walk, half stumble down the stairs. Then, I look out the window. 

 

 

Jack Frost has arrived.

 

 

 

 

 

 

exploring

 

We're closing in on our first year here in the PNW. It feels like home now, but it still has a shiny newness about it. There is a lake near our house that we like to visit. When we go, we usually take a picnic lunch, let the kids wear themselves out on the playground, then walk by the lakeside to discover what is new with the season. I enjoy this time tremendously, and I relish the fact that my 10 year old son is discovering the inner peace that being out in nature can bring.

 

 

The water level in the lake has lowered significantly since our last visit. We explored a different path that allowed us to get our shoes a little muddy. Isaiah wanted to cross the small water flow to check out the island. Knowing how cold the water was, I totally wussed out. Next time we'll bring our wellies and go exploring.

 

 

The show of mushrooms was fantastic, complete with reds, yellows, browns, and greens. 

 

 

And who doesn't love spotting a friendly wooly bear?

 

 

The first frost of the season has been predicted to visit us tonight. I'm looking forward to it & to the many evenings wrapped up in blankets, sipping on hot chocolate that it will bring. 

 

ye olde tree

 

Last weekend we visited what is believed to be the oldest apple tree on the west coast. Planted in 1826, it still produces apples today. The Old Apple Tree Festival celebrates the longevity of this tree and the history that was to follow its planting, making Washington the U.S. leader in apple production. 

 

 

The festival was quaint with a toe tapping bluegrass band, lots of room to explore, and free activities for the kids to do.

If you bring your own apples and your own container, the volunteers will help you turn them into fresh pressed apple cider. We brought a mix of grannysmith, ginger gold, and honeycrisp. It was by far the best cider I've ever tasted. Logan claims that ours was even better than Martinelli's. Top that.

 

 

I've been treating our prized brew as if it were war rations. The kids want to guzzle it down, while I want to savor every sip. I think we're down to less than a quart now. 

 

 

Quite possibly the biggest draw for me was that Vancouver Urban Forestry was handing out one tree cutting from the old apple tree to each family. I've heard that the success rate for these cuttings is pretty low, but I remain hopeful. I believe that there is a registry of survivors & it would be an honor to have my family's name on that list.

If you're interested, here is a detailed history of the tree.

 

hello autumn

 

About two years ago my in-laws in the Pacific Northwest took a walk around their neighborhood collecting fallen leaves from trees in the most beautiful array of colors. They carefully placed them in a package and shipped them off to our little apartment in southern California. 
 

This was one of the most delightful surprise packages that I can recall receiving. My boys squealed with glee. Right there in our hands were autumn colors that we had only seen in pictures and read about in books. Autumn in southern California is mostly brown and unexciting.
 

Autumn has always been my favorite season; the smells, the crisp cool air, and flannel sheets. This is our first autumn in the Pacific Northwest. It's hard to believe that two more months will make our first year here complete. Time passes so quickly.
 

In the mornings when I hear the lowing of cows in the field, the gentile crowing of a rooster in the distance, or a chorous of frogs, I lay still in bed and think about how thankful I am to be in this wonderful place. We are so very blessed to be here.

mason jar solar path lights

 

One of the things I have wanted to try making for a while are those solar mason jar path lights. You've probably seen them around. While everyone's tastes are different, I think they're charming and homey.

Natch, when Target had solar lights on sale for a buck this weekend my first instinct was to hoard them, but I restrained myself and came home with ten.

I pulled out the mason jars from their deep, dark lair in the garage and rummaged around the spare room upstairs for some hot glue, wooden discs, and tissue paper.

I disassembeled the lights which consist of four parts: 1) the top solar part, 2) the clear plastic part that protects the light which I hope to find another use for, 3) pole, 4) spike

I had my 10 year old peel off all of the stickers and stuff. Fun for him.

 

 

The top solar part is a bit too small to fit in the threaded jar cap. You have to do a careful balancing act, keeping the light flush with the rim and centered in one hand while using a hot glue gun to keep them in place with the other. I tried to seal them off really well with the hot glue to keep moisture out.

 

 

Next, I applied hot glue to the end of the post and stuck it to the center of the wooden disc. While hot glue may not be very durable, it sure does make for quick work. If I make these again, I will probably use E6000 here.

 

 

Then, I applied glue to the outer edge of the top of the wooden disc and stuck that to the bottom of the mason jar. (Again, E6000 could and probably should be used here instead.)

 

Lastly, I cut a piece of tissue paper to the size of the inside of the jar. I kept it about 1/4" shy of the rim so that it didn't move around when the lid was screwed back on. I didn't want to glue the paper to the jar. I like the added depth effect I get when it's loose and I can change it up whenever my fickle heart desires.

Also, these lids are interchangeable with a couple of different jar sizes. The photo below is of a smaller jar (12 oz. wide mouth), where the one at the top of this post is a bit larger (16 oz. regular mouth). I used Kerr jars, but I'm sure you could use any brand.

Another thing, I know that the metal is coppery looking and the lid of the jar is silver. This doesn't bother me enough to paint it with something, but that is always an option.

 

 

And here they are in the evening. My boys enjoyed watching them flicker on.

 

 

I hope somebody out there finds this helpful and/or inspirational.

P.S. In the last photo the stars on the tissue paper don't show up at all, but they look perfectly fine to the naked eye.

the weed torch and my quest for a zero chemical lawn

Our backyard is nestled against a vacant field. The weeds are relentless. 

In my search for organic lawn care options, I discovered a device called the Weed Dragon (we have the mini version). We like to call it the weed torch. It sounds more manly. Logan is the one who uses it because I am terrified of the variety of noises it makes. My husband loves fire and is fearless. It's a match made in heaven.
 

 

I would say it works pretty well. The spot flame is perfect for the abundant smallish weeds that we have. It's nice that we don't have to haul around a huge propane tank too. 

The next step is to throw down a layer of composted chicken manure, then use this nifty device all over the lawn, then reseed. It seems like a lot of work, but we are the DIY type of people anyway. I'm sure if we take it a little bit at a time it won't be more than we can handle. Besides, to me, knowing that my kids won't be rolling around on a lawn coated in pesticides is worth the extra effort.

not all that grows is native

 

At this point in the season, these lovely yellow flowers can be spotted in just about every roadside ditch and every vacant lot. When they are in large swathes, they are a sight to behold. 

They come on moderately tall, upright, slightly sprawling shrubs. I thought these would be perfect to plant alongside our fence that is perpendicular the dead end. It is a much neglected area in need of some sprucing up with some low-to-no-maintenance plants. These seemed to be a good choice as they grew just about everywhere in areas where they are obviously not tended to.

Earlier this week we were out for a drive and I had asked Logan to jump out of the car and break me off a branch so that I could figure out what this mystery plant was. It turned out to be scotch broom, a class B noxious weed in the state of WA. Bummer.

Here's something to take a look at if you're interested. While scotch broom is not included in this PDF, it can be very useful to people who are looking for a better way to garden. You might not even know that the plants you have are invasive, so it's worth a look. There are some very lovely substitutions for things like butterfly bush and English ivy. 

So, that still leaves me with what to plant alongside the fence. My neighbor graciously let me dig up some of her red-osier dogwood that had suckered up. There is a significant variation in sizes, but I'm hoping that I have three viable plants. We'll see how it goes. My fingers are crossed.

Also, I intend to plant mock orange and/or baldhip rose (maybe even snowberry?) between the wide bare spaces in the future. I'll carpet the area with kinnikinnick so there will be something green to look at in the winter. Little by little, I'll get there.

My gardening habit has completely eaten up my crafting budget. I'm okay with that. I'm sure that the door will swing back the other way as soon as the weather starts sucking again.